Hi guys! I am in the Arctic region now! With the reindeers, huskies, snow & extreme -ve temperatures!

Nights are long, days are short. Weather is crazy - and I finally closed lots of episodes in my mind after years of push-and-pull.

I finally understood why other countries/regions can have such creative individuals in the Arts - simply because of their environment, in terms of nature. I don't really know how to put it across to you guys, I guess you can sense the souls in the frozen lakes lol?

My hands cracked in the snow and were on the verge of bleeding - but I still loved the snow. It gives a feeling of... basically I don't feel so angry anymore lol...

I didn't buy any reindeer skin ah!! Just like how you all shouldn't photocopy music sheets illegally to mass-produce ah!! Not me hor... I didn't even eat the reindeer meat provided ok. But I kept drinking their blueberry juice on the plane HAHAHA it is free!!!!

Settling in Musically...

Musically, I feel that I have finally settled down to a few genres that I am fully comfortable in. Teaching-wise, I guess I know my "type" of students that I would like... Most importantly, I think I have this formula lol...

I remember being a busy bee throughout my entire life - switching from method A to B, and then back to A again. I tried to do too many things, both pianistically and non-pianistically. I still love the fun of everything though, especially...well many other things. But, do you feel particularly secure when you just know yourself, your audience, your not-preferred audience & your... taste?

I think I will continue to nail classical... & probably already nailed C-pop?

My targeted students shall be stave Sight-Readers, most probably classical piano touch, aiming for ABRSM exams.

Weirdly, I truly miss my messy years, I did stupid things & over-dramatized my music, but, it was fun!

One thing I want for myself pianistically? A really atas piano. Even more atas than what I have right now. Good things are expensive & I feel...really sad about this fact. I can do way better.

Well, sighs... off to shake my ass.. thanks for reading!

Learn vs Catch

Before I turned 12, I was always told that I am a slow learner. Back in the 1990s, my Primary school still had streaming and I was put into the middle zone.

I thought I did well for my 2nd streaming exam at age 12, but turns out I was still placed into the same middle zone.

Only at age 15 did I managed to "upgrade" into a fast learner and thereafter, I shined. Secretly, I contemplated that my learning has to do with my looks... but that is a story for another day.

....I guess I am still a slow learner? I don't know why, I just feel like... I am a slow learner at the start of everything. I see my peers absorb, react & subscribe to anything at almost twice of my speed! I remember fighting to sit at the front desk of every lesson, and then slowly.... mentally I zone out.

But it is only in my 30s that I realised - Yes, I am a slow learner. But I Catch Things Fast. While I observed that most of my juniors, contemporaries & even seniors are quick learners but they almost never catch the gist of what they are learning. Especially for music. Specifically for piano. It's like having a wealth of knowledge, experience & connections but they don't belong to you because you don't know how to use them. And even if you know how to use them, you are not using them appropriately.

Would you be able to understand what I mean? If you can't, it means you also cannot catch... probably you would be wondering what does catching even means... 

Well, catching is a natural sense of 抓 the music. You just know what to listen to, how to practice, how many times to practice, practice what, when to change the piano etc. Catching has nothing to do with your speed of learning or your intelligence level. Wealth & connections play no role in speeding up your sense of catching.

The ability to catch the music is a talent. I know I have it. And I think it's because I'm a female.

What about you? Can you catch?