Reliving Those Days (Part 1)
I have been repeating 思念是一种病 for the umpteeth time since yesterday. As long as the computer's on, I'm on.
Anyway, I'm here to talk (and I really mean talk, like a lecture) about my trip to Europe in as much detail as possible. You don't have to read, you can just look at the pictures (if any). I penned down the details during the trip, because I had no time to blog. However, after Italy I stopped writing already. =P
Attenzione: There are no pictures yet. Whahahaha. Will update again with pictures, so just give this post a miss while I happily blabber away. Pictures will take 2 weeks to a month just to collect, I predict.
Would be making my way to Italy the next day, bought lots of things in preparation. Things like make-up remover (which I did not even touch), toiletries, etc. Not excited about the trip yet, I don't know why. Thankful that my DBS took less than two weeks to give me my AlumNUS debit card, when the woman told me they'll take about one month to do it. Hope that it'll rescue me in times of poverty during the trip.
Of flights and windows
I needed to reach the airport in the late afternoon, so in the morning my mum and I went out to buy the necessities that I haven't got. In the end, I bought a pair of corduroy Converse shoes and a money pouch and the European adaptor. There were some other stuff that I got but I can't remember what.
Checked through everything that I was supposed to pack into my luggage, SMS-ed Daniel so my dad can give him a ride to the airport too. For some reason we waited for Daniel for an exceptionally long while. I saw him running towards the car (my dad's cab) with his jacket in hand and I was like 'SHIT' I forgot my jacket. Pleaded my dad to drive me back. Grudgingly he obliged, and it turned out that Dan forgot his jacket too. -_- That was why we waited for quite some time.
Upon reaching the airport, we went to Popeye! Since my brother and mum were there with me I need not pay whahaha. I miss Popeye's food, especially the cajun mashed potato.
There wasn't photo taking at all, apparently people were late. =( In the end we took the group photo only before going through customs, much to my dismay. Haha.
Before the trip I was already praying for a window seat. And I got none at all. (FYI: I took 7 planes altogether during this trip and I never got an assigned single window seat, how's that. So there was swapping and I got to sit by the window twice.)
Grudge: It was so hard to swap seats with people who got the window seats. People whom I asked their window seats for rejected me. In the end they swapped with others, reason being they let the couples sit together and those couples get the window seats. I was fucking pissed at that la. Couples, so what? I asked for the seats first, got rejected, and saw the seats taken up by people who were sleeping away in each other's arms. Sian diao. It seemed like it is an incentive to have a companion during the trip so that you'll get window seats. And there I sit in the plane staring into space. This really pisses me off. I mean, really, so what? So my resolution for my next trip should be: Get a boyfriend to go overseas with you. *rolls eyes* Whatever. I am sour, not because I'm single, but because I didn't get window seats. -_- OK that was rather childish, but I am childish. =P
Forgot about exchanging Thai baht in case I wanted to spend at the Subra-something airport during transit.
It was through this trip that I got to know Mr. Leonard Tan better, because he wasn't someone that I could easily approach for a chat. Now it seems to be easier, good. Actually there isn't much of a generation gap between him and the band members.
I can't remember how long the entire journey took us, it was about 2 hours from Singapore to Bangkok, then a lot more hours from Bangkok to Milan. About 10, maybe.
I got the window seat from Cedric Lee in the flight from BKK to MIL. Yeay! So nice! (Up to you to think if the 'nice' refers to Cedric or the scenery =P)
Milan
We reached Milan's Malpensa Airport before noon, I can't remember the exact time and there was a coach which brought us to the main square in Besana. The weather was cooling yet sunny. Our guide Elena and her husband picked us up from there.
Upon reaching they sat us in a tent and we had snacks (my first try at Italian food in Italy) and we were briefed and waited for our names to be called up to meet our hosts.
My host & Via Borsi
Mauro Gatti was my host, he was a man of about 29-ish and rather stout. He drove Hui Shan, my two-time roommate-cum-pharmacist and I to his house in Via Borsi (something like Borsi Road), Montesiro, a village near Besana. When I say village it isn't the kampung and stilted houses that you may be thinking, haha. Houses, houses! Mauro brought us around the house and we met his parents and dog. His father is 71 and his mother is 69, but they don't look their age, especially his mother. They're still very healthy people. His dog, Wolf (but you pronounce it in German so it becomes Voof) is a German Shepherd. Usually German Shepherds are used as police dogs because of their wild nature, but Wolf is very very very tamed! It hardly barks, ignores strangers (like HS and I when we reached the house) and lazes around the house. You usually see it sunbathing (dogs have no clothes on anyway) or when it is hungry.
Their house is not a very big one, but it is rather big to me. Haha. They've got their own garden and many many pets! And a tiny vineyard too. Too bad the grapes weren't ripe when we were there. They've got cats (though I haven't seen any, maybe they ran away or Wolf ate them which is a low possibility), doves, a tortoise, ... ... that's about it actually. Whaha. And they've got fici trees, a vineyard, rose bush, rosemary bush, bushes with big flowers (I don't know what kind of flowers they are) and lots and lots of trees and grass and cute weeds.
There are three levels in the house, what seemed like the basement was where they parked their cars, a Fiat, a Land Rover and an Alfa Romeo. They don't have public transportation in Besana, so every family has their own car(s). And other than the cars they've got cooking and washing facilities, iron, cupboards, shelves, table tennis table etc.
Level 1 was the main level, where there are about 4 rooms, 1 hall, 2 toilets, 1 kitchen.....and HS & I have never been to Level 2. We don't even know where are the steps leading up to that level, we've never seen it before. So my guess is that the staircase is in Mauro's parent's rooms, where I haven't been into.
Jin Xun and Michelle lived nearby, at my host family's family friend's house.
Thank you is translated as Grazie in Italian. I'm still having problems pronouncing it correctly.
Ciao is hello/bye.
Lunch
Lunch was simple, pasta, bread and wine (water for me). They always have wine during their lunches and dinners. So it's somewhat like, wine twice a day, everyday for them. Woah.
And after lunch Mauro showed us how they made espresso using this utensil called cafetiera. It was new to me, and it was quite an interesting tool to make coffee. Will introduce more about this later.
We then had the espresso in the garden where we talked about geography and they had a lot of maps. After a while Mauro's dad suddenly took out a table-top globe. So cute! They seem to have all sorts of tools for map-reading and all.
Free Time - Monsa
Mauro brought us to Monsa, along with other hosts and 'hostees'. So other and HS and I there were Yong Kiat, Khee Nguen (they got the hot host, damn. Haha), Michelle, Jin Xun ... ... and many others.
Monsa is like a shopping area 'near' Besana. Their kind of near is 18 km away -_- I had to ask Mauro & two other Italians he brought along where the place was because it sounded near but in fact it was rather far. Haha.
Verdict: It doesn't mean that, when there is a stereotype that the Westerners are bigger in size, they really are bigger in size. Italian women are actually not really tall nor really big, so shopping posed a problem for me, like how it is like in Singapore =( I shall remove this stereotype from Europeans and leave it to Americans only. Only Americans are big sized. Haha. I don't know, I haven't been to the U.S.
I saw a nice yellow-striped top in Zara at Monsa and I really really liked it! I can fit into size L, which is the largest size that I can find there. But the shirt was too fit for me that I felt a bit like a ba zhang. So didn't buy =( HS got a top from there though. She was the one who started the shopping. Haha.
Gelato
I didn't get to taste really good gelato here, the one we tried at Monsa was so-so. And I think I spent my first euro there.
Dinner
I can't remember what dinner was.
General rehearsal
After dinner we went to the general rehearsal of the Besana band. It was a bit boring for me. Haha. So we left shortly after.
Breakfast
It was my first breakfast in Italy, and my, it wasa bit hard to get used to. Haha. I wanted to put the teabag into a glass, but Mauro's mum said 'No' and directed the teabag into the bowl! The size of the bowl is about what the Chinese use for cooked rice during meals. So I found it pretty weird to drink tea from a bowl, when the glass is sitting there. It turned out that the glass was meant for juices and such. It was a rather confusing breakfast, because there's milk, muesli, cereal and such. But we had no bowls to put the milk and cereal into. Hahaha. I followed Hui Shan and put the muesli and cereal into the yoghurt which was a good idea.
NUSWS rehearsal
Rehearsal was at the Edelweiss Cine-teatro. In the midst of rehearsal people from the Columbian band came in and took pictures -_- and I was sitting at the outermost seat, nearest to the audience, so they were rather distracting. But rehearsal was alright.
Lunch
We walked from the theatre to a school for lunch. It was quite my first proper meal after two meals, because I felt a bit underfed at my host's. =Þ Haha not that I really mind, but it's more that I wanted to eat more since I don't feel filled but there was no food left. Ha. For lunch at the school was pasta, ham, salad and a drink. Which looked like grape juice in a packet. So I happily selected that drink and it turned out to be red wine. Read: 11% alc. ... ... It's impossible for me to even touch that, I'm not that good at heavy alcohol.
Lake Lecco
After lunch we made our way to Lecco. The view was beautiful! Mountains and seas, and a nice walk around the town with the shopping areas and all. And had another gelato today.
Lecco is actually one of the three lakes in that area, the other being Como and something else. Haha, can't remember. We went to Como towards the end of the stay in Besana.
Opening of the festival
The Besana band opened the festival with a concert. Their high-pitched instruments were stronger than the low-pitched ones, which I didn't really like. But it's their way of interpretation la.
The concert wasn't bad, it was alright, but you could see the Singaporeans falling asleep. Oh c'mon, it was only the second night we spent there and jetlag was still in the process. People were nodding to the music and we were nodding to sleep. Ah and concerts over there start at 9 p.m., instead of like 7.30 p.m. in Singapore. And 9 p.m. there means 3 a.m. in Singapore, which is the perfect sleeping time. Zzz...
Overall it was hard to pay attention to the concert. Zzz..
Breakfast
Breakfast was the same. In fact, breakfast has been about the same everyday.
Festival Ceremony (Supermarket)
Because it was held at the town hall, it had limited space and obvious couldn't accommodate everyone from the festival. Hence only the committee and Mr. Tan went for the ceremony. And free time for the rest of us heh heh heh. So we went to the nearby supermercati, Rex! In Singapore I quite like to shop in the local supermarkets, especially big ones. You can see many different items that you didn't know exist. Really, try out those big supermarkets with a lot of foreign produce.
Watermelons in Italy were huge, they were all long and oval. And big! So tempted by the watermelons but I didn't buy them =\ Too big to hog around.
I bought a Barcadi Breezer (I don't know for what) - in the end it was too 'sparkling' that I didn't really like the feeling of drinking it, Nutella snack & drink (best!), and mango flavoured tic-tac.
Lunch
After shopping at the supermarket we went to Villa Filippini for a buffet lunch. Their buffet isn't so much of food in trays and heated with a flame at the bottom, the buffet this time was mainly, if not all, cold food. There were pasta, ciabattas, salami, ham, and cold rice! I love the cold rice! It just doesn't taste bad cold. Haha. It was also rather nice sitting on the grass and eating with everyone.
And it was time for the Band of Festival practice!
And I wasn't in the BoF!
So I had free time! Hahahahaha.
And we wanted to go to this train station that we heard about and Dennis went to ask this group of Italians for directions. One of them kindly offered to bring us there! Simone (c-mo-nee) was his name and his full-time job was as a translator. Hence his English is good and it was easy to communicate with him.
We trotted to the train station as well as the music school to peek at the BoF practising. After that, was another supermarket! Haha. Ipael? I can't remember the name. I saw the cafetiera there and wanted to buy one home, but it was more expensive than the one Nick and Qi Cai bought from Lecco. So I didn't buy. Haha. I still had about a week in Italy, I had time to find.
In the evening we departed for Medolago for our first performance in Italy.
We stopped to put our belongings at a school and went for dinner beside a church at this countryside. It was really countryside, like what you saw in movies. Haha. So the air was good! Grassy and wide blue skies. There was even this pizza making oven which looked like a train at that area. We actually ate inside this shelter beside the church.
They were going to serve beef, so they asked if there were anyone who had food restrictions. I actually don't really care, but if can I'll abstain from beef due to religion (and I don't like beef!) And so I sat in a corner with Jasmine and Jama who had food restrictions too. It was the first time that I spoke to Jasmine and I didn't notice her in band at all when she performed for InTempo too =P I dunno why, I just didn't remember her. It was fun talking to Jama and Jasmine, really had fun entertaining ourselves.
Appetiser was a plate of cheese (gosh), dinner was tuna pasta, chips, bread. Very very filling. And to add to that we had their 'signature' cake. I put the apostrophe there because they said it was their signature cake but they were not a restaurant. Haha. But their food was good.
Oh, the toilet was clean but it has no lights. Haha. So the moment you close the door to use the loo, it was darkness.
Performance
The performance was very sudden. Haha. All of a sudden when we were done with dinner, we ran around collecting our instruments, and falling in to march into the town. And then we marched till we reached the stage and ta-daa we left the files in the school. So we ran to the school and back. Haha. Like some kind of impromptu triathlon race. Things got very very messy!
There's this kind of rubber mats that they put on the dashboard in cars as well as at home, to increase friction and prevent things on the mats from falling over. I took a hand-sized piece from my dad and wanted to use it to prevent my tuba from slipping off my left hand, because when I march I actually hold the tuba up a bit so I could still have a nice posture. It tends to slip off when my palms sweat.
In the end I forgot to bring the mat out. I left it at the host's home.
We marched behind the Medolago band and we had to play our national anthem after theirs. The thing is, I haven't memorised! Goodness gracious. And standing on my left was a security guard and I think he could hear my notes screwed up. Hahahaha. So embarassing. I stayed up that night to memorise the national anthem haha.
It was after playing the Merry Widow that we had better reception from the audience. I think Merry Widow is the star song of our concert. I must say that Mr. Tan is an entertainer himself too. We enjoyed standing ovation from the audience, it was like almost everyone stood up for us. A rather touching sight. Haha. Oh, we had gifts from the Medolago people too. Girls had scarves and guys had ties. =)
It was a rather warm welcome to Medolago from the people.
Home! Memorised Majulah Singapura. The problem with the piece was that it was in a weird key and hence more difficult for nooby me to guess the next note correctly, so I really had to memorise note for note.
Breakfast
Because no one else was in the kitchen leaving only Hui Shan and I, I put the milk in the bowl and put cereal in and ate it like how I usually did in Singapore. Haha, we never had breakfast with them before, so we don't know if they ate cereal this way. Though I think they do. Haha.
Mass
Christianity and Catholism were the main religions of Italy, so they had mass on Sunday. I don't know why I went, I didn't know we didn't have to go. But just go see-see lo. It was quite interesting with the band and the singing and the actions we did with the songs. Actually I was rather glad that they did not preach for too long. It'll be difficult for me to tide through that boring period. =PÞpÞP No offence. Anyway, at the end the band played this song called The Prayer of St. Gregory. And because Hai Sing Catholic is a catholic (duh) mission school, I recognised the music and sang along to myself. At the same time I was trying very hard to recall the song name. Like why do I know the lyrics so well? And till I sang the part 'Make me a channel of Your peace... ...' Then I knew it! Haha. It was HSC's school hymn la. -_- We had to sing it during assembly every week. But we called it 'Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace'.
Lunch
Can't recall.
Marching Segment
Time for the marching segment! The long-awaited and please-let-it-be-over-soon item! Haha, it was pretty taxing for me to march with the tuba though I had the tuba strap.
However, it was a very big event! The entire square was filled with people, all the way to the Town Hall's pavements. Haha. Roads were closed to make way for the event. From our starting point to the square, we had to march along the streets so people came down from their homes and lined the streets, clapping along with our beats. They were really enthusiastic people. Some were looking out from their balconies.
I like Besana, it was like a vibrant little town. This biannual festival added life into the otherwise boring town. Haha. I say this because it is not a tourist area, nor there is a main shopping area. Hard to purchase things in Besana except supermarkets. There are a few shops around, but rather limited, don't you think? But Besana is unlimited in terms of culture and music. Other than the band festival they've got other festivals like a jazz festival too. It took place right after this festival, but I missed it since I had to leave earlier.
When all the bands marched into the square, turn-by-turn the bands played their national anthems. After that all the bands will play 'Hymn Of All Nations' together, conducted by the conductor of the Italian band, Maestro Armando Saldarini. I can never remember his name, I had to take out the festival programme to find.
And guess what? I forgot to bring out that car friction mat!! ARGH! Haha. I dunno why, I put it in my file on purpose so that I'd remember for today but I didn't bring my file out. I wonder what the hell I was thinking.
So the tuba was still slipping off and I had to stop to shove it higher again and again.
It was only when I got back home and bathed that I realised I was the only female tubist in the entire festival. All the other tubists in the participating bands were boys and guys and men and old men. Cool. =PÞpÞPÞpÞPÞpÞPÞpÞP Heh.
The other tubists seem to be very used to marching and playing, not taking into account the sousaphonists, they were very steady and played well without glitches. Some tubists even had a special kind of tuba holder that they can strap to themselves so the tuba won't move so much! Good right? Tsk tsk tsk. The kind of exposure that I lacked before this festival.
The Columbian band was the most entertaining la. Their marching was....more like a line dance. Their steps were not just onwards left-right-left-right, but sideways! So they played their native music which makes you wanna move and/or dance, and just watching them is nice already. They marched, and at a section where only the percussion played, they waved their hats with the beats. So cute la. Obviously they were the most entertaining among all the bands. And they took an awfully long time to enter the square. Because of their marching style, they were made to march out the last! Haha. So I was wondering why the Columbian band didn't march off when they were supposed to. But it was nice of the band to provide more spice into the event.
It was a super sunny day, and I was rather worried if I'd faint because I wasn't used to the weather. But of course I didn't! The organisation was very good, there were people who were carrying big bottles of mineral water and rows of plastic cups around so the musicians can have a drink. Actually it was a bit like rehatkan-diri when we got into our position in the square. Haha. I was moving around already, even my legs were out of position. I didn't care though. =P
When we reached the villa which was our gathering point, we took a band photo and had water from the same people. In order to compare the difference in speed between a usual marching band and the Columbian band, Mr. Tan imitated the Columbian band's steps and I was did the usual marching. It was Mr. Tan's idea! Photos were taken but I don't know where they are. I want that photo! Haha. In fact, there were many many other people who were imitating the Columbian band all around. Haha.
Dinner
I can't remember! Haha. Need to see if I took photos of them.
Concert
Though we were super tired from the marching event in the afternoon, we had to prepare for the biggest performance which was this night's concert in Besana itself. There were concerts on every night of the concert, so two bands will perform each night.
This band called Fanfare St. Gabriel was before us, and our performance started at 10 p.m. plus. See, you start performing so late. Haha.
FYI: Because Mauro was given two tickets for the concerts, I think his parents went for the concerts every night!
I thank the guy-up-there that DVDs of the concerts were made, so that I could buy the DVD of NUSWS' concert! I wouldn't want to miss it though I performed la. Haha. I wanted to see it from an audience's point of view.
Why would I be so interested? Because the concert was fabulous! Hahaha.
I have never experienced such awarm boiling hot reception from an audience all the years of performances and concerts! Singaporean audience are so cold la. Hahahhahahahahhahahahahhahahaha. I am one myself. Pui. Haha.
Kudos to Mr. Tan. I think he made us look really good onstage as well. He's the source of our music!
I was sure we were really entertaining, and I think the audience really loved us after Merry Widow Selections. This trip is making me love that song la. I didn't even bother to know what Merry Widow was when I played it last time. Haha. I love playing Merry Widow with NUSWS also. The feeling that comes into you when you play it...piangs. 是爽的。Mr. Tan's interpretation of Merry Widow is very nice. Even tuba parts sound interesting la. Haha.
When we reached the last note of the piece, enormous cheers erupted from the audience! People were getting up from their seats, they were clapping their hands really hard, my, standing ovation! I think we had three good ones that night alone. I wasn't expecting something like this at Besana, because several bands have performed and I didn't think we'd be able to do so well. I don't know how to tell you that kind of feeling that came over me, I just kept smiling and revealing my teeth. Haha. Like I was grinning widely. I usually give a Mona-Lisa-smile in between pieces. This time I was uber happy. Hahhahaaa. 三八。
During our concert, Maestro Saldarini went up the stage to give some comments (in Italian, but people applauded enthusiastically so I assume those must be really good comments), and after the concert people told us that Maestro never comment, and this is the first time he'd done this in maybe about ten years. Means probably we were good enough for him to 'give face'. So I felt really honoured =)
Anyway, I'm here to talk (and I really mean talk, like a lecture) about my trip to Europe in as much detail as possible. You don't have to read, you can just look at the pictures (if any). I penned down the details during the trip, because I had no time to blog. However, after Italy I stopped writing already. =P
Attenzione: There are no pictures yet. Whahahaha. Will update again with pictures, so just give this post a miss while I happily blabber away. Pictures will take 2 weeks to a month just to collect, I predict.
~~~~~
Hari Selasa 26 hb Jun 2007
Hari Rabu 27 hb Jun 2007
Day 1
Day 1
I needed to reach the airport in the late afternoon, so in the morning my mum and I went out to buy the necessities that I haven't got. In the end, I bought a pair of corduroy Converse shoes and a money pouch and the European adaptor. There were some other stuff that I got but I can't remember what.
Checked through everything that I was supposed to pack into my luggage, SMS-ed Daniel so my dad can give him a ride to the airport too. For some reason we waited for Daniel for an exceptionally long while. I saw him running towards the car (my dad's cab) with his jacket in hand and I was like 'SHIT' I forgot my jacket. Pleaded my dad to drive me back. Grudgingly he obliged, and it turned out that Dan forgot his jacket too. -_- That was why we waited for quite some time.
Upon reaching the airport, we went to Popeye! Since my brother and mum were there with me I need not pay whahaha. I miss Popeye's food, especially the cajun mashed potato.
There wasn't photo taking at all, apparently people were late. =( In the end we took the group photo only before going through customs, much to my dismay. Haha.
Before the trip I was already praying for a window seat. And I got none at all. (FYI: I took 7 planes altogether during this trip and I never got an assigned single window seat, how's that. So there was swapping and I got to sit by the window twice.)
Grudge: It was so hard to swap seats with people who got the window seats. People whom I asked their window seats for rejected me. In the end they swapped with others, reason being they let the couples sit together and those couples get the window seats. I was fucking pissed at that la. Couples, so what? I asked for the seats first, got rejected, and saw the seats taken up by people who were sleeping away in each other's arms. Sian diao. It seemed like it is an incentive to have a companion during the trip so that you'll get window seats. And there I sit in the plane staring into space. This really pisses me off. I mean, really, so what? So my resolution for my next trip should be: Get a boyfriend to go overseas with you. *rolls eyes* Whatever. I am sour, not because I'm single, but because I didn't get window seats. -_- OK that was rather childish, but I am childish. =P
Forgot about exchanging Thai baht in case I wanted to spend at the Subra-something airport during transit.
It was through this trip that I got to know Mr. Leonard Tan better, because he wasn't someone that I could easily approach for a chat. Now it seems to be easier, good. Actually there isn't much of a generation gap between him and the band members.
I can't remember how long the entire journey took us, it was about 2 hours from Singapore to Bangkok, then a lot more hours from Bangkok to Milan. About 10, maybe.
I got the window seat from Cedric Lee in the flight from BKK to MIL. Yeay! So nice! (Up to you to think if the 'nice' refers to Cedric or the scenery =P)
Giovedi 28 Giugno 2007
Day 2
Day 2
Milan
We reached Milan's Malpensa Airport before noon, I can't remember the exact time and there was a coach which brought us to the main square in Besana. The weather was cooling yet sunny. Our guide Elena and her husband picked us up from there.
Upon reaching they sat us in a tent and we had snacks (my first try at Italian food in Italy) and we were briefed and waited for our names to be called up to meet our hosts.
My host & Via Borsi
Mauro Gatti was my host, he was a man of about 29-ish and rather stout. He drove Hui Shan, my two-time roommate-cum-pharmacist and I to his house in Via Borsi (something like Borsi Road), Montesiro, a village near Besana. When I say village it isn't the kampung and stilted houses that you may be thinking, haha. Houses, houses! Mauro brought us around the house and we met his parents and dog. His father is 71 and his mother is 69, but they don't look their age, especially his mother. They're still very healthy people. His dog, Wolf (but you pronounce it in German so it becomes Voof) is a German Shepherd. Usually German Shepherds are used as police dogs because of their wild nature, but Wolf is very very very tamed! It hardly barks, ignores strangers (like HS and I when we reached the house) and lazes around the house. You usually see it sunbathing (dogs have no clothes on anyway) or when it is hungry.
Their house is not a very big one, but it is rather big to me. Haha. They've got their own garden and many many pets! And a tiny vineyard too. Too bad the grapes weren't ripe when we were there. They've got cats (though I haven't seen any, maybe they ran away or Wolf ate them which is a low possibility), doves, a tortoise, ... ... that's about it actually. Whaha. And they've got fici trees, a vineyard, rose bush, rosemary bush, bushes with big flowers (I don't know what kind of flowers they are) and lots and lots of trees and grass and cute weeds.
There are three levels in the house, what seemed like the basement was where they parked their cars, a Fiat, a Land Rover and an Alfa Romeo. They don't have public transportation in Besana, so every family has their own car(s). And other than the cars they've got cooking and washing facilities, iron, cupboards, shelves, table tennis table etc.
Level 1 was the main level, where there are about 4 rooms, 1 hall, 2 toilets, 1 kitchen.....and HS & I have never been to Level 2. We don't even know where are the steps leading up to that level, we've never seen it before. So my guess is that the staircase is in Mauro's parent's rooms, where I haven't been into.
Jin Xun and Michelle lived nearby, at my host family's family friend's house.
Thank you is translated as Grazie in Italian. I'm still having problems pronouncing it correctly.
Ciao is hello/bye.
Lunch
Lunch was simple, pasta, bread and wine (water for me). They always have wine during their lunches and dinners. So it's somewhat like, wine twice a day, everyday for them. Woah.
And after lunch Mauro showed us how they made espresso using this utensil called cafetiera. It was new to me, and it was quite an interesting tool to make coffee. Will introduce more about this later.
We then had the espresso in the garden where we talked about geography and they had a lot of maps. After a while Mauro's dad suddenly took out a table-top globe. So cute! They seem to have all sorts of tools for map-reading and all.
Free Time - Monsa
Mauro brought us to Monsa, along with other hosts and 'hostees'. So other and HS and I there were Yong Kiat, Khee Nguen (they got the hot host, damn. Haha), Michelle, Jin Xun ... ... and many others.
Monsa is like a shopping area 'near' Besana. Their kind of near is 18 km away -_- I had to ask Mauro & two other Italians he brought along where the place was because it sounded near but in fact it was rather far. Haha.
Verdict: It doesn't mean that, when there is a stereotype that the Westerners are bigger in size, they really are bigger in size. Italian women are actually not really tall nor really big, so shopping posed a problem for me, like how it is like in Singapore =( I shall remove this stereotype from Europeans and leave it to Americans only. Only Americans are big sized. Haha. I don't know, I haven't been to the U.S.
I saw a nice yellow-striped top in Zara at Monsa and I really really liked it! I can fit into size L, which is the largest size that I can find there. But the shirt was too fit for me that I felt a bit like a ba zhang. So didn't buy =( HS got a top from there though. She was the one who started the shopping. Haha.
Gelato
I didn't get to taste really good gelato here, the one we tried at Monsa was so-so. And I think I spent my first euro there.
Dinner
I can't remember what dinner was.
General rehearsal
After dinner we went to the general rehearsal of the Besana band. It was a bit boring for me. Haha. So we left shortly after.
Venerdi 29 Giugno 2007
Day 3
Day 3
Breakfast
It was my first breakfast in Italy, and my, it was
NUSWS rehearsal
Rehearsal was at the Edelweiss Cine-teatro. In the midst of rehearsal people from the Columbian band came in and took pictures -_- and I was sitting at the outermost seat, nearest to the audience, so they were rather distracting. But rehearsal was alright.
Lunch
We walked from the theatre to a school for lunch. It was quite my first proper meal after two meals, because I felt a bit underfed at my host's. =Þ Haha not that I really mind, but it's more that I wanted to eat more since I don't feel filled but there was no food left. Ha. For lunch at the school was pasta, ham, salad and a drink. Which looked like grape juice in a packet. So I happily selected that drink and it turned out to be red wine. Read: 11% alc. ... ... It's impossible for me to even touch that, I'm not that good at heavy alcohol.
Lake Lecco
After lunch we made our way to Lecco. The view was beautiful! Mountains and seas, and a nice walk around the town with the shopping areas and all. And had another gelato today.
Lecco is actually one of the three lakes in that area, the other being Como and something else. Haha, can't remember. We went to Como towards the end of the stay in Besana.
Opening of the festival
The Besana band opened the festival with a concert. Their high-pitched instruments were stronger than the low-pitched ones, which I didn't really like. But it's their way of interpretation la.
The concert wasn't bad, it was alright, but you could see the Singaporeans falling asleep. Oh c'mon, it was only the second night we spent there and jetlag was still in the process. People were nodding to the music and we were nodding to sleep. Ah and concerts over there start at 9 p.m., instead of like 7.30 p.m. in Singapore. And 9 p.m. there means 3 a.m. in Singapore, which is the perfect sleeping time. Zzz...
Overall it was hard to pay attention to the concert. Zzz..
Sabato 30 Giugno 2007
Day 4
Day 4
Breakfast
Breakfast was the same. In fact, breakfast has been about the same everyday.
Festival Ceremony (Supermarket)
Because it was held at the town hall, it had limited space and obvious couldn't accommodate everyone from the festival. Hence only the committee and Mr. Tan went for the ceremony. And free time for the rest of us heh heh heh. So we went to the nearby supermercati, Rex! In Singapore I quite like to shop in the local supermarkets, especially big ones. You can see many different items that you didn't know exist. Really, try out those big supermarkets with a lot of foreign produce.
Watermelons in Italy were huge, they were all long and oval. And big! So tempted by the watermelons but I didn't buy them =\ Too big to hog around.
I bought a Barcadi Breezer (I don't know for what) - in the end it was too 'sparkling' that I didn't really like the feeling of drinking it, Nutella snack & drink (best!), and mango flavoured tic-tac.
Lunch
After shopping at the supermarket we went to Villa Filippini for a buffet lunch. Their buffet isn't so much of food in trays and heated with a flame at the bottom, the buffet this time was mainly, if not all, cold food. There were pasta, ciabattas, salami, ham, and cold rice! I love the cold rice! It just doesn't taste bad cold. Haha. It was also rather nice sitting on the grass and eating with everyone.
And it was time for the Band of Festival practice!
And I wasn't in the BoF!
So I had free time! Hahahahaha.
And we wanted to go to this train station that we heard about and Dennis went to ask this group of Italians for directions. One of them kindly offered to bring us there! Simone (c-mo-nee) was his name and his full-time job was as a translator. Hence his English is good and it was easy to communicate with him.
We trotted to the train station as well as the music school to peek at the BoF practising. After that, was another supermarket! Haha. Ipael? I can't remember the name. I saw the cafetiera there and wanted to buy one home, but it was more expensive than the one Nick and Qi Cai bought from Lecco. So I didn't buy. Haha. I still had about a week in Italy, I had time to find.
In the evening we departed for Medolago for our first performance in Italy.
We stopped to put our belongings at a school and went for dinner beside a church at this countryside. It was really countryside, like what you saw in movies. Haha. So the air was good! Grassy and wide blue skies. There was even this pizza making oven which looked like a train at that area. We actually ate inside this shelter beside the church.
They were going to serve beef, so they asked if there were anyone who had food restrictions. I actually don't really care, but if can I'll abstain from beef due to religion (and I don't like beef!) And so I sat in a corner with Jasmine and Jama who had food restrictions too. It was the first time that I spoke to Jasmine and I didn't notice her in band at all when she performed for InTempo too =P I dunno why, I just didn't remember her. It was fun talking to Jama and Jasmine, really had fun entertaining ourselves.
Appetiser was a plate of cheese (gosh), dinner was tuna pasta, chips, bread. Very very filling. And to add to that we had their 'signature' cake. I put the apostrophe there because they said it was their signature cake but they were not a restaurant. Haha. But their food was good.
Oh, the toilet was clean but it has no lights. Haha. So the moment you close the door to use the loo, it was darkness.
Performance
The performance was very sudden. Haha. All of a sudden when we were done with dinner, we ran around collecting our instruments, and falling in to march into the town. And then we marched till we reached the stage and ta-daa we left the files in the school. So we ran to the school and back. Haha. Like some kind of impromptu triathlon race. Things got very very messy!
There's this kind of rubber mats that they put on the dashboard in cars as well as at home, to increase friction and prevent things on the mats from falling over. I took a hand-sized piece from my dad and wanted to use it to prevent my tuba from slipping off my left hand, because when I march I actually hold the tuba up a bit so I could still have a nice posture. It tends to slip off when my palms sweat.
In the end I forgot to bring the mat out. I left it at the host's home.
We marched behind the Medolago band and we had to play our national anthem after theirs. The thing is, I haven't memorised! Goodness gracious. And standing on my left was a security guard and I think he could hear my notes screwed up. Hahahaha. So embarassing. I stayed up that night to memorise the national anthem haha.
It was after playing the Merry Widow that we had better reception from the audience. I think Merry Widow is the star song of our concert. I must say that Mr. Tan is an entertainer himself too. We enjoyed standing ovation from the audience, it was like almost everyone stood up for us. A rather touching sight. Haha. Oh, we had gifts from the Medolago people too. Girls had scarves and guys had ties. =)
It was a rather warm welcome to Medolago from the people.
Home! Memorised Majulah Singapura. The problem with the piece was that it was in a weird key and hence more difficult for nooby me to guess the next note correctly, so I really had to memorise note for note.
Domenica 1 Luglio 2007
Day 5
Day 5
Breakfast
Because no one else was in the kitchen leaving only Hui Shan and I, I put the milk in the bowl and put cereal in and ate it like how I usually did in Singapore. Haha, we never had breakfast with them before, so we don't know if they ate cereal this way. Though I think they do. Haha.
Mass
Christianity and Catholism were the main religions of Italy, so they had mass on Sunday. I don't know why I went, I didn't know we didn't have to go. But just go see-see lo. It was quite interesting with the band and the singing and the actions we did with the songs. Actually I was rather glad that they did not preach for too long. It'll be difficult for me to tide through that boring period. =PÞpÞP No offence. Anyway, at the end the band played this song called The Prayer of St. Gregory. And because Hai Sing Catholic is a catholic (duh) mission school, I recognised the music and sang along to myself. At the same time I was trying very hard to recall the song name. Like why do I know the lyrics so well? And till I sang the part 'Make me a channel of Your peace... ...' Then I knew it! Haha. It was HSC's school hymn la. -_- We had to sing it during assembly every week. But we called it 'Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace'.
Lunch
Can't recall.
Marching Segment
Time for the marching segment! The long-awaited and please-let-it-be-over-soon item! Haha, it was pretty taxing for me to march with the tuba though I had the tuba strap.
However, it was a very big event! The entire square was filled with people, all the way to the Town Hall's pavements. Haha. Roads were closed to make way for the event. From our starting point to the square, we had to march along the streets so people came down from their homes and lined the streets, clapping along with our beats. They were really enthusiastic people. Some were looking out from their balconies.
I like Besana, it was like a vibrant little town. This biannual festival added life into the otherwise boring town. Haha. I say this because it is not a tourist area, nor there is a main shopping area. Hard to purchase things in Besana except supermarkets. There are a few shops around, but rather limited, don't you think? But Besana is unlimited in terms of culture and music. Other than the band festival they've got other festivals like a jazz festival too. It took place right after this festival, but I missed it since I had to leave earlier.
When all the bands marched into the square, turn-by-turn the bands played their national anthems. After that all the bands will play 'Hymn Of All Nations' together, conducted by the conductor of the Italian band, Maestro Armando Saldarini. I can never remember his name, I had to take out the festival programme to find.
And guess what? I forgot to bring out that car friction mat!! ARGH! Haha. I dunno why, I put it in my file on purpose so that I'd remember for today but I didn't bring my file out. I wonder what the hell I was thinking.
So the tuba was still slipping off and I had to stop to shove it higher again and again.
It was only when I got back home and bathed that I realised I was the only female tubist in the entire festival. All the other tubists in the participating bands were boys and guys and men and old men. Cool. =PÞpÞPÞpÞPÞpÞPÞpÞP Heh.
The other tubists seem to be very used to marching and playing, not taking into account the sousaphonists, they were very steady and played well without glitches. Some tubists even had a special kind of tuba holder that they can strap to themselves so the tuba won't move so much! Good right? Tsk tsk tsk. The kind of exposure that I lacked before this festival.
The Columbian band was the most entertaining la. Their marching was....more like a line dance. Their steps were not just onwards left-right-left-right, but sideways! So they played their native music which makes you wanna move and/or dance, and just watching them is nice already. They marched, and at a section where only the percussion played, they waved their hats with the beats. So cute la. Obviously they were the most entertaining among all the bands. And they took an awfully long time to enter the square. Because of their marching style, they were made to march out the last! Haha. So I was wondering why the Columbian band didn't march off when they were supposed to. But it was nice of the band to provide more spice into the event.
It was a super sunny day, and I was rather worried if I'd faint because I wasn't used to the weather. But of course I didn't! The organisation was very good, there were people who were carrying big bottles of mineral water and rows of plastic cups around so the musicians can have a drink. Actually it was a bit like rehatkan-diri when we got into our position in the square. Haha. I was moving around already, even my legs were out of position. I didn't care though. =P
When we reached the villa which was our gathering point, we took a band photo and had water from the same people. In order to compare the difference in speed between a usual marching band and the Columbian band, Mr. Tan imitated the Columbian band's steps and I was did the usual marching. It was Mr. Tan's idea! Photos were taken but I don't know where they are. I want that photo! Haha. In fact, there were many many other people who were imitating the Columbian band all around. Haha.
Dinner
I can't remember! Haha. Need to see if I took photos of them.
Concert
Though we were super tired from the marching event in the afternoon, we had to prepare for the biggest performance which was this night's concert in Besana itself. There were concerts on every night of the concert, so two bands will perform each night.
This band called Fanfare St. Gabriel was before us, and our performance started at 10 p.m. plus. See, you start performing so late. Haha.
FYI: Because Mauro was given two tickets for the concerts, I think his parents went for the concerts every night!
I thank the guy-up-there that DVDs of the concerts were made, so that I could buy the DVD of NUSWS' concert! I wouldn't want to miss it though I performed la. Haha. I wanted to see it from an audience's point of view.
Why would I be so interested? Because the concert was fabulous! Hahaha.
I have never experienced such a
Kudos to Mr. Tan. I think he made us look really good onstage as well. He's the source of our music!
I was sure we were really entertaining, and I think the audience really loved us after Merry Widow Selections. This trip is making me love that song la. I didn't even bother to know what Merry Widow was when I played it last time. Haha. I love playing Merry Widow with NUSWS also. The feeling that comes into you when you play it...piangs. 是爽的。Mr. Tan's interpretation of Merry Widow is very nice. Even tuba parts sound interesting la. Haha.
When we reached the last note of the piece, enormous cheers erupted from the audience! People were getting up from their seats, they were clapping their hands really hard, my, standing ovation! I think we had three good ones that night alone. I wasn't expecting something like this at Besana, because several bands have performed and I didn't think we'd be able to do so well. I don't know how to tell you that kind of feeling that came over me, I just kept smiling and revealing my teeth. Haha. Like I was grinning widely. I usually give a Mona-Lisa-smile in between pieces. This time I was uber happy. Hahhahaaa. 三八。
During our concert, Maestro Saldarini went up the stage to give some comments (in Italian, but people applauded enthusiastically so I assume those must be really good comments), and after the concert people told us that Maestro never comment, and this is the first time he'd done this in maybe about ten years. Means probably we were good enough for him to 'give face'. So I felt really honoured =)
He conducted us for Radetzky March, because the host told Mr. Tan to ask Maestro to come up. So the host whispered to Mr. Tan, and Mr. Tan invited Maestro through the mic. It was very impromptu for us, but we followed Maestro rather well. Haha. He said he thought we were good, and hoped that he could have a band of our standard too. Piangs, that sense of elation was overwhelming. So the entire night my heartbeat was rather fast because of the........I don't know how to say. Haha. But that kind of high feeling, yes yes, that high feeling. 让我们get high! -_-
If got chance let's sit down and watch the DVD. =Þ
I will want to show off one la. Whahahahahahhahaha. KIDDING LA. No time to do that =Þ
High night.
Ciao!
I will want to show off one la. Whahahahahahhahaha. KIDDING LA. No time to do that =Þ
High night.
Ciao!
Lunedi 2 Luglio 2007
Day 6
Day 6
Breakfast
None!
Hui Shan and I slept in because there were no activities for us in the morning. Haha. My first time at oversleeping in Italy =D
Lunch
I can't remember what we had, as usual.
Milan
We went to Milan for a tour, and I think it'd be better for you to understand my trip through photos. Haha. Tour ma, there wasn't much that I was really impressed with, so I have nothing much to say. =P
Oh, I bought the cafetiera from this shop I saw. 4.50 euros for the smaller one and 5.50 euros for the bigger one. The former as a souvenir, the latter for usage.
Night Life
We experienced some Milanese night life at this Mexican (-_-) restaurant in Navigli. We walked there from the shopping area we were at. The terrible part of Navigli is the mosquitoes. It hurts when they bite you, which isn't a bad thing, because you know they're biting you. But there were so many, it pisses you off! Haha.
For tours, pictures tell more than what I can tell you la. For concerts, DVDs rule. Hahahahha.
P.S. I'll continue with this blogging sometime later. I'm going to die from all the blogging. Really, I wouldn't advise you to read. But if you're looking at this now after that tumultuous journey, give yourself a pat on the back and be prepared for another week's worth of blogging. HAHA.
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