imagine this scene: a group of choir members scattered around one small room, busy talking among themselves. a pianist playing a keyboard. a guitarist with his instrument. a few aunties cutting a big chocolate birthday cake and distributing it at the same time. a conductor trying to get everyone's attention to eventually start the song. stack of scores being passed around. a handful of children playing at the corner of the room. a small boy playing with purple baloon. people coming into the room to place some items on top of the cupboard. a few months old baby crawling on the floor and sometimes stood up to grab a piece of the chocolate cake from people's plates. a big sister running around to help his baby brother wipe his mouth clean. and people's singing, and conductor correcting. repeat.

one word: hectic.

this scene repeats itself almost every week during choir practice. the chocolate cake can be substituted with a packet of sweets or any other tidbits brought from different parts of the world. it's just amazing.