Two of Us

They’re playing our song

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Uncovered this when I was going through the things in my overflowing cupboards this evening. That’s right, it’s a ticket to the Singapore Repertory Theatre play “They’re Playing our Song” back in 1999.

That was when Mr Thick and I first started dating and this was a musical we had both enjoyed tremendously. It still remains as a highlight of our almost 10-year-old journey. 🙂

I’ve also sorted out all the music scores that I have accumulated since I joined the choir in Singapore Chinese Girls’ School 15 years ago. As I was telling Cat, who will be providing these scores with a better home, these represent much of my life in music notes. As I was flipping through the songs I used to sing back in SCGS, I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic and delighted. How much fun we had then! The songs were interesting and enjoyable, and we sang not because we wanted to win awards but because we genuinely liked the songs and loved singing. There was no pressure and we had such a ball of a time singing and dancing!

Going through my old diaries also made me realise that I haven’t really changed much when it comes to writing. It’s strange, seeing words that were written at a time when I was still young and naive, and which could have been written by an adult me. I really poured my heart out then – asking all those tough questions about life, seeing my true self and deliberating my emotions.

And funnily enough, I also unearthed a letter from a secret admirer outing his feelings to me back when I was in JC2. He was a friend of Popartgirl’s and I immediately rang her and we both had a good laugh. Apparently, he had taken a fancy to me since secondary school (we took the same bus to school, unbeknownst to me) and called me a “ravishing beauty in the blue SCGS uniform”. Haha! Who knew that geeky me had admirers then? Reading my diaries also made me realise that there had been boys ringing me up back in my SCGS days. What a surprise, especially given how I wasn’t exactly the belle of Dunearn Road 12 years ago. In fact, with my thick glasses, bad hair and spotty skin, I was far from being a beauty. But then again, I never attracted the jocks or the hunks – only fellow geeks so painfully shy they couldn’t hold a conversation with me on dates – so I guess that’s nothing to crow about, really.

And now, I am married to a geek (who can be a reticent turtle, like all geeks) and planning our first home together. Isn’t the journey of life such a strange one?

Arts & Entertainment, Everything Else

Hearting Jason Mraz

It’s official. I’m naming our future son Jason.
Because when Mr A-Z came to town, he just about made me swoon with his gorgeous voice and extremely cute antics.

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Dressed simply in a long-sleeved white tee, jeans, sneakers and his trademark fedora hat, he stepped out into the bright lights about 15 minutes after 8pm. With a short “hello”, he launched straight into the songs.

He’s absolutely divine live and he didn’t need elaborate costumes and sets to impress the audience. Instead, all he relied on was his silky voice, sweet personality, charming wit and a great backup band. He pushed all the right buttons, said all the right things without sounding like an overly-polished superstar and sang his heart out. He’s a little like the Ting Tings – they sound great on their records but they sound even better live. His voice is so beautiful and he even sounded like he was classically trained.

When he performed “You and I Both” – the song from The O.C. that first got my attention – my heart stopped and I almost cried. Really. He did most of the songs that I liked, like “Mr Curiosity”, “Geek in the Pink” and “A Beautiful Mess” and I was a little gutted that he didn’t do others like “Wordplay”, “Clockwatching” and “Details in the Fabric” but that’s okay. Because for ALL the songs that he did, he really out-performed himself.

The funniest bit was when Singapore’s Joi Chua came on stage to sing “Lucky” with him. I think most of us were a bit let down by that choice and there was a collective “whaaaaat?” when she appeared. But what got us laughing hysterically was her wardrobe malfunction. Wearing a jersey tunic that has a tulip hem, the fabric bunched up into a knot at her crotch and from certain angles, she looked like she was sporting a penis. It, of course, ruined the song for me completely because Mr Thick and our neighbours couldn’t stop giggling and pointing at the offensive image on the big screen.

“Remedy” was brilliant and even Mr Thick was shouting along to the chorus. But the best had to be “I’m Yours” – the audience interaction was perfectly awesome.

Best $100 I have spent. I love you Jason!
Deja vu?
Yeah well, told ya I am naming our future kid Jason.