The sudden demise of actress Brittany Murphy at the age of 32 makes me sad and sit up at the same time. Heck, my life was just starting at 32. It only goes to show that our time on this planet is extremely limited and transitory—we never know when it will be our turn to go. Lest this post becomes morose, let me detour and say a few things:

1. The greatest thing you’ll ever learn, is to love and be loved in return. How true this is. If you love someone (whether they know it or not, hopefully they do) then tell them this instant. Don’t wait for a second longer—you might not get the chance. Saying I love you from the heart is like saying thank you or please. Your special someone won’t get sick of it. And neither will you.
2. If you want to do something (legal of course), then either do it now or plan for it. Me? I’m planning for a trip to a land far, far away…and because I’m not wallowing in cash, there are thousands of obstacles ahead of me. Nevertheless, I’m not giving up—someday my journey will begin and when it does, I’ll look back and say that it was all worthwhile.
3. Life throws up some treacherous curveballs. Uh huh, some of them look like humongous icebergs to me. What are the icebergs in your life? A debilitating disease, unemployment, a divorce, etc. These things happen—it’s just how we take stock of them when they come our way or cross our paths. I know I’m fighting a huge one now, and it’s bound to get worse before it gets better. Still, I remember a good friend telling me this—“Better to have a painful end to a problem than a pain without end.”
4. Money is hard to earn, but so very easy to spend. Perhaps people who are well-off hardly take note of or appreciate this fact. It’s just that sometimes, we need to treat ourselves. Not a wild shopping spree, mind you—a very calculated one, at least for me. Take my Dell laptop for instance. I’ve always been telling myself over the past years that having one was a luxury (albeit a very nice one) but a short while ago I decided to just go for it (after reading some reviews and research on the Internet) And guess what? I don’t feel guilty, in fact I feel good. We need treats every now and then.
5. Love unselfishly, and learn to forgive and forget. Here’s another one of my favorite sayings for 2009—“If you harbor bitterness and resentment, happiness will dock elsewhere.” Wake up each day with a grateful heart and end each day likewise. It’s simple to say “Thank you, God” and mean it. No need for elaborate prayers as far as our heavenly Father is concerned. Spread kindness and happiness around, and don’t expect it to come back to you right away. Because somehow or other, they’ll eventually find their way back to you.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers. God bless you all.

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It’s always the case isn’t it…after a hard and grueling day where anything that can go wrong actually does…I came back from work last Saturday night, anticipating doing some playing (uh, work) on my Dell laptop. Plugged it into the AC Mains, powered it on, and left to get myself changed. Hmmm, I didn’t hear the Windows 7 startup sound and went into the room to look. Oops, what’s this, nothing showing on the display. No problem, I thought, maybe just a hiccup. Powered it off, waited a bit and tried again. No luck, not even the Dell logo was displayed. Tried a few more times, nada. Yikes! Something was definitely wrong.

Fortunately my desktop was up and running. Went to the Dell Support website and searched for the toll-free numbers. Dialed it and ugh, I get this automated message—“Our support offices are closed at the moment, please call back from Mondays to Fridays, 9am to 9pm…” I would have hyper-ventilated if not for my trusty desktop (luckily I haven’t forsaken her) I’m glad my American friends told me to chill and breathe because hey, these things happen.

Come Monday I call Dell Support and spoke to one of their staff. I was asked to give a few details and after asking me to do a little troubleshooting the guy said it looked like my video or graphics had died. Wonder of wonders, he said a tech guy would call me the following day and arrange to fix my laptop on-site, WOW! I was dreading the idea of having to send it back for repairs. On Tuesday the Dell guy came. Mr. Lew was very friendly and professional. He put in a new motherboard for me and in less than an hour my Studio 15 was up and running—yay!

I’m giving two thumbs up for Dell—thanks again for the great support!

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In contrast to my blogging episode at Starbucks a few weeks ago (the latte was watered down, Internet connectivity was poor, and lots of children were running around) I decided tonight to cross over to the Coffee Bean for some web surfing away from home. And what a difference! I ordered a nice Ice Blended Hazelnut coffee with cream (very nice aroma and thick), I was alone in the air-conditioned section and the wireless connectivity’s excellent. And LOL, they’re already playing Christmas tunes in the background.

Speaking of Christmas, I can hardly believe that 2009 will be drawing to a close in a month or so. I’ll be accompanying the E & O Nightingales when they sing Christmas carols for the lighting of the Christmas Tree in the hotel lobby on December 1. This will be my 5th time doing it—I still get an adrenaline rush on the actual day…will post some pictures if I can remember.

Awww, Bing Crosby’s singing “White Christmas” as I’m typing this—that song always gets to me when I hear him sing it (yeah I’m such a softie) No more Christmas presents for me, since I’ve already acquired my Dell Studio 15 laptop and my Canon PowerShot SX120IS digital camera. And dang someone’s singing “The Christmas Song” over the speakers—I like these tunes when they’re done in a mellow style.

Right now a close friend of mine is celebrating her birthday, while another friend should be expecting her baby daughter anytime now (edit: she has given birth to a healthy baby girl). It’s so nice to have Windows Live Messenger to keep in touch with my close friends—I feel as if the miles don’t matter any more. I’m sitting back and chuckling at how difficult it was to keep in touch with my parents, for example, when I was studying in Arizona in the early ‘80’s. Snail mail (aka air mail) used to take roughly 10 days, and the only other forms of communication were the Western Union telegram and/or calling them on IDD. If only we had email and instant messaging then!

Okies, time to pack it up and head back home. And if you’re a Starbucks fan, I apologize…each to his/her own tastes, right?

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Yup, that’s the title of a Pet Shop Boy’s song (and very nice it is too) and that’s precisely what I did today—I just slipped into a state of vegetation. Well I still had to log on the Net (this is like oxygen to me), I folded my clothes (but did absolutely no ironing—I am not permitting that sordid torture on myself today), I did my usual morning walk and swim, cooked the rice and leftovers…but aside from that, did nothing else. And I don’t feel a single strand of guilt coursing through my veins. Nope, in fact I feel good, hee hee.

The only bit of work I did was thinking (only thinking, mind you) about moving or consolidating my website into a brand new blog. Nothing concrete yet, just throwing some ideas back and forth; thinking, thinking. This was a day where my mind just flatly refused to do anything much. It always happens like that to me on Mondays, and the reason is because on Sundays I do some intense teaching. Don’t believe me? Go ask the victims, LOL I mean my students. Lest anybody thinks that teaching piano is kid’s stuff, it is most definitely not!! Perhaps I’ll expound about this further in my new blog.

Typing this out on my Dell laptop as usual Love Windows 7, it’s working great so far. Maybe I’ll upgrade my desktop after the New Year…OK, that’s enough work on this blog post, let me go bore myself—only 4 more hours before Monday ends and then it’s back to a normal state for me.

P/S Just stumbled on this article in realage.com: Happy and Healthy: Go Ahead, Goof Off Today. I feel even better now!

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Yes, why not? After all when we wake up every morning we have a choice: we can either say it’s going to be a good day or it’s going to be a bad day. Guess which one I always focus on…anyways, some small but happy nuggets were tossed my way recently, probably by my guardian angel.

First off I had a talk last week with the administrator of the music school I teach in. Turns out that there was this parent who was adamant that his son learn under me. The administrator said that the parents didn’t want any other teacher, ever since they saw me judging at the recent Piano Idol. And um…I was very flattered, and touched. No I wasn’t turning peacockish, but sometimes when you give your all to your music students and don’t find any gratitude returning, it can be pretty disconcerting. This was a nice change. Anyway, the parents pleaded with me for the whole of last month to please, please find a slot to fit their son in, and I eventually relented…I just couldn’t turn them down. So now I’m teaching their 9 year-old son, who is already preparing for his ABRSM Grade 6 practical exam next year. One happy pair of parents, and one happy teacher.

Another thing that made me smile recently was reconnecting with my MO (male offspring). Last week we went for a very nice lunch at one of the shopping malls here, and then we both hit the bookstore. It was nice, bearing in mind that teenagers normally don’t want to talk with their folks. I guess it’s sort of tuning in to each other’s wavebands or frequencies—just finding that sweet spot. So that was nice for me. And I hope it was nice for him too.

On top of that, I had another surprise coming from him. A few days ago he unplugged his Linksys wireless USB adapter and told me to keep it, since his final exams for the year were just around the corner and he wanted to focus on studying instead of browsing the web. I felt like the dad in Zits (the comic strip), my mouth was wide open and I was totally speechless–all I can say is, this MO does possess some responsibility after all (smiles).

Right now I’m typing this in Starbucks—muahaha!! My Dell Studio 15 is great, but be warned—the thing is heavy (around 5.5 lbs or 2.5 kg). Using a backpack (recommended!) instead of a shoulder bag makes it better, but still it did cause my shoulders to ache, or is that a sign of old age, LOL. Then again, it’s super to get out of the confines of home and blog elsewhere…just have to filter the other customers out. And mein gott, the coffee isn’t what I’d call cheap; no I won’t be doing this too often. However, I gotta admit, it is enjoyable.

The only drawback is that I believe my desktop is shedding tears. A friend said that I’d definitely be abandoning my desktop for this girl…and it looks like she’s right. But don’t worry, my dear desktop—I won’t leave you, hee hee!

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After debating about it for over a year I decided to take the plunge and get myself a laptop. I’ve told myself over all these years that nah, I don’t need one…but it seems the time has come when it becomes necessary for me to have one. I opted for the Dell Studio 15 because it had just the right mix of what I’ve been looking for in a laptop—a powerful Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 3GB of RAM (free upgrade), backlit keyboard, a 320GB hard disk with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit preinstalled. That, coupled with the gorgeous Ruby Red cover, 3-year warranty against accidental damage, and a free Belkin Messenger backpack, sold me completely on it. Furthermore the audio quality is excellent, a far cry from previous Studio laptops. The icing on the cake was when it connected without fuss to my Linksys wireless network at home—wunderbar!

Some minor niggles? Well get this—no indicator lights for hard disk operation, Caps Lock, etc. In fact the only light is the Power On thingy on the right-hand side of the cover, but the power cord does have a cool blue light to show that it’s receiving juice from the mains. I solved the Caps Lock problem by turning on Toggle Keys in Windows, also a little picture icon appears on screen whenever Caps Lock is pressed. I still would have liked a Hard Disk indicator light though. And there are only three USB ports. My, aren’t we miserly, Dell. I’ve already used one USB port for my Logitech cordless mouse with its Nano receiver. Looks like I might have to get a USB hub later on. The glossy surface of the touch pad and the surrounding area is also prone to fingerprints and marks, so be prepared to do some occasional wiping.

Now I’m exploring the new Windows 7. Some changes compared to Vista of course. I didn’t like the new wider taskbar but that can be changed to a more Vista-ish one, thank goodness. The notification icons on the right are also just a ghostly white color—oh well, can’t have everything. And I was surprised that Microsoft didn’t bug (excuse me, prompt) me to install their latest Live programs—I installed Live Mail, Writer, and Messenger since I use these three programs. I hated the way Windows Live Messenger would not remain in the right taskbar notification area; it would stubbornly anchor itself on the left side near the Start button. I solved this by closing and exiting WLM, then right-clicking its icon on the Start menu and selecting Properties. Choose Compatibility Mode for Vista, click OK, and restart WLM. You’ll find that WLM now resides in the right taskbar notification area.

That’s it for now, typing this on the Dell. It feels great!

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D: Digital, Dell, Drums

I simply love digital stuff—whether it’s a computer, my camera (Canon PowerShot SX120IS, yup), my amazing Yamaha Clavinova, or even my wrist watch, and lest I forget, the humble CD. I was so glad when the compact disc came out in the 80’s because I listen to a lot of classical music, and it’s a sheer annoyance when the record warps, or I’m trying to find the third movement of a Mozart symphony on cassette tape (ah yes, remember that? And that unbearable hiss?) I’m just knocked out with the CD, where one can simply jump forward and backward to any track. And not only that, recordings are clean as a whistle (most of them anyway) without the annoying hiss.

I’ve mentioned enough of my Yamaha Clavinova digital piano in previous posts. Suffice to say, digital pianos beat acoustic pianos flat (excuse the pun) because of several things:

• No need for tuning and maintenance (yes your piano tuner will hate you for buying one) Just remember that it needs some electricity.
• The sounds are sampled from a concert grand piano costing more than my house, my car, and all my other worldly possessions combined.
• Recording can be done on the spot for burning to a CD or uploading to a blog, as I’ve done in My Music page.
• Lots of other sounds available, plus drum accompaniment, etc. A built-in metronome is included too.
• Large LCD display for viewing parameters.
• Now what I need is the kitchen sink.

All I can say is, live long and prosper, digital!

Truth be told, I’ve been contemplating getting a Dell laptop for the past year, and kept putting it off. Now it seems unavoidable that I get one, because I need it for teaching students advanced music theory when I’m out of the house. I’d originally planned on getting the Dell XPS M1530 but that has been discontinued and moreover it was a little on the pricey side. Now I’ve set my sights on the Studio 15 and it comes with Windows 7 to boot. And *snigger* next time when I spend a night or two at the E & O Hotel I can just bring this baby along—no more Internet withdrawal symptoms!

Yup, believe it or not, I was pretty good on the drums when I was a kid. My dad used to conduct a big band at home, and although I was intrigued by the piano and other instruments, it was the drummer that had me swinging along. When the rehearsal was over, everybody left with their instruments except for the drummer. Then it was my turn to groove. I hopped onboard, imagining myself playing with the other musicians, and pretty soon I was lost in my own world. My folks were amused and mom used to put on a record or two and I’d play in perfect time with the music. I remembered one of my favorites was Roy Orbison’s Pretty Woman. I could play a wide variety of drum styles including the rumba, tango, fox-trot, bossanova, etc. Although my dad was pleased with my drumming talents he rightfully had my future in mind for me and steered me back to the piano. However, I’m still a pretty good drummer!

E: Eyes, E & O Hotel

Don’t get me wrong, but I don’t like my eyes. They’re small, they have been giving me trouble since 5th grade and as a result I have been wearing glasses and contact lenses ever since. My vision remained quite stable during my 20’s and 30’s. However, it began to deteriorate after that—I was having a hard time seeing faraway objects. A checkup with my optometrist and ophthalmologist confirmed my fears—cataracts were developing in both my eyes (this was about 10 years ago).

I had thicker glasses made. I wore contacts with a higher power, it reached a point where I was wearing contacts with the highest power available! And everybody knows that you can’t reverse cataract growth, it has to be surgically removed. I put it off until earlier this year, when a visit to Valerie (my optometrist—she’s great) became the straw that broke the camel’s back. My glasses were like bottles already and she said it was pointless to make new ones which would be even thicker—yuck!! She advised me to see my ophthalmologist saying that now would be the right time to have my cataracts removed. Guess what, this time I didn’t put it off. I went straight to see Mr. Lee, my ophthalmologist.

To cut a long story short (see my Eye to Eye posts for the details) I had the cataracts from both eyes removed in June and July of this year. And what bliss it was to be able to see well without those hideously thick glasses! Nonetheless I still had to wear reading glasses because my intense myopia had actually masked my long-sightedness. But reading glasses are fine with me. I just thank God when I wake up every morning that I’m able to see well without reaching for glasses. It has truly been a wonderful blessing for me this year.

Sir Noel Coward has stayed there. So has Douglas Fairbanks, Hermann Hesse, Rudyard Kipling, Somerset Maugham, Charlie Chaplin, and Joan Chen. I’m talking about the E & O Hotel, Penang’s Grand Old Dame. P/S I’ve stayed there too! I feel like I’ve known this hotel all my life. After all my parents were entertainers there for over 40 years, and I used to visit the hotel regularly when I was growing up. During my teenage years I would often take over playing the piano for my dad when he desired a break (but actually he wanted me to gain experience playing in front of an audience, thanks, Dad!) Of course the hotel has changed over the years. Its last refurbishment was in 1997 but due to the Asian financial crisis this had to be put on hold for a few years. The hotel finally reopened in 2001 and the refurbishment has really brought back the shine to this renowned establishment.

I started work at the “new” E & O in December 2004. I’ve been playing there ever since, on Friday and Saturday nights. It’s a wonderful job, I have a fantastic boss in Mike, and need I mention that the food is glorious (yes, Food Glorious Food!) The rooms are unlike rooms found in any other hotel. You just have to stay at the E & O Hotel to experience and bask in the ambience and glamour of this fine lady. And…I gotta cook up an excuse to ask the boss for another night’s stay again, hee hee!

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