Plaid Nightmares: So bent out of shape.

Yesterday sucked. It sure did. Well, maybe for band it was okay. But what happened after band sucks. I planned to go to Accent and get myself a Vandoren Traditional Baritone Saxophone Reed Size 3 1/2 and a Vandoren Jazz reed just for the fun of it. And I thought, the overlord of band equipment supplies sold individual Baritone sax reeds.

Oh, I was wrong. Very wrong.

Oh don't get me wrong. They do sell individual reeds, for clarinets and alto saxophones. I was like "Oh." and in my mind was "Oh shit.". They sold Baritone Saxophone reeds at a pack (5 in one box) selling at $48. I only had $27 with me. Dammit, I shouldn't have bought the Boys Like Girls CD yesterday. I tried to look strong in front of the sales rep by saying "Err, okay. I'll look around first." and looked at the display of mouthpiece pouches and reed purses, with no intention of buying any. But if they have reed purses for Baritone Sax, I seriously won't mind belting out the cash. Then I asked him about the AJBC DVDs Hafiz wanted, and they didn't have them. Their DVD supply weren't that much so I wasn't really surprised. Then some Caucasian guy came in and wanted to get a Yamah flute with an E mechanism (whatever that is) for his wife. This is when I got out of Accent, after the attendants diverted their attention to someone who's gonna pay a possible $2k+ rather than some kid who wanted to buy $8 pieces of branded wood.

I headed for the bus stop, feeling quite sad. Because it took 15 minutes by taking 74 to Ang Mo Kio MRT Station and then 36 minutes to Bukit Batok MRT Station followed by a 10 minute bus ride in 61 to Accent. I don't know if there is a faster way, but that's my route. I don't want to reach home with just relishing a $1.50 soggy burger and a $1.30 Slurpee. I took the time and wanted more than just a cheap meal to make my day. I looked into another alternative. More time-consuming and more expensive.

Sweelee.

The place, where I used to get my reeds. $15 per reed. $6 - $7 more than the usual Baritone Sax reed. Should I spend $14 more or just wait 'til tomorrow (at that time, it was Wednesday of course) and get the reeds at Accent before SSW sectionals?

Of course, I rather get things done fast under whatever circumstances. So yeah, 61 back to the interchange, a 53 minute journey on the MRT to City Hall MRT Station from Bukit Batok MRT Station. Walked along C.H.I.J.M.E.S. and headed for Bras Basah Complex. Sweelee still looked the same. Same guitars, same layout. Their reed stock was alot and they also sell the famous 56 Rue Lepic reeds. They also sell cheap brass mouthpieces that are dented and rusty at like $20. And they displayed various flutes and piccolos and I saw this.

Nice model.

Don't whine about the quality, my camera sucks without flash. Jokes aside, Sweelee's services is still the same. No one will come up to you and ask "Hello sir, do you need some help?" or "Hello, I hate my job but I'll try to help you" or something like that. Looked around and saw only 1 Squier guitar. Then I asked for help on the reeds. $12 per reed, after discount, mind you. So I bought a Vandoren Traditional reed and a Vandoren Jazz reed. Do the math, and now I'm broke.

On the way, took some shots. Some sucked because I was trying out the Scenery option. It worked on the pathway along C.H.I.J.M.E.S. and here are some of the nicest ones, in my opinion.

Yea, that's about it.

NEL MRT rides are getting shorter for some reason. The last 3 or 4 times were like over fast. Maybe friends made the fun which made time go fast and thanks iPod for playing Csardas 3 times.

And yeah, I got my Csardas score! But I need to arrange some parts to be an octave lower. High High A? Ohh hell no. It's a solo alto sax part, hence the higher register.

By the way, the reeds I bought came in a Fender guitar string pack, like this :