Phantom (of the Opera) was really really awesome, awesome. Magnifico! The music at Her Majesty's theater was perfect, perfect. The orchestra was great, and the tempo spot on. The instruments were also great and the mix was good. The effects were spectacular. One of the highlights of the entire trip, I have to say. Very good.#
I used to watch phantom as a kid long ago, having been able to remember all the lines. But now watching this as an Adult makes all the difference - the emotions, the passions, the pathos, the sadness, all speaks to you in a way never seen before, in a way never imagined or felt before. It was pretty amazing.
Bravo.
Yes I cried. I feel like the Phantom sometimes
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Vienna is as nice as I remembered it to be. The cobblestoned streets, extremely nice architecture, and quaintness is still there. But perhaps the charm has faded away, slowly. I remembered being enchanted by Vienna as a young 16 year old making my way for the first time into Europe, and being amazed by the wonderful architecture, culture, music, and everything. We travelled around in style as well, in a Coach (for a school trip). This time, it was much more different, travelling around like backpackers, from a hostel, so on, so on. And also it was scorching hot - most of the time the days were like 30deg or more. But I had some really awesome experiences, probably three of the best ones on the trip. The first was the awesome free Summer Night Concert at Schonbrunn where we managed, thank God, to go into the seating areas to sit down very near the stage where the Vienna PHilharmonic was playing. Listening to very charming music (think the Viennese waltz) amidst serene scenery of lush shapely trees and perfectly manicured gardens and vast grass patches was quite a sublime experience. God was in the place enjoying the performance as well, and I guess I was thankful just to have been there at that time.
The other was the awesomest lunch at Steirereck, rated 21 in the world. Of course, just like every other food experience, it will be blogged at my other blog (the foodie in me) - it was 5 sublime courses for 65 euros, admittedly expensive, but I'm only in vienna once. I had OFFICIALLY the best Chocolate I have had in my life, a perfect balance of sweet, bitter, chocolatey, with a perfect chocolate flavour, chocolate as it's meant to be eaten. And the cheeses were sublime as well - especially the blue cheese, that felt like heaven as the flavours exploded in my mouth. More to come in the food blog!
And lastly we managed to visit the usual tourist attractions - the Stephensdom, which was rather imposing and grand, the Hofburg, which was really quite touching especially the story of Franz Joseph and his love for his wife and his spartan lifestyle, extreme piety and deep devotion to God, and his sense of dut - and the Schonbrunn palace which was quite lovely. Thank God for Vienna.
Now Im stuck in transit tryng to get back to London. Ah well, the value of patience.
The other was the awesomest lunch at Steirereck, rated 21 in the world. Of course, just like every other food experience, it will be blogged at my other blog (the foodie in me) - it was 5 sublime courses for 65 euros, admittedly expensive, but I'm only in vienna once. I had OFFICIALLY the best Chocolate I have had in my life, a perfect balance of sweet, bitter, chocolatey, with a perfect chocolate flavour, chocolate as it's meant to be eaten. And the cheeses were sublime as well - especially the blue cheese, that felt like heaven as the flavours exploded in my mouth. More to come in the food blog!
And lastly we managed to visit the usual tourist attractions - the Stephensdom, which was rather imposing and grand, the Hofburg, which was really quite touching especially the story of Franz Joseph and his love for his wife and his spartan lifestyle, extreme piety and deep devotion to God, and his sense of dut - and the Schonbrunn palace which was quite lovely. Thank God for Vienna.
Now Im stuck in transit tryng to get back to London. Ah well, the value of patience.
Saturday, June 05, 2010
Everytime I go to a new city, I'm always extremely interested in their....Public transportation system - it's really eye-opening! Just to see how the lines were developed, how they commute - you can learn so much about the city just by viewing their - public transportation system, ie their subway network.
Being a Singaporean I think visiting other rail networks present us with wonderful lessons of what we can do (and what not to do) - usually I'd take the positives; so let's go ahead with a tale of 3 Subway stations.
First up, London - the London Underground, the Tube, is the world's oldest subway network, dating from the 19th century. it's characterised by the tube-like tunnels which are really quite perfectly circular in diameter. Well, the Tube is everywhere - it stretches to all parts of London, and Londoners really love the Tube alot, so much so that I think it holds an important place in their hearts when they think of the city. it's the little things like "good service", the "mind the gap", the buskers around, that make the tube so quintessentially charming. it's just awesome. and the rail network is very extensive - the lines are named, so there's the piccadilly line, central line, northern line, victoria line, etc, and the great thing is that there is no one central station, but the network is designed so that in central london almost all stations are interchanges, between different lines; so for example Picadilly Circus is picadilly line with the jubilee line, leicester square sees the picadilly line meet the northern line, oxford circus sees the central line meeting the bakerloo line, and so on and so forth. This alleviates many congestion problems because commuters have many different ways to go from A to B - they could drop at one place, and take one line, or alternatively they could drop at another and take another line to get to their destination (which has 2 lines) - thus traffic congestion is divided pretty equally since commuters would not go to the same interchanges to change lines.
I think for Singapore we just simply have too little interchanges, only raffles place and city hall, which is a problem, since commuters will inevitably have to go there, resulting in much congestion; also it isn't efficient since commuters are essentially making a detour to the interchange to get onto the next line. perhaps some things could be learnt, for example, creating more lines so that commuters can do the hopping thing much more effectively.
Paris's METRO started in 1900, and so it's not that old as london's; it's very very extensive, and actually carries more people than the tube, according to wikipedia. the main station is chatelet, and the lines are actually numbered. everything though has a very dirty, dingy feel, since the trains are old and rickety, the tracks are full of dirt and grime, and it feels pretty unsafe - a friend of mine got pickpocketed in the Metro. for coverage, the metro is pretty unbeatable.
im now in Berlin, and so here there's the S-Bahn and the U-Bahn; the latter runs only underground while the former is mainly a surface line with some parts underground. the plus point is that it's very comfortable - the seats are big, and padded, and the trains are quiet; there are actually escalators, something you won't find in the other 2 cities mentioned. Although, and this is very controversial, it's not as well-connected as London's is; most of the lines connect at AlexanderPlatz, or in the West, Frederichstrasse, etc, and many of the times it takes quite a few stops to get from a place to an interchange, and then a few more stops to get to another, before changing back to the right lines. And then there is the little problem that the 2 'systems', the U bahn and the S bahn, have different stations even though the map explicitly states that they're at the same intersection - which leaves you with the little problem of finding out how to get from the S bahn to the U bahn. so you have to look out for the "U" or the "S". The great thing, however, is that the timings are extremely accurate, which is a real plus. STILL. It's irritating going around in circles, but oh well. berlin's a nice fun crazy city, so i can take that.
Being a Singaporean I think visiting other rail networks present us with wonderful lessons of what we can do (and what not to do) - usually I'd take the positives; so let's go ahead with a tale of 3 Subway stations.
First up, London - the London Underground, the Tube, is the world's oldest subway network, dating from the 19th century. it's characterised by the tube-like tunnels which are really quite perfectly circular in diameter. Well, the Tube is everywhere - it stretches to all parts of London, and Londoners really love the Tube alot, so much so that I think it holds an important place in their hearts when they think of the city. it's the little things like "good service", the "mind the gap", the buskers around, that make the tube so quintessentially charming. it's just awesome. and the rail network is very extensive - the lines are named, so there's the piccadilly line, central line, northern line, victoria line, etc, and the great thing is that there is no one central station, but the network is designed so that in central london almost all stations are interchanges, between different lines; so for example Picadilly Circus is picadilly line with the jubilee line, leicester square sees the picadilly line meet the northern line, oxford circus sees the central line meeting the bakerloo line, and so on and so forth. This alleviates many congestion problems because commuters have many different ways to go from A to B - they could drop at one place, and take one line, or alternatively they could drop at another and take another line to get to their destination (which has 2 lines) - thus traffic congestion is divided pretty equally since commuters would not go to the same interchanges to change lines.
I think for Singapore we just simply have too little interchanges, only raffles place and city hall, which is a problem, since commuters will inevitably have to go there, resulting in much congestion; also it isn't efficient since commuters are essentially making a detour to the interchange to get onto the next line. perhaps some things could be learnt, for example, creating more lines so that commuters can do the hopping thing much more effectively.
Paris's METRO started in 1900, and so it's not that old as london's; it's very very extensive, and actually carries more people than the tube, according to wikipedia. the main station is chatelet, and the lines are actually numbered. everything though has a very dirty, dingy feel, since the trains are old and rickety, the tracks are full of dirt and grime, and it feels pretty unsafe - a friend of mine got pickpocketed in the Metro. for coverage, the metro is pretty unbeatable.
im now in Berlin, and so here there's the S-Bahn and the U-Bahn; the latter runs only underground while the former is mainly a surface line with some parts underground. the plus point is that it's very comfortable - the seats are big, and padded, and the trains are quiet; there are actually escalators, something you won't find in the other 2 cities mentioned. Although, and this is very controversial, it's not as well-connected as London's is; most of the lines connect at AlexanderPlatz, or in the West, Frederichstrasse, etc, and many of the times it takes quite a few stops to get from a place to an interchange, and then a few more stops to get to another, before changing back to the right lines. And then there is the little problem that the 2 'systems', the U bahn and the S bahn, have different stations even though the map explicitly states that they're at the same intersection - which leaves you with the little problem of finding out how to get from the S bahn to the U bahn. so you have to look out for the "U" or the "S". The great thing, however, is that the timings are extremely accurate, which is a real plus. STILL. It's irritating going around in circles, but oh well. berlin's a nice fun crazy city, so i can take that.
Friday, June 04, 2010
Monday, May 03, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
I just had this really weird dream
it all started with me, being in chinatown, driving around; i dreamt i was going to mirabelle to buy more croissants, and then to papa pahleta, and then i was stopped right in chinatown. and i saw D** travel, which is the place where i was to collect my tickets.
and then, i drove my car into the ramp; it was a dingy place; but somehow i parked my car somewhere, but then,in my dream i was transported into a trance, and then i forgot where the car was; it was as if my mind was just blank - kinda like a forgotten dream, in a dream. and so i asked the store proprietor, where the car was; no answer.
strange.
i decided to walk around; and suddenly i felt like they stole my car; the car was not in any of the carparks. it was gone, gone! strange. i ran around looking high and low for it, but to no avail. it was really gone. in the end, one of them came up to threaten me with a clobber saying someting like "if you call the police, it's too late".....
and i was pleading with them: "please, it's my parents car, it's not even mine".....and they even looked into the used car manual and it was worth only 13,000 SGD.
and later on there was a food review section - where i saw different 'fusion' cuisines; i cant remember all the dishes but i think the highest rated one was a Mango-Banana dessert thing. quite strange. i tried it; also lots of blackberries and berries and dunno what.
my dreams are strange eh.
im just blogging about it for fun.
for me to remembe them.
it all started with me, being in chinatown, driving around; i dreamt i was going to mirabelle to buy more croissants, and then to papa pahleta, and then i was stopped right in chinatown. and i saw D** travel, which is the place where i was to collect my tickets.
and then, i drove my car into the ramp; it was a dingy place; but somehow i parked my car somewhere, but then,in my dream i was transported into a trance, and then i forgot where the car was; it was as if my mind was just blank - kinda like a forgotten dream, in a dream. and so i asked the store proprietor, where the car was; no answer.
strange.
i decided to walk around; and suddenly i felt like they stole my car; the car was not in any of the carparks. it was gone, gone! strange. i ran around looking high and low for it, but to no avail. it was really gone. in the end, one of them came up to threaten me with a clobber saying someting like "if you call the police, it's too late".....
and i was pleading with them: "please, it's my parents car, it's not even mine".....and they even looked into the used car manual and it was worth only 13,000 SGD.
and later on there was a food review section - where i saw different 'fusion' cuisines; i cant remember all the dishes but i think the highest rated one was a Mango-Banana dessert thing. quite strange. i tried it; also lots of blackberries and berries and dunno what.
my dreams are strange eh.
im just blogging about it for fun.
for me to remembe them.
Monday, April 26, 2010
living in this world is hard
i think strawberry fields forever is better
i'd rather live in my dreams
but when i step out of the house it's reality
and it crushes me
yesh it crushes me
im coming up with these lyrics ad hoc
maybe ill set them to music
it's hard when all they shoot you down for are mundane little things
little horrible things
it crushes me
it's not easy
that's why the Lord still loves you even though you are down
coz you can't make it on your own
and the times of despair
just brings you back there
to His arms alone
he's not ashamed to take you
id' rather have strawberry fields forever
but i know that the Lord is loving and kind
and maybe i must make up my mind
and be a bit stronger in this world.
for i'm being thrown into the fire; into a den with wolves
have to be cunning like snakes
i think strawberry fields forever is better
i'd rather live in my dreams
but when i step out of the house it's reality
and it crushes me
yesh it crushes me
im coming up with these lyrics ad hoc
maybe ill set them to music
it's hard when all they shoot you down for are mundane little things
little horrible things
it crushes me
it's not easy
that's why the Lord still loves you even though you are down
coz you can't make it on your own
and the times of despair
just brings you back there
to His arms alone
he's not ashamed to take you
id' rather have strawberry fields forever
but i know that the Lord is loving and kind
and maybe i must make up my mind
and be a bit stronger in this world.
for i'm being thrown into the fire; into a den with wolves
have to be cunning like snakes
Friday, April 23, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
I had a really interesting conversation with D, whom I haven't met in a long time.
Hello D if you are reading this.
We spent alot of time talking about this whole conundrum called "INFP-ness". It's because both of us are INFPs, and well, sometimes it really takes one to know one. I mean, we INFPs are strange. Wait, maybe strange is too mild a word; psychotic, maybe. If you already don't know, INFP stands for "introvert-intuition-feeling-perceiving" and it's a personality type from the Myers-Briggs classification system.
We began talking about many things: it's quite interesting actually, because you know, there are so few INFPS in this world so once you meet one it's very rare:
a) We see that there is meaning in everything; thus everything seems to be a sign that God is speaking to us. even very very mundane things that most people would find just....everyday happenings. it means we think too much.
b) We get lonely sometimes; even when we're in a crowd with alot of people, we feel like we're alone; distant.
c) we need our own space; when someone budges into our space we feel threatened. yeah - tick - i go through that quite alot actually.
d) We feel genuinely happy when there's good in this world; when people do good to others, it makes our day; and when people are bad to others, we feel urm. angry? i don't know.
e) we try to "feel" and "mean" everything we do and say; we feel BAD when we don't mean it from our heart. i have this problem alot when i'm saying grace. i mean, it's just 'thank you God' but i really want to mean it. so i always have this problem when i'm saying grace. or saying "thanks" when peopel give you things.
f) this feeling bad thing - i told D - is crazy; sometimes you need a defence mechanism. but then again; maybe you don't, coz it's more genuinely who you are.
anyway, it's hard to be an INFP in law school, believe me.
Oh i have started a Soundclick. It has my songs on it.
http://www.soundclick.com/shawnpoon
Do feel free to listen and comment. thanks.
Hello D if you are reading this.
We spent alot of time talking about this whole conundrum called "INFP-ness". It's because both of us are INFPs, and well, sometimes it really takes one to know one. I mean, we INFPs are strange. Wait, maybe strange is too mild a word; psychotic, maybe. If you already don't know, INFP stands for "introvert-intuition-feeling-perceiving" and it's a personality type from the Myers-Briggs classification system.
We began talking about many things: it's quite interesting actually, because you know, there are so few INFPS in this world so once you meet one it's very rare:
a) We see that there is meaning in everything; thus everything seems to be a sign that God is speaking to us. even very very mundane things that most people would find just....everyday happenings. it means we think too much.
b) We get lonely sometimes; even when we're in a crowd with alot of people, we feel like we're alone; distant.
c) we need our own space; when someone budges into our space we feel threatened. yeah - tick - i go through that quite alot actually.
d) We feel genuinely happy when there's good in this world; when people do good to others, it makes our day; and when people are bad to others, we feel urm. angry? i don't know.
e) we try to "feel" and "mean" everything we do and say; we feel BAD when we don't mean it from our heart. i have this problem alot when i'm saying grace. i mean, it's just 'thank you God' but i really want to mean it. so i always have this problem when i'm saying grace. or saying "thanks" when peopel give you things.
f) this feeling bad thing - i told D - is crazy; sometimes you need a defence mechanism. but then again; maybe you don't, coz it's more genuinely who you are.
anyway, it's hard to be an INFP in law school, believe me.
Oh i have started a Soundclick. It has my songs on it.
http://www.soundclick.com/shawnpoon
Do feel free to listen and comment. thanks.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Friday, April 09, 2010
Monday, April 05, 2010
Happy easter and good friday; i shall write another post on that another day, but now I'm really very sleepy, it's a monday morning, and the day is daunting so, i wrote a new song on the way to school! it goes something like that.
Come on shawn, it's not so bad after all! (x2)
Wake up and smell the coffee (x2)
Come on shawn, it's not so bad after all!
yooo
it shld be fun.
Come on shawn, it's not so bad after all! (x2)
Wake up and smell the coffee (x2)
Come on shawn, it's not so bad after all!
yooo
it shld be fun.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
thank Jesus for a wonderful day today - which included many blessings - including;
a. a good nice jap lunch!
b. a great time cooking and having dinner and jamming
c. good friends
d. the ability to play a musical instrument relatively well.
e. the ability to sing better (or improving)
thank him
shawn
on to the weekend!
a. a good nice jap lunch!
b. a great time cooking and having dinner and jamming
c. good friends
d. the ability to play a musical instrument relatively well.
e. the ability to sing better (or improving)
thank him
shawn
on to the weekend!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
* you must realise that when bloggers blog, it's not that that's the only thing they've been thinking about for the past week, and then it all comes together, and eureka, you get a blog entry. We don't spend our lives 24/7 for the blog, on the blog, or even caring about the blog, for the matter. we only blog when we feel like it, or when we have something to say. I guess this is the latter time.*
Having done family law for like a few months now, I honestly think that we should go back to the old Catholic/Christian view of divorce. Make it extremely hard for couples to divorce once they have decided to get married. I mean, where's the "to death till us part", where's that concept of marriage that two people decide to commit to their life partner once and for all, and be safe and secure in that? In that love that should not change, that would not change, that need not change. All too often people are flippant and give up on love too easily. Which reminds me of KT Tunstall, who sang, on the "Other side of the World": "The fire fades away, most of everyday, is full of tired excuses, but it's too hard to say, I wish it were simple, but we give up easilyyou're close enough to see that....." Well, it doesn't have to be in the course of a long distance relationship, but either way, love should not give up so easily, isnt' it? It's a choice, to love that person - not just a feeling of romance. That feeling goes away, yes, but ultimately that choice should not go away, because you have willed (in the Kantian sense) it not to.
I sound very much like a guru on love, even though I never had a girlfriend before. It comes from my experience with counselling alot of my male and female friends. I think if I could charge money on this service I'd be rich by now. But never mind. And alot of it comes from the relationship with Christ - if you see the way He loves it's a constant choice to love, a constant love, that doesn't change. And will not change, if I know Him truly.
Having done family law for like a few months now, I honestly think that we should go back to the old Catholic/Christian view of divorce. Make it extremely hard for couples to divorce once they have decided to get married. I mean, where's the "to death till us part", where's that concept of marriage that two people decide to commit to their life partner once and for all, and be safe and secure in that? In that love that should not change, that would not change, that need not change. All too often people are flippant and give up on love too easily. Which reminds me of KT Tunstall, who sang, on the "Other side of the World": "The fire fades away, most of everyday, is full of tired excuses, but it's too hard to say, I wish it were simple, but we give up easilyyou're close enough to see that....." Well, it doesn't have to be in the course of a long distance relationship, but either way, love should not give up so easily, isnt' it? It's a choice, to love that person - not just a feeling of romance. That feeling goes away, yes, but ultimately that choice should not go away, because you have willed (in the Kantian sense) it not to.
I sound very much like a guru on love, even though I never had a girlfriend before. It comes from my experience with counselling alot of my male and female friends. I think if I could charge money on this service I'd be rich by now. But never mind. And alot of it comes from the relationship with Christ - if you see the way He loves it's a constant choice to love, a constant love, that doesn't change. And will not change, if I know Him truly.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
why do i like sleeping at unearthly hours?
I can write better music then.
it's the silence, man. the day's just too noisy!
i'm trying to complete a string quartet now, hopefully for mings and co to play. hehs. hopefully. it doesn't sound too terrible i hope.
im trying to finetune the chords so that it's intersting for everyone.
I can write better music then.
it's the silence, man. the day's just too noisy!
i'm trying to complete a string quartet now, hopefully for mings and co to play. hehs. hopefully. it doesn't sound too terrible i hope.
im trying to finetune the chords so that it's intersting for everyone.
Friday, March 05, 2010
I was a really emo kid last time.
I remembered writing a song for a friend who kind of "lost" me and drifted away, and i was really sad. in my heart i was sad. i used to give my heart away too easily - right now i keep my heart to myself too much - but it used to be that i gave it away too easily.
the song went like that
"There was a fork on the road we were travelling
You said go on, you could walk on alone, without me
You were so afraid to open your heart out
We sailed on by just to drift by (sic) another day
And when I said look at the sun, it's shining out for you the lights will pull you through
you needed to go"
super sad. and i was like, maybe 17.
oh how cynical i have become!
I remembered writing a song for a friend who kind of "lost" me and drifted away, and i was really sad. in my heart i was sad. i used to give my heart away too easily - right now i keep my heart to myself too much - but it used to be that i gave it away too easily.
the song went like that
"There was a fork on the road we were travelling
You said go on, you could walk on alone, without me
You were so afraid to open your heart out
We sailed on by just to drift by (sic) another day
And when I said look at the sun, it's shining out for you the lights will pull you through
you needed to go"
super sad. and i was like, maybe 17.
oh how cynical i have become!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
A good thought to end the day
1 Corinthians Chapter 13
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails.
how true.
it is not self seeking.
1 Corinthians Chapter 13
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails.
how true.
it is not self seeking.