Mosquitoland

www.i-talk-you-listen.blogspot.com
25th January 2009 – Blog post
Destination: Jalan Taman Molek, somewhere in Johor Bahru, close to the border

Ready to close for the night, sitting in front of the laptop with a cup of warm Milo (100% Milo powder, I usually go with 75% milk and 25% milo), and a plate of kueh neng kor. Kueh neng means chicken egg, while kor means cake, but it’s really just some kind of dough mixed with eggs to get this Chinese New Year ‘delicacy’. All shaped like fish, probably for the ‘yu’ part. Yum.

Upon deeper thinking I realize I’m the only guy in the house, because my dad went to watch Arsenal vs. Cardiff at the nearby coffeeshop. Was tempted to go and watch it with him, until he ordered me that before I could go I had to change into some outdoor clothing. Not surprisingly I was too lazy to do so, and am much content with my current state of sitting in front of the laptop typing.

I slept through the rainy weather a few hours back, waking up after 4 hours. My head propped against the pillow, my left arm drawn back underneath my head, and my right hand silently tapping the bed as I recalled one of my earlier drafts written before I started improvising. I still like it a lot, the distinct melody and the oscillating semiquavers. The dull weather and the tinted windows perfected the ambience, raindrops falling nonchalantly outside.

Time passes by slowly here, and the four females are mostly engrossed in cooking, cleaning, cooking and cleaning again. I don’t know where my grandmother gets her income from, but I believe they do stick addresses onto envelopes (by the thousands – all the envelopes containing advertisements) once every month, forming the bedrock of their income. The rest? Courtesy money from relatives I think. But they’re getting along very well here.

I’m surprised that my cousins do read my blog also, and this afternoon’s questioning yielded the (fact) that they were the ones who tagged as ‘anon’ and ‘gel’. How very factual, but it just goes to show that yes, they do get updated also. Another facet of me revealed :O

Mosquito bites are the norm in this place, but they aren’t killing me – yet. The Conservatory has once again entered my life, its ‘Semester 2 Concerts & Events’ booklet being used as a mouse pad. Apparently I brought along some of Conservatory stuff too, like Dr Makerome’s worksheets. Here are some of the modes I’ve recently learnt, for kicks. And yes, in case people like Zhu En stumble on my blog, he could learn a thing or two. Or too.

Ok modal scales can be identified by the intervals between each note and the next in the scale. And here’s the revelation:

The Ionian mode would be all the white key notes played starting from C.
The Dorian mode would be all the white key notes played starting from D.
The Phrygian mode would be all the white key notes played starting from E.
The Lydian mode would be all the white key notes played starting from F.
The Mixolydian mode – G.
The Aeolian mode – A.
The Locrian mode – B.

Essentially all the major scales we’ve been playing are based on the Ionian mode, which would be C major. To prove it, just count the semitones between each note played in the C major scale, then play B major and check whether the number of semitones corresponds. If it doesn’t I will gladly offer my right ring finger for sale. Gosh, Schumann was so stupid to try to strengthen his fourth finger. I realized that both the fourth and little finger used the same muscle, after failing my attempt to retract ONLY my little finger and keeping my ring finger outstretched. Forcing it only introduced more pain.

Alright that’s all for tonight. See you people tomorrow.