I caught my first movie for this year, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory last Monday with the band people at Marina Square. It was only then that I found out that the ticket price on weekdays had risen to $8. That's a little discouraging for me to watch another movie. The tickets are really getting quite pricey.
I shall go back to the details WMC trip now. I believe that on the second day of practice or rehearsals, Mrs Chua told us that the guest players will be there by 2pm, latest. I was already losing my patience because I had to wait till then to see and get to know the other bass clarinetist (whom I all along thought was a million times better than I am). We ran through the competition pieces and worked on some parts before breaking for lunch.
After lunch, the guest players finally arrived. I was extending my head towards the back (the door to the hall was there), excited to find out who was the one playing the bass clarinet. To my greatest dismay, out of the whole group of people there, I saw a young boy holding to a pathetic bass clarinet (and I thought that mine was already quite pathetic). So he came, sat down on the chair on my right. I smiled at him and asked him for his age. Two years younger than me. I expected him to ask for mine, but he didn't. I went on minding my own business. We ran through the 3 competition pieces, I can't remember in which order, but I think it was in the reverse competition order. When we played Impressions of Japan, to my greatest horror, I heard another bass clarinet playing along with me the solo parts, every single one of them, and every time there was a divisi, only one of the two notes could be heard. After finishing the piece, nobody made any comment on the bass clarinet parts. I kept quiet, hoping as best as I can that the person beside me will just fill in only the parts that he was required to play.
After all of that, had a short break. I went outside to take in some fresh air and also to try to forget about the traumatising experience I have had. Some of the band members were already outside talking among themselves. I was just about to relax a little until Mrs Chua came outside and asked us to interact with the guest players in a joking manner. At that point of time, I totally did not know what to do. Luckily, although some of them went in, none of them attempted to interact with the guest players who were already engaged in a happy conversation among themselves, speaking in some foreign language that none of us could comprehend. After the break, things got a little better with the guest players, but I still didn't quite like the presence of the guest player next to me. (I hope that he will never get to see this entry, and even if he sees it, I hope that he would not understand what all that was said about him mean.)
Practice ended a little earlier that day but we only left Wilderhoes at 10pm. Back at the hotel, I was totally lifeless. I did not feel like talking much after all that has happened so I went out of my room, hoping that my roommates would not bother me about who shall use the toilet first or whatever I felt about the television programme. With nowhere to go, I went upstairs into Desmond's room and sat on the 1-seater sofa next to the window and asked to listen to the recording of Impressions of Japan. After some time, I shifted to sit the window ledge, leaning against the window that opened inwards. The weather was really nice. Somehow, it spelt too clearly on my face that I was dissatisfied with something that he knew exactly what it was. I told him how I felt about everything and I was very surprised that I wasn't the only one feeling that way. After a long talk, I felt a lot better.
When I finally went back to my room, I had to coax myself to forget about the day and sleep. After all, we will be going to Maastricht the next day for shopping. I couldn't clear my mind of those thoughts and ended up sleeping with the help of Baoying's mp3 player.
I should stop here for today. My eyes are getting tired.
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.
Somehow, I managed to change seats with someone to get a window seat but since it was already dark, I couldn't see much. Dinner consisting of fish and some other things was served. After around 2 hours, we reached Bangkok and spent around an hour idling on the plane before the plane left for Helsinki. This time, another meal was served. I don't know what you can call it. There was chicken and some other stuff. I don't know how long that flight took but I was really bored to death. I had to change seats and ended up having to sit beside a couple. The in-flight entertainment wasn't very good either. The music wasn't appealing and they did not screen any show. Somehow, I managed to fall asleep but I was constantly woken up by the screen because it was too bright when they started to screen the movie.
At 3 am (can't remember which country's time), I woke up. The most amazing thing was that when I looked out of the window while waiting to use the toilet, I saw the sun rising. That was my very first time seeing sunrise. I cannot really remember the things that took place after that.
When we finally reached Helsinki, we had to wait quite some time at the airport before getting onto a double decker bus that brought us around to see some of the more significant landmarks there. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant. The food was not really good but I still ate quite a lot of it because I was really hungry. After that, I think we visited a few more places before we went for some shopping. After the shopping, we headed back for the airport. I had a hard time adapting to the place. The doors of the bus are all on the right and my seat was facing the back of the bus. It really felt like I was going backwards in a car. Adding on to that, it was warm indoors and cool outdoors. It made no sense to me. I think I got my headache thanks to all of that.
The flight from Helsinki to Brussels was the worst flight I have ever had. Although I got a window seat, I did not look much out of the window because I felt as though I would throw up any moment. The meal served on board wasn't really what I would enjoy, especially the funny piece of bread that tasted very funny. I felt so horrible that I had to force myself to sleep. I managed to sleep so well that I did not even know when the plane was landing. Until I felt a sharp pain in my ear. By the time I was conscious of my surroundings, I felt the wheels of the plane coming into contact with the ground.
The Brussels airport wasn't really user-friendly. We had to walk quite some distance before we could get our luggage. After loading our luggage onto the buses, we drove into Holland. It was drizzling when we got there and there weren't any windmills along the way and the view from the bus wasn't very interesting. After around half the journey, I gave up looking up and went to sleep.
I was very relieved when we reached the hotel we were staying in. It was around 10 pm Holland time then but the sun was only starting to set. It is a very nice and cosy place. It wasn't at all what I expected. After unloading our luggage, we had supper there. That is the meal that I will remember most. The food was extremely delicious. I have never tasted anything close to that. We had chicken with a very special gravy and pasta and soup. I couldn't help but go for 3 helpings even though I was already quite full.
After typing for more than half an hour, I have only finished day 1. I think I shall continue some other day.
