Breakfast was served at 9 am. It was the first time in years I looked forward to breakfast. There was at least 4 different types of bread, ham, different types of cheese and some biscuits (don't really know what they are called but they are eaten with honey). That was the main course. There was also yoghurt and cornflakes. I think I forgot to mention about Day 1's dessert. It was something really close to ice cream but it wasn't ice cream. They say that it's some kind of flour, but don't know what it's called in English. The taste of it was wonderful though. I think the next time I can have some more of those would be at least 4 years later.

We had some time to rest and pack our stuff before the coach came at 9.30 am to bring us to Wilderhoes for practice. Wilderhoes wasn't very far from our hotel. It was only a 5 to 10 minute drive. We had to pass by a few rectangular ponds (it's actually some funny looking body of water surrounded by grass) before passing by a few large pastures where the cows will always be grazing the grass and a brewery and a grocery store called plus (some prefer to call it NTUC).

Wielderhoes wasn't really what I expected it to be. There was a bar near the entrance and a hall where we had most of our practices in. The hall is roughly the size of three quarters a basketball court. After setting up my instrument and trying out some notes, I realised that the cooler weather has not really affected my tuning. That is both good and bad. I wanted to be slightly flatter because the instrument was really sharp but I guess it's good that the tuning has not changed or I might have to get used to a whole new set of tunings.

We had sectionals till lunch but I did not join any section. I started of warming up with long notes. It was very tiring, considering the fact that I have not practiced my instruments for quite some time. There was a strong smell of paint in the hall and it was affecting me quite a fair bit at that time because I was still recovering from the flu I had caught when I was still in Singapore. I joined the bassoons for quite some time before leaving them to practice on my own. Then I was told to join the clarinet section at the basement. I spent a short time there before we were dismissed for lunch.

I can't recall what we had for lunch, but we mainly had meat, fish, long beans, pasta, rice and some finger food for lunch which is served with delicious soup. If I can get that kind of food back here in Singapore everyday, it wouldn't be strange if I put on 10 kgs within a month. Maybe that's a little exaggerated.

After lunch was combined band. We did not sound as if we were there to take part in the World Music Contest at all. I was quite worried as we would only have a few more days of practices before going for the contest. Probably everyone was still trying to get used to the new surroundings because we sounded quite a bit better after dinner. We ended our long day of practice at 10pm and it was only beginning to get a bit darker. After that, it was back to the hotel.

The next day was quite similar, only that the practices were slightly shorter and more breaks were given. I was really tired out after the first day and I think it caused me to have a blister in my mouth.

I cannot really remember the sequence of things that took place after the first day of practice. I shall stop here to avoid making any mistakes in the things that happened. Maybe after I get a hold on the pictures I have taken, I will be able to recall the things that took place on the second day of practice.