1 October 2006

A day I hope will be repeated again and again, 'cos this is the kind of life I want to lead.... An invigorating morning run at Labrador Park, tuition in the afternoon to satisfy my teaching fix, topped off with some classical music.....

I can't believe how long since I last visited Labrador Park, during my schooldays at nearby SAJC, always relishing a jog there for PE instead of the usual lessons. I'm struck by how much it has changed. Gone are the days of unpaved paths, the dense vegetation, the long, flimsy staircase which miraculously brings us from the narrow beach back to the lane near the entrance after our PE teacher had led us on a long winding path. In are the orderliness, the platform, the boardwalk, groups of anglers, bikers and even a whole horde of Japanese teens..... What happened to the peace and romance of a charmingly untainted hideout? Luckily, the sighting of 3 juvenile yellow-vented bulbuls feeding on a fruiting fig tree brought some relief to me...

Talking about relief, nothing soothes the soul like music. Went to the SSO concert @ Kranji Turf Club. Conducted by maestro Lim Yau, the crowd lapped up familiar strains of the following:

Overture to Die Fledermaus and Eljien a Magyar Polka, Op. 332 by J Strauss II
Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana (I love!!)
Colonel Bogey March by Kenneth Alford (so this is the name)
Finale from William Tell Overture by Rossini (played to death, but who mind?)
Beatles hit medley (yellow submarine, hey jude, yesterday, I wanna hold your hand....)
Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34 by Rimsky-Korsakov (never heard before, but obviously bearing the unmistakable hallmark of RK's work)

Strange that nobody shouted encore..... but the musicians obliged automatically....and as they say...

What an enchanted evening!