What can be more wonderful than life, my life!

I feel like bursting into a song now and dance around, and make my afternoon look like a musical from Broadway.

OK. No more nonsense.

I'm studying - GRE. I am learning up words to make sure I score for the exam. I have like 10,000 words to learn. Words like 'coronet', 'whet', 'scintilla', and other useful words that we use several times a day in our chit-chats with friends. I have to learn how to recognize words, find similarities between words, know the opposites, figure out how to use them in sentences, and then, after all that, write two essays. As if that wasn't enough, I have to answer a whole bunch of arithmetic questions. I can feel my spine shiver with joy already. Arithmetic, I "adore" arithmetic!

There's also TOEFL to study for, but pfft, that's so elementary compared to GRE. :)

Starting 1st July, I go back to school, sort of. I start my French classes twice a week, and by November, I should be ready for my first major French language exam by the French Ministry of Education. C'est tres bon!

Just when I thought I only have to focus on GRE, TOEFL, and French, I realized I have to write three (3) essays (ESSAYS) and I have to start soon or at least pretend to start soon so that when the deadline approaches, I can do my last-minute magic again. We all know how it works, so don't roll your eyes at me.

In fact, I always remember this saying we had in college; a philosophy so deep I think we must think about it every now and then and reflect on it:

"If it weren't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done".

Gosh. Such profound words. Wonder who came up with that.... Bart Simpson? Maybe, don't really care.

In a few hours, I'll be off to watch the Broadway of Beauty and the Beast. Oohh-la-la, so exciting! I'd like to thank the people who made it possible for me to watch the show tonight, and their company as well. It will definitely make the show more magical than it already is!

Alright, it's now time for Dom to be a good boy and get back to GRE'ing. Maybe I'll end up using new words, like 'abstemious' or 'pussilanimous' or 'gossamer' ......

Au revoir, farewell.



Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber. (Plato)

It must be tough being a journalist in Malaysia now. I'm glad I don't have to be part of the nonsense that they have to go through, especially lately.

Makes you wonder what is happening to the world now. So much is going on, and you can't help but wonder why.

The hike it petrol price is affecting our lives in so many ways. More people are opting for public transport. We're getting less traffic jams around the town areas. And I walked for an hour to Leisure Mall from my place just to collect my passport photos which I took earlier in the morning. Aha, yes, I really did that. Why? Save petrol, exercise, help the environment, and I had a lot of spare time! But no regrets whatsoever.

It took an hour from my place all the way to Leisure Mall: through the hills, over the rocky roads, past the potholes, tahan-ing the car fumes, and trying not to get blisters! Stupid me, I wore my tight slippers. Should have worn shoes!

But, by doing this, I got to notice the little things you don't notice when you drive back home: the house with very antique lights on the fence; the house with a huge glass door entrance and a garden that looks like a jungle; the roadside stalls that sell such beautiful fresh flowers; the other stalls that sell Malay kuihs and nasi lemak; road signs that have weird names like Jalan Koop.



Beauty is truth, truth beauty, - that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. (John Keats)

As bad as we may think, our country isn't such a terrible place to live in.

I like Malaysia. And if I ever have to leave this country for more than a month, I know I will go crazy, literally.

Yes, we have terrible public transport systems. We're corrupted. We have terrible traffic jams in major cities. Our education system isn't very glamorous. We have libraries that do not have a computer system that is fully functional. We have political leaders who aren't exactly the wisest people. We speak so many languages but we're not always necessarily good at all of them.

Yet,
"We are proud to be Malaysians!"

So true.

I am, indeed, proud to be Malaysian.

We have easy access to all sorts of food, everywhere, anywhere, every time, any time. Long live the mamak stalls and the people who work labourously to keep them open. We have traditions and cultures like no other country. Our natural landscapes are amazingly gorgeous. We have weather that is as unpredictable as our political leaders. We have dirty streets that show that we do have a life. Traffic jams prevail till the wee hours of the morning, which also means we have a life outside of the office.

And unlike our neighbour, the Lion City, we have great food that is to die for - Malay, Indian, Chinese; any food you can think of, and cheap too.

But Singapore was a nice place to live in. It just wasn't me.

I was there a few days ago for a short "holiday" trip with JH. We had fun exploring the city. But it wasn't really the city that made it exciting. It's a nice city to travel to for a short holiday, but after a while, you just need to get out of the city and see some real jungles and forests - like those on the NSE. Hehe.

There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again

Time flies - way too fast - and I don't like that sometimes.

But, that's life. C'est la vie. What to do.

I suppose time passes really fast when one is enjoying life. And yours truly has really been enjoying life lately. And why not? Life is to be enjoyed, isn't it?

It is the season for music exams - and tis the season to be making sure my music students are prepared and equipped for their exams... if not.... off to the guillotine they go! :) No, just joking. (some of my students can't tell when I talk crap!). To those of you taking the music practical exams next month, all the best!

And when the exams end, I will be able to breathe again....

I'll be breathing fresh cold mountain air, because I'll be climbing Mt Kinabalu! And boy-oh-boy I can't wait! I know, I swore to never set foot on that mountain again after going up twice: the first time with a storm and strong winds, and the second time with a bunch of friends who got injured. But this time, I want to show the mountain what I am made of! (allow me to psych myself and do some hypnotherapy here, thank you). But apart from the mountain, I will be showing JH around my hometown. I will be back to the wonderful land below the wind from 21st to 30th July. Yuppy!

My daily routine now involves a mixture of all sorts of self-fulfilling activities. These include sleeping to replenish the strength that I need to live through a day of teaching and work. I am also busy studying a whole lot of pretty and fancy vocabulary for my GRE. GRE: Graduate Record Examination. It's an exam, and I have been studying for it. It's a stupid exam, but like all stupid exams, I still have to study for it. But ooh, soon I'll be going for French and German classes too. C'est bon, oui?

I am also working on three essays: composers during the Nazi era, music during the Vietnam war, and music during the Reformation. I'd appreciate anyone who has input on these topics to share their four cents with me.

Fuel price increased. Feeling the impact yet? I bet you are.

What to do. C'est la vie. That's life.

Be glad we still have food on our tables!


Now there is one outstandingly important fact regarding Spaceship Earth, and that is that no instruction book came with it.

I have written about this before, but I think I would like to talk about it again.

There is something seriously wrong with the way music is taught in this country.


I say this from a very concerned point of view. And having observed the way music is still being taught in Malaysia, and also looking back at how I was taught, I feel that there are flaws in the system. Something has got to happen!

Actually, there are seminars that take place several times a year, conducted by the people from the Royal School of Music in UK. They come here to tell teachers how to teach music in a very, well, musical way. Still, not good enough.

In this country, we are very, or rather, extremely exam-oriented. We want to make sure we pass our music exams, and make sure our certificates say 'distinction'.

Sadly, many students are taught 3 pieces a year - their exam pieces. Heh.

Again, very sadly, students are taught Aural, Practical, and Theory, all separately. In actual fact, music is music, and Aural, Practical, and Theory, all fall under the same title - music. So why treat each entity as though they were not related? Very often I meet students who have no idea what they learned in theory, when they are actually playing it in their songs; they have no idea what a scale sounds like, when they are in fact playing it in their songs.

Things certainly need to change. Music isn't fully scientific. It is artistic and needs to be appreciated. The moment a student feels that he has to be dragged to music class, something is wrong.

If you need to drag your kids to music class, blame the teacher (partly) :)


"Music - The one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend." (Beethoven)

I spent two good years in Singapore studying in college. I worked hard. I made sure I got good results and excellent grades. I got active in college life. I used the resources in the library. I made friends with lecturers and course mates. Yes, it was fulfilling.

Having spent two years in Singapore also allowed me to learn about the country. And like most Malaysian and Singaporeans do, I always tend to compare the two countries. But that's for another blog entry, although I am very tempted to post up my views on what I truly think of Lion City.

But here's the thing I want to share today. While I did study hard, I also played hard!

And so... I had the opportunity to walk around the island city of Singapore as a farmer.

I was promoting Discovery Channel's show called Dirty Jobs, hosted by Mike Rowe.

So you see, I played hard, as a farmer. Hot and sweaty, carrying a bucket, shouting, and promoting some TV show I never even watched before. Oh well. The things we do for some fun and excitement.


Some have been thought brave because they were afraid to run away.