Jingle Bells in Minor Key

This is how Christmas 2020 feels to me right now.

Dark, dreary, reverberating, and cold.

influence

we all have someone who influenced us or who we influence.

for my entry though,

it will about the "what if" or "what could have happened if i was influenced by..."

both me and my sister studied piano.

the only difference is that i studied for only a year while my sister studied for about 4 years.

if i had continued studying piano under Sister Cecilde,

my style would be like hers.

light, soothing, relaxing, gives you that feeling of floating.

as for my sister,

she was taught by another nun, Sister Guadalupe.

her style would be more of like the russian pianists.

strong, heavy, intense and dramatic.

oh the great contrast!

it would have been a great combination.

(^_^)

its never too late to learn,

its just that,

if only i did not stop,

i would really have gone far.

(^_^)

that's all for today.

chiao~

a river flows in you

this is by an international artist who uses the stage name Yiruma.

the piece was beautifully played and it is very lovely.

hope you enjoy it~

first piano book

when i was fixing the papers in our house,

i saw my first piano book!

very nostalgic... (~_~)

i started playing the piano when i was seven years old.

but it was only for a year.

during that time, we were staying at the province.

even since we moved to the city,

the closest to a piano lesson that i had was when i was 12 years old

and that only lasted for about 2 weeks.

though i know how to play the very basics,

i feel bad that i did not fully pursue it.

but i try playing a piece or two sometimes.

(~_~)

to the past

konbanwa minna-san~

yesterday, we visited our grand aunt (sister of my grandmother, father's side) because it was her 95th birthday. (^_^)

despite her age, she is still quite strong and her memory is still very sharp. (^_^)

she loves chocolates that have liquor in them.

it is actually because of her why we also like such chocolates. (~_~)

she plays piano very well and i really admire her talent. (~_~)

i used to play the piano but i had to stop due to certain reasons, but now that i think about it...

 think i would like to learn playing the piano once more. (~_~)

i wonder if it's too late?

on a different note,

if you want to see an interior that came from the japanese times here in the philippines,

i would really suggest my grand aunt's house.

this is no joke but some of the things in the house have never been moved ever since my great grandfather died.

though the house is very dusty and really old, i really enjoy "wandering" in the house because i feel like i'm being transported to a different time.

(~_~)

pusit + piano pieces

i ate "pinatuyong minatamis na pusit" yesterday for snack.

actually, i don't know what it really is called but it's dry, sweetened squid. (~_~)

it's actually rare that i buy this stuff but i really like the taste. (^w^)

yesterday, rei and i were also busy playing piano pieces.

we were learning to play the song "Servant of Evil" by mothy.

so far, we have learned to play the intro and 1st stanza part of the song using our right hand.

i also attempted to put left hand chords on the song Amazing Grace.

it was not perfect but i was pleased with my work. (^_^)

till next time minna-san. ~_~

saturday thing

we had another saturday meet with fuji-senpai yesterday. (~_~)

she brought pepperoni for us from her mom. (thank you tita wilma ^_^)

we had our usual fangirling stuff we did not move much because of the heat.

fuji-senpai played with the piano figuring how to play Masataka Nakagauchi's song Sing Away by ear.

she seem to have succeeded in this task of hers. (#^_^#)

despite the warm weather, we still drank tea. (~_~)

we also watched the backstage of Dream Live 6th, some clips of the backstage of Imperial Match Summer (they kept on teasing me about zukki) and some PVs of PureBoys. (#^_^#)

senpai had to leave before sundown because according to her, she'll turn to a pumpkin if she goes home late. (○^_^○)

it was a simple fun, less movement day. (^_^)

fooling around + piano

still have colds. (-_-)

but the medicine is helping a lot. (^_^)

yesterday, rei and i brought our brother enrique aka ryo to his summer class.

we had to wait for him for two hours.

while waiting, i read my favorite Shadow of the Wind.

we were supposed to wait at the swing but i had to change location because it was so hot so i sat at the top of the slide. (~_~)

after an hour, i was feeling restless, so i played at the monkey bars. (○_○)

i was hanging around. (#^_^#)

yesterday, rei and i also played around with the piano. (~_~)

i found my first piano lesson book (i had this when i was seven years old).

rei said the book was very very very basic and was very easy.

the book brought back memories of my first teacher, Sister Cecilde a nun from the Sister Servants of the Holy Spirit Congregation.

i started playing the piano when i was in Grade 2 and studying in Holy Spirit Academy in Bangued, Abra.

i had to stop after a year because from the province, we went to the city, Manila.

four years after our arrival from the province, i resumed my piano lessons but it was only for one month.

after that, i never had any lessons.

it was a shame because now i envy my sister who is now better in playing the piano.

sadly, i only know the basics.

i am happy that i am able to play the piano but i would like to learn to play the piano like my younger sister. (~_~)

till next time minna-san.

retreat

i am back from our 2-3 day retreat. ^_^

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i woke up late but i am proud to say that i was the 4th early bird! ^_^

when i arrived, i saw Aprile Quiapon wearing a Ryoma cap and i envied her so much. *pout*

i wanted to bring mine too...

anyways, i got over it after a while. xp

my partner/roommate during the retreat is issa. ^_^

we sat at the very back part of the bus.

this is a first time for me ^_^

and i enjoyed it and it felt very comfortable!

so comfortable,

i rushed out of the retreat house on our last day just to reserve the back seats. >_<

we had our retreat in Tagaytay.

on our way there,

we had a stop-over.

i could not resist...

i had to take a picture of Royal-Tru Grape and Orange!!!!! o^_^o

i was so tempted to buy but we were travelling :(

i hate the feeling of my bladder holding on to my urine until we reach our destination.

so i short, i did not buy.

i loved the scenery when we were on our way to Tagaytay.

i was really excited to finally breathe fresh air and see lots and lots of greens! >_<

when we arrived at the retreat house,

it was very very windy and very very cold!!!!

but i loved the weather!!! ^_^

we had the orientation and we were given the keys for our rooms.

ours was room 9. ^_^

our room was simple yet comfortable.

oh did i mention cold? xp

it was so cold, we never used the electric fan during the whole duration of our stay. ^_^

by the way, the rooms are named after saints. ^_^

i had a very memorable experience...

i love the food...

the imagination activities...

the sharing...

the facilitators...

the tiles...

the pictures...

the paintings...

the garden...

the statues...

everything about the place...

being the ever curious girl that i am,

i woke up early on our first morning...

took a bath...

and explored the whole surroundings of the retreat house. ^_^

i took this picture while i was exploring the grounds...

cool right?

i also saw this hammock.

i love hammocks and swings!!! ^_^

during one of our breaks,

i explored the chapel.

i was looking around admiring the statues.

then, in one corner of the chapel,

i saw a table with lots of songbooks.

i browsed through them and i saw my favorite church songs...

add to that, they were not in chords,

they were in notes. ^_^

this means, i get to copy the notes and play the church songs on our piano. o^_^o

oh, simple joys.

it was a very memorable experience!!!!

i was able to know myself better,

find new friends,

deepen our understanding of our friends

and renew relationships.

it will always treasure this experience. ^_^

ate jho bought some pasalubong and we ate some of it when we arrived in Miriam College.

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it's been a long time since i last saw the Orion's Belt.

i saw it during our first evening in Tagaytay. ^_^

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rei-chan is not here right now cause she has her retreat. *pout*

i'll be waiting for her glomping. xp

for more pictures: http://silverkrux.multiply.com/photos/album/97