Thursday, December 29, 2005

Circle of bloggers

Continuing from the previous post, Kunstemaecker, is in Singapore. It has been a pleasure to meet him.

After reading about what other bloggers have wrote on the meeting with Kunstemaecker and other fellow bloggers in Singapore, I realised that each of us has different styles of writing and different ways to express our experience of this hard-to-come-by meeting with Kunstemaecker. As such, it will definitely be more complete to read the posts of the various bloggers writing on one similar topic.

Check the links for what other fellow bloggers have written: Msfeline, Mistipurple, Socialpest and Kunstemaecker himself.(more to be added)

***
27 Dec 2005:
I was to meet Kunstemaecker at the hotel lobby. I reached there earlier than the agreed upon meeting time. It was raining. When I got into the hotel lobby, I saw a gentleman with a familiar-looking face sitting down.

I have a hunch that he should be Kunstemaecker, but I needed the space to settle down, to catch my breathe and to feel more prepared to ask if he was indeed Kunstemaecker. That took about five minutes. The gentleman whom I thought was Kunstemaecker was indeed him.

Pardon me for the delayed response. The space to prepare must have been a necessity for yours truly in my very own world.

Shortly after exchanging greetings and checking out with Kunstemaecker if he has any plan for the day, we headed to see Mistipurple. Thereafter socialpest joined in. Mistipurple played music on the piano for us. What a pleasure to hear her play on the piano.

***
The adventure to sightsee Singapore followed. Kunstemaecker, Socialpest and yours truly set out on the journey to Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay. As we walked along, we found ourselves at the Merlion Park, Fullerton Hotel and UOB Plaza1.


On Esplanade Bridge



If you have probably guessed by now, I am better at taking photographs of landscapes than of people. As such, I regret that I have mostly photographs of the landscapes that we have seen to show you.



Guess where we are? Taking photo of the aerial view of the Boat Quay.



Warning: I tend to slip into auto-pilot walking mode. As such, I am mindful that I might be unconsciously subjecting my travel companions that day to excessive amount of walking. If you were ever to walk about with me, please remind me if I were to be walking too much.

***
On the way to the dinner place, Kunstemaecker asked about how Singapore became independent. Yours truly isn't made to be a historian, and could only offer him information on this topic very briefly.

However, if Kunstemaecker or yourself wish to find out more, this is quite a good link on the history of Singapore to check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Singapore

***
Dinner was spent with Kunstemaecker, Msfeline and Mistipurple at Lau Pa Sat (which means Old Market literally). That day was considered the first time that I met Msfeline. She is a nice lady.

Msfeline has posted nice photos of the dinner. Check out her post.

By the way, I like to take this opportunity to praise Kunstemaecker for the efforts that he has made in learning to use the chopsticks. I think he learns pretty fast. It took me about a month to learn to use the chopsticks properly. Cheers!

***
The post-dinner activity was to listen to the jazz band at Harry's Bar at Boat Quay. That was one of the rare times that you would find me in a bar. The company and the music was lovely (though I would prefer to listen to the music unplugged). Special thanks to Kunstemaecker for the treat to the drinks. It was nice of him.

When the band took a break, I made a brief conversation with the guitarist, RS. He gave me some insights on playing in a jazz band.

Before midnight approaches, we parted for the day.

Thanking the folks mentioned above for their good company and friendship.

5 comments:

mistipurple said...

thank YOU for your friendship, and your kindness. it has not gone unnoticed by my colleagues too. *wink*
and, i must say again that i appreciated kunstemaecker for taking the long trip here to meet us.

crazycat said...

u gave good details.. and you take good pics.. and... shucks, i forgotten wat i was going to say... oh yes.. u interested to play in a jazz band? wat will happen to ur classics *giggle*

oceanskies79 said...

Mistipurple: My pleasure and honour.

Crazycat: Actually, I have never feel confident to play in a jazz band. I don't seem to have the feel for jazz as compared to playing the classic orchestra pieces.

Aside from complimenting their playing, the one question that I had asked the guitarist at Harry Bar was: 1) How long the band rehearse as a team?

The guitarist went on to share with me some of the examples of the instances where the players played the music in a different way and improvised the music in a way that would surprise and delight their band-mates. For example, if the lyrics are about stars, they may play tunes improvised from familiar tunes such as twinkle, twinkle little star.

car@ said...

Py....i am brain dead but will be here soon to read your wonderful stories. +hugs dear* You are lovely! i can tell who you are from Msfeline's pic.

oceanskies79 said...

Hi Car@, great to have you around. Have a good day.

**
Simple American: I really started using the chopstick the proper way when I wa about 13 - 14 years old. Before that, I did use the chopsticks, but did not hold it the proper way.

Good to hear you enjoy the commentary.