Children's Day 2011! :)

Children's Day is almost round the corner again! :)  I miss being a child at times...I believe that there is a child in all of us always. ^_^  Here are this year's Children's Day goody-bags I have just packed for all my dear students, each stuffed full with a variety of yummy candy...Chuppa-chups, M&Ms, marshmallows, Yupi hotdogs (a favorite of many children ^_^), jellies, etc...., waiting to be distributed soon! ;)

Teachers' Day 2011! :)

 One year passes so fast...Teachers' Day came and went again!  Very soon, it will be Children's Day again! :) I just want to thank all my students who always make Teachers' Day special for me every year! :)  I appreciate lots the well-wishes, thoughts and efforts and the gifts below....make my heart smile! :)

Thank you Yee Jiun, Mun Tat and Mun Hon for this adorable tea set for two! :)  Tea is one of my favorite beverages......slurp slurp slurp! ^_^

Thank you Jia Shan for this pretty notebook! :)  I love green leaves! :)  Hmm....maybe I should use it to record all my students' homework, so there is no escape for my students...heehee.....kidding.....but I think I already do have a pretty good memory for that anyway......hahaha! ;)

Thank you Mrs. Teo, Isabel and Annabel for the pretty Korean pouch and yummy Korean seaweed!:)  Korean seaweed is definitely one of my favorite snacks of all time! :)  Fragrant, crispy and salty!  ^_^

Thank you Mrs. Michelle and Kelly for this healthy tonic beverage! :)  It will certainly further boost my energy levels for teaching! :)  Yum yum yum! :)

Thank you Candy for this sweet elegant crystal necklace! :)  Pretty! :)  Girls and accessories! ;)

Thank you Mrs. Cheryl, Jarryl and Brandon for these delicious traditional mooncakes! :)  Happy Mooncake Festival too! :)

Inside the mooncake box! :)  Yummy! :)

Thank you Hilary for making this interesting accessory for me! :)  Very creative! ;)

Thank you Mrs. Viena, Ray and Russell for this chocolicious and pretty hand cream! :)  I love the happy-looking, pretty cupcake packaging! :)  Certainly comes in full use for a pianist, who does housework too! ^_^

Just to share this kind SMS, sent on Teachers' Day this year, from Celine Yeo, who is a former student of mine years ago:

"Hi Sherina! Happy Teacher's Day! Always the best teacher for all your students.:-D stay happy n healthy."

Thank you Celine for having me in your thoughts! :)  So sweet! :)

Last, but certainly not least, thank you to all my students and former students who wished me a Happy Teachers' Day 2011! :) Thank you lotsy! :)  Hugs and Smile! :)

Holy Matrimony :)

Happy Lunar New Year 2011! :) 新年快乐！:)

Happy Lunar New Year 2011! :) 新年快乐， 迎春接福， 四季平安， 吉祥如意！！ :) May 2011, the Year of the Metal Rabbit, bring an abundance of happiness, prosperity, good health and good fortune to all! :) May 2011 be a smooth-flowing year of peace. ;)

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year! :)

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year! :) May the spirit of Christmas grant you peace, the joy of Christmas give you hope and the warmth of Christmas bring you love. :) The cutest display this Christmas, discovered on my way to pipe-organ lessons.........

Awwwww.......STITCH! at Bugis........I haven't yet watched the cartoon though, but the display is most adorable! :) Huge eyes, button nose, long tattered ears......heehee ;)
2010 passed by really quickly, and I cannot believe it's is almost 2011! :) I just want to take this opportunity to say "Thank you!!! Hugs!!!" to all my wonderful students & parents for making 2010 a happy, enjoyable teaching year! :) I simply love piano, music, teaching, and I am very thankful for all the wonderful students I have! :) Currently, I am on a year-end teaching break, but I look forward to seeing all my students again in January 2011!!! :)))
SMILE ALWAYS!!! ;)))

Happy Children's Day 2010 :)

Happy Children's Day 2010! :) I made little cards and got pretty pencil cases for my "children"/students this year for fun, instead of the usual packages of candies/chocolates I give every year. :) That little round chop in red is my Chinese name, 陈蓁楹， written in ancient Chinese script. One of my students, Jarryl, started to collect/stick his weekly piano sticker reward on his pencil case, since the pencil case is made of embroidered cloth wrapped in clear plastic....I found that really cute and ingenious! Cool. ;) Heehee ;) I am glad that my students are putting those pencil cases into great use!! ;) SMILE! :)

中秋节快乐！Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

中秋节快乐！ Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! :)
I love Mid-Autumn Festival! I am not really into mooncakes, though they are always nice :), but I love playing with the lanterns every year! :) [Haha, the child in me. ;)] The traditional paper lanterns with hand-painted flowers are really pretty. I still do not quite understand the point nor fun of the battery-operated plastic ones that play rather annoying, flat electronic tunes. My mum says that when she was young, playing with lanterns during the festival was a luxury, and they used to sell pretty hand-made, hand-painted paper ones in different animal shapes, which they do not do anymore. Then, lantern-making was considered an art....now cellophane plastic is used instead, which makes it much more durable. In addition, we find many factory-produced and machine-printed lanterns.......the "advancement" of technology versus art. Ah well. ;)

Have a beautiful celebration! :)

Teachers' Day! =)

Thank you very much to all my sweet students for always making Teachers' Day a very happy one for me! :) Their thoughtfulness touches & lights up my heart a whole lot! :) Thank you for all the well-wishes and presents! :) Hugs! :)

Below are all from my dear students this Teachers' Day 2010. ;) Thank you! :)

The above are from Ling Kee, who has recently passed his Grade 8 ABRSM practical with Merit! Congratulations to Ling Kee! :) It makes me very happy to watch & guide Ling Kee as he grows....I have taught him since he was in Primary 3, starting from his Grade 3 examinations, when I started teaching in 2001, and now he is waaaaay taller than me. ;) Thank you too to Mr. & Mrs. Ang, who sms-ed on Teachers' Day saying, "You are the best teacher I have ever met." Awwwww.....Sherina's heart melts.... :)

This cute pink shirt is from Hilary Mah! :) Hilary was wearing a smaller grey version of it at one of her piano lessons, and I commented that I love her shirt because I love shirts with puffy princess sleeves as they tend to go well with skirts. I asked her where she got it, and she replied she didn't know, but I guess she must have asked her mum after her piano lesson! ;) How sweet! :) Thank you Hilary! :)

This pretty Korean dress is from Mrs. Viena, Ray's & Russell's mum! :) Mrs. Viena is very fashionable and trendy. I find it difficult to find dresses which fits me, due to my petite size, and Mrs. Viena thoughtfully got this cute dress for me! Thank you Mrs. Viena! :)

This cute thermometer is from Grace Ng! :) It is currently hanging in my kitchen...heehee! ;) Thank you Grace! :)

Thank you Rui Yee for this nice tea mug! :) Congratulations to Rui Yee for recently passing her Grade 7 ABRSM practical! :)

Thank you Natalie and Nadya for this thoughtful bookmark! :) Congratulations to Nadya for recently passing her Grade 3 ABRSM practical with Merit! :)

Thank you Kelly and Mrs. Michelle for the sweet hand-made sticker-filled card & bookmark, and delicious healthy honey! :)

Thank you Jarryl for this adorable care bear, which is currently sitting on my piano! ;) Congratulations to Jarryl for recently passing his Grade 1 ABRSM practical with Merit! :)

Thank you Angela for this humorous hand-soap, which I am currently using! :) All my students have been commenting how cute and funny it is! ;)

Thank you Isabel for the thoughtful card and yummy chocolates! :) Congratulations too to Isabel for recently passing her Grade 1 ABRSM practical with Distinction! :)

Thank you Weijie for this yummy box of chocolate and for his always being considerate! ;) Congratulations to Weijie for recently passing his Grade 6 ABRSM practical with Distinction! :)

Thank you Jia Shan for this adorable lucky cat/horse! ;) I am born in the Year of the Horse....Jiashan is very thoughtful! ;) It is currently sitting on my piano looking cute! :)

Thank you very much again to all my wonderful students!!! :) Your thoughtfulness means a lot to me!!! :) I appreciate it lots!!! :) Thank you lotsy!!! :))) Hugsssssss!!! :)))

Ramayana Under the Stars Pictures :)

I just realized I forgot to post pictures from Ramayana Under the Stars! :) Somehow, June just kinda flew by without my noticing and we are in July! ;) Here are some pictures! :)

The Dance Family!

(From Left) Jan, Helena, Nunuk, Mazlan (behind), Ferninda (in front), Me, Xinwei. Jan is our amazing gamelan director! Nunuk is our amazing dance director, as well as the mastermind and choreographer and teacher behind all the dances, and a fine dancer herself! :)

Prince Rama and Princess Sita


Princess Sita flicking her sampur



Demon Rahwana in preparation



Demon Rahwana tempting Princess Sita



"The tourist shot": Prince Rama, Princess Sita and the Golden Deer



Wayang Kulit by Pak Midiyanto


(From Left) Me, Heni [the pesindhen], and Gloria [my godmother :), also a pesindhen]

Musical Gathering; May 30, 2010

On May 30, 2010, we had a mini-musical gathering at Helena's place. Helena is a piano student of mine, and I am sad because I will be missing her for a year when she goes to Prague soon, as her parents will be having their sabbatical there. However, it must be a fun adventure for Helena, so I am excited for her too! :) I hope to visit her in Prague sometime, when she is there for the year.

The musical gathering was fun! :) I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it was all thanks to Helena's parents and Helena, who kindly and generously provided their home for the event! :) Numerous pieces were played by students, some in preparation for their upcoming piano exams, while others simply for the love of performing. Helena and I ended the event with Slavonic Dance piano duet by Dvorak. Below are some pictures! Thank you to Weijie too for the pictures! :)

My students and I, :) waiting for Hilary, who is therefore not in the picture

Helena and I, playing our duet

The snacks at the end! :)

Ramayana Under the Stars

Do come for "Ramayana Under the Stars", on Saturday May 22, 2010, which is held in conjunction with the Peranakan Museum exhibition! There will be gamelan performances, wayang kulit, and dance performances that day, amidst other workshops, booths etc! The museum would also be free admission that day...a good family outing trip! :)

I will be dancing as Sita in the Ramayana dance drama, "Sita's Entrapment". In this interpretation of Rama and Sita, I look forward to portraying Sita as a materialistic, spoiled brat....heehee ;) I believe I wasn't ever a spoiled brat as a child, and certainly don't think I am one now, nor do I think I am materialistic, so it would be super-fun for me to have this opportunity to be all these in this dance drama! ;) Whine whine whine....haha ;)

For those who know the typical ending to the Ramayana, Sita is made to undergo a test of fire by Rama, after Rama saves her from Rahwana, in order to prove her "purity", since she did stay at Rahwana's palace during her abduction. Sita survives the sacrificial fire, being raised from it by the Lord of Fire, attesting to her purity. Whenever I think about this part it makes me sad. First of all, trust between Rama and Sita seems to be absent, and yet, he claims that he loves her. If he did, how could he possibly bear to see her jump into the fire?! And obviously the concept of forgiveness and understanding went straight out the window as well. Did Rama save Sita to prove his ego, and just to compete and prove that he can win? Well, I certainly hope the concept of "purity" has changed in the society today. I hope that purity in the heart & mind can transcend the physical, and forgiveness prevails.

So the story continues that after many years of blissful marriage and togetherness as king and queen, the rumors among the people concerning Sita's "purity", causes Rama to yield to public opinion, and banish Sita to the forests, whereby she gives birth to Rama's twins. -_-" Sad. I guess to be "fair", it's difficult when your relationship is in the view of and being judged by the public, especially when you are king. But I still think one's love relationship is one's "business" with one's partner and no others, just like one's relationship with God/gods/goddesses etc is ultimately one's "business" with God/gods/goddesses etc and no others. Eh....in any case, to end on a more pleasant note, on love, I vehemently agree :) with William Shakespeare, quoting Sonnet 116:

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose Worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom:
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

How to Train Your Dragon :)

I watched "How to Train Your Dragon" in 3D last Thursday! I highly recommend it to all out there. :) I got my ticket one minute before the show started, out of inspiration, and I am glad I did. I came out walking in an absolute straight line too...not dizzified at all by the cool 3D effects. :) Toothless is so adorable, both physically, and in character! ;) I love the disappearing teeth, button-round face, intelligent eyes, etc. The intelligent, wise, childlike, yet kind character of Toothless enhances it's cuteness all the more. Loved the movie!!! :) Do go watch it if you haven't already! ;)

March 22, 2010 Concert at YST

The gamelan concert at YST went well........it was sooooo fun!!! :) Here are just some pictures. :)

The Audience :)


Me on the bonang; Javanese gamelan


Javanese gamelan; Last piece


Blocking for Tari Karonsih (Javanese) before the concert

With our dance teacher Nunuk (right) and dancer Ferninda (center)

Me stressing out on the wayang gender Bali with Jan


Rehearsing the Balinese gamelan before the concert
Our amazing guru for Balinese gamelan, Pak I Dewa Ketut Alit, is on the right in green

Helena and I "messing around" with the Steinway grand, which was in a corner of the hall, at the end of the concert :)