bocelli

amazing.

you know you're in for an amazing show when the likes of the president, ministers, jimmy choo and michelle yeoh are invited and welcomed by beatrice chia-richmond. before anything starts, of course, there are the usual opening addresses and presentations of tokens/gifts. the organisers donated 850,000 to the community chest and the typical big cheque was presented on stage.

then the show begins. the singapore philharmonic orchestra and chamber choir start the show with the oveture from Carmen. not long after, bocelli himself begins belting out verdi and puccini's compositions, doing duets with sabina cvilak and delta goodrem, sometimes accompanied by andrea griminelli the awesome flutist. he dedicates a famous italian piece to all the mothers in the audience. the last piece performed is a duet with goodrem, canto della terra from vivere. a grand finale. but it isn't the end, because you then go on to see 5 encores, during which bocelli passionately performs duets with the 2 ladies and an accompanied piece with griminelli. he presents 2 duets with goodrem, both of which were simply spellbinding, and 1 with cvilak which was a magnificent show of operatic talent. that, however, is not the end of the show either. the 4 performers take their final bow on stage to a rousing standing ovation, a standing ovation that had more people standing than when everyone had to stand to welcome the president. the orchestra and choir begin an epic rendition of the ode to joy, accompanied by fireworks -throughout the entire piece- that made those at the national day parade look like sparklers, which lasted for 4-5minutes. hearing the choir go hallelujah as a phantasmagoria of fireworks lit up the night sky over the botanic gardens was truly the grandest of finales.

it makes suiting up and trekking through the botanic gardens totally worthwhile, even if every one was perspiring profusely by the time we sat down and got our jackets off. you go home with a goodie bag filled with goodies (food, dvd etc.) and wonderful memories of an evening under the stars and fireworks with maestro bocelli and his fellow performers' inspiring performance.

in your love my salvation lies(:

we all make mistakes

but is it too little too late?

maksim

veni vidi vici.

i have lived

i will miss

air-con bunk
canteens and rocky master
nice people and civilians
heated showers
absence of training and regimentation
x-box and ps2
laptops and camera phones
abundant off and leave
going in late
sleeping all day

):

what do babies think of?

foosh

never realised how much i missed my class until i saw them again