Went for this Bach und Jazz concert at Heiliggeistkirche in Heidelberg almost straight after returning from Freiburg.. Met up with Icy (3rd pic), a Hongkong-er from my music class.. It's so nice to be attending a concert with someone. =p (remember by solo appreciation of Scarlet Pimpernal... she was in berlin at that time) The organ looks fantastic with the horizontal trumpets and the added lights..

The concert was about 4 hours long with breaks in between.. First was a solo organ concert, followed by a few pieces by a jazz band (really really good), then a scared choral jazz thingie (choir.. erm... not so good), then lastly... and most enticingly is an organ and saxophone duet. The last segment started only about 1045pm.. Was quite sleepy already, but the music was so good.. that we just stayed all the way.. Took the last bus back at 2355hrs..


Icy and I outside the Musikwissenschaft Seminar entrance.

oh the life. =)

Freiburg, Neuf Brisach, Colmar and Breisach

from 17-19 July....

In Freiburg, at the top of the Münsterturm.. (i think that's what it's called) .. Climbed up all 200 over steps with my backpack because I forgot that all Hbfs have locker facilities.. :S .. it was. a workout. But the view was really great though. Windy too. It's really worth the climb sans backpack.

Took the Schauslandsbahn from some outer area of Freiburg. It's a 25 mins (one way) long cable car ride all the way to the top of i-don't-know-where. But all in all, the view was fantastic and the weather was really good. Didn't manage to spend a great amount of time there though. Had to take the 25 mins ride down again to catch the bus back to Freiburg... so that I can take a train to Breisach.. so that I can take a bus to Neuf Brisach. =)

More on Neuf Brisach later, but we're now in France, past the river Rhine (really great view as well.. it's like something out of a picture). Arrived there at about 17++hrs and was immediately ushered  off to a 2 hrs organ lesson. =)

This is a cathedral in Colmar. St Martins I think. Colmar's a really nice town with old buildings a-plenty. Went there on the 18th, after organ practice in the morning and a short lesson. Then went back to Neuf Brisach to practice some more.. before going over to my teacher's for dinner.

About the teacher's house: It has 2 grand pianos, 1 harpsichord, 1 pipe organ, and 3 clavichords.

*GASP.

ya i know.

It was a really cosy place. Self-designed and built. (wow right) His garden's filled with lavender and rosemary plants.. even a self-dug pond.. and his 2 cats! Bibi and John. John's a really really fat cat. 

He invited another student of his, David, and other friends over as well. And his wife's a superb cook. It was a really good gathering... and I'm definitely, already, missing the times in Neuf Brisach...

This is the organ in Neuf Brisach that I practiced and had lessons on. It's a fantastic organ with excellent balance and sensitivity to touch... spent... hours and hours practicing in the three days there..

Here's a cathedral from Breisach, where the train station is.. My teacher dropped me off at the French border and I walked over to the German side of it... albeit with a heavy heart after saying goodbye.. I guess it's suddenly hitting me that I am truly going to leave. Really really soon. Even as I blog now, I really should be cleaning my room in preparation for the move to Leipzig. oh dear.

all in all... totally memorable trip.

Johanneskirche - Neuenheim, Heidelberg.

Introducing my practice venue, which I visited for the last time yesterday morning. I spend most of my tuesday and friday mornings there, save for the times I'm out of Heidelberg. The church's really nice (people and building alike) and I know I'll definitely miss collecting the key from the lady at the pastor's office, who is always friendly and greets everyone with a smile. And for Herr Seibert, the organist and Kantor at the church. He was really helpful right from the start.



This is the building opposite the church where we have choir practice every Monday night. The soprano ladies are really really nice..

The Scarlet Pimpernel. =D and the city of Ettlingen

secret photos that I took of the musical. hehe. I had thought that it was going to be in English, but alas... no... it was in German. haha. But thankfully I had most of the lyrics of the songs memorised down pat in my head. So understanding wasn't a problem. The set was really simple since it's at the courtyard of a Castle. But there was a lot of symbolism used: a red cloth dragged by actors dressed as executioners to signify the blood shed from the guillotine... etc. A lot of the effect turned out really great. 

This scene is when everyone was trying to guess who the Scarlet Pimpernel really is....

This was when they sang the song 'The Riddle'... a song about trust and conspiracy... really interesting.

And... a little bit of Ettlingen. =) .. This is taken from the cafe I had tea at, while waiting for the musical to start. The whole city of Ettlingen is really really quaint. Lots of cafes such as this, pretty tablecloths and all.. All the roads are old roads... Basically - Quaint.

It's so sad to always have to take pictures like that, but I'm getting really good at it. hehe.. Love the bridge in the background. 

This seriously fascinated me...

organ-related schedule =)

I can't believe i've got only about 27 days before i'm back in laksa-land.

WHICH ALSO MEANS: 27 day more (ONLY) of ORGAN-LAND.

:S .... if i could rearrange the world, i'll pack all the food and loved ones of singapore and all the organs and music of europe onto a cosy island. right now, my immediate desire is to pack the organ in peterskirche and my organ teacher into a dhl box and ship them back to singapore. (but no, that will be torture. not the pack-in-a-box part, but the lack-of-organ-music-culture-in-singapore part)

anyways....

I'll be going to freiburg and some other place in france from the 17th-19th of July for an organ tour. =) .. yummy.

Then off to Leipzig on the 20th for Euroarts music festival. Looking forward to the chamber music classes and all the concerts. It'll be really nice i think.

more updates later.

PIPES RULE! =D

Brugge and Brussels... 20-22 June

Spent a weekend in Brugge and Brussels.. mussel and chocolate fun. =)

some church in Brugge...

a posed photo of me stealing kanna's waffle. really. it's posed. i have my own waffle. don't need to steal his. =p 

because i was obsessed with the ribbon rose that i made in a pub. =p .. it's pretty right? =D

Mussels!! yummy. 

the 4 girls. =) ..

a big thank you to our hosts from brussels, exchange students and kanna's friends. Thank you all so much for your hospitality and for being such wonderful people, bringing us around and all.. (and pan pan, for zettai kareshi!! =p .. heh! i'm telling the whole world, as i know it, to watch it now.)

The Scarlet Pimpernel

To all my dear musical-fanatic friends (to Steph in particular. =p )...

I'm going to watch The Scarlet Pimpernel on the 9th of July!! =D yeah! Couldn't find it on the West End... but here it is! an hour away from Heidelberg. =) .. yeah yeah yeah.

on best friends

Best friends are those who will line the toilet seat with toilet paper, just because you're a sucker for sanitation.

i miss my best friend.

on why dog owners pet other dogs

i don't know about everyone else, but ever since Matthan i've started to take notice of other dogs around me, subconsciously comparing them with our little boy. And in all honesty, Matthan's really the cutest and the most handsome of the lot. Honestly. As i walked past 3 dogs this morning while coming out from the church, my hand felt like reaching out to pet them as my mind turned to Matthan.. maybe it's a subconscious thought.. that in petting them, i could get a little bit of our boy from them. maybe. i don't know. what i do know is that i miss that little smelly dog.

on flying and leaving

Just got back from London, once again. This time the trip was really good - managed to catch the St. Anne's family (missed them the last time cos of bank hols), went to Disneyland in Paris, watched how Matthan's growing to be the wonderful little boy that he's meant to be, spent time with the babe... then saying goodbye.

Traveling back and forth, saying goodbye over and over again isn't easy. But I'd much rather do that than to sit here in my room and slouch back into my little hermit hole of organ/piano practice, tv serial watching, online shopping and minimal attempted studying. I guess it gets easier after awhile, after you know from experience that the world's not going to change even though you're miles and miles apart. As I sat in the airplane, I'm just really really thankful that teddy's portable.

Thinking about life back here in heidelberg again, i guess i am, despite all my whining and cravings for the food paradise that singapore can provide, looking forward to the next 7 weeks or so here in heidelberg. Was just thinking about what I've got to do in the 7 weeks: 1 5000 words essay, 3 2000 words essays, 2 500 words essays, learn about 4 new organ pieces to the best of my ability, go to brussels, go to france, go to leipzig, hopefully go to italy, sit for exams... all in the next 7 weeks or so. (truth be told, i just want to spend the whole time having organ practice and lessons... =p ) .. so ya. mel's going to be busy. if ever she starts whining, remind her that she's got stuff to do, to complete, and to strive to complete to its perfection (organ-wise, school's on S/U option. =p .. but ya, she still has to pass.)

on organ lessons

I have organ lessons every monday that i'm here in heidelberg. And it's been fantastic so far. Lessons are inspiring, the organs are inspiring in themselves. For the last lesson we used an organ in the Musikhochschule für Kirchenmusik. It's a small historical organ, following the german baroque tradition of organ building, with parallel pedels, and with the short and high upper notes in the pedals.. (this is probably not making a lot of sense to most of you, but oh well. for my memories sake. =p ) .. The touch was so wonderfully clear. And although my bach didn't sound fantastic because I was still getting used to the organ, whatever little quality stuff I could muster sounded so so deliciously good. And it really is the organ. It's just.. really really nice compared to the electronic speaker ones that we have back home. So very different. ... If only good things were movable. I'd move the organs and the teachers to singapore.. or move the family, friends and food from singapore to heidelberg. if only.

(i want nasi briyani... and laksa yong tau fu... and tom yum soup.. and grandma's food.... oh dear. ok. should stop thinking.)

Joshua Radin - the fear you won't fall

'Digging a hole and the walls are caving in
Behind me air's getting thin but I'm trying
I'm breathing in
Come find me
It hasn't felt like this before
It hasn't felt like home before you
And I know it's easy to say but it's harder to feel
This way
And I miss you more than I should
Than I thought I could
Can't get my mind off of you
I know you're scared that I'll soon be over it
That's part of it all
Part of the beauty of falling in love with you is the fear you won't fall
It hasn't felt like this before
It hasn't felt like home before you
And I know it's easy to say but it's harder to feel
This way
And I miss you more than I should than I thought I could
Can't get my mind off of you
And I hate the phone
But I wish you'd call
Thought being alone
Was better than was better than
And I know it's easy to say but it's harder to feel this way
And I miss you more than I should
Than I thought I could
Can't get my mind off of you
Can't get my mind off of you
And I know it's easy to say but it's harder to feel
This way
And I miss you more than I should
Than I thought I could
Can't get my mind off of you'

... it's so simple. and so nice. love it. =)

Pavarotti

Quote from one of my movie marathons

'I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. '

a week back in london..

prata and milo dinosaur! =) .. sharon brought the milo from nottingham (it's cheaper there. and yes, there's milo in the UK) .. got the prata from chinatown. 

matthan and me! i look like a happy chipmunk walking the most handsome puppy in the world. =) ..

pink daisy... bought from king's cross..

made apple crumble! the first successful one. the other two that i made before had apples peeking out of the crust. This was a huge success. =p .. yummy success.

our darling. =)

our handsome baby.. =)

Procrastination

Procrastinator: a professional at crastinating. (whatever that means.) 

no i don't think so.

a million and one things to do and a million and two lazy bones.

Update: Stuttgart, April 12-13

At the spring festival in Stuttgart. This is the outside of the ride we took..

Some flying ride.. the dots up there are people and flying seats..

the three girls..

ferris wheel...

and dinner at night, cooked by shareen, aurelia and kanna. I just provided eye-power. =p

good weekend. =)

My rooom... =)

The view from my window... =)

My first laundry pile drying under the photos on the wall...

my table, which is stocked up with snacks. and do you spot the big tub of nutella? It's terrible. It says 'eat me' every other second.

shelves... 

and teddy on my bed. =)

a weekend to be thankful for.

Let's see. photos later k? I've got no more space in my com. for photos, thanks to all the movie videos that i've gotten from friends. =p

Saturday: finally managed to go ice skating! but oh my gosh, the place was utter chaos. Kids were throwing themselves on the ice, initially they were even chasing a small rubber ball around! I was so scared that i was going to be in the line of the ball or the kids or something. But it was good though. The place was relatively empty, as compared to the rinks in london. There I could just practice going faster, with an absolute clear path (cos all the kids were just throwing themselves onto the ice in the middle). Nice nice.. =D

Sunday: Went to church and lo and behold, they're letting me practice! =D .. I only got the chance to ask the Kantor after service, and during the entire service i was just praying that God will make it happen.. the church had a relatively decent organ, good acoustics.. and i guess one can say that I was really desperate to get a place to practice. And you know what's the most wonderful thing, I asked the Kantor when are the best times to practice (ie: when the church is usually free), and he said on tuesdays and fridays, which are (lo and behold again) my free days! The 'coincidence' was just too much. It's as if God's saying, 'don't doubt me, I'm here.' ... =D ... and truly, He is. There is really no way that this could have happened without His hand in it.

Psalm 93

1 The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty;
the LORD is robed in majesty
and is armed with strength.
The world is firmly established;
it cannot be moved.

2 Your throne was established long ago;
you are from all eternity.

3 The seas have lifted up, O LORD,
the seas have lifted up their voice;
the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.

4 Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea—
the LORD on high is mighty.

5 Your statutes stand firm;
holiness adorns your house
for endless days, O LORD.

...

i've realised how much i've taken for granted.. how much i've complained about, when in truth, there really is nothing that I should be complaining about. For everything i have now, is so much of a blessing. When one compares with what's 'better', one often forgets to remember about what one already has. I guess i've been too focused on the 'better', forgetting that in truth, i don't deserve any of these at all and everything comes as a blessing from our mighty Father God. Now as I start to settle in, and on hindsight, looking at the times that when i'm all alone, I can only look towards Him, I realise that maybe that's His way of bringing me back to Him, closer to Him.. creating the opportunity that would never have been there had I been too comfortable with life. And on this hindsight, everything seems so different... and i'm thankful. so very thankful, that my God, Who is mighty and armed with strength and robed in majesty, is holding my hand every step of the way.

to everyone: thanks. =)

Through this time, I've just been constantly reminded about how very small I am, and how very very much I need God. 

To the St. Anne's family: I miss you guys to bits. I never realised how much morning prayers and lunchtime concerts have formed part of my life until now. I've even taken to unconsciously putting my coins into stacks. (alex will know why. =p ) And thank you so very much for your prayer support. I can never tell you how much it means to me.

Just want to share a song, from Point of Grace: You'll never walk alone.

"Along life's road
There will be sunshine and rain
Roses and thorns, laughter and pain
And 'cross the miles
You will face mountains so steep
Deserts so long and valleys so deep
Sometimes the Journey's gentle
Sometimes the cold winds blow
But I want you to remember
I want you to know

You will never walk alone
As long as you have faith
Jesus will be right beside you all the way
And you may feel you're far from home
But home is where He is
And He'll be there down every road
You will never walk alone

Never, no never

The path will wind
And you will find wonders and fears
Labors of love and a few falling tears
Across the years
There will be some twists and turns
Mistakes to make and lessons to learn
Sometimes the journey's gentle
Sometimes the cold winds blow
But I want you to remember wherever you may go

Jesus knows your joy, Jesus knows your need
He will go the distance with you faithfully."

two weeks since leaving good old london...

It's been two weeks of a roller coaster ride.. Let's start from the very beginning..

Arrived in Heidelberg on the 1st of April, with heavy heavy bags that my poor babe had to carry. Landed to administrative ridiculousness, with Heidelberg's administration hailing as one of the more primitive of universities' I've encountered. Or maybe I've just been taking NUS for granted. In NUS, where matriculation only consists of one step, where one collects everything from the same place, where people speak english, where most things are organised and electronic... Just think of Heidelberg as the opposite. I'm still adamantly lamenting that Heidelberg has almost absolutely nothing. 

Went to Lindau after that for a blissful few days, with good food, lots of time, no administrative stress...

then back to Heidelberg. The first few days alone were just miserable. Everything's so different here. It's like thrown into a place 10 years behind. Everything is done by paper work, not extremely fantastic in the organisation department, in german,... and just generally very different from the fuss-free, easy life i led back in both Singapore and London. Every lecture's conducted differently, with each lecturer having his/her own method of conducting the class and of signing people up. There're even different certificates one can get out of taking the same class. And whoa. the workload's just madness. But thankfully that's the workload for the music module i'm taking, so i guess i don't mind that much that it's a tad bit a lot more than what i've been used to. And another thing, module mapping has just been so utterly cruel.. and to save myself the stress and headache i've decided to do a special semester in NUS when i get back so that I can just take 4 modules here, and hopefully be able to concentrate on music once i manage to find a piano or an organ. (now that's another problem..... -.- 

ya. generally. i need all your prayer help.

first few days in Deutschland... (not heidelberg, yet.)

visiting at Lindau, an island at Bodensee.. nice little town.. nice, but little. but still nice.

went shopping at Ravensburg, and found this little 'bridge' in the middle of nowhere that looked nice. The rest of the town doesn't look like that though. =p .. oh oh.. but there's this interesting see-saw where instead of sitting, one stands on it.. quite fun. =D

Crystal World! that was really really a treat for the eyes. SO so so so many crystals.. and really interesting displays too..

and finally.. the Alps. =D ... snow. at long last. 

Stonehenge, Bath and some.

the latest arrival.

hee. =) .. i'm determined to be good at this. including organ of course. ice skating and organ. and dance, and music in general. and God. and the babe. and the people i love. that's all i need.

Will be leaving london for germany soon. feels a little weird, especially since i've gotten so used to everything here. Being with the babe, being with the family in st. anne's, ... even fighting the winds to come home. to come Home.

i'm sure going to miss it. a lot.

Past and Present

For those who didn't know, we've moved. =) .. as in. moved house. Just some thoughts on it:

- missed the old house: our first home.
- our new one is looking good and starting to feel cosy and like home.
- i'm monopolizing the kitchen. =p
- the bed's comfy.
- the bath's cold-ish...

may God bless our new home. =)

...

yup. guess that was a trial for moving to heidelberg. *quiver. i'm so so so not going to be able to carry my bag pack. (i know i know. the whole world's been telling me: 'but your boyfriend's going to be coming with you what.' [the question is: HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO MOVE BACK TO SINGAPORE LIKE THAT?!!]

another problem for another time. =p

(ps: went skating the other day again. 'tis good. i'm currently oh-so-tempted to get my own pair of skates [someone scream: 'but mel! i thought you were complaining that you had a lot to pack already!' ... yes yes i know.] and... AND!! .. someone actually asked me (ME!!) to teach her how to skate. hah! horror of horrors.)

What's a girl to do...

Ok. I need help deciding. Vote 'yes' or 'no' in the comments box k? =D

Here's the product:

and information on it:

Heel Height: 4 IN (10CM) [!!!!!]