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My favorite place to play the piano would be in my old home in Calamba, Laguna. Near Rizal Shrine in Rizal Street, was a green and orange house. If you look at this house from the front, it looks like a child's drawing of a Bahay Kubo. Once you enter the doorway, a St. Joseph statue by the altar greets you. A staircase stands in the middle of the house to separate the dining from the receiving area. White sofas surround a burgundy mini grand piano that fits perfectly with the red brick floor. The sofas are classically covered with pink silk covers, and the same silk scarf covers in white covers the piano if it's not being played. This is lit by a crystal chandelier. And at daytime, the white curtains can be pulled open. One wall of the living room is a wooden panel with diagonal accents. A colorful Filipino painting by a female farmer overlooks the piano as if she's the pianist's number one fan. The cement walls are terracotta colored. The wall without windows hangs a 6 feet long mirror that makes the receiving area twice as big.
Every time I sit in our living room, I look at the piano. If I'm not there to play it, I ask myself why am I not playing. I actually have that thought whenever I sit with a piano nearby– Why aren't you playing the piano? It's like a mysterious aura is inviting you and beckoning you to sit down and play something... anything. Regardless if it's out of tune, or if the piano keys are broken... someone who loves or used to love playing the piano, will have curious gazes on any piano in front of them.
If my brain doesn't torment me, my heart will until I play my piano's keys.
During recitals, my piano teacher taught me to stand in the middle of the front stage, slightly lift my white gala uniform skirt, and bow with a demure smile to the audience as courtesy and etiquette.
The gala uniform is a white version of our school uniform you wear on special occasions like graduation or piano recitals. You wear it with white hair pieces, white socks, and white shoes. It's either you look like an angel or a ghost. It's slightly more uncomfortable because the cloth is heavier than the average uniform and for a little girl, it's a gigantic task to be mindful that it doesn't get stained from anything. In hindsight, wearing gala uniforms was the most beautiful outfit I wore during my recitals. They were simple and standard so I didn't have to think about how I looked and could focus on what I was playing.
I'm a piano amateur– a piano lover. The pieces that I can play on top of my head are few and they are pieces I learned since I was very young. Since I've been playing for a long time, my piano piece compilation usually makes my audience's nerves calm, relaxed, and invited to sleep. Whenever I play, I reminisce on the who, what, where, when and how of that piano piece. I thought it would be interesting to write about my reflections.
