The Hotel Radio

After unloading the instruments, everybody felt so high that they couldnt sleep. Some went to celebrate, while some like me chatted the night away with my new friends. Waking up the next morning felt even harder and harder.

The noisy phone rang, its the early morning call, and usually KaiYi would answer it. Its good that i dun have any weights upon my shoulder during this trip. My responsibility is to take good care of myself, as well as the Pipa section during performances. Other than that, i really have no worries because my mates are such sporting people. KaiYi, taking the role of leadership takes care of everything around, while YiRui and i just slack around... following around and nothing else. Ocassionally, we'll have KaiWen and GuoWei visiting our room, and as the days pass, more and more new visitors will appear. I'll touch of those later, but now... lets talk about breakfast.

It sucked.

After eating, we departed for Sydney Conservatorium of Music. SCM is located near the OperaHouse, in fact its merely walking distance, also for the CircularQuay. As we drove pass, i kept staring at its roof. It looked kinda Chinese, due to the walls which resembled the GreatWall. It is built in 1915, formerly known as the NewSouthWalesState Conservatorium of Music. Thats kinda long... It is one of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in Australia. Located in the Syndey Royal Botanical Gardens, the conservatorium incorporates a faculty of the University of Sydney, the community-based Conservatorium Open Academy and the Conservatorium High School. In the conservatorium, nothing really gave me the impression of a music school, other than a few posters. If NAFA would look anywhere close to it, i think i'll be so glad to come to school everyday!

Theres a steep stairway which leads to the bottom, where we would be having our exchange programme after unloading the instruments. Inside, there were enclosed areas, featuring some stone works, or some excavation site. I didnt have time to read what its about, but i could infer that its about some relics found in that area... because of some historical pictures and old ancient stones, bowls and stuff.

We moved the instruments out, except for the JianGu which was left back at the hotel. Took them all to this recital hall. Goodness, if DrKan would be having her lectures there, i dun think anybody would be sleeping. Maybe not on second thought, but... the gist is that the recital hall looked so much more like a real recital studio for performing purposes as well... unlike NAFA's which looked just like a bigger classroom. Moreover, the acoustic in that recital hall in NAFA is dry like a dead man's tongue.

We rehearsed inside, while we waited for the other group to arrive. The management told MikeChiang that we should have a change of plans. Imagine this, the exchange programme should actually be about an exchange between each culture, music and experience. However, we're mixing with some middle school orchestra, therefore... we already know their instruments, music and theres really nothing much to talk about. So, instead... we would introduce all of our instruments to them as an exchange programme. No gain for us, but well... it could spell some fun.

Indeed, it was a fun experience as we look at their astonished faces. When its my turn, im suppose to demonstrate the Pipa. I played a tune, and due to the pain in my bones, it was difficult for me to play. Ive been moving instruments, and with the pain, RuiXiang and GuoWei had to regularly remind me to take care of my hands. Well, it doesnt bother me, but i hope it didnt bother others too. Karen told me that i played very well, but i know then that its bad. The other performers demonstrated very well. Lastly, after the demonstrations with the brief history and description of the instruments from MrChiang, they were given some time to interact with us and to look at our instruments. Before that, we played a Suona piece which entertained them and some were wriggling their toes. Its that same piece Dedric played which sent many into giggles and laughters.

After the exchange programme, which finally ended, i took my bag and headed down to CircularQuay for a walk. MiYan and i were obsessed with the discount! Imagine this, almost the whole of Sydney is having 40 to 80% discount, isnt that crazy? We dropped by FCUK, and i noticed 2 pairs of shoes which cost about $45 each, after discount. Some prices were before, so i had to keep asking. Anyway, many of them wanted to go for lunch, thus we had to keep moving. During this period, everybody was trying to ditch somebody who kept following us. He is irritating in some ways, but kinda alright to me. I shall not mention his name, for its not really very nice. His name is Aaron.

Alright, he doesnt help much during the moving of the instruments. He'll aim for lighter items, which were supposed to be mine! Bitch! Sorry, its alright. But, he'll keep shouting for instruments and commanding others while he does nothing. We call him Cyclops, but later... he got promoted from eye power to mental power, being the top mutant, Xavier. Its quite a comical sketch, but... lets not be unkind to anybody.

We couldnt ditch him. Some headed for pizzas, while those who would preferred lower budget choices left for the cafe. I didnt wanna eat, because i just wanna keep moving. I tagged along with ChaiXia and gang, which ive ignored for the past few days due to certain reasons which i wouldnt wanna say. I know some of u are just waiting for me to blog about this, but well, take ur time and wait, it'll appear sooner or later.

They took a really long time to get their orders done. Next, they've to wait for their lunch to be served. I stood in the sun, waited and while enjoyed the entertainment from the seagulls. There were a couple of people feeding them. This particular scene flashed back exactly from Nemo's seagulls. They are completely similar. The setting for Nemo is Sydney, isnt it? That explains almost everything...

So, after waiting, we got moving. I told them that i would wanna visit the Botanical Garden, they didnt give a definite reply. It doesnt matter, no matter what... i'll be going there. I waited so long for them, but i got nothing in return other than a bite from XiuHua's lunch. Im not a petty person, i dun demand anything in return, and it doesnt matter really. Its just that im kinda sensitive with my thoughts which affected me through these few days. We were at the gates of the garden, and i headed in while they headed back to the conservatorium. How nice.

I took my camera out and the film started rolling... There were quite alot of people there, but mainly Australians and workers from the CBD who walked over into the gardens for a talk with their collegues or just a simple walk. Some were having picnic, having a bite while reading their papers, reading a book under a big umbrella tree or the most common sight, jogging. I cant imagine that ive seen quite a number these few days. Those people were wearing singlet, shorts and probably just a cap and they'll jog through the winter flu. Unfriendly chills, dun they ever feel them around? Im not sure, i smiled and thought... what a lifestyle.

A diversity of people, lifestyles and places in Sydney. From the corner of my eye, i couldnt ignore this huge palm tree, standing solo in midst of the peaceful garden. I walked around, hoping to dwell deeper, but time didnt stand on my side. I took whateva time i had, grabbed a few shots to feed my hunger. I was asking myself, should i walk down that steps? If i were to, i would see a variety of beautiful faunas as well as a comely pond, with a fountain. Ive seen pictures of it before, but well... i didnt have to time to go down there. Just beside it, there'll be a handsome view of the sea, and over it, it'll be MosmansBay and AtholBay. The Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney is the largest of three major botanical gardens open to the public in Sydney. The park, managed by the same trust as TheDomain adjoining it, is free to access and open every day of the year.

My phone alarmed me. I took a short run out of the garden and headed back to the conservatorium. Though im punctual, im actually early. I sat at the cafe, isolating myself from the crowd inside, took a look at my photos and sorted them clearly. My phone memory was kinda limited due to my storage of songs. So, i had to delete almost all of them, leaving only one last song, by Seal, to accompany my lonely moments. I deleted some photos i took from the OperaHouse, because they looked somewhat similar to others. But well, many people came to me, asked about my pictures and sat with me on the table.

We took a ride out of the conservatorium and headed out to the University of NewSouthWales. I didnt think anybody knew that when we were about to enter UNSW, there was this stretch of houses. 2 Singaporeans were murdered there back then. How sad? See what discrimination can do? Im not sure what happened, but anyway... theres another one involving the murdering of this guy's Asian classmates. Whateva it is, its kinda disturbing.

We alighted, took a walk down the street with a guide. She told us that she'll keep us moving and will try to get us warm. I thought we'll be moving literally as in walking round the whole campus. Who knows, we were seated into this lecture room and we stayed in there for almost an hour plus. I sat at the back, with MiYan, MrChiang and GuoWei. We were mumbling away because directly behind us was cakes and refreshments. The smell was luring us away...

Lecturers slowly came over and took over the class. They started promoting their school, and when i took a peek into the book they provided us with, i was stunned with the price. Its really expensive! I would rather go rob a bank and kill myself. Whateva it is, there was this lecturer, being the head of engineering, he literally gave a whole lecture on his course and what we would learn. My goodness? I was sitting there, listening to his mechanics, science theories and many other junks. Please, i really need somebody to release the shackle on my feet.

Finally, we were released. Many woke up from their nap and headed to the back for their food. I was one of the first to pick the best out of the many choices. After eating, we were sent back to the carpark, and we'll be heading back to the conservatorium for our workshop.

We waited for a long time, because there was another group in the recital hall. Our workshop was conducted by DavidRamadanoff. Out of the 7 from the guest faculty for the festival, ive read their biographies and i found DavidRamadanoff's most impressive. He pursued his studies as a doctoral candidate at JuilliardSchool from 1972 to 1975, where he also taught conducting. In 1975, SeijiOzawa appointed him as AssistantConductor of the SanFranciscoSymphony. In 1977, EdoDeWaart promoted him to Associate. He was the director of the OnleySymphony in Philadelphia, assistant conductor for the SyracuseSymphony, conductor of the YoungPeoplesSymphonyOrchestra in Berkely, the nations oldest youth orchestra, which has grown considerably since his appointment in 1988.

I must admit, i dunno a single crap from his biography, but it looked like something. Anyway, he stood tall and sturdy, and he reminded me deeply of Saruman. He looked like him, and he talked like him. Now, imagine his cool deep voice, that'll be similar to DavidRamadanoff's. I personally liked his attitude and professionalism. By right, the workshop would consist of the judge, conducting and giving advices to the orchestra. Being ignorant to our music, DavidRamadanoff was humble with his comments and told us how much he loved our music. He said that it touched him and amazed him that night at the cathedral. As for me, i felt warmth in my heart as he spoke. His words carried much sincerity, not enough to be in doubt, and he refused to conduct us though MrChiang invited him on the podium. So, we played a few pieces for him, and he looked at the scores while enjoying our performance. He mentioned twice that he would love to have us to visit him in USA, where we'll have an exchange with his orchestra. Thats really a priviledge to hear from a maestro himself.

After packing up, in the coach, MrChiang told me that theres more than USA, we might have a chance to perform somewhere bigger. I think this opportunity to perform at the festival opened many doors for us. Im happy for them. Ive helped NYPCO for already 4 years, and its just like a blink of an eye. Another joyous night to remember and to celebrate for. I wanted to take a picture with DavidRamadanoff, but had to little courage to.

Back in the hotel, things went wild. Im glad i wont need to wear the green CO polo shirt anymore. Ive worn it twice without washing already. First, during the flight and second, during the workshop. Our room was filled with many guests from other levels. As for me, my heart was tired and listening. I stared into my messy luggage, trying to find a piece of mind. Felt the flowing water from the shower running down my cheeks. Found a warm spot within my layers of blanket. Above me, stood a spoilt lamp. Its light flickered almost everytime when i move. Irritating as it already is, i closed my eyes and remembered home. I was thinking whether to call home, i could imagine Mom trying to contact me. I stared into my phone, and found an empty white spot. It lingered in my eyes... and swam in my head. I covered myself, and walked into dreamland.