Staying At Home Is Bad

So it's been a week and a half since my tumultuous attempt to enter the Gambia -- for those who don't know, I hopped on a plane to Gambia, got rejected at immigration and hopped on the same plane for the return flight back to London. How tedious, isn't it? To cut the long story short, the natives at Gambia immigration felt that my Singapore High Commission-issued temporary travel document, validated by the Gambian High Commission for right of entry, wasn't good enough for them. Guess that's what happens in developing countries like Gambia -- present something that looks more complicated than a one-plus-one-equals-two formula and they throw their arms into the air (minus the spears) declaring not knowing what to do at the top of their voice.

In any case, I have been utterly free and bored to tears since now I have an empty three-week holiday where I'm restrained within the shores of the great UK 'cos the Home Office still has my real passport. I did, however, make an impromptu trip down to Sheffield to visit Jinn, Robyn, Ikhwan and the rest of the guys. Which was quite useful for my psyche, really. Sometimes, spending a couple days outside London does the trick.

Four days later and I was back in London, and since this week started I've only been out of the house on three out of seven days. Not too bad, some hermits might argue -- but if you consider how terribly busy I was during the period leading up to the Gambia trip and all of a sudden, I can now afford to go to bed every night without having to set an alarm, three out of seven days isn't a lot at all. That means for the four remaining days, I did nothing all day but sit on my bum, watch loads of TV, play lots of Xbox 360 and basically just get fat.

And that started to bug me when I thought of how I bought a 7-day zone 1-3 travelcard on Saturday the 5th (the day I arrived back in London from Sheffield) and I just possibly might not have finished using the £21.10 worth it cost me to get the travelcard. Now, that would obviously suck because I wouldn't have paid for a travelcard only to stay in all day, whether by conscious choice or not. So, in all my glorious free time, I listed down all the trips I took within those seven days to see if I tallied up -- and since I was bored enough to come up with this comprehensive list, I thought I might as well just shared it with all of you.

Saturday 05/12:
Kings X Stn - Golders Green Stn [£2.20]
Golders Green Stn - Montrose Ct [£1.00]

Sunday 06/12:
Montrose Ct - Turnpike Ln Stn [£1.00]
Turnpike Ln Stn - Stoke Newington Stn [£1.00]
Stoke Newington High St - Angel Stn [£1.00]
Angel Stn - Golders Green Stn [£2.20]
Golders Green Stn - Montrose Ct [£1.00]
Montrose Ct - Golders Green Stn [£1.00]
Golders Green Stn - Stroud Gn Rd [£1.00]
Stroud Gn Rd - Golders Green Stn [£1.00]
Golders Green Stn - Montrose Ct [£1.00]

Monday 07/12:
-NIL-

Tuesday 08/12:
-NIL-

Wednesday 09/12:
Montrose Ct - Golders Green Stn [£1.00]
Golders Green Stn - Montrose Ct [£1.00]

Thursday 10/12:
-NIL-

Friday 11/12:
Montrose Ct - Golders Green Stn [£1.00]
Golders Green Stn - Camden Town Stn [£1.10]
Camden Town Stn - Russell Sq Stn [£1.60]
Russell Sq - Oxford St [£1.00]
Leicester Sq Stn - Golders Green Stn [£2.20]
Golders Green Stn - Montrose Ct [£1.00]

Blue, of course, refers to bus journeys and green for tube journeys. So, as you can see, my total PAYG equivalent for my week's travel came up to £23.30 -- close! But at least my (discounted) travelcard did not go to naught. Oh dear, now look what I've become. An obsessive hermit.

The "I-Can't-Believe-It's-Already-Christmas" Post

Wow, so I'm actually back at my blog doing a post. It has been a long while indeed. But definitely not long enough to make me wonder why is it already Christmas. True, it's twenty-five days away, but it might as well just be tomorrow to me.

Ah, yes, tomorrow. I'm heading off to Gambia with my colleagues from the Leadership course, under the Guildhall Professional Development Department. It's my first time to Africa, so you can imagine how bloody excited I am! Still, I had so much to finish up today before leaving tomorrow, it was utterly insane. I've had a couple of those big days where you traverse the entire Greater London throughout the course of one day, but I think today's itinerary has yet to be superseded by any I've experienced.

So, it was (in order):

- Croydon in the morning to get my biometric enrolment done at the UK Border Agency's Public Enquiry Office in Croydon.

- Lunch in Wimbledon -- great sushi at this place called Ta-Maki. And I took the tramlink for the first time from Croydon to Wimbledon. How exciting, right.

- Piano teaching in Fulham.

- High Street Kensington to drop by the Gambian High Commission to get my temporary travel document verified.

- Tottenham Court Road to get my hair cut. It's awfully short now.

- East Finchley for a quick rehearsal at Tyler's place for a recording he wanted to do with me.

- Muswell Hill for the recording session itself.

Amazing, huh! Now that's a real milking of my Oyster travelcard. Well, tomorrow it's hopping on the first 460 bus at 5:29am to Cricklewood to catch the train to Gatwick. Ho hum. Combined with the 2, 3-hours of sleep on average that I have been having every night since Thursday night, I think I am going to have a very interesting time in Gambia. Uh-huh.

Summer Shenanigans

Yes indeed, it has been a while since I've updated anything here. A very long while indeed! Summer is indeed well and truly over here now in London, with the weather dipping to 15 deg C for most of the day. Not that I'm complaining -- the severe heatwave over the summer was a stark reminder as to how invaluable air conditioning can be!

Anyhow, summer saw Sezenyum in Southeast Asia over five weeks for an amazing residency at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore as well as workshop projects around KL and finally some intensive Balinese gamelan training in Flower Mountain, Payangan. It's been a wonderful experience so far, to say the least -- going back to Singapore has also made me realize how much I actually do miss home, and how I actually do want to end up there, eventually. The workshops in KL were a great success, and the participants of every single workshop were far more responsive and creative than we could have hoped for.

Having said that, I've stitched together a short video showcasing what we experienced, with scenes mostly from our one-week stay in Bali. Indeed, this particular trip to Bali has been nothing like my previous trips. Watching Pak Sumandi do his amazing wayang kulit show, visiting Meili's temple for it's anniversary ceremonies and celebrations, being part of the cremation ceremony in Kedawatan, having lunch on the rim of Gunung Batur overlooking the volcano, watching a gambu performance staged for our private viewing pleasure -- I could go on and on. It's been unforgettable, to say the least!

What Home Office?

Here's a copy of a complaint email which I sent to the Home Office recently, regarding the most abhorrant experience we've experience in trying to apply a student visa for her to remain in the UK. I'm sure many fellow visa-applying members will find this helpful and relevant -- feel free to use it as a reference.

Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is Jonathan and I am writing to you on behalf of my partner who is currently applying for leave to remain in the UK under the Points Based Tier 4 scheme.

She sent in her visa application as far back as 10 weeks ago, and completed her submission of biometric information on 3rd June 2009 at the biometric centre in Croyden, England. On that specific day when she turned up promptly for her assigned appointment, she was made to wait more than three hours despite having adhered to the given time. During those three hours where she and others were made to wait, no staff from the centre appeared in person to explain the cause of the delay, nor to apologize for any inconvenience caused.

There was, however, an announcement running on the PA which kept repeating a message which accounted the (blatantly obvious) delay which was ongoing. This in itself seems to be quite a rather poor and lackluster approach in managing the centre -- I would think the Home Office would like to approach and resolve such matters with the public using a member of staff, instead of hiding behind a cold, pre-recorded message which plays from the ceiling without offering any explanation for the delay whatsoever.

Having said that, I would like to enquire as to why her visa application is taking such a long time to be processed. Her biometric information was submitted nearly six weeks ago -- surely doesn't that warrant some sort of correspondence on the Home Office's behalf to update her of the situation? With such poor service notwithstanding, she has had to cancel or reschedule several travel plans which were made before the visa application due to inaccessibility of her own passport. This has proved to be costly and extremely inconvenient, as all these changes and cancellations would obviously require money.

While I understand that the Home Office are evidently oblivious to personal problems as such, it would help effect a more positive image to the visa-applying public if they were more responsible and accountable for the multitude of applications (and passports) they receive on a daily basis. As a registered UK taxpayer, I am concerned that my contributions do not see any improvement whatsoever towards the customer service standards as well as attitudes of the Home Office. The main contact line, listed as 0870 606 7766, is almost always inaccessible and provides the caller with no option of waiting in line to be spoken to. With such strained and poorly-managed resources, I wonder why the Home Office even bothers publishing that number on its website at all.

I also observed that you have left out correspondent details such as phone numbers and email addresses out of official letterheads in documents sent by the Home Office. This makes me question why the Home Office operates on such an averse level of unwillingness in terms of being accountable and contactable. On the Home Office website, the UK Border Agency customer charter (which isn't easy to find, might I add) states that 75% of applications under the Points based Tier 4 system should receive a response within 4 weeks. I shudder to think how much longer the other 25% will have to wait. Additionally, on the Home Office's contact page, it states that enquiries should only be made 14 weeks after providing biometric information.

Firstly, I would like to know why it might take up to 14 weeks (or more) to process an application when 75% of your applications are purportedly processed within 4 weeks. I can only imagine that 14 weeks would be the timeframe where the Home Office finally admits that they might have actually misplaced an applicant's information and documents -- something which people I personally know have had happen to them.

If the UK wants to project itself as a hospitable country that welcomes diversity in the form of visitors, students and workers from foreign countries, then may I strongly suggest that the best place to start would be the Home Office. With the very apt and overdue departure of your Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, I was looking forward to numerous changes and improvements to the way the Home Office handles matters, most notably in the areas of visa applications. This has, obviously, not been the case, and I must say that I, along with many members of the visa-applying public, am most disheartened and disenchanted.

Should you require more detailed information, please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to hearing a response soon.

Best regards,
Jon

Twelfth Month

And so the summer term has finally come to a close, and with it my first year at Guildhall is over. Unbelievably quickly, might I add. IPEs for both first and second years are all over, and they've all been a great success. The first year's IPEs were especially satisfying, and I've had a great time workshopping each piece including my own. Hopefully I can get a recording of it up sometime soon!

So, lots of people have been wondering (or at least silently questioning) what my Leadership course is really all about. Recently, Guildhall CONNECT just finished a massive concert featuring all its different ensembles under its wing. I was, of course, a part of the concert -- it was really inspiring to work with every single participant and ensemble. Chigusa Fukato, a writer for the Piano Teachers' National Association of Japan, covered this project starting from ensemble workshops and rehearsals all the way to the big concert, and came up with a few brilliant online articles which can be found here and here.

Here are a couple videos that would perhaps explain better. Enjoy!

Interview with Paul and Sigrun Griffiths

Urban Sounds In Action

I'll be headed over to Singapore on 2 Aug, arriving on the 3rd. Guildhall is sending the first years to Southeast Asia for projects throughout the entire month of August, so I'll be in Singapore for two weeks, KL for one and than Bali for the last week. I'm hoping to squeeze in another week back in Singapore before heading back to London, just in time for Min-joo's birthday!

The Ghost Date

Here's an article spotted on thelondonpaper's Love column about a month ago which I particularly enjoyed, written by Andy Jones.

Boys, look out for that spooky feeling

There is an enemy out there to all men. It is called the "ghost date". If you're a man or woman who doesn't think you've been on one, you are lying to yourself.

The ghost date occurs because of ignorance of one basic fact. In a man's mind, "drinks" with any woman never just means consuming alcohol. It's an innuendo-laden proposal which simply states: "I'm working out if you fancy me, and if you do, we're getting smashed until you agree to come back to mine."

Because women don't always understand this, ghost dates occur. That is, one of you thinks it's a date, but it's not. As a guy, you'll know you've been on a ghost date because at the end, you'll get a dry kiss on the cheek and spend your journey home dumbly staring at your phone wondering whether or not to send a text.

We foolish men can even go on several of these ghost dates with the same person. Drinking, chatting, saying good night, not even kissing, yet never being any the wiser as to whether the girl even likes you.

My mate Alessio has been "dating" the same girl every week for the last three weeks. His "date" probably thinks she has the best new mate in the world -- he takes her to bars, gigs and listens to all her problems. All she has to do is look pretty. But does she know he is taking her out only to get her in the sack?

Honestly, girls, tell us. Because you don't help the situation. Plenty of my girl mates meet guys "just for a drink". I pity their dates -- I bet the poor bloke spent ages getting ready only to be sat opposite them scarcely able to get a word in, wondering when me might turn the conversation to something more flirtatious.

Any girl who thinks she has suddenly got a new platonic man friend, you haven't. You've just got a guy dangling on a line, who is hoping at some point you'll lean in and snog his face off. Truly, we don't care about your crappy work problems, your ex-boyfriends or your dodgy femme plumbing. Just show us your pants!

If you're a man going on constant "ghost dates" with no return, I recommend the following -- after you've just bought your sixth round of the night, sit there and say: "Your round, love." If she's interested, she'll buy. If she looks horrified, you know you're being played. It's hard on your heart, but easier on your wallet.

The Last Quarter

Ah, the joys of self-resourced home entertainment! Movie-watching is a pretty indispensible part of my life, as you can tell -- whether it be in a cinema theatre or from the comforts of my own home. That's just about all the movies I've watched in the past three months, not including a couple more unremarkable ones which I didn't care to include. Star Trek was exceptionally good, it's a must-watch for anyone who dares to utter the phrase "I like sci-fi."

The big Lambergo + Guildhall Folk Ensemble gig is tomorrow, and it looks set to be foot-tappingly and hip-swayingly good and enjoyable! For those who don't mind a spot of Friday night fun, come to down to the Basement at Guildhall's Sundial Court at 7:30pm! Memories of last Wednesday's recording at Abbey Road Studios with the Folk Ensemble are still echoing in my head -- I can't believe how lucky and priveliged I am to have been given an opportunity this golden. Checking out Studio 2 was such an exhilirating experience! Photos of the recording session can be found on my Facebook album here.

It's going to take awhile before the final product is ready, but I'll be sure to post the tracks up when I get the chance! Meanwhile, the Bath International Music Festival is up next -- a few of us from Guildhall and RCA will be heading down in the first week of June to showcase our works as a culmination of the MAP/making project. Can't wait (for it to be all over)!