.. well, not quite. Just more like the land under the peninsular: Singapore.
A friend and I decided to join this piano festival thing since April, and have been working quite hard on a duet piece. After some pushing, and toiling, and some highs and lows, we managed to confirm our flights and details in time for the event.
Initially, I told myself that I should be in Singapore to attend the festival, and there's all to the whole trip. Who knew. Singapore is having their Mid-year Sales. School's off for the week (or so I know since I came here). So many attractions to see, so many things to do.
Furthermore, Tower Records is obsolete in Kuala Lumpur, and most likely the whole of Malaysia. The only place that offers original classical CD recordings is Rock Corner. And the selection. Pft. Hence a trip to HMV is a must when I get to Singapore.
And when we got here for the festival, the organizers, Music Essential (a music shop), is having a big-ass sale for their score collections. Definitely what you can't find in Malaysia, and by that I mean, the city I grew up in, Kuala Lumpur.
So, instead of spending time at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory (NUS), I ended up spending time at Orchard Road, food stores and concerts other than the festival's; and spending money on CDs, scores and food.
CDs - S$ 93
Scores - S$ 237 (over a span of 10 books)
A pair of Esprit jeans - S$ 40
A shopping spree of a lifetime - priceless
Oh, and one more thing. The hard work I mentioned before did pay off. Our duet was one of the 76 participants who got a Gold ('twas second to best: first was Platinum) award for our performance.
Hooray for us!
Note: Writing this at the airport at 5.50 in the morning without any decent sleep, waiting for the flight, which stupidly was re-timed (rescheduled) from 6.25am to 8am. What a waste of my precious time when I could have just stayed in my room to sleep till early morning and rushed over to the airport. Woe is me.
