Ah, It Feels Good to be Back to the Normal, Unrelated Titles

Well hello there. I'd like to start off by saying thanks for putting up with that long essay that I posted, I actually got some great feedback and conversation from that. And thank you to the two readers who check my blog every day, even when I don't announce that I post, it's very sweet. (Mom and Dad, stop using Internet Explorer, I can track what browser you use) (Also to the people using safari... stop... even the iPhone has a Google Chrome app, you have no excuse)

Anyway, I digress. I promise I won't judge you on your browser choice.

Another week survived. It was touch and go with a few of the projects and presentations that were due this week, but with a little bit of the Team America Theme Song, I was able to pull through. (I mean I was called smartest person in the class by the professor. I'm not bragging or anything, I'm just saying what happened) (Marketing group, don't ruin this for me, let me have my moment) But despite all the school work, I took the time to reward myself a little this weekend before heading back into the fray of final projects and presentations.

This weekend was filled with great music. Friday night was spent at the Sultan Jazz Club. A wonderful little hole in the wall where I got to revive my love for jazz and relax after a very stressful week. Seriously, I miss jazz a lot, probably one of the only times in about 2 years that I've really missed improv jazz on my saxophone back home. It was a tribute night to the songs of Nina Simone, and I fan-girl yelled in the coolest, manliest way possible when the first few notes of "Feeling Good" came out of what really was a great jazz group. If you're not familiar with the song, google it, it's one of my favorites. (Yes, even if it is "mainstream" and Michael Buble did a cover of it, be quiet jazz hipsters, let me have my moment)

(Great atmosphere, Great crowd, Great Group)

The venue and the group were just what I needed after a long week and I had a wonderful night. I recommend this if you are a jazz fan and in Singapore. Which, I mean, is very unlikely that you are and reading this, but hey, who knows.

The following evening in my musical adventure of a weekend, I flipped to the opposite spectrum for a very different concert. I took a trip to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and even if you aren't into classical music, or symphonies, the Esplanade is a beautiful place to visit while in Singapore. The mall, the food and park area, as well as the indoor and outdoor theaters are great. The Esplanade concert hall is the location for the top performances in the country and is quite a beautiful building inside and out.

(It's the one that "Looks like Epcot at Disney" as my Dad said while my family was visiting)

The concert itself was great, and I had a wonderful time. But I mean, I'm into that kind of stuff. Great collection of pieces surrounding Turkish themes and colors. The program was mostly Mozart, but had a piece by Beethoven and one by Haydn. I do not remember the conductors name, though he was a very charming and reputable man I'm sure. (And yes, I'm too lazy to reach over and look at my program that I still have) However, the Violin Soloist I do remember. Jennifer Pike was phenomenal and after her performance in Mozart's concerto, and after a lot of applause, she graced us with a beautiful performance of "Partita No. 3" by Bach. Which I think she may have taken a few clicks to fast, but I mean hey, it was even more impressive that she played it impeccably. Easily one of the highlights for me, great violinist.

It was fun to change pace from a chill jazz club, where hooting and yelling in the middle of a song was encouraged, to a symphony hall where there were rules about applause. (Rules that always one person forgets, I mean come on, stop clapping in between the movements, his hands were still up and everything) But all in all, it was a great weekend. (Oooh, was that a little too 5-paragraph-essay-conclusion-sentence from elementary school? I think it was. Was I the only one who had to underline things like that in colored pencil?)

(My view before the concert began)

Thank you non-music people for enduring my slight nerd session over jazz and classical pieces. I promise I'll get back to more beaches and travels soon so you aren't bogged down by classical analysis and long essays on cultural differentiations. (Could have said differences, chose differentiations. Not sure why. Or if it's grammatically correct) In fact, I am just finishing up my reservations for my excursion across the island of Bali. I'll be traveling to 4 cities over the span of 6 days on the island, and I'm leaving next Sunday. Hopefully I'll get another post off before then, but we'll see.

It's crazy to think that I'm going into my last week of classes here. While I feel ready to go home, this has been quite an experience, and something that I've learned a lot from. As my birthday approaches and my time in Asia draws closer to an end, I hope that you'll indulge my sentimental-philosophical-inward-thinking-over-adjectived posts about life and crap like that. I might mix a few in there, in between the tropical islands and volcanoes. (Plus I have to figure out if I should keep blogging or not, but I mean, that's a whole different topic) But that might be jumping to conclusions a little too quickly, for now, I will continue to procrastinate on my studying and plan which beaches I'm going to lay down on.

Until next time!