Digging out old poetry

It's been a dry spell lately and no new tunes are coming to my head.

As a random attempt, have taken to writing lyrics first & see if I can come up with a melody later. Well, not very successful coz the words seemed a little jumbled up.

Well, just after Songcraft on Friday, I decided to dig through some "poems" I wrote when I was taking a poetry workshop elective back in Uni days. Not too bad, managed to come up with something with 1 of them. :D

Well, hopefully I can dig up some other stuff.

gadget purchasing pattern?

Hmm...realised that I've been buying new gadgets almost every half a year. Last June, was my iPod, early this year was my MacBook and now, it's my new phone...

Maybe a XBox end of the year? Guitar Hero... :P

GSS 2008 - follow-up 1

Gosh, once one have set targets, things happen so fast.

Haha...soon after posting my "wishlist", I have since bought some of the things that I wanted.

Last Wed (11 June), I dropped by Singtel to have a look at the Sony Ericsson G900 smart phone. It wasn't even displayed on shelves yet, but there was a promotion going on only for last week and of course, having already shortlisted this phone, I had to go check it out. All I can say that it was a quick buy (although I "pretended" to ask questions & compare it with W960i :P). Got it at S$398 after discount (U.P. $748) with my existing plan. It would have been S$428, but there was some GSS subsidy of S$30. :D

So here it is:

Still learning to get used to it. But I think it's great. It's touchscreen and has a 5.0 megapixel camera! Haven't finished the manual yet, but I think there's a lot I've yet to discover about the phone. Haha...my colleague was more excited than me when she was trying it out.

Another buy was a Jane Shilton handbag bought at Robinsons. Saw it awhile ago but the price was still the same. It cost S$ 119 (already on offer - U.P. $249). My mum has the Robinsons card, so will only have the 5% rebate when the bill comes. Here's a pic of it (taken with my new phone :P)

It wasn't exactly what I had in mind (I had initially eyed an Agnes b. bag, but changed my mind...too ex). Hopefully, it's big enough for my working days.

Oh no, think I'm spending too much money... and getting too many red stuff.

Now I'm thinking if there's an offer for XBox...hmm...

Prince Caspian

Just caught the movie and I must say it's much better than The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (of which I was sorely disappointed). At least there were real battle scenes. It could be the children are older now, and their acting more matured & refined, and also the cinematography is better and there's more depth in the content and characters.

However, the show was not really that close to the book. It got the main gist, but the sequence of events was quite jumbled up. Like when the horn was blown; when they met Aslan (it was actually when they were walking through the woods to reach Caspian); when they tried to call up the White Witch; when the children finally met up with Prince Caspian (it was actually when the 3 evils were suggesting the calling up of the witch); when Caspian found out that Miraz murdered his father, etc.

Also, Peter was not so brash; he was a more knightly & noble character and was not at loggerheads with Caspian. He indeed came to help Caspian claim his throne. In fact, Caspian held Peter in high regard.

There was also never the battle at the castle. The one who suggested the truce was not Caspian but Peter. Of course there was never the romance between Susan & Caspian (it was a children's book!). And much more.

Some scenes though were a bit like LOTR, like the trees coming alive to fight the Telmarines and the river water rushing downstream. Also, by the time they reached the river ford, there was actually no bridge already in the book. Coz Bacchus had already destroyed it (actually, the river god was trapped by the bridge and Aslan commanded Bacchus to released him rather than Asla commanding the river god to destroy the bridge).

I guess they changed the sequence & added the extra stories to spice things up. They also changed the characters a bit to bring out Caspian (thus downplaying Peter in terms of character...making Peter look bad).

I realised that because they changed the timing of when Aslan appeared to Peter, Peter had to appear as such an arrogant boy (from the part when he wanted some proof).

Well, on the whole, I still liked the show despite the discrepancies.

GSS 2008

The Great Singapore Sale (GSS) started about 2 weeks back and I've seen some good offers and sale going on...very tempted.

But being the logical, organised me, shopping is normally unproductive if I don't have anything in mind, so here's what I hope to get...better to jot it down in case I forget...haha...my wishlist too.

1) New handphone
My phone's more than 3 years old. Though it is a good phone (since it has lasted so long), recently it has started to go a little cranky. Furthermore, it's not 3G (need it in Japan!), so I need to get a new phone. I'm looking at Sony Ericsson's W960i, W980 or G900. W980 is not out yet though. W960i seems like a good phone since the price has not varied much since it's released...wondering if the price will be reduced when W980 is released? The only thing is that it's rather bulky.

2) Handbag
Well, am looking for a medium-sized bag for work. The current bag of mine is a little small as it's 1 of those flat bags. Most of my bags are small anyway. Hopefully, I can find something I like.

3) Crumpler laptop bag
Been contemplating this for a while...well, if it's on offer I don't mind.

4) Clothes
Don't really have much in mind, but I don't mind some nice dresses.

Guess that's all for now. Can't spend too much money lah.

Hee...guess this is one of my more frivolous posts.

Dreams & Purpose

Talking about purpose in life, I recall my conversation with someone about pursuing one's dream last night over IM. He's in the music line and he's in a way, pursuing his dream (isn't it great that one can be in a job that is your dream?).

Anyway, now I'm pondering if I'm currently in a job that's my dream. At the point of working towards this goal, yes, it was my dream. But then as I thought further, actually, besides that, I was basically following the signs of God! Hmm...a bit beyond my understanding, but God must have placed this 'dream' in my heart then and opened doorways to lead me to this place. However, along the way in getting here, God has placed many things in my path as a result of following the signs and the purpose now seems even bigger, though still vague and it's no longer the same dream in that sense...more like expanded. So what is my real dream or is it I have too many? Hmm...music? writing? ministry?...(haha...suddenly thought of The Alchemist)

So am I pursuing God's dream for me and not my own? But then is this my dream because it is God's dream, for we were created for a purpose? Hee...hope I'm not getting people confused here. Of course I'm delighted that if it's true, then God's dream is my dream and my dream is God's dream, which is the ideal situation. Of course, God's dream for me would be His purpose for me, but as His purposes transcends my human comprehension, I'm not sure what is the final point or destination yet, so in essence, what is the biggest dream? Hmm...

Strangely, by design, I have recently been "exposed" to reflecting on my purpose in life. As you can see from a recent post, have been thinking about it and the latest sermons talks about it too. Have also been reading a book by Max Lucado, Cure for the Common Life, which talks about finding our purpose. The movie too came at an opportune time. I guess it is the time of my life to ponder such things?

Sweet Rain 死神の精度 (Accuracy of Death)

Caught the show Shinigami no seido starring Takeshi Kaneshiro and I would say it gave me a "nice" feeling after it, you know the type of Jap show that is light and simple.

Hee...I must admit that if it wasn't Takeshi Kaneshiro acting, I would probably not have watched it. But it was a sweet show, with some humour as he responds innocently to questions or figurative speech literally. Heard that the writer (Kotaro Isaka) of the story specifically wanted Takeshi Kaneshiro to act as the Grim Reaper Chiba if it were to be made into a film.

It is called Sweet Rain probably coz whenever Chiba's at work, it is always raining. And it was nice to see how his 1 decision to not proceed with the death of 1 person (think partly because she was to be a singer & he loves music...to him, she has not fulfilled her purpose) leads to many similar decisions. And he decides by judging if a person has fulfilled his/her purpose in this life. The dog was rather cute too.

Some concepts that's different is the reverse way in putting if a person should live. Usually, we say "if a life is worth living" but here, it actually quotes "if a life is worthy of death". Interesting.

Well, wonder if the meaning of the title has some double meaning. Is death really accurate? Or how diligently Death performs the judgement would affect someone's destiny. Most of the time, one never knows the full plan of 1 way or the other. Maybe death is the most sure thing in life - everyone dies eventually.

Some things may not seem special, but they are important...they are part of life.

Clouds & Imagination

I think I have a thing for clouds and their patterns.

I am always fascinated by the beautiful fluffy cotton that sets itself against the blue skies and it is really nice to see the mix of "species" of clouds even in one segment of the sky.
Then you can use your imagination to decipher the shapes of some, maybe a lamb one moment or an apple the next and it is so ever-changing as the cloud shifts.

One of my dreams is to lie on a green meadow hill with my beloved, just the 2 of us, looking up at the blue skies and white clouds and together make out the shapes. Such a simple pleasure.

P. Ramlee The Musical

I went to watch P. Ramlee yesterday night and it was a major production. The sets, costumes, etc. were very elaborate. It was not bad, although I couldn't really understand most of it as it was in Malay...but there were English subtitles. It's the first time I'm watching a Malay theatre production. A bit difficult for me to try to "toggle" between the scene on stage and the subtitling, but managed to get through it.

However, I am rather torn about the production, the main reason being that Dick Lee composed half the songs for the musical (the rest being Ramlee's songs). As 1 of the audience said "I don't want to hear Dick Lee in P. Ramlee." And indeed, when I listened and watched carefully, I could differentiate between to 2 styles; you could tell which parts were Dick Lee's and which parts were Ramlee's.

I sort of feel the same with that viewer. I came to watch about P. Ramlee and was really expecting more of his personality and music to shine forth. Instead, this mixture caused some of Ramlee's "flavour" to be lost. Not that Dick Lee is not a good composer, but maybe it felt a bit commercialised for being a biographical depiction of Ramlee's life.

Well, just some thoughts...

Where do I go from here?

It's coming to mid-year again and it's time to take some time to reflect...

Why did GOD place me in my current job? What's the purpose?

Things have been happening and I'm positive there is a purpose but it has yet to be fully revealed...

Some might know how I landed in my current job. It was an amazing journey as doors were opened for me, from entering my course to a job opening in my present organisation, and I give thanks for the favour that has been given me since I joined...and here I am. I know that God will not stop there....there must be a purpose that He's leading me to.

As I reflected, I discovered things that I would not have developed or done if I had not come into this job. It opened doors to freeing my creative side and also gave me opportunities to do work that I liked to do (arts/heritage-related). 

Firstly, I got to do the installation art piece which I believe I wouldn't have taken part if I wasn't in my current job (probably wouldn't have known about it). This made me more confident to explore the artistic side of me, amateur as it may be. Also, if I hadn't joined my organisation, I would probably not have gotten to know a colleague (who blogs) and thus led me to know about Songcraft which has fueled my songwriting stints and inspirations. Thus, I have written & shared my songs (some Christian), and gotten to know new friends and widened my social circle. I believe I will write more songs.

Besides this rather personal aspect, in terms of job scope, a direction is showing up in my focus area, and that is music. I have been selected to specialise in (Asian) music as a librarian (programme officially started in Feb 08) and slowly, a number of projects related to music has come my way since then. It is amazing, the timing, coz these projects don't come by easily, though it's scary and I'll probably be tired out. Not to say the least, I'm going to Naples for the IAML (International Association of Music Libraries - Archives and Documetation Centres) Annual Conference this coming July. (haha....)

Is this the line of focus that GOD is moving me towards - music? But to what purpose? 

I can't really say for now as I really don't know but I hope that whatever the purpose, it will be revealed to me and that I will "keep on track".