太紧张😓了！- 16th Dec 2022

We knew it late, there was no chance to set a reminder alarm on the phone. 

Che-Che learnt about Joe Hisaishi’s concert just on the day itself, when the tickets are set on sale at 10am (SIN time). She chanced upon it in SSO Instagram around 11.35 (JPN time), which means we’re 35 mins late. Really strange that this wasn’t in the SSO Calendar of events booklet. 

We were sightseeing at Udo Shrine and on the way out Che-Che wanted to get her Cremia ice-cream and everybody had wifi access from the cafe. She told me about it when we were walking out. She exclaimed “mummy! Joe Hisaishi coming in April.” 我听了也太开心了。I stood closeby to be near the reception. Such a tense moment! I stopped hubby from moving off just to quickly score 2 tickets. I also needed him around in case my credit card doesn’t go through especially if UOB sends the OTP to me. It’s really strange that even with data, I can’t get my OTP when I needed to settle the HDB rental stuffs. Anyway, thankfully I was able to pay with PayPal. Paid $804 ($398/- seats). 

Thinking to self :

(1) I think I shouldn’t complain that she goes into Instagram that often, otherwise we would have missed this opportunity.

(2) I should also be grateful that she was so greedy in wanting to eat ice-cream and we obliged her. 

Can you imagine if we knew it few hours later, all tickets would have sold out. As it is, a lot of seats were already taken up. I also couldn’t wait if my friend, S, wanted to go coz I won’t have access after that and we were on the move, driving from Nichinan to Kadogawa and stopping at sights along the way. Just purchase the tickets fast so I can set my mind and heart at ease. 

Really glad to catch him again in a span of 3 years. So anxious that after paying for the tickets,  I realised why didn’t I look for our premium seats. OMG!! See lah! Too nervous until brain also not thinking. Actually at that point of time,  I didn’t want to waste time toggling and choosing slowly seats coz as I’m choosing seats, someone else would already be paying for the tickets. Every second counts. Seats are usually sold out within an hour or so for his highly awaited concerts.

See you in April, 久石 譲 さん

PROGRAMME

RAVELLa Valse

RAVELBolero

- Intermission -

JOE HISAISHIViola Saga (Asian Premiere)

JOE HISAISHISpirited Away Suite

The world-renowned Japanese composer-conductor Joe Hisaishi returns to Singapore in a performance of four orchestral pieces. The concert begins with La Valse and Boléro, composed by Ravel, one of France’s most influential 20th-century composers. The second half of the program features the Singapore Premiere of the newly arranged Viola Saga, a composition of Maestro Hisaishi in 2022. The core piece of the second half will be the Singapore premiere of the Spirited Away Suite – based on the Best Animated Feature Film of the 75th Academy Awards, directed by the great filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. Most anticipated: the emotional piano part to be played by the Maestro himself, creating an exceptional musical journey through Spirited Away.