Finally! A day to myself!

OK, after 2 days of bitching about how I feel pushed around, I finally got one day to myself... Well, almost.

Had invigilation in the morning. Made a boo-boo and let a private candidate out of the exam room 45 min after the paper, when it was supposed to be 1 hour. So CPE told me kindly, which I appreciated. Expected him to be not so nice about it, since he had to bring the candidate back. Learnt my lesson.

Was actually planning to go down town on my own after invigilation, but I had to return the Lancer first. When Dadsie saw me leaving the house again, he asked where I was going, and he said he wanted to go along. (!) So OK, had lunch at the coffee shop near my place, and then drove down to town.

1st stop: HMV. Previewed Il Divo's latest album Ancora, which was released just yesterday. Songs included the Italian version of Unchained Melody, which was done before by Amici Forever; a tune adapted from Faure's Pavane; and O Holy Night, just nice for the Yuletide season. (Interestingly, Amici Forever also released a new album which had Nella Fantasia, which was in Il Divo's 1st album. Is this considered "sharing of resources...?!?!?!?!)




Also previewed Classics In The City. 1st CD features a compilation of classical works performed by famous classical artistes including Klazz Brothers and Cuba Percussion (!). 2nd CD features a compilation of instrumental favourites e.g. Theme from Forrest Gump, S.E.N.S.'s Forbidden Love aka Love Generation theme song. Quite OK, but I don't think I'll listen to it more than once, so didn't buy. (Save $$$! :) )

Then went to the Japanese Anime section. FINALLY found the original soundtrack to Mobile Suit Gundam Seed! But since I have all the songs in MP3 format, didn't bother to buy it. Heh. Also FINALLY found CDs of move, the artiste who performed all of the Initial D anime theme song. Saw a double CD that has ALL the theme songs from stages 1-4, full version. But it cost $31.90. Thought it was too expensive and an impulse buy, so I held back. (Save $$$ x2!)

Went to Gramaphone next. Not much to see there, though Dadsie bought a Dionne Warwick album. (Dionne Warwick is the lady who wrote the song That's What Friends Are For.)

Then Dadsie left me and I went down to Taka Kino, somewhere I had wanted to browse for a LONG time! Wanted to check out the Initial D manga, only to see that they were all nicely wrapped up in plastic wrappers and there was no browsing copy. :( Saw the Initial D 2006 calendar going for $25.60. Very tempted to buy, but too ex. Will wait till I have access to the discount card... eh heh heh...

Went 2 floors up to the library@orchard. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy was available, surprisingly, but not The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe. Which is OK, as I managed to download the whole of The Chronicles Of Narnia into my Pocket PC, along with Dan Brown's Digital Fortress. (Yes, I've found the "backdoor" way to do it!) And to promote reading, the library has allowed members to borrow 8 book, and premium members to borrow 16 books at once! (Good move, NLB, though I don't know if 16 books is a bit too much... heh...) But seeing how I've not finished Diary Of Anne Frank, have HP4, Chronicles Of Narnia and The Da Vinci Code to complete, I don't think I can finish H2G2 in time, so I put it back.

Walked down Orchard Road to Borders, my favourite browsing place! Took Nicholas Sparks' At First Sight off the shelf and attempted to complete it. That was at 1400h. Read from Chapter 9 onwards, the point I left off. At 1445h, Dadsie called and told me that he'll pick me up and bring me to the Club where I can continue my reading when he goes to work. So I was trying to finish the book very quickly, but still can't complete it. :( So stopped at Chapter 16, with 4 more chapters left to go, and no time to browse at other stuff and find Mendelssohn's Wedding March CD. :(

While at the club, I was reading The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew. Definitely a children's book. Was easy reading. Finished half the ebook in the 1.5 hours I was there. So I reckon I can finish the whole of the ebook by this week, and move on to The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, just in time before they screen the movie...! :)

Found out that not only I've to get the Wedding March CD, I've also got to lend Jenny the walk-in/walk-out music for both service and dinner, and also background music to play throughout the dinner. I'll pass them to her in school tomorrow - which means I've to make a special trip down when I'm really trying to siam that dreaded place...

After picking the bro from work and sending him to tuition, went to West Mall. Found and bought the Wedding March CD (thank you God!), which the saleslady charged $2 extra, but was very nice about it and refunded me the money. (For once we see good customer service!) Went to Discs Station and bought the Initial D - Fourth Stage anime, Rounds 1-8. Rounds 1-7 came in a box with a soundtrack included. I thought it was all the songs from 1st to 4th stage. Apparently it's not, so I felt cheated. But at least there's the anime to watch... Now all the more I wanna go back to HMV and buy the move double CD set!!!

Invigilation tomorrow - EL Papers 1&2. Doing private candidates... again! Only seen the school candidates once. Not fair... :(

OK... better go rest now... long day tomorrow... :(