Documenting the camp in photos

by

Christopher Cheong

Day 1!!

11-12-2009, 12-12-2009, 13-12-2009... These were the dates every participant looked forward to. It was the date of our 11th guitar camp organized by the Classical Guitar Society (CGS) for 6 consecutive years and has been very successful!

The day started very early. By 8 a.m., most of the participants were already waiting at our pickup points ( PJ & Selayang ). Though there will be a small group of people who would arrive late due to the heavy traffic, we were able to leave for Fraser's Hill on time. We arrived at Fraser's Hill at noon and reached Shahzan's Inn at 12.15 p.m. BUT, this year because Shahzan's Inn was holding another camp that did not end and was still using the hall we usually use for registration, it made our registration into a mess! Anyway, for all of you to understand better, here are the pictures to explain our historical camp in a more enjoyable manner!!

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 1. Here we have the bus arriving at Armada Hotel for the pickup.

2. The supportive parents for the camp seeing their children getting onto the bus.

3. The bus arriving at Fraser's Hill at 12.15 p.m. Participants are unloading their belongings from the bus.

4. This is the mess I was talking about. Participants are scattered all over the lobby!

5. Ernest and Yee Hoo finally getting the participant to settle down and register themselves.

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 6. Due to the mess, we DID NOT get our rooms immediately! So, we had our welcoming speech first by the President of CGS, Mr Simon Cheong, and our artistes-in-residence, Adam Khan from England (left) and  Nutavut Ratanakarn from Thailand (right).

7. Our thrilling ice-breaking session led by the President's wife, Evelyn Cheong, aimed at getting the participants to know each other.

8-9. Participants enjoying themselves and expressing their happiness.

10. The 'woman-in-charge' telling us the rules of our games.  

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11. Our artiste-in-residence, Adam Khan, mastering the use of a pair of chopsticks.

12-14. Our participants having problems using the chopsticks to hold the ping pong ball!! (The best part is they're Chinese and they can't use the chopsticks invented by our forefathers!)

15. Nutavut blowing his own trumpet...er, I mean,  balloon for the next game.

16. The Human LRT!! Hardest game ever!

17-22 The leaders of the groups coming out to receive their prizes.

23. Ice-breaking session over. Participants heading to their rooms to put their belongings there.

24. My brother, Jeremy Cheong, bursting all the balloons like a small kid. ( He's 15 years old, by the way.)

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 After the ice-breaking session, it was time for our masterclasses with the artistes-in-residence, Adam Khan and Nutavut Ratanakarn. Adam took the intermediate and advance students while Nutavut had the beginner students.

25 - 29. Here is Adam's masterclass with the selected students.

30 - 34. This is Nutavut's masterclass with the beginner students.

It was an enjoyable session with our  artistes-in-residence. We learned a lot from them. Thank you, Adam And Nutavut!!

After the masterclasses, it was tea break. We had curry puffs, some malay kuih, coffee and tea. We only had a half-hour break before it was time for our next programme which is very important to the participants - The ensemble practice! Why is it important? Because on Sunday we will be performing in our very own ensemble performance. Therefore, ensemble practice is very important in order to NOT make a fool of ourselves. So, after tea we headed to our respective groups to get started. Each group is guided by 1 commitee member and also our  artistes-in-residence.  

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35. Here is a group under the guidance of  Lee Ji Xuan. 

36. Another group under the guidance of Simon Cheong.

37. Adam Khan here leading another ensemble group.

38. Here we have Nutavut guiding a group out in the cool open air of Fraser's Hill.

After the ensemble practice, we had our free time and dinner. After dinner, it was time for our Thai artiste-in-residence, Nutavut Ratanakarn, to give his solo performance. He was welcomed on stage with a huge round of applause.

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39-42. Nutavut Ratanakarn performing in his inimitable style... Everyone enjoyed it and asked for an encore! His encore piece was short and sweet -  The Pink Panther!!

43. The participants rushing to the counter to purchase a copy of Nutavut's CD. It sold like hot cakes!

44-45. Nutavut signing his CDs and a guitar!