On the 19th of december 2009, all the band members woke up at the unearthly hour at 4am, just to prepare to reach school by 5am to make the final preparations for our trip to singapore.
firstly, we would really like to thank the parents of a few members who were very kind to help us transport our heavy stuff from the sports center to the esso station outside of our school :D
if it weren't for them, our departure time would have been delayed due to the overwhelming amount of stuff we had to carry.
however, we departed at around 8am because the bus for members had some problems.
we stopped at a few rest stations during the journey to singapore and reached the customs at around 1pm. all the procedures went smoothly, and off we were to jurong junior college(hereafter referred to as jjc), which was located at jurong east. due to the confusing roads, we were running late.
alas, we reached jjc at 3pm, which was already late, as we were expected to be there at 1pm.
the jjc-ians provided us with a huge and warm welcome, and we got into our respective groups.
the group leaders brought us to our dorms and we had lunch at 4pm.
we met all of the peirce members during dinner.
afterwards, there were rehearsals and practices until the night.
of course, there was the required telematch/games in all camps (for the singaporean band members, they got to jjc in the morning as this was a camp for all us actually. it was entitled "Camp Reverie".)
we went to all the "spooky" places around the jjc campus, and enjoyed ourselves very much.
we finally got to rest at around 12am.
20th Dec 2009
we had individual practices and rehearsals scheduled for the rest of the day, and also a visit to singapore's famous Esplanade for a concert (which was performed by singaporean and european bands).
we also had the chance to take a walk around orchard road, which was full of fairy lights and sparkling decorations in conjunction with Christmas which was around the corner.
the temperature was just right(at around 19C, which we have not experienced for a very long time in malaysia) which made us felt like we were in a christmas wonderland.
the downside of it is orchard road is a very, very crowded place.
but still, the astounding decorations and amusing performances such as street performers and parades were worth it all.
we reached jjc at around 1am, and off we were to sleep as there will be an intensive practice schedule tmr and a performance at night.
21st Dec 2009
it was a very busy day for all of us. we had practices from morning till the afternoon.
it was our last chance to perfect our songs, to do what we can to improve our performance.
a concert entitled "REVERIE" was scheduled at night.
well you may be wondering, why did they name it reverie?
Reverie means to daydream, building castles in the sky. This concert is named Reverie as it was a dream to come together and be on the same musical journey. It has become a reality for different people from different countries and schools to be on the same musical journey today. Anything is possible if we put our minds and hearts to it. This event is a proof that dreams do come true.(above information taken from the concert booklet provided)
we started preparing for the concert at around 4pm.
guests started arriving at around 6pm+, as the concert was scheduled to start at 7pm sharp.
Here are the recordings made during the Reverie Concert. Recorded by Roger's friends,video made by Roger. credits go to the them and JJC Band's blog which posted this.
American Graffiti XIX from Roger Lim Jia Jun on Vimeo.
Reverie (Second Part) A Disneyland Celebration - Christmas Recollections - Festa Paesana - Jounetsu Tairiku from Roger Lim Jia Jun on Vimeo.
first up was the jjc band, with guest players from hougang high school band and shuqun high school band.
their repertoire consisted of:
- Welcome - Tokio Mashima
- American Graffiti XIX - Arr. Naohiro Iwai
- Disneyland Celebration - Michael Brown
- Flight of Valor - James Swearingen
- Whistle While You Work - Frank Churchhill
- Karachi Boulevard - Willy Fransen
- Blaze Away - Abe Holzmann
- Bravo Brass - Takashi Hoshide
we played:
- Festa Paesana - Jacob de Haan
- Christmas Recollections - John Edmondson
the support of the audience brought a big smile to each and every of the conductors' and performers' face.
as a surprise for the audience, we started playing another song when they were still applauding.
the song was :
- Jounetsu Tairiku by Hakase Taro, Arr. by Endo Yukio.
that was our last song for the night.
after the concert, we had a photo session and gift exchange session.
the peirce wind symphony, hougang high school band and shuqun high school band members went home afterwards.
little did we CHS Band members knew what the JJC Band members had in store for us.
boy, were we surprised.
we were told to go to one of their lecture halls after we kept our instruments and cleaned the hall.
guess what they had prepared for us?
A PARTY!
one of their member's mother had prepared a feast for us.
we were delighted with the food as we had been eating the same food over and over again for the past 2 and a half day.
this simple feast was absolutely scrumptious.
as we were eating, the band major of JJC Band told us that we were going to have a song-singing session!
suddenly, all the fatigue in us seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
everyone was hyper and singing their hearts out.
we even had a brass vs woodwind vs percussion cheer competition!
it was definitely our best night yet.
some of the members started feeling too tired to sing anymore and started sleeping at around 3am. we were allowed to go off at 3.30, while the others who were still energized could stay and sing until 4am.
22nd Dec 2009
we woke up at around 9am and had breakfast.
our next stop was the Singapore Science Center.
we were lucky as there was also a Body World Exhibition going on.
all of us had fun in the science center, reminiscing about our childhood times when we first went to science centers.
the various exhibitions there were certainly different from our country's science center.
there were so much to see and touch and investigate that we couldn't finish visiting all the sections in the science center.
we took our photos with the jjc band members and said our goodbyes. there were even a few members who shed tears.
band members will always be like a big family aye? though we only met for a few days, it was as if we had knew each other for our whole life.
afterwards, we were told to buy lunch at one of the shopping malls as we were in a rush to get back to kuala lumpur.
after buying lunch, we left singapore for our home sweet home, and arrived at kuala lumpur and around 8pm.
this interaction trip has indeed made us experience different cultures (though not that distinctly different). we also had the chance to perform with a band from our neighbouring country, which is quite rare.
I hope all of the band members had a great time during the trip!
a bigbig thank you to all the members of the JJC Band who were our awesome hosts!
and also to the Peirce Wind Symphony members, we enjoyed our stay with you very much!
to the Hougang and Shuqun High School members, we are glad to have known you!
hope to meet all of you again soon, adios :D
photos coming up soon!
meanwhile, enjoy the recordings above (:
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