I have finished 4 of my exams now....there is one more paper left which is 2 weeks away,but I guess I'll only need to study part-time for it, so to speak. The exams haven't been bad overall....apart from solid s*** physics, I think I did all that was humanly possible for the other papers. But I'd better not speak too soon...I have one more paper to go.

Anyway, on Tuesday I went to a CD launch by my pianist friend Mei Yi, who is a fellow Malaysian. It was held at a piano centre in a posh part of London near Picadilly. I was supposed to meet Jane and Bobby there so that we can discuss our concert in November along with Mei Yi, but I was the first of us to arrive, apart from Mei Yi who was already there, but she was busy greeting people for a while before she withdrew to prepare for her recital. Thus, I spent quite a while milling about aimlessly amongst the literally chattering classes, partaking in the free beverages and Pringles on offer. As this was a private event, a lot of the people there were clearly Mei Yi's friends, and from their conversation they seemed to be mostly musicians as well. Apart from musicians themselves, most of the people there were rich old people who see themselve as patrons of the arts. The musician in me appreciates this, but then the socialist in me is shouting 'Bourgeouisie!'.

Mei Yi gave a short recital, followed with a lot of congratulations from the audience and a CD signing session afterwards. I won't say much more about the recital itself, except to say that she has a solo recital at Wigmore Hall next Thursday which I am looking forward to listening.

I was however impressed with the fierce adoration that Mei Yi has among her fans. I spoke to this lady who turns up to virtually every single one of her performances in London... she told me that at an earlier concert in Wigmore Hall, Mei Yi played before two other musicians. After Mei Yi finished, the lady just left the hall because she went just to watch Mei Yi. One of the people who spoke after the short recital concluded with, '...and we look forward to seeing Mei Yi becoming one of the premier concert pianists!'.

I would be a bit more cynical than that... she's a fine pianist, but she's already 25 and there are so many other pianists out there that the competition is insanely ferocious. In the naivette of my youth, I had wanted to be a musician. My parents had given a firm 'no' to that, and I was extremely angry at the time, but now I know actual professional musicians and how they have to struggle, I have to admit that I see their wisdom.

As for Mei Yi, even if she doesn't hit the absolute prime-time, I think she has already secured for herself a great career as a concert pianist.