F1 weekend - what an exhausting weekend!

Played a total of 7 gigs from last Wed till Sunday night, and man, does my body ache all over! My shoulders are aching from carryin n slinging all the toms, my arms are aching from carrying UDMs, my right elbow is painful i think maybe an old injury giving me problem since i use a lot of my right hand to hit the quarter notes, my knees are all blue-black all over, my feet n hands have blisters n i got a bit of sun burn. oh n my calves are aching as well, probably from all the jumping n dancing around with the tom. in fact i think my whole body is aching n was stretched n strained to near its limit, but not really at my limit yet, haha!

But it was simply FANTASTIC!!!

i haven't played tom for quite a long time, i think for past few gigs i've played snare or toys, but since there's abundance of real drummers this time round, i was assigned to the tom. oh n i played the sudo for one of the performances and oh man! i'm glad neo n rohan r the usual guys playing the sudo, because although its not heavy, it keeps banging against your legs and the sudo MALLETS are heavy! i didn't feel anything until near the end of flightphesy, at the tycotus, i was like, oh man, my arms are getting tired! n to think those guys play tat for several performances! hats off to them.

david excels at the rapanik. really, i don't think anyone in the strikeforce can play tat instrument as "Garang" n as musically as him! awesome solos from him, glad he was there to really add the punch to the solos!

yup, n this thurs there's another gig! when jen sms me at 7 am this morning, i was like, oh man, who sends sms this early. i don't know if i have the strength to play for tat gig, but since its 9 pm at night, i will be able to make it, so jus volunteer n see if my muscles recover by then! hahaha..

but..

although we had a lot of fun, n it was like party party jokes n laughter all the way thru out the performances, there were a few disagreements n unpleasant moments. people were flaring up n getting angry with each other, scolding n arguing n stuff. n the contact pple got a round table from Boon as well, as i heard from joan. i guess its inevitable to have conflicts when we're together so often, we get to see all sorts of "pattern" n personality clashes n idea differences between all the SF members. n of cos, we're all not perfect, differences will definitely exist. my poor dear was so stressed n upset, n i didn't even notice it until she told me she needed my support n encouragement.. i'm quite dense at such things sometimes. i mean, not as if i have a lot of experience in BGR to be able to understand girls so well! hahaha..

there's a lot of things that i noticed n probably even more things that i didn't notice but others did n told me, which are probably too sensitive for blogging, but i guess everything will work out alright. isn't serving God the ultimate goal in minsitry, n not satisfying a desire to express your disatisfaction or pointing fingers at others for their faults? as long as the performances go smoothly n everyone enjoys themselves at the gigs n God gets the glory for using us to shine for Him in the marketplace, i'm happy n satisfied that i've done a service for him. u may not be the lead player or the UDM player, but that doesn't mean u're not contributing. u may be taking video or pushing the UDM, or like Kell who waited patiently for us n looked after our belongings while we were performing. does it mean he's playing less of an important role? i don't think so. yeah sure, it must be really boring n no doubt i know i'd feel a little exasperated if i were the one looking after bags n pouring water to refill UDMs, but thats what we all did in the beginning. that's why i wanted to be a helper on friday n not a player, so that others may shine while i stay behind, to know that i don't live to show off my skills n perform for crowds like any band or school ECA, but i serve to glorify God in a ministry.

at the end of the day, my kudos don't just go to all the players. of cos they all did a fantastic job, they spent all their energy n played their hearts out, which is good! they did well n they received their praise from the roar of approval n thunderous clapping from the crowd. they got their reward, n they have every right to enjoy n savour the moments.

but my thanks also go to the very important pple who helped make the performances possible, who didn't even perform but helped out in any way they could. People like Kell, and Reid's girlfriend. I mean at least Kell's in strikeforce, but Reid's girlfriend isn't even part of the team n she helped looked after bags n stuff. People like Christine who took video n never complained about not being able to play. People like Desmond, who drove the equipment around the whole weekend, sacrificing his time n money (for petrol n ERP) to bring us the drums we need. They don't get their thanks from many people, they don't bask in the limelight of a great performance. But without them there would be no performance. So my thanks n kudos to all who helped out at the F1 performances! God surely has treausres stored up for your stewardship n servanthood!

on another note, oct 5 my birthday is coming this sunday. i wanted to celebrate with SF, but currently running low on funds from all the cabbing around, n i almost want to slap myself for buying that super-ex coat from zara, which i've yet to wear. guess i learnt a lesson not to shop on impulse! hahaha.. but really, i want to spend next monday with joan, away from everyone n everything else, no handphones ringing or smses, just the two of us, spending time together. its been a long time since we really had quality time, my job just keeps me so busy, plus drumfest n F1 n cell group outings n outreaches, i think i want to spend time with my girlfriend n just.. u know.. walk down the beach or have a relaxing drink or something. hope my boss approves my leave for next monday! =p

if i could i would take 2 days off, but as usual there's a dateline for a project next week, so yeah. it kind sucks living on a tight schedule, but at least wed is a public holiday!! can SLEEP in n relax, maybe go for a spa or something. haha.