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The past two days have been so cooling! Esp yesterday when I went to kranji racecourse turf club.

Asked for prayer. Felt so much better after that. Should have just done that in the first place…

It’s an iwakeup by memorex.

Brought a camera to do a little recording of the whole session. tWas so interesting. Yi pal has over 40 years of cooking experience and according to his wife who sings his praises, he was cooking noodles since 10 years old. When he reached secondary school, his father entrusted him with a store. Ever since, he has been working hard.

The store if we open one on Canada may be called Yi Pak’s Noodles. He also knows chicken rice. .

Earlier today went to swah huat to buy justin’s bday present. A blowtorch. Met with Lionel so that we can use his discount.

He the. Brought us to a dessert place where we had egg pudding, black seasame paste, mango pomelo pudding, and water chestnut cake. Oiishi! Will go back there again to try out their other dishes, ESP the yam paste.

Japanese drama has inspired me to bake custard puffs. Bought some baking essentials already, hope it turns out great.

And I’ve realised the need to blog or at least find a way to plant little checkpoints in my life so that when I look back, I can see how far I’ve grown or fallen behind.

Because of my apathy, the resulting hiatus from blogging has left me clueless as to what life has taught me since May 07, TWO FREAKING YEARS have passed and I’ve let them slip by undocumented. I wish my memory was more easily subjugated.

And guess what.. two years later, I’m about to ORD. If you put two and two together, it was probably national service that broke my momentum. But if I remember correctly, I was a very optimistic and positive person, and he wouldn’t want me recklessly blaming things outside the Circle of Influence for the attitudes in my head.

I should probably leave the recollections for another post. Even with the finiest archeology, it might take some time to sieve through the dusty fog of memories.

Meanwhile…

I have a huge opportunity that recently unceremoniously presented itself a few nights ago. Lest I unnecessarily rarify the situation, it’s not a girl. However, it does affect my life at least 4 years down. 

What would I give up to be a producer? To be involved in the wonderful world of the music industry. To help in this new company that a friend is helming. To be able to mingle with people who love and create music, as a job! There are a few he has gathered for his crew, and for the role of producer, he decided that I had the potential to do it. Which means I can be called a ‘founder’. Well, a person with 10 years industry experience would definately be a better candidate, but such a person would demand exorbitant wages.

The inadequacies. To begin with. I have ZERO experience in the music industry. Friend has given be a handy book all about the industry to digest. This might give me a better insight. Musical virtuosity is out of the question as well. There are tonnes out there who are ridiculously better than I am in terms of composing and hearing. Administratively, well, the shoddy state of this blog is testiment to my admin skills.

So in this case, I actually have nothing to lose. Only the years that I could have spent wilding away in a university quad or the starting pay I could have gotten in an entry-level position in another company. 

Family. Taking this up would mean that it will be difficult to meet up with my family because they will be all over the world. I can’t believe that it’s happening so soon. Skype will be very important to the Foo Family then. Really praying that we can still stick together in spirit despite the difference in location. I guess the weakest link would be me as I tend to be a little less emotionally attached. Not to mentioned lazy and easily distracted. And when I realise that it’s too late, I’ll just end up making empty resolutions. 

Man, I miss the carefree days.

I think it’s time to bring them back!

From the AllAboutJazz Website.

1. “The Christmas Song” Dexter Gordon
   The Panther! (Original Jazz Classics)
   Master of the saxophone ballad transforms a holiday pop favorite into a soulful blues improvisation. 
2. “Here Comes Santa Claus” Ramsey Lewis
   Sound Of Christmas (Chess/MCA)
   In their prime, Ramsey Lewis and his trio could make anything sound great. Here lies the proof. 
3. “Jingle Bells” Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
   Jingle Bell Swing (Columbia/Legacy)
   Classic Duke sound and great choruses played with typical economy from his sidemen circa 1962. 
4. “Skating” Vince Guaraldi
   A Charlie Brown Christmas (Fantasy)
   The melody captures the essence of the title in this masterpiece from the uncanny Guaraldi. 
5. “Good Morning Blues” Ella Fitzgerald
   Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas (Verve)
   A hipster-ish Ella swings the Basie blues in merry 6/8 time. 
6. “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” Ella Fitzgerald
   Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas (Verve)
   No one does this song better. The shyness and longing of Ella’s persona are palpable. 
7. “Christmas In New Orleans” Louis Armstrong w/ the Benny Carter Orchestra
   Hipster’s Holiday (Rhino)
   Louis recorded a lot of Christmas tunes. This one wins for the combination of Armstrong’s obvious love for his subject and golden trumpet cadenzas. 
8. “O’ Tannenbaum” Vince Guaraldi
   A Charlie Brown Christmas (Fantasy)
   Guaraldi’s elegantly stated theme and sudden shift to 4/4 create yuletide jazz perfection. Is this the most popular jazz song of all time? 
9. “White Christmas” Charlie Parker All-Stars
   Jingle Bell Jam (Verve)
   Every family should serve up some Christmas Bird. 
10. “Snowfall” Ahmad Jamal Trio
    Cross Country Tour 1958-1961 (Chess MCA)
    I’ve never heard a bad version of this aptly titled Claude Thornhill song, but Jamal’s version is exceptional for his unexpected phrasing and Vernel Fournier’s gently marching snare.

It’s like US$26.99 from SquareSound and I can’t find downloadable scans of it.

This looks hopeful.

Reebok BOA Inline Fitness Skates

US$ 59.99 = S$90 + shipping and handling

—

Some pretty helpful tips from HardwareZone about where are the Good and Bad Inline Skate Shops.

My desire to go business as now 80% confirmed.

As the ultimate goal for me is to start a restaurant or some sort of chain. I will need minors in various related courses. University of Toronto is standing out now due to it’s more broad-based course options. But I’m not sure of combining business courses like Economics, Marketing, Psychology, Sociology (I think this helps in management), Finance with different courses like Nutrition, Hospitality & Resort management.

Good resources I must definately visit and enquire is The CEC Study Canada. It’s great because they have an actual brick and motar place I can go to ask questions.

Doris and Pingster are two people i should ask for advice too. Ms Pearly is already in canada and her son is studying there, so she’s another person to seek counsel.

Three considerations:

1. Does the university recognize my Dip in Media and Communication hence granting me x years/terms of exemption? 
2. Does the university provide a good mix of the courses that I want, or should I do a simple degree that is easy to get in?
3. Location?

It’s time for my mind to do a little defragmentation.

Feel I’ve been letting life push me around of late. Instead of forging my own destiny with my own choices, it seems I’ve grown apathetic. Jaded I guess is a good word. Well, it’s not the first time this is happening. I doubt there’s a quick way to get out of this rut. 

What will we do without motivation man. Nothing will move in this world. Without motivation, I can’t move, neither can I move people. 

Am I talking in riddles? Perhaps. But such is the nature of this feeling. Intangible, elusive, just like how the solution to this problem is shrouded in dense enigma.

Got to plan. Just came back from thailand. And I have 5 days to myself. There’re a number of things I got to do.

1) Sign up for Alliance France lessons

2) Research on university courses.

3) Fishing

4) Ice Skating

5) Come up with more ideas for anime OST and RECORD. Which reminds me to find the midi cables!