went into 'MIA mode' for nearly a week...haha..cos forgot to tell most ppl tt i running off to xiamen...the trip was ok..went there cos my dad wanted us to go..and the food there very nice!!..made me gain 1kg...esp the peanut stall at the zhongshan road...the peanut totally melt when my tongue touches it la!!...and my first two nights there eat a lot too...cos the first night my aunt (who is my mother's cousin) and her husband treated us...then the second night my dad's office ppl also treat...then they quite mad...order over 10 courses..including 2 plates of goose meat, roast pigeon, chicken, fish, one big prawn for each person, some nice nice soup =) etc etc...my stomach totally cannot take it la..and the last night dinner was nice too!..haha..simpler but much nicer..got mushrooms, fish etc..

bought new shoes there!!..quite comfortable..but if i wear it with my hc uniform and converse bag..i will be the same colour throughout..haha!!...and went to gu lang yu...which means "drum waves islet"..haha..tt's the old hometown of my grandpa..and it is some small little island very near xiamen..the distance is like sentosa and singapore..then went to this garden which was built by my first piano teacher's great grandfather or grandfather..haha...and tt grandfather was the brother of my mum's grandmother..haha!!..so my parents were like discussing family history with my aunt..aiyoh..it is complicated la..haha..and the islet was also known as "the piano island"..cos lots of ppl there play piano..and they even have a concert hall!!..then they got piano museum...haha..very nice!!..saw all sorts of weird piano..mostly the old old ones..then you can see those candle stands on the piano...cos last time ppl need to light candles at night when playing the piano..and i saw the old steinway & sons piano!!...i think the old pianos dun look as professional as the modern pianos..but they are more artistic..cos they got more special carvings and designs..then saw this piano which is L-shaped...so tt it can be fitted at the corner of the room..and the keyboard is also L-shaped..but very small...it at most got only about 30 to 4o keys..haha...dunno how ppl play it..but too bad the piano museum dun allow us to take photos..

went wuyishan to play too!!..mainly it is a mountainous area..and went to climb this peak..which is only abt 300m tall..haha..but my mum nearly died climbing it..cos about 800+ steps...and also sat on this bamboo raft...then the scenery very nice!!..and drank lots of tea..haha..cos tt's the most well-known local product in wuyishan..actually went there 10 years ago..compare then with present...i think last time nicer..cos now wuyishan got too economical..lost its local flavour liao..the bamboo rafters last time tell nicer stories and will sing all those native songs..but now they demand tips and dun tell stories or sing songs as nice as before...haha..i somemore go and take a picture of the license plate in front..which says sth like sincere cooperation, no thank you to tips..haha!!...

on wed had shicheng concert...a bit worried cos i only went for 1 prac out of 3..so didn't feel too confident...plus we had no conductor!!..then got one song is like the orchestra accompany an erhu soloist..then there are too many variations in tempo..so tt song was super stressful!..and there was some sheng song tt i was in the accompaniment..then i only played it once during the rehearsal then have to play the actual one...wah!!..tt one also very scary!!..haha..but too bad this concert response isn't very good..haiz...but we gossiped quite a bit abt someone..hahaha!!..shan't say who =P

yest finally get to stay at home for the whole day...so i was busy watching the pianist and schindler's list..dvds tt i bought in china..didn't felt too much during the pianist..cos watch half of it before..but i like the second half best..cos can see more piano playing...i just dun understand how these ppl can play piano pieces tt are so technically and emotionally demanding easily??!!..when it comes to schindler's list..i nearly cried la!!!..it's quite a gory movie...esp the scenes when the germans shoot some jews from the back of the head..you can see the blood spurting out from the wound..like water from the whale's blowhole..and oskar schindler is really admirable..he like spent his whole fortune on saving 1100 jews..compared to him..amon goethe really should go and zhuang qiang...where got ppl wake up in the morning and start shooting at ppl for fun from his balcony de??!!...seriously i think anti-semitism is very dumb...it is more of a form of jealousy against the Jews of being able to enjoy a better life..it is just like the anti-Chinese feeling in Indonesia la..there is no logic in blaming a country's downfall on a specific religion or race..

just read in today's newspaper tt in Iraq..there was this man who was badly wounded from some violent act at the side of a street waving at cars for help..then there was this man who stopped his car and stepped out..took out his gun and shoot at this wounded man...and there was no reaction from others..like what the hell la??!!..bleah..one quote from tt article left a deep impression in me.."I feel sad, bitter and frustrated. Sad, because a human life is now worth nothing in this country. Bitter, because people no longer help each other. Frustrated, because I can't help either."..despite all those talks about human rights..haiz..what is this world coming to..

on a happy note...next year there are 3 concerts of rachmaninov's piano concertos!!!..hopefully i can go for the 2nd piano concerto de..dun think i will be going for all 3..cos i will be super broke at the end of it...hopefully there will be rachmaninov's rhapsody on a theme of paganini! =)

will be going malaysia tmr..and coming back on next tues..then wed to fri going to stay at NUS for 3 days 2 nights for some pharmaceutical camp..haha..so will be going into 'MIA mode' again...