Outdoor week! on 25 November 2008 , 10:09 PM

On the first day, the ensemble visited an orphanage and performed a few pieces for the orphans. The orphans had a role in the performance as they played with some musical instruments handed out to them.

I realised that the orphans and myself were not too different as they enjoyed the performance and went with the rhythm of the music.
After the amusing performance, there was further interactivity with the orphans as we played Charades, a game in which various teams compete against each other to guess specific people, events or activities re-enacted by group members. Charades really showed that the orphans had a great imagination and creativity as they emerged champions in Charades.

We settled for a team break at their canteen and had biscuits and hot drinks and lively interaction with the orphans and got to know them more deeply. I hope that the other members of the ensemble realise how fortunate they are.

At the end of the day, we checked into Grand Seasons Hotel and later had Nasi Bryani for dinner.

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On the second day, we woke up to a hearty breakfast. The senior ensemble watched the junior ensemble in the Master Class (with Mr Simon Cheong). After the long and tiring period, the junior ensemble played Summer's Breeze and sounded very astounding.

Mr Cheong taught the ensemble playing techniques, vital positioning of fingers and how to keep rhythm when playing the guitar. All that proved to be very effective as the ensemble played beautifully as one at the end of the session.

The second half of the day was spent at a guitar factory headed by Mr Jeffery Yeong, a close friend of our instructor (Mr Daniel Lim). He showed us where and told us how guitars were hand-made traditionally.

We learned about materials and parts of the tree used to produce this simple yet painstakingly tedious to put together instrument.
The senior ensemble performed Braziland 13 Jours En France for Mr Yeong as a sign of appreciation for widening our understanding about the very instruments we use in performances for others.

Towards the end of the day we visited the profound Petronas Twin Towers - two towers soaring 452 metres into the sky - previously the tallest skyscrapers in South East Asia.

After a stop over at Burger King within the two towers, the ensemble picked up Ryan (chairman of ensemble) and Ms Tan Siru from the hotel before rolling to MegaMall which is a fascinatingly huge shopping mall, spanning about 8 times as wide as J8 and 20 times more enormous!

A group of us did not bother about grabbing a meal for the night and had dinner by calling for room service shortly after returning to the hotel. We were caught feasting by the teachers during the night call at 11 pm.

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Activities for the third day started off at a Bowling alley. Afterwhich, we visited historical sites and cultural places such as an ancient Chinese temple and the areas where Dutch and British men occupied during the Dutch Archipelago in Malaysia.

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Concluding, I felt that the trip has been very meaningful and will definitely be a memorable one. The junior ensemble should have learned how to take better care of themselves as several of them recovered promptly under the care of Ms Pan, Ms Tan and Mr Lim when dehydrated, had a bad cold or ran a fever.

I'm sure that the junior ensemble had as much fun and joy during the trip as the senior ensemble. I hope to witness how the junior ensemble will grow as one and wish them the best in future endeavors!

The senior ensemble looks forward to return to the school as part of the school alumni to get together with the rest of the ensemble.

Bon Voyage!

Labels: guitar