Wake up call

It's obvious. You don't have to be a Christian to be able to celebrate and join in the festive celebration of Christmas. Religion is of little concern as it's now all about Santa Claus, decorations, presents and lots of lavish food.

Since pretty much everything is commercialized these days anyway, we only have to lay back and enjoy the glitz and glitter of the festivities, which is nigh impossible to miss when you've got every shopping mall decked in boughs of holy. Furthermore, (as seen in the Mahkota Parade mall in Melaka), some even dedicated special Christmas performances and knocked themselves out by going over-the-top with the costumes, putting on quite a show to an otherwise dull day at the mall for those weary of shopping.

Why is it worthy a cause of celebration for us non-Christians? It is simply because Christmas signifies something much more important besides rewarding yourself by having a blast. It is in fact a reminder that yet another year has passed. We ponder, what has been achieved in this whole twelve months? And thus, begins the rundown of a recap of this year's moments. The high and lows. The fruitful and the fruitless.

It is easy to get carried away. And not notice the things around you. The people at your side. Of course, then you realized you haven't fulfilled all the roles there is to it. What better way to make up for it or to show you care? There's simply no better gift then spending time bonding together.

A little at a time. One step at a time is alright. I want to know more about the world. Learn more about the society I live in, the people around me, even about myself.

I want to know who I really am. I want to know what I can be capable of, given the right circumstances and a few chances.

We are all rowing the boat of fate, and carefully maneuvering along the unpredictable waters. Even if the waves keep attacking us, isn't it still a wonderful journey?

Old Times Gone By

Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind

Should auld acquaintance be forgot and auld lang syne

For auld lang syne, my dear

For auld lang syne

We'll take a cup of kindness yet

For the days of auld lang syne

Courtesy of Scottish poet Robert Burns, Auld Lang Syne is an honest and heartwarming melody that encompasses all the emotion and sentiment of old friends meeting up after growing up together then spending several long years apart.

In the Internet age, the need to keep in touch with friends is more often than not solved by social media such as Facebook and Twitter. However, virtual friendship is often passive, because although we share more information on Facebook or Twitter than we would in real life, the bond is weaker as one would just sit back and watch another's life unfold rather than participating or experiencing it together first-hand.

As such, the apprehension of reuniting with an old friend can be rather strong. One often wonders how much has the person changed? Time flies, (in the case of how many years has it been) is the old friendship already irrelevant? Personality is as important as looks in this case (if not more), as awkwardness could ensue because of uncertainty in what to say to each other after exchanging greetings. And the fact that so much has happened since going separate ways and finding each own's footing adds on to it.

I have always believed that blood is thicker than water because friendships, often formed out of convenience in the first place, does not last forever. The moments of having fun and painting achievements together are only temporary because there is no other place like home, where warmth and protection reigns. It is easy to make acquaintances but extremely hard to form a real precious bond. A bond like siblings share.

I have had some good friends who I had no problems getting along with, was comfortable spending time with, and utterly relaxed and happy in their presence, but never one who can be considered a soulmate. Or in layman's terms, an absolute bestie, leaving no room for the slightest doubt. Thomas More described the meaning of soulmate a little more eloquently when he said, 'A soul mate is someone to whom we feel profoundly connected, as though communication and communing that takes place between us were not the product of intentional efforts, but rather a divine grace.'

It is pointless to reminisce on the past unless the sentimental value is still intact. Those days are now in the past and the only way is forward.

Hired

If ever I was asked ‘What can you contribute?’, the sincere reply would be ‘Nothing at the moment. I am just here to learn.’

Being a newbie at the first day of work, first (official) job, feels like learning ABC. Everything is new and foreign. Felt like the dumbo around as everyone was more useful than the blur (very clueless) me.

Handling things (tools) I’ve never even touched before made me feel helpless. My first tool was the barcode scanner. It might seem funny that although I knew full well that it is a freaking barcode scanner, I directed the pointer/head of the machine at the price label instead.

Luckily, the saying ‘patience is a virtue’ seems to apply to my employers and nobody batted an eyelid or even made fun of me. It was an equally humbling experience when I was introduced to the price-tag labeling machine and the credit card machine.

There’s too much take in and A LOT to take care of, but I’m hoping it won’t be much longer before I get the hang of things. Although all ears (an attentive listener), I am not a fast learner by nature, so thank goodness that everyone here gave me the kind-and-patient, just ask-if-you-don’t-know-anything treatment so far.

I admit that I was overjoyed to finally get a job (atYamaha Music no less), but quickly get the idea that a part-time job isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Customer service, sales, and admin work, three-in-one for 440 MYR!

BUT because I get a chance to learn in the friendliest environment I dared hoped for in my dreams, the low pay is worth it as I am out to get the XP.

Surrounded by things that I have a connection to, and working in a comfortable air-conditioned place close to home for a mere four hours is a pretty good deal.

Everything is a learning procedure. Two customers walked in and it was interesting to note how the others attended to them. Live demonstration in place, I carefully observed what I would have to do very soon (and for the rest of the few months), attending to people.

Earlier, Boss touched on how we can channel our inner PR skills to create a good customer relationship. Little did he know that the mass comm student before him knew exactly everything about whatever PR skills he was referring to.

I might have aced the PR theories and assignments, but I realize now is the perfect chance for me to put everything into practice!

I still lack a lot of 'general' knowledge and have tons more to learn. Things are only going to get more complicated but I’m hoping everything will turn out fine!

Fallen Star

It was the end of the road . No sooner had my favourite X Factor contestant, Drew Ryniewicz got booted out of the competition, the same fate awaited me when I dutifully prepared for my last chance to shine on stage.

Auditions, rehearsals after rehearsals, all boiled down to nothing as my chance of bowing out gracefully with a beautiful exit disappeared up in flames.

For inexperienced performers like yours truly, it was an entirely different atmosphere backstage.

Fidgeting nervously and awaiting our turn behind the red curtains, it was quite impossible to fully enjoy and savour the wonderful performances of our peers as the constant reminder that item no.__ is on stage dictated the countdown to our turn. Waiting has never been so uneasy; as one flawless performance follows after another, the pressure is on, and tiny doubts light up.

When it was finally our turn to take the stage, my hands had turned cold and clammy but my confidence level was still fine. I had practiced the piece countless times until it sounded perfect. With sheet music in hand, what could go wrong? That was, until I made that mistake which caught me off guard and ruined the (what-could-have-been) flawless performance I knew we were absolutely capable of delivering.

(Sing! Akon's Blame It On Me: You can put the blame on me, you can put the blame on me, you can put the blame on me, yeah you can put the blame on me)

Because I flipped to the third page instead of the second, it faltered really badly right after the intro. Simply put, the bass was still singing the Persian Market's tune but the melody had gone off track completely, even playing a different verse before it regained composure.

It could have been much worse if it had been a piano solo, but being a piano duet, my duet partner salvaged the performance by covering up my mistakes. Like what a pro should do, I carried on and gave everything I had to overshadow the mistake. Of course, the mistakes made were only a small part of the entire piece. The non-music literate would have barely noticed, but the music-literate would no doubt spot the error if they were paying attention.

At any rate, with our backs to the audience, we did not have the slightest clue (other than the polite applause at the start and end) to their reactions, expressions, or even if they were paying attention. Not that it really mattered, since the audience was composed entirely of parents, students, teachers, children and staff of the music school.

I was still depressed that we didn't nail it. The only comfort was that we managed to pull off/execute all the fast parts pretty well, even playing much faster than we originally intended (Andante turned Allegro for instance), which hopefully created excitement and liveliness for the otherwise mediocre/lacklustre performance.

Ironically, I did not shine like a star, which was the theme of the concert, but I'd rather not dwell on it. Unsatisfying, but finally I can say I am done and over with it.