The official launching of Georgetown UNESCO world heritage site……..in two weeks!!!

Well this epic of extreme work and rehearsals came about mid July where we were recruited to be apart of the performance. This group from USM consists of 2nd, 3rd, me and masters students to be apart of the performance of “Kisah Pulau Pinang”. The performance consists of USM students, children from Arts-Ed team called “Anak-anak Kota” and the Ombak-ombak productions dancers. Some children were not young children anymore though. So in general the group was big with high-school students, USM students, and Adult dancers. It was a bunch of hard work, rehearsing but lots of fun. So, this is the whole process before the show.

We got the notice about a week before the actual rehearsal. As Prof Tan being the music director and Janet taking care of the Drama part, we were in doubly good hands…..If you know what I mean. So the plan was to ensure the music coming out perfectly and at the same time, ensuring that the audience could see the characters coming out of the performers so we were taught to act with exaggerated gestures so that it would come more convincing.

The first meet was with our students where we got most of the briefing and practice times are been told at that point. We were taught to sing the chorus parts and the rest are responses to the narrators. Prof Tan wanted the music students to make sure they are in pitch so that the other chorus singers have like a reference to sing to. This time I played the gamelan, the Pekin to be exact. The rest of the chorus was taught to sing the second voice so that there is harmony in the chorus. Due to the lack of coordination, we couldn’t sing and play at the same time so we just mostly played the instrument and pretend to smile and sing so we won’t hit the wrong plate. Hehe.

Me on pekin, Annie and Huey Lin on saron, Yuen Mun on bonang. Amira is missing today.

Ee Kim finds her comfort in her kempul and agong corner

Second practice day. Yay!! It’s a chance to meet Natasha and Yu Jean again Selven and Teng Shin. I haven’t seen them since the Storm in a Box performance. Natasha is currently studying in KDU Penang and Yu Jean is in UKM. The two boys are still in school. I thought they were all still in high-school….ahh, they grow up so fast. Anyway, the rest of the cast were there as well. I really enjoyed working with them because of the high energy that they have which I don’t. They are a bunch of fun and can work with at the same time.

I wonder what is Lyana gosipping with Teng Shin

The purple Natasya and Yu Jean

The next practice the adult dancers are with us. This is where the action scenes come in to place. Yeah, they can jump, flip here and, there row boats and fight. Sounds like a Jet Li movie, hehe, and they can do it on stage. Their role is during the ship scene and the riot scene. Not much but it does make a difference to jazz up the performance. They are also fun to play around with.

You wanna fight?!!!.....Come and get me!!

So, much of the earlier part was done in the gamelan room, sitting down and lil bit of action. When the dancers come in, we all move to the open aired stage which is the “Kata Sila” in our new complex. The stage crew was around by this time measuring and making sure we were using the exact space and trying around the sitting positions. Queen to, our caretaker in Storm in a Box was also in charge of us making sure all the musicians are not missing in action and basically making sure the smoothness of the rehearsals. Yoke Pin was in charge of our attire and thus we were most of the time been monitored during the rehearsals and everything. It’s very interesting to see the organization work this way. It’s not easy but they enjoy being apart of the production which got me thinking that they are people who put their heart and soul their work and I respect them for that.

Sessions by Natasya:.....breathe in.....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Aiks?!! No sound ah?........

I made a hole in the ground....we all did ruin the Kata sila. It's now with holes everywhere. Oops!

So the next day we had sessions with Janet. The soloist had sessions previously but as a whole, this was our first encounter. It was crucial for us to keep our back bones straight and do not slouch during the performance. It was hard to keep focused on that because it was natural to keep the body relaxed but as a performer you always need to keep in character and show the audience that you are really doing a good performance. Who says performing and acting is easy is going to get a huge lecture from me always. It was a very, very long day but it had to be done since the time to rehearse was limited and the next practices will be on the full rehearsal day itself.

Oiii! Pitching......Don't simply sing....you must listen to the bonang
This girl can even dose off during practices....hehe, gotcha!

Say hi to the camera, smile, and kill Yuen Mun.

Something is very wrong with this picture.....very unconvincing.

The next practice I forgot the time for rehearsal and by the time I reached there it was done, but they said that they didn’t do much and they arranged transport to go to Padang Kota to the site on Friday. I was to follow Thing Thing’s car other of the 2nd year students.

So on Friday, we gathered at the Eureka building and went to the site. That same night AIESEC was having the 2nd meet with the potential members. Sorry guys that I have to miss that. Anyway, we got a space at the town hall there and started rehearsing. It was windy and all. The back drop almost fell. So went back to town and waited till the cue to go out again. The stage setup was a bit un-audience friendly. The VIP stays in the tent in front of the stage and the audience staying the left and right of the stage. So, the audience are actually are standing very far from the stage. It feels very unfair to the audience because the performance is for the people and not many people are able to get to see the performance and that my dad too had to watch from an agonizing angle. I hope the next time there will be more improvement in the management and be considerate towards the majority of the people to watch the performance.

The stage at Padang Kota

The Kandang Kambing.........I mean VIP

The View of the rest of the padang.....It was windy and towards 7pm there was a slight drizzle

So on the day of the performance we were asked to be there by 3pm so we were there early to get ready and rehearse to touch up last minute stuff. The rappers and the adult dancers were there since 1pm and I bet they had used all their energy till night performance. Well, after Queen had snatched all our important stuff, we got lost track of time because can’t have watches and had no money to buy like drinks and so. It was bout six that they let us go to have dinner and a quick note from Michelle not over eat so that we won’t collapse on stage. We went for prayer before dinner and then it was almost time to get dressed

After we got dressed and stuff, we had last minute rehearsal with Janet on the boat scene and the riot scene. Then it was almost call time to show time. I think Queen said we were lining up at 8.45pm. We were in time to watch the fireworks. For the first time I was afraid of the fireworks. I felt like it was so near. Well, about 9.20 so we were started to go on stage.

The crowed was huge and we were the first to perform that night. Thanks to Janet’s rain spell, there was no rain that evening so we performed with all our heart and soul. It was very interesting till I didn’t realize that there was a slide show playing during the performance.

After the performance we headed back to town hall. So then I went for prayer and then most of us got hungry and ate some light refreshments that they had with them. So after that, some studied, play games and talked till the curtain call. Next door The Penang State Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (PESSOC) and Penang Chinese Girls School was rehearsing so we got to speak with the soloist, Shafinaz. She is a well known singer and music lecturer at UiTM. So after taking shots we talked about our studies in USM. We found out that our Dr. Razak was her lecturer when she was studying…wow, Dr. Razak taught Shafinaz and teaching us Choir, esthetics, and theory. So our lecturers are actually not bad huh??

The ladies of Dondang Sayang

At the time of our curtain call we went so sing “Tanah Pusaka” and waved good bye to the TYT of Penang. We went back to change and said our good byes to all the Anak-anak Kota and the Ombak-ombak dancers. We shall meet again soon. I’m going to miss them dearly. So, we got a chance to take a picture with the peranakan dondang sayang singers which according to Prof. Tan are the last of the dondang sayang singers. Then we did manage to take with the MC and Vanida Imran. We then got back in the car and drove back to my humble room up in Saujana. All of us were tired and so the issue of getting supper was out of the question. To all Anak-anak kota, Ombak-Ombak arts studio the whole crew and those I missed out thanks for being a great sport and hope to see you soon.

The Florestan of USM students

There is the other side of our students that only can be seen sometimes during gigs, competitions and some minor shows inside or outside of USM. Most come very different background however when they form a group they sure know how to rock!! Yup, I’m referring to the Wanderers concert in Dewan Sri Pinang on the 24th July 2008. The majority does not come from music school but some have remarkable musical talents far from your expectations from a student that does not do music as a major.

The students had done a great job this time too, like last year the concert portrays songs composed, arranged, and written by the students themselves. So what we hear is the product of our own students. I support Malaysian music….hehe I suppose. Well in this sense support friends and acquaintance. There are compositions by Pin Xuan, Xin Ying, and Huey Fang, too that interest me at the concert.

Dearie big bro Vance was in the MC, they are responsible of introduction sketches and delaying time if necessary. Although the program was conducted in Mandarin, a lil bit in Cantonese and if there is any other dialects I couldn’t detect, however, music should have no boundaries and so even if I don’t get the jokes I just paid more attention to the quality of arrangement and the vocal sound produced and basically enjoy the performance. (Yes I learned mandarin before and scored but USM finals are always in writing and I suck in aural)

Some interesting love sketch

Apparently the lovely flowers are responding to the feelings of a heart broken dude

Hehe....The ambassadors of kotex....They are all pads debating on their capability and Vance with the two circles is most probably the mascot of overnight wing....hehehe

To my big surprise, Soong Loong was in the Wanderers. How I adored his voice….your voice only lar ok….don’t perasan pulak. He sang solo with accompanied guitar, just like I like the music to be performed and A Capella next track. I realized your voice was really nice since National Ambassadors Camp. It would be nice to be serenade to; ok I know that will never happen. Huhu…

I will survive....yeah..yeah!

Xin Ying and Huey Fang also did a very good job. I wished the lecturers could watch you guys in action and watch your other talents as well. They might be really surprised on how well you performed and dance. According to Mr. Razif, dancing improves rhythm so you should dance as much as possible; it’s good for your body too…exercise.

You never knew they had talent till they stood out in a crowd like this...so proud of you guys....

Another cute composition

Huey Fang, soft and graceful playing piano....rocks on stage!! Woot! Guys, this is one hot babe..

There was a pianist too that according to Ee Kim from biology school that has outstanding talent that I know of. Aiks! Another bio student? The playing show’s the passion for playing somewhat like Pin Xuan. One of a kind talent. Anyway Pin Xuan, your composition is good and so you….I wish I could hear more genres coming out from manuscript…hehe.

The rest of the Wanderers, you’re all talented and because I don’t have the guts to adept to high levels of stress and therefore I know how great artist you guys are and I respect you guys a lot. Hope you can continue making music and sharing them us in the future and by that time my mandarin is better or worse, It might deteriorate by time because lack of practice…Oh no.

Ah, vous dirai-je Maman – The english one

Mozart wrote this piece based on a French children’s song. The theme sounds like twinkle, twinkle little star. Why the title perhaps? Well, there was an Astronomy convention which was held on the 18th till the 20th July. I had been going to the convention since the time they brought the telescopes to Bumbung Lima, for our Rantau Budaya. It was a community based cultural learning experience week that we do annually and loving it. It’s our way as an ambassador of USM to give back to the public. They showed the village people how wonderful our earth is and how interesting astronomy could be. I myself get fascinated when I see the pictures.

A Telescope donated to us by the TYT

Hehe, The Moon Man from MTV....You don't have to fo to the MTV awards to get the picture of the moon man


Flight simulation



Flight simulation without the people


One of the booth had this Dinosaur Egg. I doubt whether it's genuine. I hope it is.

So, on Friday night after coming back from the DK foyer, where I did my blogging, I saw the crowded people Exam Hall. I was certain that there was something going on so, I stopped by the IK hostel bus stop and walked there. What amazed me was a booth where there is a guy talking about his experience on astronomy. He is a 16 year old student from Chung Ling High School and his passion started when he was eight years old. This is his story.

This is Eugene. When he was eight years old, he saw an eclipse, most probably in his hometown. Since then he was captivated by the moon, stars and space. He began to invest in making his own telescope. The actual cost in this homemade telescope was about almost rm800. A huge amount of money was spent on the lens and only 1/8 is spent on the other parts. Soon he began saving to buy his own telescope. He goes stargazing whenever possible. Places in the city do not guarantee a clear view because our street lights are very bright so it’s difficult to see. Unlike Langkawi, where the pollution is minimal, the naked eye portrays a glorious view of the stars in the sky. Not too long a go he bought his first telescope and that made him very delighted. Now he comes for trips with his own telescope.

Eugene with his telescope.

Owning your own telescope and having a hobby of stargazing is not cheep. The telescope has to be dry and the wear and tear depends on how well you keep your telescope dry from the humid Malaysia whether. So a sum of money has to be put aside in order to maintain your hobby to buy calcium chloride (or in our case thirsty hippo) or silica gel beads to maintain it. You also need to be careful of the lens so that it doesn’t slide that might ruin your vision.

Educating more people about astronomy

Next, he advised me that “if you want to start your hobby, always start with the moon. You’ll move on from there.” The moon is big enough to see from the earth so with practice you’ll be able to learn to focus and use your telescope. Then, you can move to stars. He then explains the use of the star chart and how to use it. When looking for the stars, find the lowest magnitude first, because they are easier to locate. From there you then know what star you’re looking at and you can know what the next stars are.

I was talking at the booth for like over an hour. I was so interested that I wanted to ask my dad for a telescope as a birthday present. “Dad….can I get a telescope? Please?” “I’ll take care of it…..I promise.” It’s really interesting to navigate and like Lara Croft, lying at night looking at the stars. How I wonder what you are….I don’t want to wonder. We now have the ability to see….

Anyway, Friday night ended and I soon retired to my room and went to the rehearsal the next day. I planned that after the rehearsal, I shall go and pray and head to the convention again that night. And I did. This night there was a talk on the planets, well it was the same as last time but I kinda like the talk because the presenter Sam, used special software that enables us to view the planets at real time. Cool right? So it’s good to get refreshed on the planet studies.

Mr Sam James if I heard It right. Some students said that he's a real astronaut and that he has been to ISS a few times....wow!

Red hot ball

The sun under UV lens

The sun under x-ray vision

Everything combined

After the talk I wanted to retire back because tomorrow is heck of a long day because we’ll be practicing with the anak-anak kota and the adult dancers and Janet will be providing extra support to boost our performance. On the way out I met Jo, my class mate at The Alliance Française. We studied French together after completing my form five exams. Apparently I had to stop to go to matriculation and she stayed back to continue because she’ll be going to six form. Lucky you. Matriculation for me is terribly boring. Not much entertainment and all the students are biology students, physics or accounting. Not much varied like in USM, that’s for sure. The teacher’s rocks though. I just hate the environment, it so uninspiring.

Jo and me,

So we began chatting and catching up with time and retired to my room at almost midnight. I miss you Jo, I wanna continue French, but can I have my telescope 1st please dad please????

A quick update on beginning of semester events- Penang Symphony Orchestra and The Oundle School Chamber Orchestra 7th July 2008, Dewan Budaya.

T’was the first day of school and after settling several matters of registration I went walking down the bus stop where I saw the banner on the event. The program sounds interesting till I saw the date….7th July? Isn’t it today? So I quickly called the number and then the person directed me to the person in charged. After negotiating the invitation because it was quite full house the organizer managed to get me a invitation after all. So on I went that night.

The program started at about 8.45 9-ish but you have to go in before the VIP’s so I came early and waited till they opened the door. So I saw the seating position and decided to seat in front of the VIP’s so I sat in the last two last rows of the 1st section. The seats were filling up and I kinda felt weird. Something is not right. Then I realized. I think I’m seating in the VIP seating. Oh gosh! I was seating in the middle and if I kena bom it will be a total embarrassment. You know why? Because Mr. Johan was one of the VIP and I’m alone here. My ass was too heavy to move. Oh god, please start already!!! As I was praying, the lights went low and the opening speeches started. *saved*

Performance was great. Good thing I was in luck with the invitations.

The first piece that they performed that night was the concerto for two violins by Vivaldi. You might recognize the piece from the Music of the Heart movie the ending where they played at Carnegie hall. It is also available in Suzuki book 5 I think. Next were few selections of Arias sung buy a solo soprano singer and Vivaldi’s four seasons’. I guess she was nervous. Can’t really hear what she’s singing. Trust me, if I were on that stage at that moment I might sing the first phrase shaky. Hehe. For the four seasons that they played was my favorite, summer and winter. Spring is too common for me. The soloists were actually good and I do enjoy the performance. Then they performed a piece I’ve never heard called Eclogue by G. Finzi. I really enjoyed the piece. Simple and nice, I hope I can find the recording of the piece somewhere. Last piece for the first part is Simple Symphony.

The next part the Oundle school was joined by the PSO members and they Purcell’s Chacony in G minor, A.L. Webber’s famous The Phantom of the Opera. Nice, I really enjoyed this one because the sound was really full and the texture was also great. The next piece was Tribal Dance from Yao and the last was Pomp & Circumstance March No. 1. This piece reminds me of graduation, and that I’ll not be graduating with my friends. Sad but I’m the one who made the choice.

Bravo! Bravo! Go on and take a bow.....

All the soloist and conductors get a bouquet to bring home... a token of their oustanding hard work. The singer couldn't be located at this time...to give the flowers.

Overall I felt that I enjoyed the performance, it was an honest performance because it felt like people at my own level of playing. They do make mistakes, and even if I play also there sure will be mistakes and it’s normal. Not everybody can be Lang Lang, Emanuel Ax, or Joshua Bell. People like Isaac Stern had to slowly make it big. So I guess I too should make my way up slowly but surely.

Recruitment Drive, The Complete Sonata

Exposition

After a series of goofiness the night before, was the time to get serious and down to business. On Sunday, after I finished performing at Dewan Sri Pinang for the Tuan Yang Terutama of Penang, I went straight at Tekun to help the others make posters and pin-ups for our booth. I heard that Ruby had asked for 10 soft boards but we got in the end only three. Three, my lucky number three. Haven’t you heard? It took three attempts for me to pass my driving test and three times all together to pass my ABRSM grade eight theory test. Phew! So I fell in love with the number three. I hope I don’t have to be in a relationship with three guys before finding the right one or become wife number three. Yikes! Back to the RD. The moment I reached Tekun, a lot of people were already busy painting, cutting, pasting; Ruby was doing a lot of printing and doing a lot of art work. It’s been a long time since I exercised my art. Well, it’s not too late to start.

The minute I put down my umbrella, Nadia already gave some alphabets to paint them blue. Blue, blue, my heart is blue and so are the letters. Then the cutting begins, the other letters are then been cut along the edges and they looked like those KFC nuggets they had last time. I do miss the old days, the time where there was school, gamelan class, choir class and French. No tuition. Dad strictly told me that I shall not have tuition until necessary like during form five I had a biology teacher who taught me at home to me and only me. Well the others at first joined, and then left.

The day ended with all the cutting and painting and deciding what suits best in our fliers. There, I saw a poster about a program organized by Clinique and that they will be giving out RM worth of stuff. I must not miss that opportunity. Well, I did register for it on Monday. So I have a place for the talk, anyway it is just going to one hour. I have no idea what they want to talk. I just want the free stuff. So greedy of me, but to the other me, it was opportunity.

The next day as well, after the TYT, I came to help out. I guess they finished late last night that they decided to start at tekun by noon. We finished by 12.15 at Dewan Sri Pinang so I wasn’t that late there. I came to help Susy with the stick figures. I was really cute when I was finished. I wonder whose idea was it. I helped sticking and writing down on the figures. Dear teachers, who had a chance to teach me before knew that I have terrible hand writing in the class but I have eventually improved myself although it It’s not as nice as the others, but sufficient enough to comfortably read what I have to say. I managed to write at the posters though.

Susy pasting

Susy posing

Pinning up, and laughing....seriously, If u seen the pictures in the red capes, would guarantee a big laugh.

Muslih hiding behind the computer.

Ruby asked about our opinion on covering the boards with a red cloth to attract more attention. It does make a difference. I can’t remember what happened in between but eventually both Serena and Ruby started to turn into superwoman and things become really hilarious with Susy in between and Serena turning into not-so-little Red Riding Hood. Yay! Superwoman Ruby has saved Serena little red riding hood from the hungry big bad wolf Susy. I don’t think I’m allowed to post it in because all three of them might come over and huff and puff and blow my innocent hostel room door if I did, so just my pictures ok?

Stick figures in progress.....almost done.

Finished product.....man I wished I was a few inches taller. I look like I have a head and feet. No body whatsoever.

TYT in between RD- The Development

We had to perform for the TYT on Saturday and Sunday from eight till 12pm on both days. Previously, En. Juffrey told us that he needed four players so I gathered Huey Lin, Amira, and Ee Kim to join me. I didn’t have a clue on the occasion. Stupid of me for not asking but he too didn’t told us anything. During the briefing, Zhe Rong said “Tomorrow is the TYT’s birthday.” So it clicked that most probably that what we’ll be performing is for the TYT. I did mention on what pieces to play, he just say it is sufficient enough just have some sound. What he meant was to play our standard gamelan repertoire that I can remember by heart but the other girls didn’t. I have been playing gamelan since I was in form four. Of course I can remember the standard pieces. The order is to wear all black so I did tell them so, however, Ee Kim failed to receive the message and she had a little white. I did send her last time to the TYT when I went for a research trip to Kelantan, so I just imagined that everything will be ok.

I was at the waiting place at seven am. So early, my dad was nagging that TYT doesn’t come till ten. What the hell are you there so early for. I just kept to myself. I have no idea on the procedure so since you said seven, I’ll be there. Well I reached at 7.20am like that at Dewan Budaya. Amira and Ee kim was there. It was 8 plus when En. Juffrey arrived to pick us up and we headed there. Huey Lin arrived earlier at Dewan Sri Pinang from her boyfriend’s house. En Juffrey dropped us at the parking lot and went searching for a parking space and asked us to go find the royal box where we’ll be playing.

So we went up there and find the performers entrance. As we were heading in, the protocol people said the three of them can’t go in because, Ee Kim had a white top, Amira’s black shirt was short sleeved and Huey Lin wore a black t-shirt, short sleeve. What possibly go wrong this time? Haiz, I was disappointed for lack of information. The time I went to some Bukit Mertajam thingy also said wear red. So I wore a red t-shirt and black pants. What they meant is red baju kurung for sum religious function. That time I was saved by the other Budaya person who asked for a jacket for me. Ee Kim said last time all of the performers were given a black jacket so whether short sleeved or t-shirt, they will be saved. So luckily I brought my jacket just incase I got cold in there. So to make things worse, Huey Lin needed to send Ee Kim home and only me and Amira were left in the hall. It was so disappointing.

So we had one saron player, which was amira, I played gambang, Che Mat on the boning and En. Juffrey on the gendang and gong. Texture, thin. Sounds horrible for a TYT function. I know for a fact that in Kedah, we have the royal nobat players which are committed to the sultan since they became a licensed player. You can’t simply choose to learn nobat. It is only for the male Kalau people and when someone dies, the son or relative of the kalau people must learn in a period of three months if not mistaken and be an official player. So they are really professional players.

Put the sad part aside and the best part is most of the cool orders or awards are given on the first day. The system goes by the announcer says the orders then there will be two who have received the order accompanying the soon to be person with the order. The first person that captured my attention was Datin Seri Wan Azizah the opposition leader in politics. I don’t really know what’s going in the politics scene but the name is really familiar. Next familiar name was Professor Dr. Ghulam Sarwar. The name rings in Prof. Tan’s class a lot. He’s a retired lecturer from USM and is working on contract with UM. Dr. Razak gave me a book that he wrote. I didn’t have time to read it yet though. The last familiar name was Nicole David. Nicole David? She’s so young and a Dato’ already. Imagine, Ghulam Sarwar, 63 Nicole David, 25. Huge age difference. Well, achievements do not consider age right? I got a chance to take a picture with Serena’s twin. Hehe. We had to take a picture sitting down because a lot of people wanted to take pictures with her and her heels were killing her. Poor Nicole, thanks for not leaving me out despite of your shoes. I guess you’re more comfortable in running shoes like me. I wear baju kurung with my Nike running shoes. My mom hates me for it but I feel wearing some shoes that I’m walking backwards, Weird right? Anyway, not much after that. Oh, I met my former neighbor who also got some award. Can’t remember which one.

Amira anxiously waiting for our turn to play
The Asli group, they consist of four members. Che Mat our Gamelan advisor is playing the accordion.The Military Band, say hi to the camera....hehe

Notice someone familiar? Somewhere in the middle?.....In Turquoise

Yay! meet or leading lady for squash. Thanks Amira for taking the picture, The angle makes my tummy smaller that what it is.....hehe.

The next day all of us wore proper attire. So the next day we had better sound coming out. Thankfully. We in the end did some camwhoring after the program ended. After the session I went straight to help all of them to prepare for the RD the next day.

Ee Kim on the slentem, behind her Amira still waiting.

Photo sessions for the others and also for us.

More last minute moments of picture taking. Thanks Serena for lending the shirt or I'll have to wear yesterday's attire.


So this is the view from up here. Amira kept mentioning that I looks like taking a photo with a fake Taj Mahal. Anyway, what you see is what you get.

One week of RD- The Recapulation

Monday was busy, a lot of people sign up for our malam mesra and they had a lot of enquires, which was really good. Most people were interested to go on exchange rather then self-development. I was once like them, even worse. Not many people know the reason why I joined AIESEC at the first place. I didn’t come for malam mesra although I was there. Confused? Save that for another rainy day and back to the RD. Tuesday was as busy as Monday. I was again fasting and that day was the first day for the Kisah Pulau Pinang rehearsal with the USM students. We only get to see the rest of the anak-anak kota till Friday and the ombak-ombak dancers on Saturday. So it was a big production on the 26th july it ended close to seven pm and I have to attend class at eight pm. So I was a rush to keep everything on schedule. It was a good thing that there were many to help at the booth so that if I had any problems I could refer to the others.

Adel giving professional advice to the students, there is Jess behind her.
Our stick figures. Cute right?

Ruby, Checking whether we were doing our work or just lepakkingThe view from the booth. Some debating on whether to join or not perhaps?
The posters layed down, not many people read it anyway. They like the world map better.
The world map that I was talking about....

Wednesday was my birthday, and the rabbit almost forgot about it. Becky, that’s why you should not watch too much drama and sleep, therefore the tortoise always wins. Haha. I kinda woke up late and I was on my way to buy water at the machine and that’s when I saw Serena at the car. I thought she was going to ask me why I wasn’t at the booth and it was about 9.15 already. Then I found out that she also woke up at nine and was late for class. So I got a ride to the lecture halls. There because I was the only person for the slot I needed to open the booth alone. Pushed the boards to their places, hang the banner, lay the posters on the table and make sure the name list is on the table. Serena gave the speakers but there was no laptop yet so no noise can be generated mechanically. So should I sing to myself? It is my birthday after all. I decided not to make a fool of myself and just stood there alone. Susy came by but it was her day off and Nadia brought her to Georgetown. Nice. I’m stuck here. Well someone saved us with a lappy can’t remember who. Well, that was that. Vance was busy memorizing a script for the wanders concert. I have the ticket to go there but I doubt I can go now since they might have a rehearsal on Thursday night. We’ll see how things go. I stayed almost the whole day then I decided to cancel Thursday’s slots since the ones I’m in have more than two at one time. So around 5.30pm I went jogging and since my parents are around for the night we decided to have dinner. They will be leaving for Subang Jaya by Firefly the next day at 7am so they said they want to send me back the same night.

Somewhere when I was packing to go back to the hostel, I got a message from Serena. I thought she wanted the jacket that I borrowed for the TYT. When I got back, my roommate was sleeping. Well, preparing to sleep. Not fully asleep. Then, the three musketeers saved what so far a subtle birthday. I really wished the Ching-a-ling the little miss piggy was here too but she still has work to do. They brought a cute cake for me. So I got a few friends to celebrate and sing for me. They had to sing in pianissimo because roommate was sleeping. How nice. Nadia thought she couldn’t finish her portion but ended up finishing anyway because the cream was so nice. Ruby was one with the spoon that enabling her to scoop a big scoop at a time. That’s the purpose of my mum bought the serving spoon for me to use as a dinner spoon. So I eat my cereal faster and would not be late for my class. Thanks Mum. Well after all that, they retired at Serena’s room and Nadia’s room beside the water machine.

I called Jie Ru to slap her on the phone and to wish her happy birthday. So then we all chit-chat and gossiped before she turn into another piano teacher. After this I will remain solo. The only music student who’s not a music teacher. The rest are teaching. The next day was the lovely rainy day that I couldn’t wake up but then I did go to class and to practice. Which reminds me about next week. I’ll have tutorials. Friday I stayed at the booth the whole day. I was alone at sometimes that some parts there were too many people to respond to and no help. I was trying not to freak out, not to say something wrong because I needed to respond to about three parties. I managed. Phew! Luckily. There were times when there was Susy, Serena and me and time like stood still. We turned the booth into an online club after that, and it was time to pack up. Finally, we’re done. We sent Susy back to her hostel and then to the Chancellery to book the venue for malam mesra, global village and I.N.S.P.I.R.E conference. Then, after hanging out for a while, it was time to meet the Anak-anak Kota. Exited.

By the way, the purpose of this blog is to share the interesting events that I’ve been or performed and a little about me. I love performing and sharing the experiences. I just hope by time I’ll learn to manage my fears and others learn from my experiences. This is the end of the RD however I might write the Coda, the Malam mesra itself and the Global Village. The next posting will be most likely about the Anak-anak kota rehearsals and some of the other interesting events.