1st Masterclass

Not knowing what to expect during Nafa's masterclass, I just try to prepare Renee as per her teacher's instructions.   However, unlike her previous ABRSM exam, we weren't given much time for preparations and things had also turned out alittle different from what we've been told.  No harm done though and fortunately, Renee wasn't the 1st to be called so she can roughly gauge on what to expect, :).

On her teacher's suggestion last Sunday, Renee managed to memorise the alternative piece by Tuesday and so, for the rest of the week, she wasn't 'made' to practice alot as I didn't want to pressurise her too much, :D.(Although she's memorised a few notes in the wrong key and had to make way for adjustment juz hours before the MC). 

We were abit late today but the MC hasn't begin and when I noticed the kids que-ing up for their violins to be tuned by 1 of the teachers, I quickly took out Renee's and got her to que up as well.  Surprisingly, she joined the que willingly, :)

Before the session began, 1 of the teachers(I think she's one of the senior teachers) 'warned' the children to do their best and play well as their performances would be watched/judged by the masterclass teacher(whom she claimed they themselves wld even address as teacher).  After the 1st 2 violinists, the masterclass teacher halted the class temporarily and asked for the audiences' preference.  Renee put up her hand to cast her vote and there I was worried "Oh no, is this what all the children will have to go through? What if no one votes for Renee later?" hahaha.

Whilst waiting for Renee's turn, we watched the MC teachers 'stopping' the children every now and then, to correct their posture, playing techniques and that got me even more worried 'cos out of all these kids, only Renee + another kid were not from their prep-class and if they need correction, how would Renee fare?  ^-^".

Finally, Renee's name was called...  I had thought/half-anticipated that she'd hesitate when it's her turn, but she walked up to the stage readily.  She even bowed alittle(when she had said she wldn't and I've told her she can skip it if she's not up to it since none has done so, though it's requested by the teachers) and smiled nicely when the teacher commented that she liked her violin(with the ribbon), hahaha.  She started her scales(in separate bowing) when the teachers nodded for her to begin but she took a little while to compose herself like I've told her to, when she's to play 1 arpeggio(in slurr bowing), hahaha(actually I found she took abit too long hahaha, probably due to her mentally selecting which one to play.  This was 1 of the last minute 'changes' as we'd told that they'd be prompted like ABRSM exams style.   It was later announced that that would be done on their 2nd MC.  Luckily these changes are very minor and easy for Renee to adapt to at the last min, and had not waited for the teachers to tell her what to play).  On her kinsey piece, she ended it with a 'move' taught by her teacher and some parents even 'wow-ed' whilst many of us laughed - 'cos this was not expected in the MC, hahaha, so funny(neither had I expected her to do it either).  I was simply relieved when the MC teacher had not made any negative nor corrective comments about her playing, *phew*.

When the grade I students had completed their 'performances', the MC teacher shared his thoughts on what he's observed, the wrong and the correct techniques he's seen, on how the violin/bow/postures should be 'controlled' to produce better music, the mechanism of the instrument and its bow, etc etc.  Those were valuable notes/advices but Renee was busy writing her story on her book. I would have recorded his 'speech' had I known earlier, so I could replay it for Renee later, haiz...  Then when he remarked that it's time for the stickers on the violins be removed, he said, whilst searching the crowd, something like "... there's a little girl but I can't remember which one now"(I didn't know whom he was referring to and though I noticed some audiences pointing to Renee, I'm still not entirely sure...), "she plays on tune without the stickers and this should be the way, we have to listen with our ears and not depend on the stickers to get the tune right, so you should all start taking off the stickers...".  That's when he went on to explain the difference and how is it tougher to play the violin as compared to the piano(jokingly apologising to the pianists present at e same time, ^_^) - not something entirely new to us but I hope Renee won't use this as her tool of argumentation when she faces tougher pieces next time!

More was shared by the MC teacher(and he ended with "you all go back and ponder over these" - oh man, poor us parents, lolz) and when it was time for the grade IIs to 'perform', I wondered if we could take our leave.  We stayed on as no-one seemed to be leaving but after a while, I couldn't stand it and went to check with 1 of the teachers at the back.  He said that we could and we happily did so, heee.

As there's still a good hour before her *theory lesson(haiz, another tough one to go through...), I decided to go for a tea-break at Fortune Centre but as we're reaching there, Renee said she wanted to go over to the Bodhisattva Kuan Yin temple.  Well, how can I refuse when it's pretty near and she's personally requested, so we went.

We had toasted bread with butter and kaya(needless to say, Renee's only got butter) for tea and she'd liked it so much that she requested for a 2nd round, hahaha(aiyoh, used to ask her to try ah kun's for breakfast but she'd always insisted on Mc's) but not wanting her to gorge too much on toasted bread, I suggested fruits and she said she wants apple, which she happily changed to a choice of orange when the former was not available at the stall.

When papa came to fetch us over to the teacher's for her practical lesson, the teacher asked "how's the masterclass?", the moment she opened the door  :). After viewing the video, she commented "not bad and, great ending"(probably being kind, heee), but as we can't be sure how she'd really fared, I asked if the MC teachers would share the children's performance with their respective teachers.  She said that it depends and asked if the teacher had made any comments/remarks about Renee's playing.  If they hadn't, then it should be alright...  Hmm, guess we should be able to find out the next lesson?...

Knowing that Renee had done ok during the MC, papa obliged her request to eat out(Mc again but luckily it's not Tony Roma's, else I'd faint man, kinda sick of it liao hahaha) and one can easily tell that she's feeling much relieved and happy, what with the constant chatter and laughing with Yunita, lolz.  Her joy even made her more co-operative during her practical lesson when she's least expected to be since we'd been out much earlier/longer than usual today - she re-learnt a playing technique today and did it quite well, just hope she'd still remember when she next practices...

*With no music background, I fnd it rather hard for me to help Renee with her theory homework.  Although she would try to explain to me what she's learnt but it's getting harder for me to grasp as their lessons progress on.  It's already hard for me to understand it on a violin, let alone when it's explained in the keyboard/piano way(in both treble and bass clef).  There were 2 sections from last week's homework that Renee was unable to complete and when I asked why she didn't inform the teacher that she doesn't know how to when the teacher had put '??' marks on them, perhaps Renee wasn't clear enough? but she claimed she did but the teacher told her that she still has to do it.  Oh gosh, since she doesn't quite fully understand and her mummy can't help her, how?  Headache for me...

To be fair, I guess it's rather hard for the teacher(not sure if she's also trained in violin or just piano) to coach each child individually due to the short timing and in such situation, I personally feel that it is actually tougher for the violin students as it's rather different from their instrument, etc, especially at their young age.  In any case, papa had suggested for me to seek her practical teacher's help and indeed, after her teacher's brief explanation(less than 5mins 'cos we daren't take up too much of her time for theory questions...), Renee seemed to have understood a little better.  I hope she really did 'cos I'm totally helpless in this area, :(

Baby Stuffs I

As the mothercare's discount will expire on the 28th this month, we have to make our purchases by today as papa's not free tomorrow.

Since Renee's not feeling well and papa's got a dinner appointment, we didn't have the luxury to look around much, so we've only managed to get what's more essential... - 1. Baby cot(wanted the cot bed but can't, due to space constraint) which turn out to be a very good buy 'cos the discount was even allowed on top of its already offer price!  2. Electric bottles steam steriliser(I used the conventional boiling way during Renee's time but now with more cooking done, I think this would be better).

Hopefully we'd be able to get the rest of what we'd need at the Takashimaya baby fair this Thursday(there's also a sales going on at Mothercare from that day onwards).  Meantime, I'd better work my brain engine to try and recall what we have to buy(def not bb clothes[not even the 'outing' clothes] as besides Renee's hand-me-downs, Elsie has just passed me a 1st bagful recently) since I'm getting tired alot faster now and more shoppings/walking are definitely not desired...

Fever

Either it's due to sleeping late or the lack of drinking enough water or perhaps even the combination of both(which is a high cause of heatiness), Renee came home after our visit to my mom's last night with a high fever(we heard that her cousin, JX was also hving fever, thus they did not go down).

In fact, when we got to my mom's, I had already noticed that her body was rather warm and I should have not bought her down to KFC for dinner, :(...

Today, although her temperature has gone down alittle but as her theory lesson's held in an air-conditioned room, she came out telling me that she didn't feel up to it for her practical session.  However, a last minute check(I've forgotten that we're supposed to check the notice board ourselves, thus only found out today), I realised that her masterclass(MC) is just next week!  So, no choice, she'd still have to go to her practical lesson...

Probably due to the fever, she's forgotten the last few lines of the piece she's supposed to play during the MC, without looking at the scores(just like exam/performance)  However, she played another piece much better and her teacher asked if she'd like to change it to the latter one.  She panicked and replied immediately with fear that she doesn't want to have to remember another piece.  I reminded her gently(since she's unwell, heee)that since she's unable to remember the former piece fully, there's no harm trying the other piece but she wouldn't relent, so we left it as it is.

On the way to returning the new chin rest as it's not that comfortable as she'd thought earlier(and it's making her position looked funny according to her teacher.  I had to spend some time re-fixing the old one back, haiz.), I spoke to her about her teacher's suggestion and that since the teacher finds her playing i that much better, she should really give it some consideration but of course, I'd leave the decision to her.  In the end, she agreed to give it a try.  It's only 6 days to the 'performance' and she's still hasn't recovered, I can only cross my fingers and hope that she'd be able to do it...

Back home, as what normally happens, her fever temperature went up again at night and since I'm the one whom have to worry over her at night, I decided to grant her her wish to sleep with us so I need not walk in and out of her room like the night before(hard to depend on maid to do such things, anyway, it's simply not my style if I can help it)...

Keys Collected

Finally, we've collected our keys to Parc Mondrian today.

Other developments aside(there are of cos better ones), after moving into the currrent premise, we find PM's better, hahaha - the space, its furnishings, unblocked view from our enclosed open terrace which gives it a modern yet resort feel, security features, facilites  and their layout/designs, etc...(we were also given a gift which we wld be collecting soon, so those whom will be visiting us in the near future will know what it is, hehehe)  However, we'd need to figure out what to do with this unit since we're also committed here...  Shall leave this to hubby, not my job! :D.

Crying for Papa

On Friday night, whilst on the phone with her papa, Renee'd told him that she did not want to cry(I guess he must have asked if she's cried) but the minute the phone was passed over to me, I heard her sobbing beside me and hubby asked me to pass the phone back to her before we hang up...

As we looked on at the photo albums, she'd muttered "papa..." each time his photo came ino sight and finally, she lost control and cried again, oh man!  That's when I told her that we shall stop looking at the photos and go to sleep.

Yesterday, a last minute decision and we took a cab over to my mom's.  I guess the gathering at my mom's might have helped and her crying bout did not re-occur tonight.  In fact, she was even yawning whilst on the phone with her papa and had fell asleep almost instantly thereafter, :). (perhaps she knew that her papa would be coming back tomorrow, :>).

And when papa finally got home this afternoon(just on time to send us to her violin classes), she jumped with joy the minute she heard the main door clicked open and shouted, "Papa, Papa".  The latter then told me that he could tell she was near tears already but she hid it well by not looking at him directly, hahaha.

Papa's actually very tired but seeing his darling daughter had really missed him so much, he even consented to a family dinner at Tony's(needless to say, it's Renee's choice) after her lessons, :).

Papa's Away

Renee has been requesting to co-sleep with us for the past few weeks and her Papa had happily allowed that(citing the reason that she'd not be a kid forever and in the future, she won't want to slp with us anymore - hey, this was what I've said to him in the past!).  However, her requests got to a point when it had became too often and I felt the need to put a stop to it, least she might get too used to it(although she had expressed that she'd readily move back to her own room when her sibling's born).

With the need to change this habit, I've agreed that she could sleep with us once a week and when Papa's going away for the trip - which she had been looking forward to, oblivious to the fact that she'd miss him during his absence from home, hahaha.

This trip, initially to be made on the Christmas' Eve, was delayed til this weekend, and for the same reasons as thought through earlier and perhaps an additional - my tummy's gotten bigger, haha, both Renee and I stayed back...

Last night, before Papa got home, I reminded Renee the 'reality' of having her wishes come true - sleeping with us(me) means that her Papa would be away from home and that she'd surely miss him.  That finally got her thinking and she said to me "mummy, why you tell me the sad thing?", hahaha.  At bedtime, I guess she must have thought that he'd be leaving in the morning, she had requested for an extra night on our bed and waking up this morning, looking alittle panic when she didn't see Papa beside her, :).

When Papa finally left home this afternoon, she pouted but didn't cry though...  And soon, the idea of Papa not being around was forgotten, lolz.  To further distract her, I 'sacrifice' my needed nap and played/read with her, and her play with our helper after dinner was certainly helpful.

When it was time for our helper to turn-in, she asked for bread and wouldn't 'give up' even after her supper.  Seeing that they were still chatting in the room and feeling hungry myself, I asked our helper to cook us a pack of instant noodle and Renee was overjoyed, like it's some kind of rare delicacy, hahaha.  As it's the first time she's eating it with its accompanied seasoning, she shared it heartily with me and had drank a whole cup of water due to its 'saltish-ness'(only put in 1/2 pkt of the seasoning) and had ended up feeling bloated, hahaha.

She's still not willing to go to bed, sitting beside me, even at this moment as I'm typing and had insisted that I fulfilled our pact - to look at all the albums of her baby/toddler photos, :D.

New Chin Rest

Without Renee 'playing' with Shuen after their maths lesson today, we even managed to grab some groceries before Papa came to pick and send us to MS to pick up her violin.

After a quick dinner at BK, we headed straight to Synwin and we even got a new chin rest for her(the same prob might occur since it can't be placed in the centre) as the connector(duno wat is it called, heee) of the existing one's very rusty already.  Although Renee's given it a try at the shop, I reckon it's still too early to tell if she'd really find it as comfortable as she'd claimed.  However it will be, it'll have to be the 1 more thing she'd have to get used to, on top of the techniques...

Violin Under Service

2 weeks ago, Renee's teacher told me that I needed to bring the get the upper part(can't rem the term nor do I know how to explain hahaha) of the instrument filed lower 'cos it seems that it's causing Renee some problem when pressing on the area for some flat notes.

This violin was purchased by her previous teacher on our behalf and we had already noticed this problem then but nothing was suggested and so, Renee had carried on playing it, hurting her fingers whenever she tried to get the correct tune for the few particular flat notes, :(.

Last Sunday, the teacher asked if I've already got the violin fixed but, as she wasn't entirely sure if that could be done when she told me about it, I had not acted on it!  Suddenly remembering it yesterday, I told hubby about it and since he's got some free time today, we brought it down to Synwin(instead of Gramercy as suggested by the teacher).  We were told that we'd most probably only be able to collect it tomorrow but just an hour after we've got home, they sent a text to me that the violin is ready!  To think that we were still within the area('cos we'd walked over to Suntec city) for that few hours, haiz...  No choice, we'll have to try and collect it after her classes tomorrow and hopefully we'd have the time to let them fix up the new chin rest for Renee to try(been wanting to change it for her since some time ago).

The haircut

As requested, here's the pic - the best I can put up(to show the length w/out showing her face, hahaha)