National Day 2009
Alright! pardon me for onli updating the dead blog now.. been realli busy with all my projects submission and tests....
so im here to update on National Day.. which happens last week on August 9!
WARNING: it will be a very long post.. full of words and pictures.. u have been warned.. =)
it has been a long but yet fruitful and enjoyable journey i would say.. i still can clearly remember the day the selection came thru.. it was at strikeforce orientation finale.. was pretty elated that im selected...
Had our first trainin at Amoy Quee Camp... with Bloco Singapura.. was realli dumbfounded to learn that im playing the tamborins instead of drums... and totally suck at it.. Had a few changes here and there.. and then soon after the entire strikeforce were out of that segment... was told that we will be performing for Drumline..
Had our weekdays night training at Amoy Quee camp..and met our drumline instructor. Mr Dennis Sim.. and i was kinda surprised... cox i didnt expect it to be him... he is also NYP percussion team Instructor.. how small can the world be! LOL... training was kinda tough and tiring i would say.. hitting the mat for 2 hours plus.. doing upstroke and downstroke and double stroke... but no pain no gain eh? and of course.. with the most disturbing device ever... the metronome.. but no doubt it can realli helps alot in timing and keeping time while playing.. but its realli not easy and its rather irritating as well.. hahhaa..
Finally amidst all the waiting and training. the actual score for the performance came.. looks like whole loads of riddles and puzzles to me.. dun even know how to read... not to mention the sticking for it as well too.. and so we spent every sunday Ministry Training time to decipher all the notes and to play with it... GOT it in the end! Realised it wasnt that difficult to decode it afterall with all of us working together....
We Bid goodbye to Yio Chu Kang's Amoy Quee camp.. and we moved to Kranji Camp at Yew Tee.. thats where all the Catered food starts coming in! hahaaha! all the KFCs and stuff...
at Kranji Camp.. we mostly focus on Chapter 5.. the fast forward chapter and we met our instructors from sonofa... one cool bunch of people i would say... they totally just rock so much... realli enjoyed learning all the stuff from them.... not to mention all the fun and pranks we had!
Imitating all the choir dance moves was wat we do during our "free time" at the Make shift stage at the camp... was literally making a fool of ourselves.. or rather, just me.. hahaa!
but also not forgetting drumline.. all the times spent at the sheltered training shed... it somehow became our training area in the end.. remembered doing the sequences time and time again during the weekdays just so that i can get it right on saturday.. and yes.. my effort was paid off when eventually im able to play on time and improved alot...
Bided Goodbye to Kranji Camp and we moved to the Floating Platform at Marina Bay.. First time being there... never see such a huge mega setting before.. with all the participant all of us working together to make things work.. of course first combined rehearsal was alright... still can improve.. and from there.. every week... we kept improving..the shows gets better and better... tings starts to form up and look better... although we had our difficult times due to the tight security... but its all for the better good of the entire show....
And yes.. saturdays was the most anticipating day for mi in a week.. because its always better than being in school and stuck with projects.. slowly.. we moved on to NE shows... with all the kids there.. realli gave an adrenaline booster to me.. still can remember having major butterflies on NE1... Not forgetting the heavy Downpour on that very first NE show... realli memorable!
Then tings get better.. the army officers watched the performance and gave many encouraging compliments... it just realli spurred mi to do better..
i remember every week before our turn to perform at the evening show.. there is this army officer who realli enjoyed my performance and every week.. never fail he will come and encourage mi and show support... its realli very delightful to see that someone enjoys our performance that much even though its just a one minute drumline segment...
As time moves closer to Aug 9th... tings are more or less confirmed and all we have to do is just to practice and rehearse...
Aug 9th came... the day we all been anticipating for.. security checks were tighter.. everything was in place for the biggest annual celebration... and then 6:50pm... we went up to the podim to perform for the entire nation.
everything went so well that day.. my IEM.. never was it so crystal clear before.. i can hear every single beat coming from it.. and playing exactly to it... even the final pose for the chapter gave mi a shock.. cox its totally different and its nice.. i have been racking my brains for poses for weeks but to no avail...
Chapter 5 was the best.. somehow its the first time i manage to groove while grinding sparks.. (something which i tried every week but failed)... everything went so well for the chapter.. no hiccups...
Finale was the bomb... everyone just had a time of their life on stage with the nation... the pledge moment was realli touching i have to say.. i didnt cry of course.. but it certainly added alot more meaning this time when i said it... for once in a long time.. i actually feels proud reciting it... and the remix of the national anthem is the best! best mix of the national anthem i have ever heard of in my 20 years of life..
Crashed around cameras on the stage and literally went high.. some of us ran around the entire stage crashing pictures with the other performers.. (of course we did ask permission)... and i tink we amounted quite a lot of shots in that short span of an hour or so... had an after party on the stage..
well.. coming to an end.. NDP journey has brought me many laughters and joy... forging new friendships... learning new skills... and the sense of fulfillment is realli tremendously great... i just wanna thank you strikeforce for adding so much extra colours into my life.. and making this entire joruney such a wonderful one... all the laughters and all the crazy moments we go thru... thought NDP has ended.. but im sure there will be even better and greater chances awaiting for us in the near future!
Remaining Visuals..
One Band, One Sound!Last but not least!
HAPPY NATIONAL DAY!
