I have been meaning to post this for a long time! ;) Thank you to Mrs. Wong and my student, Nicole for these yummy and pretty mooncakes during Mid-Autumn Festival! :) The flavours including sesame, durian and raspberry cheese are very interesting and innovative. ;) Nicole is very persistent when it comes to the piano. However, I am constantly amaze at how fast she can devour a story book! I hear that Nicole is an avid reader, and can stay up all night to read non-stop, finishing a thick story book in one weekend! ;) Wow! ;) Thank you Mrs. Wong and Nicole!! :) For this Mid-Autumn Festival I went with my parents to the Chinese Garden to watch the lighted-lantern-display. The entire garden was basically filled with Hello Kitty & Friends characters. I enjoyed the atmosphere...ramai sekali. :) However, I wished that the lanterns were more varied in design and more traditional. But the children out there must have loved it, especially the Hello Kitty fans! :)
This bouquet of pretty roses are from Jarryl for Belated Teachers' Day! :) I love the colour combination and the presentation...it is very sweet. The roses are not real, but a student who saw it displayed at the table beside the piano thought that they were and went to have a closer look, commenting on how pretty they were. Jarryl is a very intelligent child. Although he is only 6 years old, he understands concepts and ideas very quickly and has an instinctive approach at the piano. Recently, Jarryl has taken to practicing the piano everyday, with the wonderful support of his mother, and thus has become more patient/focused, improving a lot. I hope that this positive trend will continue. :) Jarryl is very sweet and enthusiastic. It is fun teaching him. :) Unfortunately, nowadays many children are distracted by computer games. The computer is certainly useful and fun, but as a piano teacher, I find that children who play a lot of computer games tend to have shorter attention spans and have less ability to focus for long periods of time. Perhaps it is because computer games provide a high level of stimulation and engagement regardless of the situation. Playing the piano requires accuracy, a high level of focus and long attention spans. It is like a sport in some ways. ;) However, understandably, computer games for children are unavoidable and are a sign of the times. ;) Thank you Mrs. Cheryl and Jarryl!! :)
This pretty can of Japanese tea is from Grace Ng. Grace is a working adult who is taking ABRSMDip piano lessons. She was sent by her company for a short overseas trip to Japan, and she got me this with other snacks, which I so quickly consumed that I didn't have the opportunity to take pictures of them....hee hee ;) Japanese snacks/foods tend to be delicious and really pretty ;) I love Sencha! :) I wonder how Grace knew ;) I even named my Fluff Friend Frog on Facebook "Sencha". ;) I wish I could be sent overseas in my job. It must be really exciting and fun. :) I love to travel. I find Grace amazing in that she is very disciplined, balancing work and piano. She is not at all anxious to just play through/learn the notes as quickly as possible. She is very patient, systematic and logical in her learning. She would patiently repeat sections several times with me correcting, in order to fully understand my corrections and suggestions, so that by the end of the lesson, although she had only worked on a section of the piece, she fully understands/remembers what she needs to do during her own practices. Grace would work through all her pieces that way, accumulating section by section of music, and although it might seem slow, it is actually a most fast and most effective, thorough way of learning. It is most enjoyable teaching Grace, and I believe that she has improved a lot in her understanding of her pieces. She practices seriously, takes her lessons seriously, and she is very musical, and she asks logical questions during lessons. It's great to work with a student who is concerned about the details in music. Details in music are highly important...music is not just a collection of notes. It is also great that Grace is unfazed by how difficult a piece might seem, choosing the pieces in the exam repertoire list that are not only technically achievable for her after much hard work, but also appeals to her. It always amazes me whenever I teach such a motivated and musical student, and further more a non-music major! It makes me happy to know that there are students out there who learn music for the sake of music, with the certificate as an added bonus, but not the only main focus. ;) If Grace is so disciplined and serious at the piano, I imagine she must be most excellent and wonderful in her job!! ;) Amazing....Thank you again Grace!! :)
I have been meaning to post this for a long time! ;) Thank you to Mrs. Wong and my student, Nicole for these yummy and pretty mooncakes during Mid-Autumn Festival! :) The flavours including sesame, durian and raspberry cheese are very interesting and innovative. ;) Nicole is very persistent when it comes to the piano. However, I am constantly amaze at how fast she can devour a story book! I hear that Nicole is an avid reader, and can stay up all night to read non-stop, finishing a thick story book in one weekend! ;) Wow! ;) Thank you Mrs. Wong and Nicole!! :) For this Mid-Autumn Festival I went with my parents to the Chinese Garden to watch the lighted-lantern-display. The entire garden was basically filled with Hello Kitty & Friends characters. I enjoyed the atmosphere...ramai sekali. :) However, I wished that the lanterns were more varied in design and more traditional. But the children out there must have loved it, especially the Hello Kitty fans! :)
This bouquet of pretty roses are from Jarryl for Belated Teachers' Day! :) I love the colour combination and the presentation...it is very sweet. The roses are not real, but a student who saw it displayed at the table beside the piano thought that they were and went to have a closer look, commenting on how pretty they were. Jarryl is a very intelligent child. Although he is only 6 years old, he understands concepts and ideas very quickly and has an instinctive approach at the piano. Recently, Jarryl has taken to practicing the piano everyday, with the wonderful support of his mother, and thus has become more patient/focused, improving a lot. I hope that this positive trend will continue. :) Jarryl is very sweet and enthusiastic. It is fun teaching him. :) Unfortunately, nowadays many children are distracted by computer games. The computer is certainly useful and fun, but as a piano teacher, I find that children who play a lot of computer games tend to have shorter attention spans and have less ability to focus for long periods of time. Perhaps it is because computer games provide a high level of stimulation and engagement regardless of the situation. Playing the piano requires accuracy, a high level of focus and long attention spans. It is like a sport in some ways. ;) However, understandably, computer games for children are unavoidable and are a sign of the times. ;) Thank you Mrs. Cheryl and Jarryl!! :)
This pretty can of Japanese tea is from Grace Ng. Grace is a working adult who is taking ABRSMDip piano lessons. She was sent by her company for a short overseas trip to Japan, and she got me this with other snacks, which I so quickly consumed that I didn't have the opportunity to take pictures of them....hee hee ;) Japanese snacks/foods tend to be delicious and really pretty ;) I love Sencha! :) I wonder how Grace knew ;) I even named my Fluff Friend Frog on Facebook "Sencha". ;) I wish I could be sent overseas in my job. It must be really exciting and fun. :) I love to travel. I find Grace amazing in that she is very disciplined, balancing work and piano. She is not at all anxious to just play through/learn the notes as quickly as possible. She is very patient, systematic and logical in her learning. She would patiently repeat sections several times with me correcting, in order to fully understand my corrections and suggestions, so that by the end of the lesson, although she had only worked on a section of the piece, she fully understands/remembers what she needs to do during her own practices. Grace would work through all her pieces that way, accumulating section by section of music, and although it might seem slow, it is actually a most fast and most effective, thorough way of learning. It is most enjoyable teaching Grace, and I believe that she has improved a lot in her understanding of her pieces. She practices seriously, takes her lessons seriously, and she is very musical, and she asks logical questions during lessons. It's great to work with a student who is concerned about the details in music. Details in music are highly important...music is not just a collection of notes. It is also great that Grace is unfazed by how difficult a piece might seem, choosing the pieces in the exam repertoire list that are not only technically achievable for her after much hard work, but also appeals to her. It always amazes me whenever I teach such a motivated and musical student, and further more a non-music major! It makes me happy to know that there are students out there who learn music for the sake of music, with the certificate as an added bonus, but not the only main focus. ;) If Grace is so disciplined and serious at the piano, I imagine she must be most excellent and wonderful in her job!! ;) Amazing....Thank you again Grace!! :)
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