MiLoh BSGSSB Adventures

Out of Stock

MiLoh's POV

Dear Diary,
My gosh, how long has it been since I last wrote!!(author's note: how long has it been since i last published!!XD) I've been super busy nowadays in Bandset, especially since last month on the 4th of April the band set out of the dungeon-I mean band room once again, this time to conquer a great big monster....BY THE NAME OF SYF!!!!(its a basically a biannual competition for those who are not sure:3) Although I'm not going to be going into detail about the process of tortu-I mean practising, i have to say they really put in their best effort.

I think it's safe to say they practised day and night, seeing the intense uh, intensity of each practice. Almost every week Saturday would be taken up by 4 hours of Band, and on normal days after school, no matter how tired and frustrated they were with playing the same 2 songs over and over again for 4 hours, they never put their foot down and said, "Nope, i'm out." I think it was thanks to the conductor and the teachers too that they managed to actually survive the deadly practices.

Interestingly enough, MSB and I MAY (and I say 'may', not 'did') have thought that they would not have made it. You see, somehow Speech Day, which is basically like Prize Receiving Day, was almost 2 weeks before SYF. Usually only the trumpets, percussion, trombones and euphoniums were involved in the fanfare that welcomed the Guest-of-Honour, but this time the WHOLE band had been asked to perform. And I can tell you, we weren't all that ready. Yet.

They weren't so bad in my opinion, on the day itself. They were probably just nervous in having to be up on that stage for so long, waiting for the Guest-of-Honour to arrive, and the stage was hot and stuffy. What's more, they were in their Band uniforms, which was not the most comfortable thing on earth at that moment. They even had to stand and sing the school song facing everyone, but that made me kinda proud cos I could actually see them singing.

The performance itself-well, I can't say it was at their best, they could certainly do better-was okay. But not the standard they wanted. The song was also not the easiest piece, which led to a few fumbles such as the bass slowing down at some parts and the french horn sounding a little too strained at her solo. I was able to hear all these mistakes because of how long I've heard them practise(and i'm no music prodigy), but what I really felt was like doing was to slap the smug smirk of some of those teachers' faces because I knew that lowered the poor girls' self-confidence. MSB gave his best death stare though, so I think that counts.

Anyway, because of this minor setback Diya(the conductor in case u forgot) pushed them all even harder. It's not a bad thing, frankly speaking. It's just super tiring. And she did that because she knew they could do so much better than that, that once she perfected everything everyone would wow at the full potential of the band. And i believed her.

On the SYF day itself everyone was busy getting their uniforms and hair neat and tidy. Some parents of the members even came to assist, and the juniors who were not performing also came to support them. Diya insisted anyone who had not eaten take a packet of milo from the giant plastic bag upstairs and fill their bellies with at least a drink. Of course, it's always milo :")

The important thing that everyone was reminding each other was to "enjoy the performance". Because when the audience sees the performers having a good time, they also enjoy the music.

And really, I was surprised at how natural they all looked when they were onstage. It was as if it were just another regular band practice, except without any mistakes at all. The mood, the tone, the feel of the music, it was all there. And when we watched the following two bands after them(we were the first), I felt that they could not have compared themselves to ours.

All the work paid off. It was a terribly hot afternoon, and I was dozing off at my seat when Mrs Chan and Mrs Toh(the band teachers) burst in and planted themselves at MY cubicle and started jumping and shrieking. They couldn't stop for at least 3 minutes. And when I asked them what the matter was, they showed me the results on their phone.

Bandset Girls' School-distinction

My heart almost leapt out of my mouth, and I sprang from my chair, and for the next 10 minutes, no one could stop us from shouting, or pry us apart from the tight ball we had bound ourselves into. I later heard that everyone had more or less the same reaction, and that Xuan, who had not been feeling well, felt instantly better and was flying down the stairs screaming and laughing at the top of her lungs "DISTIIIINCSHUUUUNNNN!!!!!!!!"

A week later Diya and the teachers treated the girls to pizza. I hadn't been able to chip in some money so I decided to buy them all their favourite drink: milo! However when I went to the drink stall I was completely astonished to see no milo packets in the little fridge thingy. And that's when the drinks auntie told me they were out of stock. How on EARTH does anyone go out of stock on milo? So I guess I'll just have to find some other way of rewarding them and paying the teachers back as well :/
Haiizzz it hasn't changed. My life since I started at Bandset has never changed. But maybe it's a good thing.

Signed
MiLoh:)