Merry Christmas 07
07 is wrapping up fairly nicely.
not completely satisfied with the state i'm in,
but things are alright.
Yesterday was a really good day.
Quite surprising considering i was not feeling well and thus totally cranky for the 2 days before that.
Henry's church group went to sing christmas carols for patients in NUH yesterday,
and he asked if i could juggle for them.
of course i would; i've been thinking of juggling in hospitals for some time now, i know KK has a clown group that entertains the children every week, but i never found the motivation to get my ass there to join them.
His unit group was quite fun and rowdy,
and they made me feel very welcomed and comfy.
On wed i dropped by their gathering to teach them some juggling and ballooning,
with moses in tow.
so glad moses was there; no one should ever inherit my skills of disastrous ballooning.
on sat it was nicholas that offered to come by.
i think henry's group enjoyed our company as well.
one of the cell leaders Jean was telling me:
"I think one of the pre-requisites to being in the juggling/ballooning group is a bright smile and friendliness. We all thought you were so friendly on wed, and then moses and nicholas all have that same characteristics. it's the thing all you performers have!"
-----------------------------------------------------
so we broke up into 3 groups,
and each group took 3 wards.
one ward had 6 sections, each section with 6 beds.
As the group played the guitar and sang carols,
i juggled from bed to bed.
And then we gave out some free gifts.
some patients were expressionless, some had ready smiles for us, and one even teared.
it was actually very nice to be a part of it.
it was tiring to juggle/sing for 10 min straight, and repeat that another 12 times.
during the first run i was already silently thinking "wa 10 min is quite long man."
the carollers were also getting tired of singing the same songs over and over i think,
and sometimes we totally mangled the songs (haha),
but there's no doubt the spirit was still there, right till the end.
i really like it.
i like the humanitarian spirit of giving,
of not asking anything in return.
More often than not we'd receive appreciative smiles and glances,
but even if we didn't,
there's still the warmth that stays with you.
i can't describe it adequately.
--------------------------------------------------------------
And so as christmas comes and goes,
i'm getting a better feel of the aspects of juggling i like and those i don't enjoy.
Although the paycheck plays some part in my decision on whether to take a gig,
i 've never enjoyed gigs that paid me well but i feel completely miserable after it.
In fact it is always after those gigs that i'll decide to "quit" performing.
because they make me feel like i'm a juggle whore.
my last gig was for a shopping centre in the city area.
the shops were opened for extended hours and they've hired a few of us to walk around and spread the message.
i looked like a crazy person seeking attention i think,
walking around in costume, juggling and screaming "shops are opened till late night!"
it was funny,
cos i could see pple carefully staring and quickly shifting their eyes away when i caught their eyes.
and then i'd whisper "i'm just a messenger...", with a sheepish 'i know i look crazy' smile.
and they give me a knowing smile back.
i quite enjoyed that gig.
again it was extremely tiring,
but it was the chance to mingle with the "common" pple,
with aunties and families and kids,
of playing and interacting with them,
that was so fun.
i don't think there are many things in the world as satisfying as making stangers smile.
--------------------------------------------
incidentally i haven't juggled much for weeks.
things keep cropping up, and i'm not feeling too well recently, and it keeps blardy raining so i can't pop out to juggle.
excuses excuses.
after yesterday's NUH gig,
i suddenly felt like my juggling is a gift, or a tool, that can be used to reach out.
it's something free that i can give freely without depletion and in return generate lots of goodwill.
hmmm.
As a last bit on juggling, i love the clip below. It's a performance by the Gandinis, a group who is fantastically creative and artistic. I love the innocence and fun in their item that captures what i think juggling should be about.
The Sweet Life
--------------------------------------------------------
Weiping's Christmas Party
Popped by Weiping's party in the evening yesterday.
it was really fun.
Even though we were mostly RGS girls from different classes,
we all got along pretty well.
she baked a cranberry cobbler that everyone thought was mince meat,
with Siti asking loudly "Is there beef in this?", and we replied "it's dessert...be gentle now, the host made it herself".
After everyone had their fill, we suddenly realised the turkey was stuffed.
Weips proceeded to butcher the stuffing out of the turkey.
"Careful with the knife Weips, it's not worth losing 2 fingers for the stuffing"
Marcus finally helped dig out the stuffing and placed it on the plate.
"God it looks like a brain! or the heart, are we sure it's the stuffing or is the turkey just not cleaned out"
and then there were the infinite police gags,
since G was the high ranking police personnel present.
G: Oh i can't drink, i drove.
N: So did I . (absent-mindedly waving her glass of wine at G).
S: And you're telling her!!! Never mind, you're the lawyer, you can talk your way out of this.
G: and then you suddenly see roadblocks outside Weips' gate.
and while we played Taboo, the game where you had to describe words without using key words, G's name kept popping out since we couldn't use the word "police".
e.g "G would go after pple like this" -- "robbers! criminals! prisioners!" we would shout.
When it got near midnight, weips took out her new board game which was basically snakes and ladders with cognac shots for penalties.
"And for those who are driving and can't drink too much, you'll have to drink my special concoction! water with 5 different spices!", she proudly proclaimed to the group of very un-willing gamers.
it was really fun.
i'm contented for this christmas.
maybe i should make myself a video before 2008.
hmm.
07 is wrapping up fairly nicely.
not completely satisfied with the state i'm in,
but things are alright.
Yesterday was a really good day.
Quite surprising considering i was not feeling well and thus totally cranky for the 2 days before that.
Henry's church group went to sing christmas carols for patients in NUH yesterday,
and he asked if i could juggle for them.
of course i would; i've been thinking of juggling in hospitals for some time now, i know KK has a clown group that entertains the children every week, but i never found the motivation to get my ass there to join them.
His unit group was quite fun and rowdy,
and they made me feel very welcomed and comfy.
On wed i dropped by their gathering to teach them some juggling and ballooning,
with moses in tow.
so glad moses was there; no one should ever inherit my skills of disastrous ballooning.
on sat it was nicholas that offered to come by.
i think henry's group enjoyed our company as well.
one of the cell leaders Jean was telling me:
"I think one of the pre-requisites to being in the juggling/ballooning group is a bright smile and friendliness. We all thought you were so friendly on wed, and then moses and nicholas all have that same characteristics. it's the thing all you performers have!"
-----------------------------------------------------
so we broke up into 3 groups,
and each group took 3 wards.
one ward had 6 sections, each section with 6 beds.
As the group played the guitar and sang carols,
i juggled from bed to bed.
And then we gave out some free gifts.
some patients were expressionless, some had ready smiles for us, and one even teared.
it was actually very nice to be a part of it.
it was tiring to juggle/sing for 10 min straight, and repeat that another 12 times.
during the first run i was already silently thinking "wa 10 min is quite long man."
the carollers were also getting tired of singing the same songs over and over i think,
and sometimes we totally mangled the songs (haha),
but there's no doubt the spirit was still there, right till the end.
i really like it.
i like the humanitarian spirit of giving,
of not asking anything in return.
More often than not we'd receive appreciative smiles and glances,
but even if we didn't,
there's still the warmth that stays with you.
i can't describe it adequately.
--------------------------------------------------------------
And so as christmas comes and goes,
i'm getting a better feel of the aspects of juggling i like and those i don't enjoy.
Although the paycheck plays some part in my decision on whether to take a gig,
i 've never enjoyed gigs that paid me well but i feel completely miserable after it.
In fact it is always after those gigs that i'll decide to "quit" performing.
because they make me feel like i'm a juggle whore.
my last gig was for a shopping centre in the city area.
the shops were opened for extended hours and they've hired a few of us to walk around and spread the message.
i looked like a crazy person seeking attention i think,
walking around in costume, juggling and screaming "shops are opened till late night!"
it was funny,
cos i could see pple carefully staring and quickly shifting their eyes away when i caught their eyes.
and then i'd whisper "i'm just a messenger...", with a sheepish 'i know i look crazy' smile.
and they give me a knowing smile back.
i quite enjoyed that gig.
again it was extremely tiring,
but it was the chance to mingle with the "common" pple,
with aunties and families and kids,
of playing and interacting with them,
that was so fun.
i don't think there are many things in the world as satisfying as making stangers smile.
--------------------------------------------
incidentally i haven't juggled much for weeks.
things keep cropping up, and i'm not feeling too well recently, and it keeps blardy raining so i can't pop out to juggle.
excuses excuses.
after yesterday's NUH gig,
i suddenly felt like my juggling is a gift, or a tool, that can be used to reach out.
it's something free that i can give freely without depletion and in return generate lots of goodwill.
hmmm.
As a last bit on juggling, i love the clip below. It's a performance by the Gandinis, a group who is fantastically creative and artistic. I love the innocence and fun in their item that captures what i think juggling should be about.
The Sweet Life
--------------------------------------------------------
Weiping's Christmas Party
Popped by Weiping's party in the evening yesterday.
it was really fun.
Even though we were mostly RGS girls from different classes,
we all got along pretty well.
she baked a cranberry cobbler that everyone thought was mince meat,
with Siti asking loudly "Is there beef in this?", and we replied "it's dessert...be gentle now, the host made it herself".
After everyone had their fill, we suddenly realised the turkey was stuffed.
Weips proceeded to butcher the stuffing out of the turkey.
"Careful with the knife Weips, it's not worth losing 2 fingers for the stuffing"
Marcus finally helped dig out the stuffing and placed it on the plate.
"God it looks like a brain! or the heart, are we sure it's the stuffing or is the turkey just not cleaned out"
and then there were the infinite police gags,
since G was the high ranking police personnel present.
G: Oh i can't drink, i drove.
N: So did I . (absent-mindedly waving her glass of wine at G).
S: And you're telling her!!! Never mind, you're the lawyer, you can talk your way out of this.
G: and then you suddenly see roadblocks outside Weips' gate.
and while we played Taboo, the game where you had to describe words without using key words, G's name kept popping out since we couldn't use the word "police".
e.g "G would go after pple like this" -- "robbers! criminals! prisioners!" we would shout.
When it got near midnight, weips took out her new board game which was basically snakes and ladders with cognac shots for penalties.
"And for those who are driving and can't drink too much, you'll have to drink my special concoction! water with 5 different spices!", she proudly proclaimed to the group of very un-willing gamers.
it was really fun.
i'm contented for this christmas.
maybe i should make myself a video before 2008.
hmm.
