confessions of a workaholic

i have been asking myself lately... do i really enjoy what i do or am i doing what i enjoy? it is a bit of both really...

i am glad that my time these days are divided neatly between coaching debates and drama... really, it's been so far so good... *pat on my own back*

both my competition teams for debates have gone into quarters... meaning they are top eight of the entire pack... that's very very good for me... cos it has not been easy...

my drama students are ever so endearing... i think i have been overly cranky and snapping at them a lot this year... *reminder to self* must make it up to them... they have been screamed, yelled and ranted at... i would hate me if i were in their shoes... that said, the team had a great showing at their first ever syf (mine too!)... hope all goes well...

so what's left for work?

drama-wise... got to execute work plan for second half of the year and also plan for 2010

debates? broaden the pasture... really hope to take on more work in this field whether it is coaching or just conducting workshops...

no matter how tiring work may be... i think i enjoy what i do and thankfully i get to do what i enjoy too!

SOS!

i have been stabbed! in the back no less...

so the next time you see me, just pull out the daggers that you've put in? thanks!

i need just enough...

how do you know when too much becomes too much? where do we draw the line?

simple... when the following occurs...

1) your list of missed calls increases by the day because you are occupied, driving or just simply too tired to handle another business call...

2) you get into your email accounts and pray that you have less than five emails to answer and respond too...

3) your family has to live around your schedule. example? i need to be 'booked' to pay respects to my mother...

4) working seven days a week.

5) the only decent time you can meet anyone is 8.30pm and there are no gurantees of being on time...

6) your students know all the CDs you have in the car...

7) when a job is cancelled, you keep mum about it just so that you have some time off to yourself...

i think i've bitten off more than i can chew for the first quarter of 2009... the fatigue is setting in... BIG TIME!

the heat is on...

my mind has been clouded with too many things recently BUT i'm glad things are clearing up... and with clear skies and a clear mind... here's the lowdown of how stressed i am going to be...

27th feb: round two of julia gabriels (debates)... they had a great showing at round one so let's all hope that this will build on what they have already established...

13th mar: round three of julia gabriels

4th apr: day one of midc (jc debates)... two matches...

11th apr: day two of midc... another two matches...

14th apr: syf for bedok view...

don't be deceived by the dates... the training is super tiring!

on a separate note... it's so fun conducting the debating workshop at cat high... the boys are a bundle of joy!

giving thanks...

for a marvellous monday...

- kickstarted a new workshop series for a local school... very pleased with the response
- had a great training session... very happy that students were responsive
- reviewed last friday's competition with my students
- confirmed a job with my long-time client but sharing some of the load with a friend... if not really overloaded...

for a terrific tuesday...

- waking up at 7.30am to play driver... haha...
- performance in a school hall that had air-conditioning... shiok la... teachers and children were surprisingly responsive...
- finally did a full run for final journey... looks good!
- went shopping for birthday present then dinner at taka... it was more funny than fun... laughed a lot...

for a wonderful wednesday...

- another early morning but not too bad...
- cheap canteen food... quite tasty too!
- worked an hour but getting two hours' pay!
- met new batch of minions... bad but not that bad...
- dinner with mini-me and gerald... nice chillout and winding down after a long day
- oh, GNC is having a two-for-the-price-of-one promotion... yeah! myoplex stockup!
- cleared bulk of paperwork...

good qi! good qi! good qi!

all work and no play...

i asked myself if i took too big a bite of the 2009 work pie...

as of now, the battle wounds are as follows...

drama: coaching two schools... one preparing for a major musical in April, another preparing for competition end-march then they move on to a major musical in july. this means non-stop rehearsals till july...

debates: coaching two schools... workshops for another two schools (and possibly a third)... first school goes into competition this friday... competition will drag on for a couple of months if they go all the way till the end... other school's new intake comes in this week which translates into intensive training to bring them up to par. as for the two schools i workshop... thank goodness it's only an hour each session...

so all weekday afternoons are taken up, saturday mornings too... then what about weekday mornings and sunday?

here goes...

weekday mornings: either teaching workshops for SDC, giving talks for HPB, doing shows for ETC or training for DB (gym and cardio)

sundays: giving tuition in the mornings and dragonboat in the afternoon...

so those who want a piece of me... book early... or catch me during the late night... haha!

moving up and on...

my stay in seaweedy deep will last another two weeks. the run has been fulfilling thus far. we had our ups, our downs, our good and our bad but i guess the entire team has stuck together thus far. the current run of rainbow fish has definitely broken all previous records in more ways than one... let's just say that i am very honoured to be working alongside the people i have on the team...

from the sea, i will move on to the runway. the fashion show assignment is slowly taking shape... next weekend will kickstart everything... fingers crossed...

i also just said yes to another show... this one is running from 10th to 12th nov... a puppet show this time round... more details once i start rehearsals...

fishy tales... staying afloat

okay... i technically should be in bed by now since i need to awake at 6am to prepare for shows tomorrow... but i cannot resist dropping a couple of lines before i sleep...

rainbow fish opened on monday... we've done 18 shows so far... another 43 to go... my voice is gone, i'm down with flu... fingers crossed that i will feel much better tomorrow... i just need to survive through the week... things will get better i hope...

on the side, my off day was hardly a break. had to consolidate materials for a couple of talks and then there were a few business calls to handle. also had a few new show bookings coming in... me is tired tired TIRED!

i want a holiday!

water... here, there, everywhere...

my recent lifestyle is all about water... rainbow fish and dragonboat...

the stress of rainbow is slowly creeping up on me... i am definitely not the strongest vocalist (i cannot read scores, pitch or do anything 'musical-ish')... not a fantastic dancer... so when others pitch easily or master choreo within a snap of their fingers, i need a lot more time. AND time is not on my side... we open in two weeks! i don't want to disappoint the director, fellow cast and most definitely myself...

dragonboat is the other thing... i definitely enjoy rowing BUT the past couple of weeks, my heart is just not in it. my mind is just about rainbow and the tiong bahru launch. today i was out of sorts... during training, was constantly thinking of my songs for rainbow... coach probably would want me in the final line-up for november's competition and hinted at moving training time to suit my schedule... i'm not so sure if i am worth it...

i need to clear my mind and focus... CONCENTRATE!!!

now... off to memorise script for rainbow!

urban escapade

iora chic, black/white, yuppie sleek, high school fun, summer splendour, 50+50+50, urban essentials, afterhours... titles for my new project...

like it? i love it... more details coming your way...

the still-busy-to-no-end...

well, another weekend fluttered passed without me realising it...

i initially thought that sat was going to be a super lazy day for me. i was all ready to hit the gym in the morning then come home and become a couch potato... well, the gym part happened... the couch potato? nah...

had to do a meeting with boss/client (a group of us are still trying to figure out the right term)... anyway, the meeting was for the fashion show job where i'm in charge of styling for eight runway shows... FUN FUN FUN!!!

that took me till the noon, after that was doing catch-up with friends and all...

sun was dragonboat training... only one statement (actually more la)... singapura, sunny island set in the sea... the sun was out in full force. i would have appreciated being just slightly sunkissed... but me thinks me is sun-gobbled today... and once again, i have horrible tan lines...

from stage to page!

an early morning sms from boss sent me into a psuedo-fit... it read... you have been immortalised. check your email... i mis-read it and thought i was mobilised for lovely people in green... so of course i went to check my email...

lo and behold, i received a comic book that was a replica of a show i did for health promotion board. definitely a pleasant surprise! if you guys want a piece of me, just let me know... i should be able to get my hands on a few copies... meanwhile check out my facebook account for my alter-ego, Dave...

girls... boy... flowers... words...

pretty full day i must say...

started with lesson at sdc for a bunch of really sweet girls. they were extremely well-behaved and very adorable. however i can really do with less pink. trust me... twenty-five pink bags in every shade and size was really a bit too much to bear... but they were a great class to teach...

then i arrived at bedok view all ready to rehearse with my students preparing for friday's competition. upon arrival, i was greeted with news that my lead was down with high fever! had to scrabble for a replacement who, thankfully, could act. so it was rehearsal in school then rehearsal at scdf hq. *fingers crossed* hope they don't fare too badly on friday...

after that, it was over to suntec for the singapore garden festival. it was gorgeous. the arrangements were just full of bliss! gives one the urge to get married. haha... what was more amazing? i actually ended up shopping in the festival but no, i didn't buy flowers for my girlfriend (sorry to jap saleslady). got some snacks for greedy me, flowers for a downcast director and some tea for a good friend...

the end of the day was marked with some writing... a student's testimonial, a concept for a show and not forgetting my entry for the day...

anyway, for reading the entire entry... here's some BS (BS = beauty secret) for you... lips require protection from the sun too. so do use a lip balm/gloss that has a reasonably high sun protection factor...

in a nutshell from the nutcase

okay, i'll make this one snappy and not seem overly excited about my new cyber-space (haha!)

went to watch x-files today... it was not very x-file-ish... just seemed more like an extended murder mystery... not recommended... wait for the dvd to hit the stores...

anyway, the week ahead is going to be hideous... rainbow fish rehearsals start tomorrow morning and it's going to stretch till the end of the month afterwhich we start the run...

then there's the teaching for bedok view and greenview (no they are not related...). my bedok view students are competing this friday (stress...) and the greenview students have to perform next week for national day (double stress!)

on top of that, there's adjudicating for anderson invitationals... finals is between ri and mgs... motion? thbt the world belongs to the rich... no comments for now... especially since i am chief adjudicator...

finally, got to sit down and talk through new project... pretty exciting especially since it will involve lots of shopping (not on my expense of course!)...

oh through all these, there's still all the training to do for dragonboat and vocal lessons too...

i love my life...