Tortoise Territory

Just another day in paradise

2009-11-26T08:40:00.000-08:00

Finally I successfully dragged someone to go to eat at Borneo Rainforest. The famous restaurant that is owned by the fabulous Tiara Jacquelina, producer and actress of Puteri Gunung Ledang. I wanted so badly to go, but there has been little interest by some, finally Ching, pandi mummy agreed that we should go after the most disappointing QS grad school tour.

So imagining my bad sense of direction, (that's because I'm not actually from Subang as you know it) We manage to find our way to the parking area situated in front of Sunway Hotel. Parking is flat rate RM3 per entry, which is cheep considering Subang price. This is relative to the rates in Alor Setar where on week days the cost of a half hour parking is RM0.35. Cheap huh?? That's why I love my home town...

Anyway, the restaurant is situated right in front of Euphoria Ministry of Sound. Cant miss it if you are from Subang. So we went in, a bit disoriented, but we were greeted by the lovely sound of the waterfall and the lovely no rain moon above us...

Reporting to mummy pandi...hehehe

I have no idea what ching is thinking right now...hahaha

You see what I mean, the lovely waterfall and the music just sets the right mood...love this place...

So took a seat, then looking at the menu, the prices are reasonable. there are western food as well as local food. Their speciality was their Kolor Mee and Sarawak Laksa. So we ordered them booth.

Ching's Sarawak Laksa...yum...with two reli big prawns....

The scene before it dissapeared...

And me and my Kolo mee. Yes it halal, don't no pork in this kolo mee...I'm also not that sure how to eat it, but I definitely know where it end up at...hehe.

We were served by a full costumed sarawak warrior sort of waiter. Haha, the scenery was nice, the weather was nice, food was nice as well. A good place to have a date...(still pending). Anyhow, I'm glad to be able to get a chance to try the food, because I only heard of it in TV but have never tried it. Its worth the try, plus their lunch value meal is only RM9.90 nett so you can check it out. Its a must go in subang jaya. Here is a sight that I took form inside the waterfall...haha...

With Flash

Without flash, definitely this is nicer...lovely scene....

Music!!! makes the people come together...yeah!!!

2009-11-09T06:02:00.000-08:00

Hail the newest exhibition at petroscience!!! Muzika: the science of sound. From the add it says that it is built by Heureka, the Finnish Science Center and is designed to open visitors ears and mind to a multidisciplinary take on music. The exhibition will stimulate curiosity and motivation to investigate and learn about music because not only will you be able to hear music but also see touch and learn more about it. It's what you need to know about music. According to the KLue Klassifieds page, the science center is working with the Sibelius Academy, University of Helsinki, The Helsinki University of Technology's laboratory of acoustics and sound processing, the Finnish Music Information center and Cartes art and businesses, among others.

There is still time as it ends in March 2010. I had the opportunity to go in on the 7th November 2009. Petrosains members on the 7th and 8th get free entrance plus a goodie bag for the first 20 members. So, without delay I went and made my booking on the 7th at 10 am.

So the freakin day starts as I woke up late...(again) at 8.30 and headed to the KTM Subang Jaya station. it was 9.10am and as i was punching my cash card, I saw people on the other side of the rail standing up. This means...train is here. I was in my clarks wedges, running without breakfast, on the bridge and making my way to get on the train. luckily the KTM is driver operated. He might saw me running frantically and waited till i got in the train. Quick thumbs up to the driver and he went on its way to KL central.

At KL central, my cash card wasn't keyed in properly. When I went to the Kelana Jaya line rapidKL train, i couldn't get in. Quick run to the KTM solved the case and I found myself running past the escalator and again, train was arriving. Pushing through those not in a hurry lenggang kangkong people I made my way huffing and puffing through the train...*phew* no breaks man. most importantly, NO Breakfast!! I had to replenish my energy fast or i'll crash. So I bought my sandwich at rotiboy and went up to the top floor at petrosains...

Wee, I arrived at 10. 03 like that. To my suprize, all the shops were open. Not like getting started to open, they are already ready for people to come in. Aha! next time i know when I should come to KLCC to shop. Keep in mind that folks..

Knowing that Petrosains attract many school kids in the weekends, getting in the place might be a little hectic, but when you get in the exhibition hall it'll be more comfortable. Muzika is not in Petrosains main exhibition but is the one next to it. The place that they formally had the dinotrek 2.

So, upon registering, getting my goodie bag, I went straight through the curtains and this is the view at the exhibition. Looks very plain, but the exhibits are very interesting. See that huge globe. There are white dots on it. With a funny vacuum cleaner thingy you can listen to the music in the places on the globe. Its very fascinating. I thought of coming again on a week day. (possibly the day that I have my "holiday" so that I can finish all the nice music on the globe. It has only three headphones so it will be selfish for me to stay there for very long, because there are many people on weekends.

This is the closer view of the mobile thingy that i find nice. If you are working at the exhibition, tell them that if you don't want this anymore I would certainly would love to have it...hehehe.

This here is a never ending piano. When you play it, no matter when you go how many rounds, the pitch sort of keeps going. Come over to find out how it works...

There are even shows that are presented during the exhibition, so be sure to stay long enough so you could actually be apart of the demonstration. This is because, if you are lucky, you'll might get yourself free stuff....hehehe, who doesn't like free stuff.

So basically for this demonstration, they talked about how sounds are generated, how sounds are can be audible, different pitches, all those things that you lean in science around form 3. Nothing here is rocket science, but i might be to let say a 10 year old kid. But i think its a good introduction, plus its very visual and you can feel and play and touch and listen. Make use of all your senses. Me loike!!

Other booths include like this one here. It might look very simple, but when you do the activity its interesting. One more thing is that I'm writing on behalf of a music student so the fascination might differ according to other peoples interest. This thingy here has to do with catching the main beat. Having a sense of pulse. One of the activity here is that they give you a ragtime piece and tap on the table and it will record the beat that you tap. There are also recordings of other people at the exhibition and that they would play it together. In general, many would have almost correct beat. that all change when the ragtime is been stripped from its bass line. When they ask you to beat again without the bass line, its hard to catch the main beats thus, most people would be unsure of the downbeats. So, when we hear the playback of the guests, in the exhibition, it sounds hilarious because, people were tapping all over the place. It became a new rhythm all together!!

The stool looks very much like it was purchased at IKEA.

hah, an empty stage, waiting for some creativity to start. Well, there are more interesting stuff here in Muzika like this boy and his dad doing...hehe, notice the disco ball??? its a DJ 101 class. Yep, this one tells you how to do the scratching and how to use the cross fader...

Haha, let DJ Slow teach you how to move-it-move-it...wee, so I had my chance to try. I think i need more practice, but it was all fun...

And then there is the invisible guitar. see that black screen?? What you do is take the yellow sensor gloves and start strumming. I don't know how to play the guitar, let alone an invisible one. I'll leave that to the experts. but i tried though, I was only able to struck one chord. I have no idea how to manipulate the pitches...
Here the computer actually takes several instruments and isolates the partials. Each musical instrument note is produced by a series of partials that makes the note. So here you can listen to each partials whether its piano, violin, flute and a number of different instruments. I'm not sure exactly on the details on partials since we've only talked about it briefly, but I'm sure Mr. Victor has more knowledge if you need more explanation.

Errr, this is actually the explanation for the partials, but its a little blurry,

Ah, this one is the basics in orchestra seating arrangements. The orchestra plays 4 pieces and then you can listen them by parts and actually learn on the evolution of the orchestra from Bach to Dvorak.

Here's a short 15 min clip that shows the history of western music. Very cute, gotta come here and watch. Here's the description.

Here the forms of recordings are been played from waxed cylinders to vinyls. Here we find that forms of recordings have improved and even sometimes when digitized, sounds become super clear that to some people it would sound a little fake. However, technology is ever improving. Who knows whats the latest in recording techniques in the future.

Finally, here is a short piece that I composed from, snorts, sneezes, growls, farts, thunder sizzles and I cant remember...Oh, Mr. Johan, would be so proud of me...*Too much of syok sendiri*...hehehe...its like doing the cool edit electroaccustic piece that we did during our final year...thing is this is much more easier....yeah...

Kinda been inside of that place for more than 2 hours, so I decided to head home. Lunch. On the way back I saw the add of activities in Petrosains main exhibit, and guess what, Its about foooddd!!!! so, I'll be coming soon. hehehe...probably drag the pandi as well...you like food right?? and that's Muzika. make sure you take an effort to check it out!!!

A letter to Chingy the lil piggy

2009-09-14T07:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Chingy, pandi, mummy, dearest....

I can imagine Chan looking like this when coffee is present....=P sorry Ying Ling....VPYV...hehehe

Trying out the dress Azie??

Its been months that we've see each other. I'm happy to tell you that I'm very blessed to have another family here in UM. School work can be very depressing but its good that in the end of the day there is always some one to turn to and to laugh away the stress. There are some familiar faces in @ UM like Kit. However learning in USM was proven the best time so far in @.

Now that i'm in YV, I feel that I contribute more to society. Further more working with underprivilage kids have another personal meaning that shared a darker part of my past that not many know of. It brings great joy to be with these kids and that I would love to share my experience with you

Working on the notice board...Chia Yinn looks very glitterish....

The shelter that we have permanant interns working is the Agathians. The interns appeared in the Malay Mail a few days ago. Its a good way to promote our program and that my job in the ER department would have something to talk about while raising other shelters. There is more room for love that we can share with other Kids alike. One of the interns Yassmeen, from Egypt is so musically incline that she tries to learn a new instrument a year. She has two guitars, two violins, a saxophone, an accordian to name a few. Its very interesting to hear other @-ers that share the same passion as I am.

The shelter that we held our activities are at Assunta Children Society. Its basically a missionarry school where the underprivilaged children come to learn. They do not stay there, and they do have families. They are mostly from what I've heard are children refugees where some of them come from Myanmar and also Indonesia. They are the sweetest kids. I wish you could meet them.

Yesterday, at the shelter, we kick start the day with some square dancing. The kids and one of the nuns were dancing with us. Though many of us were fasting and jumping to "cotton eyed joe" none of us didn't really care. It was a blast having fun with the kids.

tired after dancing....

After the dance we had a Hari Raya presentation. We talked about, why we fast, what do do on Raya and so forth. After the presentation, there is a quiz where the kids get duit raya packets filled with sweets. We had also served Kueh Raya.

Happy LCP....

Happy angpow or should i say cing pow recievers....

After the presentation, we made Raya cards. It was a fun project that I find the little kids took more time then I've expected, but its ok. All the fun was in the process. I even made one for you...hehehe, for all of you who read this blog I suppose. I'm not creative but one of my group mates Helen made a lovely card that she dedicated to me and another girls, Azie and Niza. All of us were touched.

After the raya card making, I couldn't resist the smell of cakes from the kitchen. The kids make fruit cakes for sale. I was about to purchaise one till i found a bottle of brandy on the kitchen counter. Yes there is some brandy in the cakes....*sigh*...if I didn't asked I probably buy and get high on fruitcake and never know whats inside it....too bad but never mind....;)

Cakes

More cakes....

More cakes....OMG...me want sooo bad...the smell was nice....

Joline sent me to the train station where i went back home. I really enjoyed the time spent with the kids and that I'm looking forward on the next time we'll be going there. BTW, mummy....I've been demoted back to JE...*sobs* i'm stuck in TR stage for too long you know, I hope that I can go up soon. Lastly please pray that I don't get stuck for my masters, I do wanna finish in 2 years. Hope you do well in your one and only paper!!! get an A then you can enjoy deans list...hehe...

My love, hugs and kisses,

Your Anak,

Tatie

A new light

2009-08-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

And the verdict is......*drum rolls*

Yay!! I've been accepted in the Young Visionaries (YV)department (Project management) in AIESEC UM. Still warming up though ot UM's AIESEC culture...Though i miss the intimacy that USM has shared because we were small, with only one LCP and two VP's. Anyhow, its good to change and move out of my comfort zone. Though its sucks to know that i have 4 pending presentations but its comming through...I hope...*kenot-kenot....must get through*

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So in YV i'll be in the external relations , ER department. YV runs as a mini local chapter, and we select our own interns, that is because we have our own ICX department. Main purpose is to help the shelterhomes and give a new breath of hope to the underprevilaged kids. I think I'll enjoy being in YV because its something new, and I get to do ER work as well. Should be hectic...haha, need to plan ahead and make sure get every thing done....management people....haha.

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back to the boring assignments....*yawns*

We can move mountains

2009-08-14T21:23:00.001-07:00

And so my assignment continues...ahhh, postcolonialsim. I certainly have no idea how to write but I have heard wonderfull songs from vietnam and since during the vietnam war, the french has already left...I'd say why not??? There are enough amount of resources about postcolonial vietnam music, I just cant seem to paste the puzzle toghether yet at this point.

The day before I left for johor, I went to a bangsawan performance at panggung bandaraya. It was called Tun Mamat dan Mimpi Tuanku. The story was different than the musical however no one actually really know's the real Puteri Gunung Ledang so...anything is possible. My mum was having a girls day out with her friends so I bought a book and read at Subang Parade at Manhattan's fish Market because the coffee there at 3-6pm is only 95 cents. So I left around 4.30 pm to the kommuter station and took the train all the way to Bank Negara. Little did i know that it involves a conciderable amount of walking.

After crossing the bridge you could see the dewan bandaraya complexes. There are 2 buildings. Once I approached one of them, the guards told me that the Panggung Bandaraya is actually near the court which is across the street... So I walked and found the Panggung which is actually on the other end of the court. I went in to check inside. I need to make sure that there were enough parking space, a place to have dinner and a place to pray.

So Parking?? No actuall parking. Park at your own risk and that car theft in the rempit area is quite high. Park behind the dark alley of the court...mmm, not too safe. SOGO closes at 10 and the parking fee could kill us. Food?? SOGO?? pray?? the mosque behind the court. Why do you need a surau when there is a Mosque??? So facilities whise, its not very friendly... The mosque is also not the safest place to be at night because you need to walk at the sides and the motocyclist could ram in the pedestrian. They couldn't care less about the traffic lights... Snatch thieves too is part of the risk. So in the end??? Eat at Quality hotel, park car there pray comfortably there then march to the Panggung...Good thing I had good walking shoes...Or I'll walk barefoot like after Gala Dinner at Clark Quay...

The orchestra pit performers..notice the tabla and baya??? There is a rebana and the dude there is playing the serunai?? Seruling??? I'm not too sure bout that...

The timpani is played by the conductor...I didn't know that there is a conductor in bangsawan...hehe

The performance was interesting. Rahman B the legend was there. Seats were full. There was Dato' Jalaludin Hassan. Good thing my dad wasn't around, he probably be cursing the whole performance...haha. (He thinks he's too fake) I love the extra turns. There were music and dance and comedy. The story goes that one of the Sultan's advisors Tun Mamat had plans to marry when the Sultan had a dream that he saw his beautiful fiance. When ever a Sultan likes a girl, the girl is already a property of the Sultan or a concubine. Tun Mamat explains thah he too had a dream that he saw a beautiful princess on the Ledang Mountain. Tun Mamat was lying all along. The Sultan ordered a serch to find the Princess..

Some comedy sketches in the extra turn. Extra turns are performances in between scenes...Its used to enable backdrop changes, since in the old days, stage people needed time to change the scenes from like forrest scenes to the palace scenes... It also serves as a break from the story especially if the story is very serious like Tun Fatimah. Extra turns include dance, music, comedy, circus acts and magic shows...

Dang Ayu, the former wife of Biaji being called by the Sultan to become his concubine so she has to sacrifice her love to Biaji to serve the Sultan. Tun Mamat, was being put in the same situation, and that found his way out of it...(or not...XP)

On the way up, Tun Mamat met with witches dwelling in the forrest and one of them is actually the princess. (Well sort of his dream came true, the princess could be another witch in disguise just to ease Tun Mamat's other lies to the king) The witches told him to tell the Sultan that The princess has agreed under certain conditions that is impossible to get. So the admiral Hang Tuah dissapeared in the forrests leaving Tun Mamat with Hang Tuah's Keris.

A dance number extra-turn...influenced by the movie Puteri Gunung Ledang

I think the dance routines are same in the Music Video...

The witches with very long eyelashes...in neon colours....I can't stop staring at them....

Tun Mamat meets Princess of Ledang Mountain

The Sultan singing beautiful Maria...the last extra turn

Some interesting twisting and twrling

Tun Mamat showing off his Silat martial arts scenes...

Tun Mamat explains the conditions to marry to the admiral Hang Tuah

Interesting story...I wonder who came up with the Idea...haha. It finished late and we then walked back to the hotel and the car was still safe and sound. I was thinking about our trip next day...gotta wake up early in the morning... I'm sooo not a morning person, but to know that every trip is an adventure, I was still exited.

Just for thoughts, there are week points in the production. The good thing is that its free so that our actuall cost is getting there. Friday traffic congestion was part of it. Safe parking and accesibility to ther performance too needs to be improved. Remember that bangsawan performances in the old days had people selling food at the venue. If its possible have a safer passageway from the mosque to the venue would be a plus. Publicity too is a question...If Dr. Cohen didn't tell us to go for the performance I never knew that there were bangsawan performances there regularly. Yes, Prof Tan did mention that the performances done there but there is no ads in print. If there were proper advertisements probably more people would turn up. Next time they need to think a way to reach out to the bigger audience.

Bangsawan is known for its mix culture that its supposed to be appealing to all Malaysians. Here the audiences in the hall are mostly Malay. Bangsawan too should be promoted too tourists like China is promoting Chinese Opera. Altough they might not understand the words, but the'll have the experience. I still liked Bakawali in USM 2 years ago. More Effects...haha. Probably will achieve the One Malaysia concept....I think I shall get back to my postcolonialism...*sigh*

We are the betel leaves eaters

2009-08-10T00:12:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but, every time I've been invited to a wedding there will always have betel leaves tucked in a box in one of those lovely offerings to the families or hantaran. Its very unique in Malay culture and what i found out is its also popular in the south east Asia regions. This is what I found out during my visit to the national museum few days ago. By the way i lurrrvvvee museum and science centers. I could spend the whole day and that every time I go its a new experience....

The old malay tepak sirih

The lil modern malay one... on the far right

Betel box from Cambodia

A betel box from Philipines also known as Celepa

So there you have it something to unify our neighbours. The museum constantly changes their exhibitions so be sure to look out whats new and interesting. There is also a library where you can browse the books and buy recordings of Malaysian music. It worth a look. The entry of the museum is only RM2 and if you are not shy and if you can fit into a school uniform you could get in for free...haha.

Patients is a virtue

2009-08-07T10:49:00.000-07:00

And I wait.......*sigh*

Mr Razif's Opus, A Malaysian Symphony

2009-07-27T04:13:00.000-07:00

Well somewhere before all the drama Begin, we went to a performance by UM orchestra. Well the main reason to go is to listen to Mr. Razif's performance. It was a very long show, mostly jazz and pop music. Artist appearance include Roy, the head guy from Orchestra RTM and others that I couldn't remember. Here are some shots from my side....

The UM Orchestra

Roy, and leading the orchestra is Dr. Nasir

Seats were full because they were mostly reserved by institutions like schools and stuff so we had the very not so good seats. I had to change my seating positions few times before I got comfortable. This view is not so bad actually but you're facing the performers asses la... heehee. The good thing is the seating is very close to the orchestra and you can have a glimpse of the score and observe the microphone settings. Many have individual mics and some stings have clip-ons (so I assume they are the very,very good ones). This is how to amplify the brass instruments and since they had so many it wasn't hard to do so. Unlike USM Jazz band, we had like only 2 cellists, 2 flute or one flute and one piccolo, one horn I think, one trombone (eeehh, not sure now) but a number of trumpets, one clarinet...and twice number of violinist...which is a good thing. Well that's at least in my time...It should improve by now ( I hope....hehehe)

Dr. Nasir's introduction of Mr. Razif or should I say ...Assoc. Professor Razif....XP

Its was a very long program that I couldn't stay till the end and meet Mr. Razif himself...but I was glad that i was able to be in the audience in the freezing cold air con. Yeah the tiny hall was very cold, in comparison of USM's DTSP. So I hope I'll be able to see more performances by Razif and his very influential people...haha, keep the music playing and I'll be there....

Tears in Heaven

2009-07-26T07:05:00.000-07:00

Today I accidentally woke up late and rushed to get ready to go to practice at Yamaha SS19. Upon my arrival the lady incharged was saying "the mosque is crowded, Yasmin Ahmad had passed away" I was shocked and sad that we have lost another great artist. It felt like a few months ago we went to watch Talentime at DTSP and got her picture taken. Well, now its part of history. I guess its a constant reminder that death can strike anyone, anytime and anywhere. To Yasmin who I love her movies dearly, I hope you are now safe in God's hands. We shall miss your petronas adds and movies.

Al- Fatihah....

For the good times in @

2009-07-24T09:47:00.000-07:00

So undercover operation to see AIESEC in UM was very interesting for me. Trust me that its nice to be on the other end of the learning process. I always thought that I loved being in the audience instead of being the performer, *mainly because of those who know me of my unending stage fright* but the best thing that can happen to a musician is to be able to perform, so its unavoidable isn't it??? On the other hand, in this case it was a great experience for the second time to be regarded as new. Mainly because I didn't go to Malam Mesra...I did but it was a long story. I was in 2 recruitment drives before, so yeah. It was almost that I could feel other students anxiety and curiosity on what AIESEC (@) has got to offer. I met many students, old and new to @. Here are some of the things that happened during the Malam mesra...

newbies finding their way at the Econ's school. BTW, when I arrived I was very sweaty because I had no idea the distance between the sports center and the Econ's School. I wanted to check out the Gym so I went at 3pm. Apparently they only open at 5.30 so I went out to check out the pool. I wanted to eat but since i was going to workout so I skipped the idea. Becks went to get her car sticker and the queue at the place was hell long not as bad as the time I went. Phew! So she dropped me off at the gym and then chit-chat with the pool front desk man. Then went off to the gym. Around 6.45 left the gym and went walking to find the place. I think I burnt more fat walking from the sports center to the Econ's School then at the gym. The gym had 3 rowing machines and one broken bike. The rest were body sculpting stuff. I think I'll opt for swimming next time then go do the other stuff at the gym since its next door...haha, back to AIESEC.

Registration counter...

Behind the scenes commotions....

Dutch ambassadors with the attitude...hahaha

NegaraKu.....

The UM song...oh yeah, I forgot, I'm now a UM student...hehe

Then the usual "buka panggung" in @, the roll calls so this is from UPM, no they didn't do old Mc Donald btw....hehe

UKM with "hot to go"....

The Malaysia's Member Committee, terencat version of "we love you....." haha

Another Hot to go...from the Men in Black OC's

After the opening note from the President of AIESEC UM, an AIESEC UM alumni had a sharing sharing session. Eric is currently working with Deloitte and went for an exchange in Belgium if not mistaken...

Next was the Ice breakers...the blanket game...Everybody had to introduce themselves then were grouped into two groups. One of each group member will be standing in front of the blanket then when it was drop you need to shout the other members groups name as fast as possible. The person says the other persons name the fastest will win and the one on the other side will join the winning group. The group with the least members remaining looses...

The game was fun, and we were laughing most of the time, next we had some sharing sessions, mainly discussing on the @ experience and exchange.... So former LCP Alif was sharing...

Lya's turn to share her exchange in India...

Just wanna smile for the camera huh buddy??? XP

Active listening...

After that the Dutch ambassadors did their presentation and then that was all for the day...I couldn't stay till late because my mum can't drive alone at night so I went back during the presentation...well, I had a blast though, not many familiar faces but we'll catch up rite?? all the point to join @...to enlarge networking, and that's what important, overall I had an amazing time and if they invite me again will surely try to make time...back to Beethoven analysis...*Sigh* anyone care to join me??? hahaha

Mamma Mia

2009-07-06T23:39:00.000-07:00

ayayaya....first day of school turned out to become a question mark for everybody. Cant register anything because system cant be updated. IPS was swarmed with foreign and local students registering, so poor lil Becky had a lot of waiting to do. SO, after a long wait, we couldn't wait any longer because the fact that Becks had a class at 12pm, mine at 3pm. So walk from IPS to Cultural Center.

When we got there, the apparently many students were there, asking class and stuff. Apparently All Music tech related courses starts next week, since the lecturer is occupied with the big band matters. My ethnomusicology subjects too, are to put on hold till the next week because the Lecturer is out station in Jogjakarta, one theater lecturer cant start his class because he was been held quarantined. SO, there goes the week. And still today no sign of courses updated....I hope there will be some news tomorrow.

To my horror, Yaya also had the same problem. According to her, UiTM was much more tedious to do registration. Nothing gained today as well, in fact they were soo confused and tired that by 10 am they just left...more details, ask the gal yourself.

And so Wanie too had almost the same problem, so, I cant say all arts school are bad right??? anyhow the'll be a concert this weekend at Dewan Tunku Chanselor this weekend. Its free but you need to RSVP i suppose. Guest includes Mr. Razif. I hope I can make it, since its the second good thing happened this week other then acceptance for the Government scholarship. haha, I so hope tomorrow will bring greater things and that masters here would give another perspective in what i learnt in USM

Viva....Urbanscapes!!!!

2009-06-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

Wooot!!! The hottest place in town could not get anymore hotter when urbanscapes is on. Its an all day arts carnival everything you love in one place. Everything includes theater, music, dance, rock bands, handmade bags, cheep Cd's, bargain book and the list goes on. You just cant afford to miss this event.

Yes, there was alot of drama getting here, since my partners in crime was honeymooning in Pangkor...*oops* haha, so getting tickets got put on hold till few days before show day. However, I knew that it would be a bummer if we were unable to get tickets so I begged my mum to drive up to KLPac to get tickets...*not to mention to buy tickets for Lets go mamak...you know who you are*.

Heehee, preparation for Urbanscapes started few days before. I made a schedule for myself for the event so that I know where to be at what time. The night before, all my supplies were tucked away in my Kipling bag. I slept at 2am to get everything done...i woke up in the morning at 7.30. So off to the commuter it is...we took the 11.16 train, which came like 3 minutes early, but then we still wasn't able to catch the 1st ride to KLPac which was at 11.45. We reached Sentul station slightly before 12pm, then again we still need to wait for the next shuttle which was in 25 minutes. SO, we waited in the sun, till the shuttle came.

Waitin' in the hot sun....

20 minutes later....

25 minutes later....still waiting...

Finally....Air Connnn....

Other guests studying the shuttle schedule...

The first thing when I got there, I quickly headed for some shade and the air con place...It was HOT, and I needed to get Mamak tickets. In the main building I saw a long lost friend in high school. I heard in the newspaper that she has her own line of stuff, wasn't sure what was it but the ones on sale was huge stuffed toys that were key chains. You will not loose the keys since they were huge. By the way, don't mess with her...she's the principals daughter...hahaha.

Nabila on the left and her friend...cool soft toy designers...soon to be English teachers...

Some interesting artwork...the the holes, there are live fishes...
Art in Action, Slik screen painting...customize your t-shirts....XP all in KLPac main building...

After quickly getting mamak tickets, I rushed to the street performers area. This is where the 1st performance on my list were playing. They were like the stomp that you could watch in U-tube, but in a smaller scale. Yep, they have much to grow on like all musicians.

KL stompers version of Brooms

Since we bypass the ticket counter on the way in, we didn't get the wrist band that allowed us to access to all areas, we had to go back to the front and get it so along the way we went shopping at the bazaar there. A lot of indie stuff, Syikin's favorite market place I assume. I kinda like it too, you can get a jacket for like RM5...How cool is that?? there are pins, bags, paintings, belts, t-shirts, OMG!!! if had time and money, this is like the coolest place to go shopping.

We rushed back to the street performance area, to see what the people from Theater for Young people (T4YP) has install for us today. Their performance was an interactive theater, whereby the title of their performance was "secrets". So, what we do is there was this dude, Mr. Dominatrix passing around paper and a jar to place all the audiences secrets and the performers will act out the secret. Totally hilarious. Two teams of performers, in 10 seconds they had to pick a secret, and act it out. Secrets are like "I didn't shower for the whole day of yesterday" then they would act it out. Well there was more secrets, that well might not be appropriate for this blog...but I'll totally share in other mediums...heehee....

Mr. Dominatrix

MC reading out the secrets....a lot of em...seriously...

The cast for T4YP

Secret: "I hated the annoying person nagging for 2 hours while I was driving"

Secret: "I sniff underwear before I go to bed"

After the show, I head for a quick pray break. The other girls went to watch freedom fest at indicine. The movie was about Lena Joy, apparently the girls sat for quite some time and felt it too heavy for them so they had left the screening before I get the chance to join them inside the screening. Then, we did what we did best, camwhoring...weee

Haha, photoshots done and our journey continues with live fusion music and 2 group collaboration at cinescapes, pentas 2 KLPac. Tugu drummers with rhythm in bronze. The one that Prof Tan did a composition. I was searching for their CD but I think they didn't brought one on that day...*sigh*. The music was great, but all of us felt it was too short. They should play more pieces...heehee, next time then....

Tugu drummers....

Rhythm in Bronze....

See the one Kenong there, The guy was banging it for the whole of an entire piece that I seriously thought the kenong was going to break....

After the show, we were caught by the ideas people, heehee, they were such interesting people.... Ask Wanie and Jojo for details...

I dunno how to explain this....haha

I dunno what they were caught into but it was funny...well then we headed for the Box downstairs where we listened to The Sofa Sessions. Before that there was this great guitarist, by the name Zalilah lee I think. Then we listened to the Sofa Sessions...a duo..and totally funny music. Their first track was "Lagu Sunat" which depicts the time when a boy get circumstance...OMG, the song was really funny.

Zalilah Lee

The Sofa Sessions....Tok Mudim dah datang...hehe

After that, on our schedule was Pop Shuvit at the X lawn, so I took another pray break and they went straight into the rock concert...it totally hurt my ears and I felt my heart jump out of my rib cage...but the music was awesome

Still at the lawn...was Yuna...Love her music, Sounds a bit like Fiona Apple...

After that it was almost six and I had to rush to KLCC. Another concert awaits me, and I had to retune my mind to a classical concert after the hard rock concert...anyhow, before I went back I managed to listened to the Zouk's dj playing...well because this is the closes you can get into zouk locally for me and not to get caught with JAIS you know...*badly needs live electronic music* then off to KLCC...

Zouk dj booth....

I sooo enjoyed the day, I wished I could stay till the morning but things come and I'm soo looking forward to the next one. It was a very long day and I dread to wake up the next morning of the fatigue of yesterday...Mamak is coming your way as well as the HSBC classics...so I hope to attend them soon...and tomorrow is my registration...I should be sleeping now, okok off to bed...

Its the time to....Mamak!!!

2009-06-26T00:21:00.000-07:00

Proudly almost swiping clean the awards in the music section in the Boh Cameronian arts awards Inner Voices production is presenting Let's go Mamak....Again at KLPac on the 3-5 july 2009. The music concert portrays elements of music from various ethnical music in Malaysia which truly shows the colors of the society interacting and living together in harmony. On June 21th 3.00pm, I went to the making of Lets go Mamak...Again at The Soka Gakkai Malaysia. What started for only ethnic instruments playing chrismas tunes, turned into a big musical performance. For the full details on the history, check out the website.

Weee...after making a simple call to SGM, I've secured a ticket to the performance. This will give me a head start on the real performance in July. When I went to the Boh arts awards, was really keen to go the performance and when they announced to have the performance again i was excited...and yes, the making was really up to my expectation. The music was weaved with modern instruments playing modern chords with the sounds of the tabla, guzheng, and the gereteh (caklempong). Other instruments include rebana, the Indian flute and Chinese drum. The mamak idea came from our mamak culture as a melting pot to exchange ideas, hang out, and watch football...hahaha.

The violin rawks!!! man he can play...*yes I need to pick up my violin again and....PRACTICE*

The music introduces the sound of the instruments, like in the first piece, the opening starts like one instrument after another somewhat digesting different sounds and texture. The music grows to a bigger texture and sound and having the overall music sounds complex but yet beautiful. During the lecture part of the performance, Julian, the saxophone player explains, some part of the music also depict influences of people that have influences from outside such as a piece called Mamak with Tiffany tells the tale of a simple girl going overseas and talking about her experience culturally in both places. Its quite fascinating to hear the music and how the story corresponds to the music. Your imaginations does fly...heehee.

My favorite piece was Drum Talk, because the common ground was the drums, and how they communicate with each other. It looks like we as Malaysian are so different and yet so the same. You just gotta experience it to understand.

The Soka Gakkai Malaysia giving a token of appreciation to the players of Lets go Mamak Again

So more information go to inner voices website, http://www.innervoices.asia/Innervoices/Home.html

its worth the watch... come to experience it for yourselves...XP

She's a lady

2009-05-30T06:42:00.000-07:00

Whoooa!!! its been some time that I blogged. After Bandung, china and the mini house durian drama. Aduh, its been a real roller coaster ride for me and tomorrow I shall have some time for myself just to recuperate. Bandung was enormously fun. You can imagine a trip juz for shopping??? heaven right?? well that's what we had. To celebrate my mum's birthday, dad decided that we should go to the Paris of the east Bandung. With the limited cash I had to ask dad for some extra aid from dad. I guess you can imagine how the trip was for me hahaha.

The first day we went to Rumah Mode after checking in the hotel and some outlets outside of Rumah Mode. Good tip, don't go to Bandung during weekends. Jalannya macet or in other words you'll have to join the crowd of jakarta people shopping too.

wanna know why my bag has an x marks the spot??? the airport was so tiny that they had to check for narcotics in front of us so the narcotics doggy sniffed the cough syrup in mu bag and they ask me to open up my suit case for inspection...hehehe. Huge black doggy.

Some statue outside Rumah Mode that looks kinda cool

Tired Shoppers

I swear that is not meeeee, but you can imagine the happy buyers, well until the bill comes to the doorstep that's another story....

We were then faced with a problem...no taxis were coming and as the traffic jam began to get worse we made a deal with the mini bus (or van) driver to send us back to the hotel...and it was a reli cool to be driving in the angkutan kota these are some snapshots from the vehicle...hehehe

after a quick prayer break, we went for lunch and continued shopping till late night... continue for the next three days....weeeee, to good to imagine. Our hotel was on jalan riau aka jalan martadinata. Along that road was factory outlets like Heritage, cascade, the secret, terminal tas, branded club and many, many more. Well you can imagine the shops are like F.O.S and reject Shop like places. No bargaining involved and the prices are realy cheep. No cameras allowed inside so no pictures of the inside part. but here's outside branded club with the burberry design outside it....hehehe. Totally, comfy, they have nice changing rooms too, some like pavilion style.

The next day we woke up early and went to Pasar Baru. Its something like our pekan rabu in Alor Setar. Bazaar like shops where it'll test your bargain skills. Here is the best place to buy textile, telekung, blouses, wedding stuff, batik, and many bazaar stuff.

here is some pictures of my mum and my aunty shopping. Me and dad were more of the outlet people....XD

At the telekung shop next to a children's wear shop

The cool thing about pasar baru is if you're tired there these guys pulling food and drinks. So, you can actually sit down bargaining all you like then pick a drink and wait till the stuff come to you...heehee quite convenient huh???

The view of Pasar Baru from outside

after lunch we continued some of the outlets at jalan riau and then went to a cool place for dinner. It was ibu's birthday so we had a special dinner.

Food??? Gooooooood. Plus avocado juice....mmmmm.

Next day, we went to champlas walk. Nothing much but there is this good bag brand called Elizabeth. The building also looks interesting.

The bag quality is quite good, thing is people dont see it because its not available outside Indonesia. But the bags are really nice and price is a lil above average. After that we went to Jalan Dago where there is another road full of outlets too. Excited, excited....more shopping...by this time I had to rely on dad because I finished my cash already. *ooopppssss* hehehe

Then the next morning on the day we were leaving, we managed to go back to the branded club and stamp outlet to do some last minute shopping....yeahhh, spend-spend...this time I really had to cling to dad. *giggles* Gosh, am I that bad???

Well this is the hotel we stayed in. The location is good, beds are kinda too soft. Overall ok.

Well then it's time to bid farewell to Bandung. So we went to the airport via the hotel van...*coz we had many stuff* then were on our way back to LCCT. So wanna know what I end up in 4 days of shopping?? 2 T-shirts, burburry and A&F, 8 blouses mostly esprit, 2 Pierre Cardin jeans, one guess jeans, one D&G jeans, one A&F cargo pants, 2 sling bags and my baju raya material....weeeee, this is the true confessions of a shopaholic....hehehe. Dad has like 15 shirts and T-shirts, ranging from Tommy Hilfiger, burburry, and many brand names. My aunty??? heehee...I even lost count. I'm a lady that lurveees shopping....*happy dance*

All of me

2009-04-15T02:13:00.000-07:00

In my few months of building fat instead of muscles, I thought some stimulation would do me good. So I went to petroscience on a week day when I wasn’t able to meet up with becky because she was feeling unwell. I did enjoyed the my time I had to play in petroscience. Call me a big fat kid that likes science centers, I realy enjoy science centers more than theme parks. Oh well, the first time my hair stood by the van de graff machine at COSI, I knew that it wasn’t the last time I went into science centers.

Leave the fun aside for the moment, before I went to petroscience, I went to the MPO box office to lookup the latest calendar and saw that there’ll be an upcoming event on jazz and there is also a Haydn piano concerto. So, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone. I bought tickets for both events and that I’ll spend the whole day at KLCC to watch the two events.

So I woke up early to catch the train in to KL central before changing trains to KLCC. I reached KLCC at about 10.40am in time to get a front seat that not many favored. (Typical Malaysians) so then the presenter, Joseph Pruessner, the assistant principal bassist led out the class.

We started out with simple chords: Major chords, Dominant 7th, Dominant 9th, flat 9th, Major 7th, Augmented chords, Major 9th, Sustained 4 (sus4), flat 5th, Minor 6th, sharpened 11th, and the list goes the same with the minor chords. Next were the modes. Modes were used widely before we had major and minor scales. If not I’m not mistaken, people use modes because there the system was not well tempered yet. Now, vocalist use modes widely. There are the Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aoelian, and Locrian. The modes are for example Ionian on C so you play from C to C in C major. Dorian in C is play from C to C in the key of B flat major. So you count backwards. Because the interval between C and D is a major second, and backwards major second is B flat. This calculation is done during intense practice during group keyboard class. Anyhow, screw the calculation, its confusing if you are not a musician. The point here is, in jazz, certain modes are used with certain chords. For example, the chord B flat in a bar, you could use all the notes in the Ionian scale during improvisation. If you have a dominant 7th chord you use the notes in the mixolydian mode.

The chart is as follow: Ionian- Major, Major 7th, and Major 9th. Dorian- Minor and minor 7th, Phrygian- Minor 9th, Lydian- #11, Mixolydian- Dominant 7th, Aoelian- natural minor, Locrian- diminished chords.

So we tried the chords on blue monk, a piece from Thelonius Monk from “The Thelonius Monk Story” so it kinda sounded like this:

It was good though I thought, then we heard the recording on by Monk and John Coletrain at Carnegie hall, the piece sounded great and that I found out that it has been rumored that Coletrain didn’t want to show up and that he needed to be dragged out from the hotel to the concert hall. From the recording too, I found out that different jazz musicians have distinctive motives that they liked to play. For example, Coletrain liked patterns of sequences in the melody, Monk liked chromatic dissonance, is a minimalist most of the time, playing sparse notes that change at a slow rate, and play whole tone scales. In a piece, usually the musicans would play the “head” which is the main melody, mostly twice before the improvisation takes place. Then after series of improvisations, some one would point at the head indicating the last improvisation and that the next repetition will be the main melody and that the music would end.

A highly recomended CD to buy...Thelonious monk and John Coletrain

Prepairing audio for us listen and jam

So we then played on All of Me. This is how we are taught how to improvise. Jazz is always about improvisations. Improvisations can’t be learnt overnight, and it comes through practice. However, you could learn to improvise by stages like improvise firstly by using chord notes. Then, you could use scale passages going up and down according to the chords used and you could use chromatic notes. Try them individually and mix them all together to make it your own. Then try using like Coletrain did which was using sequences and monk, using some dissonance. Razif once taught us a trick. If you played a wrong note, play it many times so that it sounds correct. Along the way you’ll pick up tricks here and there, main thing is you practice…heehee, something that I’m lacking at the moment.

So that ended my jazz appreciation class and that he mentioned a bit during his time in collage, John Cage was one of the lecturers there, he made them listen to the walls and you’ll be surprised on what you’ll hear. Not other peoples conversation, but as we know John Cage, everything is music. I didn’t miss a chance to take photos of the pictures of performers and conductors that had played at DFP.

My boyfriend Joshua Bell, heehee....

Riccardo Mutti

Lorin Maazel

Neville Creed

Other awards and trophies

Quiet office on a sunday

Initially I wanted to try to have lunch at Nyonya because; I always see the place full and guessed that the food must be good. When I went up, it was not only full but people were queuing up to get in the restaurant. Sigh, time wasn’t on my side so I went to the Lebanese and Persian restaurant and ordered chicken kebab. It tasted good, on the way back I saw baklava, my favorite, but it was with the buffet that I didn’t take. There’ll always be next time…I hope.

At 3pm I went to the concert. The first was Overture to La fedelta premiata by Haydn. The next was keyboard Concerto in D (Hob.XVIII:11). I like Haydn. He always pleases me. The pianist Cederic Tiberghien, played a beautiful encore piece by Bartok that I never heard before. Or I can’t seem to recall listening to a pleasing Bartok piece like this before. After the intermission, they played Bruckner Symphony in B flat. It was a bit heavy to listen at 4pm I guess. There were parts that sounded like Barber’s adagio for strings though that I liked. After the concert, I went to pray, and then I headed home.

It was raining as usual and on the way there was an accident near Kampung Dato’ Harun stop. Anyhow, KLCC was so packed that day, I think due to the PC fair and all the pathogen and the rain and the heat had left me with flu and a head ache. On top of that my wisdom tooth is driving me nuts again. I hope I could be back in good shape before I go to Indonesia at the end of the week. I’m so excited but the bad sore trough has drained my energy to get excited. I also would like to go to the International book fair. We’ll see.

Pomp and circumstance Op.2

2009-03-30T05:56:00.000-07:00

The pomp and circumstance for me….finally arrived in a subtle way then the usual one. It was my time to receive my scroll from our highness the chancellor of USM. To avoid being given the wrong size for the academic attire, I came on the first day to collect the robe. It was on a quiet Sunday, Yaya was with me to collect the robe. I then went on to see what was going on at the hall room. There was the alumni booth, the custom frame booth so that you could put up your photos, a booth for DVD and souvenirs.

The next day we went to batu feringgi to chill out near the beach. I soo miss the beach. It’s a nice way to cool off after the whole month of searching on what to wear during my convo. It was terrible my god, it was like ransacking the whole Shah Alam, Jalan TAR, Subang Parade and Alor Setar. It was ridiculous. Everything I tried out was either too expensive, have fitting problems, the material was too thin, looks too cheep, in conclusion, It was juz not up to the standard of my mum. I did not know that a simple chiffon baju kurung would cost RM500!!! That’s absurd. It doesn’t have any beads or studs at all. Songket baju with scarf could cost up to RM1000. I wanna die during hunting for what to wear. In the end I told my dad that I was going to wear a shirt and coat. RM50 I can get a nice brown coat that fit perfectly and that I can reuse it during my interviews and stuff.

Yaya enjoying the waves crashing at her feet

Something I wanted to do but...not dressed to go up, so...next time la

A boat to go around the island i guess

Me and my wet pants

I feel quite sad because I really wanted to wear national clothing, It looks more Malaysian, but sometimes Its best to think on other options. Besides, the sash is made for clothing’s with buttons because it has a hook. When you hook it on your button, it looks neater.

At batu feringgi, I bought myself a nice pair of blue slippers and few DVD’s. My mum doesn’t like browsing and that she said to walk up first then come back to buy. However when I came back the shop had packed up and left…sigh, I really wanted to browse on the DVD’s, you never know what you’ll find. *regrets* Before that, in the evening me and my parents and Yaya, went to have dinner at the coffee house while watching the sunset after a nice walk along the beach. Yes I wet my pants…It would look weird if I were to wear my scarf and wear shorts…mum will disown me…

On the 24th I went for the rehearsal. It was telling all the dos and don’ts for the occasion. What not to wear, what should you say when you received your scroll and stuff. They told us to come as early as 7.30am the next day and be at the halls for inspection. Then, each graduate will receive a bar code to make sure that you name appears on the screen when you walk on the stage. So on the day itself, I came about 7.45am. I was getting ready, my mum was helping me pin up my sash to the robe, putting up my hat and pinning down so it doesn’t fall. It was chaotic but in a fun way, this is the time when my mum gets really grumpy and talks in a very “you know” way. Parents you may say…haha. So, pin here, pin there, borrowing pins from here, someone asking some other place and stuff…it was interesting.

Demo on how to put on the robe, sash and hat...then how to walk on stage....

the people exited for the next day...like me..heehee

Then I marched in the hall after attire inspection. I was seated at the last seat. Scary, but anticipated…and so we waited, and waited, and soon the hall begins to fill up. The alarm went off and soon the important people came marching in. I was beginning to feel nervous till the lecturers came out…haha, I saw Dr Linda, Dr. Marlina, Andrew Mr. Mickey Mouse bow tie, hehe, and last but not least Dr. Tye. Then, the awards starts…the Honorary doctorate was given to the Cuban doctor, the same one that talked yesterday during the official launching of the world TB day exhibition at arts school.

When it came to our turn to receive our scrolls, they actually called upon many students from the arts so it was quite long and not confined to arts school only. So there were the BFA students, some literature and many more been called together to receive our scrolls. Unlike the normal way, where they call upon the students according to course and not merging with other courses.

Me receiving my scroll by the Sultan of Perlis....he recently had a knee operation so he had to come with crutches...I pray that the knee heals quickly.

Then when its all done, I went to say hi to my dearie music friends. They to leave soon, so, I didn’t have time to chat with them. I then went out to look for my mum. No sign of mum so, I saw dad coming down the VIP room and frantically waving my hands to him. When I saw mum she was with a bouquet of flowers…heehee, I thought I would not get flowers. (the reason is because I don’t have a boyfriend…didn’t expect flowers from mum..XD) I was really happy..and now camera please!!!! Pictures babeh…yeah haha.

Jess loi, me, Kris and Peggy....like the flowers kris???

me and my cousin and her mum can cook the best gulai ikan, curry, and all the goood kampung food...nyum-nyum...

Me and erin

Me and erin and erin's friend from translation...haha... I like the pink sash...

Btw, my sash is dark blue....and all music students will use the dark blue for undergraduates

The view from my balcony...sometimes you can even see the canselori building

Inside the house

I can hear the light speeking to me....heehee ....so lame

Do I look like an owl??? Or juz stoopid...haha...this happens when tak cukup take pictures and later need to send back the robe to get the scroll

what are you looking at??!!! haha...this is beginning to look embarrassing....XD

And so the day ended and that the next day I had to return my robe to get my “real” scroll at DUP along with the hall pictures. Most students went to studios to take the book case photos. Dad just kept reminding me that “you’ll do that during your masters…” true though…not a big deal anyway…the important one is the receiving pictures rite?? Sigh, time was short in penang. I would love to spend time with all of youuuu in Penang. I sooo need live music, and good friends, perhaps some lame jokes but then it’ll have to wait…I hope not that long.

Another Alor Seter Pie

2009-03-27T04:26:00.000-07:00

My pie, my apple pie…I wanted to share this earlier but there were a lot of stuff going on along the way but I promised Will that I share how to make my apple pie. I kinda got bored of the McD’s apple pie and the authentic apple pie is no where to be seen. So in my house I start heating up the kitchen.

So, form my mum’s betty crocker cook book, this is how I made my green apple pie…mmmm

For the standard pastry far a 10 inch two crust pie, you need:

2 2/3 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of shortening or if you can, ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons of lard
And 7-8 tablespoons of cold water.

Fold everything together, not using your hands, then form it to become a dough till it cleans the bowl.

Leave it covered with a plastic wrap and into the fridge while making the filling.

To make the filling, peel 10 green regular sized apples and then slice it thinly.

add 1/3 cup of all purpose flour,

1 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon of nutmeg

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Dash of salt

And 3 tablespoons of butter or margarine

Mix everything together and put it aside in the fridge covered with a plastic wrap. Heat up oven 425º

Take out the pastry and split into halves. I usually take one half slightly bigger so that I could roll it larger then trim the edges off adding to the top.

So, with a rolling pin, roll the pastry to the size of the pie plate.

Trim the edges

Add the filling….yummm

Then make the top like my cherry pie….its juz like weaving it doesn’t need to much of technique to do this…

I kinda had extra egg yolk so I washed it with egg yolk this time….most of the time I juz bake it as it is.

So in to the oven for about 40-50 minutes…

So, when its done let it cool on a rack

So there you have it...my pie...well sort of my pie from the cook book...but It turn out ok rite??? My tiny subang Kitchen had a disasterous overhaul today since when we came back we found out that the power went out and that the fridge was....you can imagine....ewwww. its sort of ok now so I hope it gets better in a few days time...I'll imagine that I was baking in my Alor Setar kitchen wif my Pie ala mode...yummm

Upside down and bouncing out the celling

2009-03-04T04:46:00.000-08:00

I thought today was going to be any other day. I woke up early it hopes that we'll make it to the IKEA sale today. Before that, I thought that we should see Universiti Malaya to gather some information the Masters program. So after breakfast, we went straight to the cultural center. I got interested by the program (since I heard stoopid rumors that there are no mix mode music courses. During the annexe gallery live your passion thingy, I found out that they do have mix mode courses. Dissertation only counts 12 units. So after talking with the lecturers there, I decided to give UM a go. (Blekkk, I keep telling myself that I'm not studying local universities anymore but then change my decision)

So my mum kept nagging on that I should do something than nothing (which I am basically doing), so just apply and go ahead with the course. BTW, its only going to be three semesters only. Then meanwhile I can apply for ASTS and then get a scholarship to do PhD. Kau tim, and so I thought. When I went there It was another surprise.

I talked abit with the clerks there and then she passed me to another Clerks. The clerk asked me whether I have submitted my application form, and the answer is no. So she has been explaining to me that the courses ar going to be squeezed to 15 units instead of the 34 units for coursework, and the initial 12 units for dissertation will be 40 units. So, from my point of view, is that they want to give more time for the students to focus on their dissertation. Then the real slap came in. The deadline has been closed. So she made a few calls to IPS and then told me to go get the form right this instant and submit everything by TODAY!!!

I turn into auto mode. I quickly asked my mum to go to IPS, go buy the form and then went back home at Subang. Then going through the particulars, I needed my SPM results. Dang!! its in Alor Star. I taughed I had a copy somewhere, but I searched high and low but no SPM folder thingy. I almost wanted to cry, but my inner self told me that I need to at least get everything else ready and submit everything except for my SPM results. So I took the completed form, took my results, and went to the copier. My mum made a few calls to my auntie that works at Unitar to help certify my stuff. My mum kept calling but had no answer. I tried another uncle in UiTM. No luck either because he can only make it tomorrow. So suddenly my auntie rang and explain everything. So immediately after the copier we went to Kelana Jaya to meet her.

I had never been to unitar. Its in a shopping mall that sounded really cool. It is actually. Its near Giant and very accessible. So of to the post office to make RM30 money order. Its already 3.30 and we hadn't had lunch. So after marking everything, we compiled everything and went straight to UM.

There I waited patiently although my tummy wasn't feeling very happy. Till it was my turn the lady was surprised that I hand in the form. The reason is because the deadline passed and the system is now online. So there are no paper forms involved now. So after stating that I had permission from the school that I can do so they accepted it and told me to submit my SPM results right away. (the soonest is on the 11th where i'll be back in Alor Setar)

So phew!! kautim!! and then we head back, ate something light and went to the apartment. BTW, I thought that USM is much more nicer i guess because its new and that it lookes more organized. Manalah nak same si kucing Apexla katakan...Haha. The agent wanted to bring a client to rent out and hopefully we get a great deal. We had dinner at Carrefour and now I'm typing this post. I'm soo tired and I hope tomorrow we'll make it at the IKEA sale probably....

So live your life!!!! Yeah!!

2009-03-02T19:25:00.000-08:00

The annexe Gallery at the central market hosted the Live your Passion Arts career Fair 2009 where students and the public could be exposed to the arts, on how to get opportunity in the arts, learning on the institution that offers the arts and much more. It was a long day for me since I went there quite early on a Saturday morning only to see that it was still setting up. So I lend a hand in arranging the chairs in the hall so we could start the forum as soon as possible.

The program was split into 5 partitions which was in the morning Music and in the afternoon was drama. The next day which I went to MPO, was Dance, Film and visual arts. Outside the hall there were booths set up by institutions to promote their arts program.

this is ASWARA booth, they were also selling their products and publications. See the box on the table there, It's a whole compilation of shadow puppet plays around south east Asia. I have one and mummy gave it to me!!! It cost around RM200 for the whole box there are around 10 vcd's i think.

I think this is New Era Collage. I never heard of it till I went to Human Rights camp the other day. They don't have music but they have visual arts and drama if I'm not mistaken.

Haha, and this is the Alma matter USM. Dr.Hardy and Sylvester was here. All the music students were hibernating doing a lot of assignments before the MPO show, good luck guys. The concert that I attend was the same, thing is I still prefer matinees because I could take a train to the concert hall at KLCC and still be able to get back before dark.

This is UiTM, apparently the lady grading papers was also from USM...

The banner on the right is from ICOM, and the table with the monitor is from Freedom fest I think??? I'm not too sure.

This is the Hot art exhibition, it still going on despite of the commotion next door

The exhibition hall...art people?? haha.

So this was the hall where the forum was held. I eventually helped arranging the chairs to be able to start soon. The sitar player from Temple of Fine Arts was doing the sound check before the show. She'll be performing after the forum.

This is the program. i think you could click and have a better view.

This is UM's programs to show during the semester. Kinda like our senior recital and stuff.

So these are some pictures of UM's students sound checking before the forum. I didn't want to interrupt their actual performance so I thought the sound checks will be OK.

And so the forum begins, the Music Penal was from Saidah Rastam, the creator of M the Opera, Sean Ghazi, singer, Broadway performer, and even in P.Ramlee the musical, weee I soo miss that. And the last was Kumar Karthigesu a sitar player and composer.

The MC

Kumar was a typical Indian family whereby the arts is important but not as a career. He learned the Mirdangam and vocal since he was four. When he was in The UK where his family was staying, he learned the Sitar. (although he actually wanted to learn the guitar) Upon coming back to Malaysia he initially agreed to study engineering but stopped half way to go to India and to pursue his dreams. Of cource like any other family he had difficulties dealing with his family but his family eventually gave in. He won an award recently, the Anugerah Karyawan Seni, Cameronian Awards by the government that got him 10K, (that's A lot!!) and he became one of the teachers at Temple of Fine arts. From my point of view, he did what he had to do to get what he wanted and that's something that I need to think before doing since I don't have any idea if my parents would not agree of me studying in the arts. But then again, people like Kumar are awarded by the government, playing gigs and all those things that I feel that there is a market in the future. More and more people are appreciating the arts and put a high value in especially in the local music so that our culture doesn't fade away.

Saidah Rastam was previously a lawyer for seven years. Her parents wanted her to have a fixed income so that if anything happens to her, let say if her husband were to leave her she could make a living. She played with the instant cafe theater playing piano and such along the way. After she quit her job, she became a composer and one of her works were M the opera and a piece for "Spirits" in Singapore. There were times where she had depression but eventually bloomed with great works. One interesting fact to her compositional approach is the doing improvisation. I heard that after she wrote her works, she then will ask the performers to improvise again to suite the performer. I think this is very good since that whatever we create we could suite with the performers, thus keeping the performance creative. Improvisation also will keep changing the the course of the whole show, that is today's show will be different than last night and the night before, so sometimes you get to watch a good show or vice versa. It doesn't matter to me because that's the whole idea of the performance. Another interesting factor that artist should have is LESS freedom of expression. I guess that if we have less than we are more daring to do the unthinkable...I'm not sure but, it's definitely something to think about.

Lastly was Sean. I initially thought that he was a new comer during his P.Ramlee album and then sang P.Ramlee the musical. I really didn't know that he was already in Broadway musicals like Miss Saigon, Anna and the King and the King and I. He also played in Rent, and stuff like that. Now I've heard that he'll be moving to L.A to start an acting career there soon. He stared of very young when his mother saw his talent, then in school he has been doing all sorts of plays, musicals and such. Teachers kept talking about him since his English and arts were excellent but didn't do as well in other academic courses. When he went to a boarding school in Singapore, the theater world opened up to him and he then got better exposure. According to Sean, in Singapore teachers encourage him to try for roles in plays wheres in Malaysia was not as encouraging. He then, went to Boston to study theater and then London where the schedules were much more tighter. This is where he enjoys much of his time learning and going in and out auditions. From what I learned from him is that it's not impossible to have a career in the arts and still keep food on the table. Perseverance is a must and proving that you are better than others makes it to pass an auditions. In the end it all comes down to personality...

So I ended my day, going to Subang Parade Flea market to taste free cakes and cookies...yum. I hope there will be more exhibitions, more opportunity in the arts and better exposure for me. I do want to use Music as a tool to keep people together and learning about the world as it is a universal language that everyone could understand...*winks*

She'll be coming around the mountain when she comes

2009-02-17T01:47:00.000-08:00

The most anticipated musical of the year is here to perform on Malaysia's Broadway in Istana Budaya. I didn't want to loose the opportunity since for the last two seasons I have failed to made myself available due to school and my lack of planning. So this time me and my sister cum cousin, another cousin and friend of cousin have made an effort to go. So 3 weeks before the performance we went to buy the tickets. the lower range of tickets were all sold out and that the only tickets that we could get is the gold seats: RM 353, Silver seats: RM 253 and the A reserve: RM 233. So we figured that the silver and the A reserve is only few bucks difference, Silver had better seats, inclusive of the program book, and plus we had 30% student discounts. So decided to get the silver tickets which cost RM 178 after discount.

There was a whole confusion on transport which pretty much resolved quickly since my dearie Yaya had a plan....phew! So off we went at around 1.30pm. The we arrived somewhere around 2pm plus. The place was crowded with people, performers, and stuff. I could sense that it was a full house show today. By the way, I always liked the idea of going to matinee shows because its convenient for me and that usually its cheaper. On top of that it was on a valentines day. How better to celebrate by watching a love story...

After prayers, and a quick snack and a toilet break, we went to get the program book and that comes with the ticket, we headed in the hall. Our seats were just behind the VIP seats and that yeah for me I was really happy that it was good seat and there were no tall mat salleh's blocking my view...I sooo particular on that. I sometimes bring my prayer cloak and sit on it to give a better view boost. So the show started though the lights weren't that dark.

It started with a kinda Egyptian look, but It was magnificent. The set was really spectacular as if watching a bangsawan. The special effects were interesting and that we try to keep our eyes on the princess and Hang Tuah ofcource!! haha. The story made me cry like when the nanny killed herself because letting the princess to escape, and when the princess actually found out that Hang Tuah would sacrifice his love for the sake of Melacca. In the end the princess was exiled to the Ledang mountain and that she will remain alone for eternity. The story also had its laughing moments like when Raja Ahmad the little boy came and fight with Hang Tuah and imitated the king. Me and Yaya were laughing hysterically when the king danced. It was like parts in the emperors new grove. It was so much fun

During the second half, the fire alarm went off and that caused a stir for a few seconds before they managed to switch it off. I was torn whether to run or stay put. Since Tiara was still singing, we didn't budge since most of us were drown in her sweet voice. So that's was that.

I really enjoyed the show and to me, I felt that it was a good way to celebrate the loving day though I din have a date or not "in love" but I went with the people that i cared about and that we could share tears, laughter's and stories. When we went back, mum was preparing a big fiest for the family that came that night. Sooo nice to have my dad around that we ate together with our extended family. The day was a blast. I hope that I will be able to watch a Malaysian production like P Ramlee the musical and like Puteri Gunung Ledang again soon with a new interpretations and twists. I do hope there are more musicals coming down to Malaysia especially avenue q which I doubt but I will just keep on praying....

Gaza is the word, is the word...oh yeah...

2009-02-03T05:31:00.000-08:00

And so the three of us being all girls, sisters and cousins, went to Amcorp mall to see the NSTP fund for Gaza charity fair. The hall was packed with people and artists trying to raise funds to help those in need in Gaza. It was packed with strollers, kids and yes it was one heck of a circus...but I can Imagine that people take it as a family outing too. The first person that I saw in the fair was the guy cooking above. He was sweating like mad there and I must admit that the air con was not cool enough to withstand the crowd.

Next was a bunch of TV3 hosts selling cakes from various hotels....mmmm...yummy...

I really can't remember their names but their looks were very similar. So in the name of charity i bought 2 slices of cakes at rm10 per piece....I would never buy if it were not for charity. Its way too expensive. Anyhow that's the only Item that we could afford there too. The cakes that bought is on the picture below. The one with the orange garnish, is the chocolate brownie and the one beside the chocolate banana, chocolate cheese.

Besides cakes there were also cupcakes that you could decorate your own, plus the guy selling it was doing some jingles while selling...

Besides that on the main stage, there were artists trying to auction off their clothes for a very reasonable price. Like Datuk Siti sold her dress for Rm500. I'm sure that when she bought it, it was worth thousands or she might got it for free.

This one belonged to the Late Sudirman.

I couldn't stay for very long so after I make sure that I seen everything, I went out. Finally got some air, then proceed to the DVD shop. To my surprise, shopping for DVD's in KL are far more pricey then Penang and Alor Setar. I still bought anyway since classical DVD's are very rare and I'll grab every opportunity that I can get. So I spent rm75 for 6 DVD's...*sigh*. The other thing I bought there are 2nd hand CD's at the flea market at the basement. Hehe, so called for charity, bought others stuff along the way. The CD's were Deutsche Grammophon and Decca label...So loving it since it only cost me RM20 per CD...yay!! so gone RM155 that day. I shall now not spend till I have too. Anyhow it was a great event and according to Sherilyn, there will be another charity for Gaza also at Amcorp mall 2 weeks from now. Should go and see it...

When you wish upon a star, keep your fingers crossed...hehehe

2009-01-24T23:01:00.000-08:00

On the 10th and 11th january, The star had their annual education fair. This time it was held at KL convention centre. It was done on a huge scale but as we know it that there are not many places on post-graduate music and so the quest on finding the perfect match for me goes through here. There were talks conducted during the course of the fair and that I managed to catch one talk on funding for the higher institution.

The speakers are from the star education fund, PTPTN, and MACEE. The reason I actually came to listen is more on MACEE because PTPTN does not give loans for other than local universities, Star education fund only gives to the private institutions and thus leaves me out.

So these were the 3 speakers.

From left, the star education fund, PTPTN and MACEE

These were the audience that came, which was quite full towards the end.

Th first talk was from Star, which the director clearly states the applicants are mostly for undergraduates and there are only few oppurtunities for post graduates. Even the post graduates are not in Music. The appications close 2 weeks after the results for SPM or STPM are up for those interested and they even brought 2 of the scholarship winners to give a talk.

This student, was doing well in her Science subjects and in science stream. However she was determined to do buisness related major and said that was her passion. I clearly understand how she feels because growing up in my school too is an all science streem school. Anything else you need to change schools. So we were so called forced to continue in science even if you are not interested. I know some people would argue that if you feel like arts is for you, that you should change but the hastle of changing and being in a new environment might effect someone like me. The school to is a good school with almost the best teachers so what more could you ask for. You might think that its not worth it....haiz.

I believe the girl made a good choice. She also got into Universiti Malaya for statistics but she went where she believed in. If I were in her shoes, Id still go to UM and go for one semester and change to another course then apply for JPA scholarship, but you still need to be up to par always. For me, my first choice is to go to a local university. *very patriotic*

This girl I believe is in Sunway university collage. She is a high scorer in her exams. Good for you but the real task is when she goes out in the actual work force...I wish you all the best.

Next is the PTPTN. I kinda had this talk like a gazilion time. So i realy didn't pay attention. I just found out that they also arrange for payment after you finish and that the interest is applicable only when you finish. So 1% is actually very affordable. For those reading my blog and arn't paying. PAY BACK THE MONEY OR MY CHILDREN WILL NOT GET LOANS AND I SHALL NOT FORGIVE YOU. I heard people become successfull but still manage to get away and I have sooo little respect for those whose who do so.

Now is the time where the actuall substance takes place. I believe the speaker's name is Ms Doreen John if not mistaken. She managed to give us great tips on what to look out on types of funding in the US.

One of the options are you could work study where you could work and study at the same time on your student visa and after you graduate, you could work up to a year to gain some experience. If you are a scholarship holder you have other obligations I assume but if not then it should be okey.

There is 2 types of scholarships offered that is:

1. The NEED base

2. The MERIT base

The need base is very competitive, it covers on what is the situation the students have like the financial and other needs the student has to provide.

The merit base doesn't look at the needs and gives an amount according to your merits. This is not as competitive but possible. It can cover 1/3-2/3 of the tuition expenses.

The key to scholarships is the amount of research that you put in. Some companies offer scholarships so be sure to check its web sites to keep updated. There are also scholarships for specific topics like an sports scholarships, a music scholarship, a leadership scholarship, that you need to find out. *so need to search and do more searching*

There are scholarships that require you to re-apply every year. So that you keep at par with you grades and keeps them updated. Some institutions require you to do community service while on scholarship. I have never heard hows that about but I sure dont mind to do community work if I got a scholarship.

She mention a few institution like the Wesleyan-Freeman Asian Program which offers 21 scholarships to 11 countries, The Fullbright, GE, and many more.

There are more scholarships for postgraduates as masters is about 2 years and Phd is about 5 years or less. The scholarships that are in favour are in a form of Research assistants, and teaching assistance. There are also opportunity grants that the university could offer.

There is also and finace aid to cover up-front cost like paying your visa, air flights and such.

Here are possible websites that you should look up into:

And so my long whole day alone at KLCC ended here although I becky did came a little later. I hope this post brings some info to those that might wanna pursue their dreams and goals and have trouble in finance like me. So keep searching and hopefully you'll find your match.

An Alor Setar Pie

2009-01-24T05:50:00.000-08:00

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee. Since I came back, life has never been sweeter. One thing about me is that I love baking. Not much of cooking but baking and using the oven. In penang and subang we don't have an oven but in Alor Setar we have a built in oven so I do most of my baking here. Well the only place that i can do baking pun is here. So I made an effort to do on of my signature stuff which is ...pie!!!!

From my mom's faithful red cookbook I decided since we had a tin of red cherries, I did a cherry pie. So using my baking skills, I'll demonstrate how to make a 9 inch cherry pie...yummmy.

The crust

1. To make the crust, In a big bowl measure 2 cups of all purpose flour.

2. add 1 teaspoon of salt

3. add 2/3 cups plus 2 tablespoons of shortening or for those who can 2/3 cups of lard

4. with a spatula, cut through the shortening thoroughly.

5. Then add 4-5 tablespoon of cold water, gradually

6. roll dough into a ball. The split into half. Use the bigger half and roll the dough flat with a rolling pin.

7. Place the pie pan on top of the dough and then flip it over

8. Cut out the excess with a knife leaving a smooth side

9. Leave it aside and the other half too to start with the filling. I usually set it in the fridge so it remains cool and away from unwanted pests.

The Filling

1. In a large bowl, put 2lb of canned cherries (drained)

2. Add 1 1/3 cups of sugar and 1/3 cup of all purpose flour.

3. Then add 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine

4. then add 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract

4. Mix everything and it will look something like this.....

Back to the crust.

By this time you should start heating up the oven bout 425 degrees or for my oven was bout 150 ( can't remember what unit)

1. take out the pie pan and put all of the filling in

2. Take out the other half of the dough and start rolling with a rolling pin to make a long oval shape for the lattice top. If you want to cover up the whole top, make a perfect circle.

3. With a knife, cut the mid section making strips about one cm in width.

4. Start from the centre and weave through the pie. This uses technique, but I just use my creativity and so can you. To make lifting easier, make the end parts longer. Its ok if you make mistakes. The end product will still end in the tummy....XD

5. When its done it will look something like this.

6. Cut out the unwanted edges and it would look like something like this.

7. With a fork, press the edges so that it has some design.

8. When its done it'll look like this

9. Put in the oven for 35-45 minutes till its golden brown.

10. when done, turn of the heat and let it cool on a rack.

11. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream......Yummy!!!

So, did I make you drool???....hmm, it's warm, and juicy, and just melts in your mouth... the cold ice cream just gives it an extra kick....hehehe. I shall leave you with the pictures to imagine how it tastes like...hahahaha *evil grin*

Home, Home in the paddy fields...where the goats and the buffalo play

2009-01-22T03:12:00.000-08:00

Home, home in the paddy fields,

Where the goats and the buffalo play,

where always is heard,

a discouraging word,

and the skies are sometimes cloudy all day.......*howls*

And yes,

The time has come to come home for CNY!!!!!

I cant recall the last time I updated and I have tones to write and share and bla, bla, bla....thing is when I don't have dads office to do my blogging its kinda difficult...*sighs*.

I hope I could try with the dial-up speed over here and be patient, so here it goes.

Yesterday after an unsuccessful talk to come back home sooner, we, being my mum and me went back home by flight to Alor Star. It was not as planned but we managed to pull through anyhow. So we'll be staying till the eve.

On the way home we realized that the plane was flying very low that we could even see the penang bridge, and so here to share the view of the lovely Alor Setar with you. Introducing.... Alor Setar from above!!!

This is actually Penang, see on the right the penang bridge....

The paddy fields, the view so calming from land.The huge green carpet that just remind you that this is NOT KL

Get the picture???.....its much more lovely in a car ride like the usual coming back for balik kampung and once in a while you could see the E&O express passing by. You can see all the people from the deck sipping wine and admiring the fresh air...*sighs*

Upon exit through the north-south highway, if you take the North Alor setar exit, this is a quite a big land mark. It's the Al-Buhqari institution. There is a mosque, a hospital, an orphanage, an old folks hostel, a Souq, a grave yard, a business area, and last but not least a wet market....quite interesting for an institution. I also heard there is an university, but I don't know how far thats true. There is also like a rest house where you could stay for the night.

And this is the Wisma Negeri where all the formal regarding the Sultan is held. I have performed here several times I think for the sultan's occasions like gamelan and to apply to see and do the interview on the kedah court music which is the Nobat. On the left of the building is a famous place to go jogging and evening strolls. Thing is, its near a golf course and that you should come very early in the morning to avoid the golfers unless you don't mind a golf ball being swung into your face. Surrounding the golf course and the park are the residence of the Sultanah of Kedah, The Raja Muda and other royalty. They too have reported broken windows before.

And this is the stadium, the place where we watch FIFA, Marching Band competitions, sports day and the sultans parade, sometimes the parade is also done near the balai besar, next to his state mosque and the Nobat Tower.

A close up version

This bridge connects with Alor Setar South

And this is the main town area. The highest building is the Alor Setar Tower. Its a telecommunication tower and there is an observation deck where you get a good view of the city. The tower also has a restaurant above it. The other tall building on the right that has like pyramid top is one of Alor Setar's best hotels at the moment and all ABRSM exams are held there. That's why I still get butterflies in my tummy when I take the lift there even just to go to the Chinese restaurant.....hehehe.

And so, my home land that I love is here to stay and that I hope it stays that way till its my time to raise children....*if that ever happens....I hope*

Hairspray??? Only hair cut

2008-11-25T02:52:00.000-08:00

So this is my second day in subang. Having fun lately but having problems planning to go back to Penang soon because of the Human Rights Camp. The train with beds thingy is full and so we had to divert and make changes in our plan. So, I was longing for a haircut....can't seem to be daring enough to cut as short as Chan did though although I thought that the hair do made her had a more bold look and looks more in control about herself. Me and Sarah or Yaya as I have always called her went on to Cut and Blow near ss14 there.

Initially I wanted to go for the usual hairdo that I had for 2 years straight. I mean I did think to do something different but I have no idea how to cut it. I mean I need a practical haircut that can be tied when I'm hot, doesn't fall out if I wear a scarf, can party kinda hair and blah, blah, blah. So as a result the old hairstyle.

Yeah, not a fringe, fringe...but something different than what I got for 2 years!!!

A little twist that after i had cut it is that Yaya insisted that I get a fringe. Not a fringe, firinge but the one sloping downwars. So what the heck, roger with the fringe. It apparently looked nice than what I expected and then been loving it. So then Yaya wanted to make some adjustments to her existing hair

Yaya and the hairdresser

Then after we went to KTM komuter station to buy the train ticket to Butterworth, and found out that the tickets were sold out we went to Subang Pyramid to have lunch and discuss on plan B.

So we had lunch at a Japanese place in Subang Pyramid and this was our lunch.

Yaya had the 'eel' fish.

And I had the chicken thingy with an egg on top

The food?? ok lar not exited or anything. Thing is that I cant eat pasta anymore since I had it yesterday at dave's deli and that the carbonara experience which I tried to eat but after few spoonfulls It just can't go down my throught kinda feeling plus Yaya also had Secret Recipie and I got sick of Secret Recipie since I had it few times last week. Want something different, possibly not in Penang. I'm a picky eater thats for sure.

While digestion, a little time to camwhore...hehe

Me and my new hair

Yaya is shy sometimes....We still love youuuu!!

Me trying to be cute...tak jadi

And so the search for the absolute ideal way to got the camp remains uncertain. Perhaps we come back early one day and go realy early the next morning to the jetty. *Sighs* I wish we booked the train earlier.

Lights....ACTION!

2008-11-23T03:20:00.000-08:00

Dear readers, yes, I know I was going to blog this earlier but I was damn stuck with my thesis and finals. Now I’m considered unemployed till further notice. Just kidding, I plan to take masters so scouting for scholarships to study music abroad. I keep my options and for the time being it’s a good chance to develop myself and prepare general knowledge for interviews and stuff. Perhaps dad could enroll me in a grooming school to know the proper way to walk, talk and sip tea. I shall become a socialite in the meantime….ok dreaming over, back to the acting performance.

Somewhere during the fasting month, the acting students meaning the third years had a pre-final project just for them to right on track on their project. Which was a good thing because, they now have a better direction and all the lecturers get to comment on the spot. So most of the lecturers were there commenting on their performance after they did a scene. The last group had two scenes that they performed.

I came in late so I missed out the first performance. The second was “Sakoontala” or “The Lost Ring” by Kalidasa. This is a Sanskrit play and was performed by Haneem’s group. She played the role of “Sakoontala”. It was good in terms of delivery but most of the audience agreed that the main character was a bit to harsh, she should be more soft as she was raised in a monastery by the monks and was a child of the goddess “Menaka” so she has behave princess like. The king also should have a touch of masculine and act intelligently. That’s my point of view.

Sakoontala and the King....hiaoing

Sakoontala and Ibu Gautami head female priest

Part 2 of Hiaoing...He is trying to blow dust from her eyes...old trick

Next was Hamlet the Malay version. This was a complicated scene since it has quite a number of actors on stage at one time. I have no idea of the actual story so that makes the understanding the play even challenging. The set was also a suggested set and the actors were wearing modern clothes. This was Tzyy Yun, Khairul Azhar (Chip) and Siti Fatimah’s group. I guess the delivery was ok, distance and projection was ok too. I just can’t understand the story. Perhaps they need more time.

Next was “Laut lebih indah dari Bulan”. Laut and Bulan are two different persons. The play was a monologue and the actor lacks stamina to perform to last the scene. I guess it comes by practice. The actor also should talk and face the audience even if she needs to imitate a person, this makes the projection a little unclear but I hope the next time they’ll improve.

This is Bulan

No exit came after that. It’s an absurd play and so it’s the meaning behind the whole play that’s important. I think The Actors Studio previously staged it in Malay, if not mistaken. This is Sylvester’s group. I’m not sure that I’m the one that can quickly understand the play quickly and for this case, if I ever go to these absurd plays, I’ll come equipped for the performance before going to such plays. The story is like two people trapped in a hotel room for an interview, discussing about their strength and weakness and finding out that there were in a psychological torture. In the end that the play wants to tell that the thoughts in the mind are entrapped and it’s an eternal torture. It’s confusing but you are not a passive audience because you need to think. I guess the performance was good since this was the only play in English and they have quite good diction too. Perhaps the overall play should be much more interesting.

The last was Nyonya. I thought Nyonya was the Peranakan Nyonya from Melacca but to my surprise it’s the Indonesian Nyonya and they needed to talk in Indonesian. So interesting!! This is Izni Yusrina’s group. They had full costumes and make-up on. According to Izni, the make-up and the rental of the clothes cost RM 50 per-person. Look at the hair, its real by the way. The hair even has white hair if you look closely. This play was a realistic play and I enjoyed because you look and you don’t have to think so much. Its very light and it has nice settings, I forgot the term for it. Gosh!! Just finish theater exam and I start forgetting. Story very simple, the young nyonya married the rich guy and the daughters from the previous marriage want their money. The delivery and diction was good as it was in Indonesian so we Malaysians need to be extra clear so that we can pick up.

This is the nyonya and the bad Tuan...the nyonya is the one selling off her husbands possesions

The other 'ponakans' are stalking Nyonya

And got busted

So that wraps up the performance. I had a great time and that the performance. Especially towards the end, the lecturers should have an idea on their students and that the students can improve better next semester. Now I’m going to plan what to do in Subang before coming back to Penang and going to the Human Right’s camp. Should be interesting though…I’m looking forward to it.

Baby Snail...du du du du du du...Baby Snail...XD

2008-11-13T01:20:00.000-08:00

Hehe, from the baby shark song. Well I know I was away for some time since my thesis issues but now since my exam's are over, I thought I should post some events. On the 8th of November, I went for my first ever Mak Yong live performance. Yes, its in Kelantanese dialect, and it took some time to actually understand the jokes and everything. The performance was held at USM's Dewan Budaya and to my surprise the performance had a mix variety of audience. I guess since its been given UNESCO heritage title, a lot of people interested to watch the show and I must admit it was a great performance.

If you remembered a few post before this, I wrote that the story was about the queen giving birth to a snail. The king actually got mad and threw her out of the court. She then lived with an old man in the Forest where here the prince in the snail came out and played with the naughty children nearby. After an incident where one of the kings wise men was brutally bullied by the children. The wise man went to the king and ordered the boy (which was the prince, being the head of the naughty children) to be killed. When the prince was captured, the king's heart could not kill the boy so he felling lonely took the boy which was actually his son to be his adopted son. So, the actual story of "Anak Raja Gondang" starts after this.

Something to think about, Mak Yong is a symbolist performance so that some items like the two male jesters or "pengasuh" had daggers that could be used as other things like ruler, ore, a fan something like No theater in Japan. In the No theater a fan is used as a knife, and many other stuff, when the actors act, you should know what the fan is really is. This performance used other paraphernalia such as a toy chicken, shoes, a cloth and some other stuff that i cant remember of. Perhaps nowadays its ok to incorporate these Mak Yong which in the old days shouldn't have been. Like in theater class we were told that a troupe used an umbrella and got some feedback from saying that they shouldn't have done that.

Another thing is most of the actors are not even from Kelantan itself. Nothing wrong, its just they were very good that I thought they were actually Kelantanese. (which because i had a hard time listening). Perhaps if since if the performance would like to cater for non-Kelantanese speakers like me and my friends hopefully they put subtitles like when I watch P.Ramlee the Musical in Istana Budaya. At least others have some clue what they are talking about. Some more they should also write the program in English so that the "ang moh" or non-Malay speakers could at least understand the story before hand.

Overall I think its a good performance. I don't really mind the changing of the usual conventions because I'm not a Mak Yong expert. I support all kinds of performing arts and I hope in the future, USM students get more exposure to these arts which some are soon to be gone. The next day, there was a talk which I didn't attend but you could browse Dr. Kipli's blog to know all about it. I'm glad that all my exams are over and I hope I can pass my Macroeconomics paper...till more events come again...adios!

Gamelan performance!!

2008-10-21T03:41:00.001-07:00

I'm Not following the leader!! I AM the leader whereever I may go...=)

2008-10-08T01:19:00.000-07:00

Dear readers, warning bloody long post ahead!!! Hehe….I did plan to write on the pre final project acting students performance but I’ll hang on to that till I find a way to express the performance properly. Just two days from Hari Raya, was the last day we were at a bungalow stay somewhere along Penang Free School, McD and shell station where there was our venue for USM Local Leadership development seminar. It was a three days two nights stay through a lot of people say that it was kinda creepy but I enjoyed the mystery the place had installed for us…

Initially I planed not to go since mom needed me at home to prepare the house for Raya and I didn’t want to see her break her back bone cleaning on her own but then I realized that Malaysia Leadership Development Seminar will be held the same time during Raya Haji and we have been planning to go to Tawau for abang Lan’s wedding with Kak Yanti. Its kinda sad because I wished they made not during a pubic holiday because then I can go and it seems that they are not careful enough to realize the dates, unless they planned for it lar…which I’m not sure of.

Anyhow, I told dad about the problem and that he said it’s up to me to decide to go or not, (dad is very pro AIESEC stuff) and so since this is my last semester in USM I made a point to go just incase there is not to say no more opportunity but maybe less after I graduate. (BTW, mom had no idea I was going…dad said to keep it quiet and tell her last minute, and she said ok) I texted Ching that I was coming and paid the RM60 fees during our gym time.

Waiting at DUP Busstop

So on Friday, mom send me to the DUP which is the exam hall near the bridge, somewhere near 5pm, so there was all the so called “kids” waiting at the bus stand…so we chit-chat till the school bus arrived, by the way, mind you that I never pack light, everybody said that I’m going back home from camp…that’s why I’m the tortoise with the pink haversack shell. My house goes everywhere with me…and so we headed to the creepy bungalow.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by Ruby and Chan-chan’s new Liza Minelli haircut, so at this time we were settling down, and unpacking. Tina started stalking people by this time. Tina the fitness queen is so inspiring me to go to gym which before this I had never thought of going, so she said, if I can burn 100 calories in 10 minutes with one of the equipment forgot what the name is, I could loose a lot of weight by 3 weeks…Id do anything to loose weight and the epidemic on my face, so thanks Tina.

Square dance....bootylicious???

Some more Square dance

So for those who break fast, they had some rice first then ate with us. We had carrot rice with vege and chicken. Yummy! So, after that we had some square dancing while waiting for Emily to come. We played the games like chuckle belly where all had to lie on others stomachs and say a syllable but you can’t laugh or you need to start again. Then was the game where you pull someone in front of you game. I got punished for this. Hehe. The first group had to spell their names with their butts and we did the coo-coo clock. Its basically sitting in a line and moving yourself as like the needle of a clock. I had to move the most. Then I seriously do not know what was happening behind me. Then, it turned out that waiting would loose precious time so we did the last agenda for the night first which was sculling.

Dinner time

Please guys, if you want to do sculling next time let me know earlier so I can plan scarf colour, last time my purple new scarf became an ikky orange cloth. Good thing was this time was only Sarsi and not a punch made of unknown substances. I remembered last time that the liquid that we had to drink was a combination of corn juice, tamarind and perhaps something else…It was gooey, thick and something you drank that you’ll never forget how bad it tasted. So when I heard that there’ll be a next time and its gonna be bad. Who knows how badly?

Sculling for those never heard of it is an AIESEC culture whereby a group of people will drink what ever substance and that when each member finishes the next in line will continue and which ever team finished first wins. Sounds simple?? Because it is!! Just need to drink fast and efficiently, no dripping stuff la. The queue goes like this “thumbs on the table, chin on the table, eyes on the water….GO!” then the supporters will cheer weird tribal sounds (I feel like it’s a foreign language since I have no Idea of the meaning) “ikki, ikki, ikki,… eye,eye,eye” on and on till there is a winner.

You raise your hand when you're done

So being the team S.H.I.T (Super, Hot, Intelligent, Team) we did go to the semi-finals but due to the crappy cups, picking up was hard the next time so we lost the second round. Ooh, before that we had a session whereby we were broken into teams four to five students each, and then we were supposed to come up with role calls and name group. So mine was S.H.I.T-translations are as above, there was mamma mia, Vier, EDC, nutcracker. Dearie team is all guys and one lady (moi…hehe). OH Shit!

EDC

Vier

S.H.I.T=Super+Hot+Intelligent+Team

Mamma Mia

So the night came and we had the “I want to become a leader” section. I found out that I’m a strategic leader. As expected, I’m an introvert since matriculation…I find great pleasure in analyzing stuff, even in babies lingo, sleeping styles, you name it…freaky!! I know, but that’s how the way I am, part of it because that I grew up alone (some more living at UUM-the practically on a hill in a jungle from age 8-11, I’ve become one with the monkeys, scorpions and the huge lizards. Astro was not affordable yet at that time, but there were Thai channels though =)) so I have really interesting imaginations about what others will do and even in pieces that I play, I love playing with my imagination.

Strategic leadership basically are leaders who can break down visions and large aims into manageable chunks which are vital for an organization. Strategic leaders have the insight and focus to work to work out ways of achieving the vision, the “how”, are able to persuade the rest of the organization to accept this plan. Strategic leaders can bring common sense to a difficult task-able to help people see how the seemingly impossible can be achieved. However, like pioneers, they can less engage with the implementation of a task, preferring to leave this to others.

Hmm, I kinda have a problem trusting people doing a task sometimes. I rather do things on my own but sometimes I bit too much that I can chew so I get in trouble too. Delegating too, I have a problem. I can give task only that I’m 98% sure the person can do it properly. By chance I should be giving chance to others to prove their work but I get doubtful. I need time to absorb this.

I saw this in the cupboard....So sad seing the instruments been left to rot there

So the night came to an end then some of us, especially Angie needed the sleep; I wanted to enjoy next night but scared that I’ll be worn out the next day. So in to my sleeping outfit I pretended to sleep for few hours till I was really a sleep. I have a problem sleeping in a different environment sometimes. National Ambassador’s Camp (NAC) was worse, I couldn’t sleep. I was practically tossing and turning, the night air was freakin’ cold, and my roommate was terribly snoring. But during NAC too I found out that Ching has somniloqi, hehe….

So next day I woke up about 7.30am if not mistaken, I heard people moving up and down the room so I woke up. Eve woke at six so that she didn’t need to queue for the shower. I have no idea how scary Ruby would be if she would jump so to avoid heart attacks of being pounced at so wake up early will be the best choice. Breakfast was a slice of bread with jam. I wasn’t fasting so I asked Jessica to take a piece of bread for me so the three guys would not be offended. Next at 9am was the morning plenary. Here is where all the last night recap and feedback was been brought up. Not forgetting roll calls!!

Next was my traditional favorite part in AIESEC which was world café. Previously called challenge your world view, dad always does this in the car so I don’t sleep. Sometimes his questions are really tricky but interesting. Among the topics that we discussed are the media involvements in promoting violence in children, homosexuals transmitting HIV/AIDS, and should we legalize soft drugs. I found that smoking Marijuana is better than smoking ciggies because cigarettes have tar that is dangerous for the person and others while Marijuana small doses, well is considered safe. My friend had this brownie where they put weed inside and he said that it didn’t made him high immediately. Maybe it made a tingling sensation but not addictive. Government also could control the dosages too if it’s been legalized.

Then since the rest are not finished we decided to play poor Mrs. O’Grady died. After a long line of laughter and silliness, it was time for lunch. Nadia convinced me that It’s ok so I went down though I was curious that the Shell people was looking at me weirdly, maybe It’s only me.

Next was the simulation, cow or chicken. All teams were given RM 10,000. Then each team has to go to the “store” to buy the land, seed, fertilizer, hormones and stuff. Then once you bought the stuff, you need to plant them. So, we needed to the planting station and grow the food. Then once its ready, you need to buy cow or chicken depending on your choice. The food harvested needed to be eaten by the cow or chicken. Once the chickens and cows are ready to be turned into patties and nuggets, they are shifted to the working area where these nuggets are packaged and become burgers. Then you need to make profit outta the product so the burgers needed to be sold to the customers.

Interesting as it sounds, it was harder than it seems since we lost one of our group mates and that cost us labor power. So more moving up and down, other groups have specializations. Anyhow our group didn’t made any profits (we had loss actually) but I’m happy that we tried and made silly commercials during selling which if my course mates knew they might be laughing till they get flat abs perhaps. In between the whole thingy, the chicken became very confused and the cow got infected with mad cow disease, the store closed for Raya and immigration froze work permit. So these are things that could happen in firms I guess. Strategy is very important in this game.

Serena immitating Ruby's pain

Then finally we had a short break, bathe, some more sleep for Angie, basically some breathing time from all the brain storming of what to say in world café and the cow and chicken. Then we had the functional area where you learn more on the department. So for me, Ruby and Kugan was lecturing on branding and how to do negotiations and recruitment. The talent management my guess they did on the Global competency model like how to calculate the results of the survey and stuff. We heard them laughing so probably it was an interesting session for them. Ruby tried very hard not to make the sessions dry and was really interesting to me.

After dinner, we had the parallel sessions for skill building workshops. So I did first the presentation skills workshop. Overall to have good presentation, you need to know your materials well, know the audiences, be well prepared and stuff. Most importantly don’t crap if you don’t know. Obey PAMPERS law, Projection, Articulation, Modulation, Pronunciation, Enunciations, Repetitions and Speed. It’s good to come early and interact with the audiences so you can reduce stage fright.

Then was the re-brand yourself workshop. This was also interesting because I found out the laws of myself are totally visible to others, especially Serena. Chan-chan, thanks for letting me know. I thought that if I kept quiet nobody could see beneath my thoughts, hmmm…proved me wrong. So we discussed the dos and don’ts for the corporate world. I learned that there were researches that proved wearing lipstick actually creates some attention. The common thing that both this two workshops has taught me is to be you. We did like cutting-cutting and pasting-pasting things that you always wanted to do have which was interesting. I had curls, a shining white Siberian tiger tattoo at my lower back that I always wanted, a belly button piercing, sleeveless top with baggy cargo pants. Yup, that’s basically me stripped to the core.

In the same room the next section was creative thinking. I think I’m creative but I’m trying to push myself further. So we talked about the creators of Facebook, Leonardo Da Vincci, the smiley face and very interesting stuff that I sort of heard of but haven’t had the time to really absorb it. Then we exercised our creativity by creating products. I made a funky mug that I find the way you could hold it differently. Azri did an interesting candle. There was a card, toilet roll hanger and others.

Then back to Ruby and Kugan, was the conflict management. This is interesting. I hate conflicts, so most probably I’ll try my best to avoid them by agreeing on things that I don’t like, choosing to do things on my own, and some other ways just to keep me into a situation that I won’t be comfortable with. This means I have no stand for my ideas, and let others decide for me. It’s hard for me to accept a challenge in a group because of this and I feel that the session helps in coping with this problem. Well until now I would choose to do things on my own.

Surprise, surprise!! After we finished the session, we were all at the plenary. A scream from downstairs shocked us (mainly because the bungalow is quite creepy, I thought someone saw a ghost or a ghost send a love letter or any sightings) so we went downstairs and saw Serena and Nadia in a drama scene. I was curious what we were supposed to do. Peggy was bit unconvinced that this is a play; she freaked out a lil but then got the hang of it.

The story was Nadia was poisoned, so the whole story will be rewind and we need to find the killer. Serena was having trouble accepting that she broke up with Kugan. Nadia is the one clinging to Kugan at the moment so there was the affair going on. At the meantime, Nadia found out that Ruby took money from the LC and threatened to tell James. If its proven that the money was took LCUSM will be disband from operating. Emily was sent to spy on the LC. Mommy Ching-cai has a crush on Serena and would do anything to protect her. Matt is Ruby’s darling and he too is protecting her. Tjun Chye was a psycho secret admire of Nadia

A killer’s analysis (see, how much I like analyzing situations…maybe I should become a profiler…) Tjun Chye character is very flat, he doesn’t moves the story. So one down. Emily doesn’t have a killing motive, just to spy. Kugan won’t kill her lover after all the plans they made. So it leaves Rubs, Serena, Matt and Ching. All exept Ching have a prominent role showing their feelings towards Nadia, a good murderer should always distract others to not see them as a killer. In the end it was down to Ching and Matt. Both of them were fixing the drinks in the separate hall. I saw the part that Ching pushed the chair but didn’t suspect anything. However Ching was distributing the drinks and handed over to Serena. By right Serena could be charged for conspiracy because the drink handed by Ching was especially for Nadia alone. Serena was not suspicious about the special cup for Nadia. Conclusion: Ching killed Nadia to protect Serena feelings.

So in the end I convinced my group that Ching was the killer. None had any objections. Turns out my analysis was true. The others thought that Matt was the killer, one said both Matt and Ching. But I still Serena should be charged for conspiracy…sorry Chan-Chan=) Ching, next time you want to act please make sure your voice projection is clear ok?? Can’t hear you. More mysterious you are, more suspicious people get. Rubs and Serena are really spontaneous.

After that, we decided to head for McD. I was dying for McD because I haven’t had fast food for almost a month….hehe, too bad. I knew I shouldn’t, It was 3 am. By the time we actually settled to bed it was around 5am so it was like few hours to doze off. I woke up at 8.20. Late!! Need to queue for bathroom. So I made it safely without punishment to morning plenary. So we sang for roll call this time. Then those punished did the coin hug thingy.

Next we did some games with the murderer. We played the colors on body parts, Knight, mountain and cavalier, human letters, and then some suggested we try the second time the chuckle belly, and we did it. Yay!!

More simulations! This time was coming from the place called Derdia. The Derdians are really cultured people and they easily get offended if you don’t follow their culture. Hehe…When their old bridge broke, they could not have their favorite lobsters and good food, so they invited people from the experts’ community to teach them to build their bridge. The experts have the engineering expertise to build the bridge. So in our own community we got the briefing on how to be a part of the Derdians. Most of us are really culture shock at the start but then the culture was absorbed till I guess some really liked the culture.

Work on the bridge

The first few minutes we were able to meet a few members of the experts and they were also confused on what we were doing. They observed all the materials that we have and went back to discuss some more with their team. We made our strategies too by the second time. The derdian culture is greeting by kissing on the shoulder and the Derdians get offended if others give their hands to shake. We touch people that we like and well offend the people who doesn’t you touch back. If a Derdian doesn’t like a person he or she would not touch the person. Derdian men will interact with other men from different community if they are introduced by a Derdian woman. They have instrument genders (like the French?) ladies will use the pen and rulers, they guys will use scissors and the glue is neutral. The ladies will never ever touch the scissors and the guys will never ever touch the pens and rulers. When a Derdian is offended, they complain loudly. We made a loud der…der…der sound with hands franticly moving above the head. Plus a Derdian says no by saying yes with the head nodding, yes is saying yes without the nod.

The Experts

The experts were actually doing the bridge without any help from the Derdians. They should actually teach us to do it too anyhow our bridge was strong enough to hold two pens, two rulers and a glue bottle. So I can say the experts did a very good job despite us touching, touching, touching them all the time. Some had really good time der..der…dering Nadia and Ruby.

Derdians and the experts

Some more Square dance

After photo taking sessions we headed for the closing plenary. So after all thanking and stuff we handed a special surprise to the facilitators for the whole camp. It was eve’s laundry bag that we handed to them. So being all satisfied it was time to close the plenary and get packing to go back. I went to pick up my sugar cubes and put in my file so that I could read it when I’m alone.

The Sugar cubes

Satisfied Facilitators

One of Rubs funny poses

Serena's feel's like Sponge Bob here...It's a good thing that its on the right lenght
The Ladies

The dudes

Of the whole camp, friendship ties become stronger, scandals been gossiped and kepoed, never ending pillow talk, delegates been stalked and stalked, a week end full of self awareness and loving yourself, laughing your hearts out and overall a great change in everybody. Like dad said all the time everything has a room for improvement so grab all the opportunity and be competitive for a sustainable future. So I do hope to be apart in changing others in the future and realize my dreams and goals in life based on my life experience through out my seven semesters in USM and three semesters in AIESEC.

Sexy guys watching movies

Grandmother Ruby telling stories

Pillow talks

Dun shy, shy Serena....come with the pillow and drag Nick too..

So we talked, and talked, and talked...
and giving peace signs before bed

Going home....huhu, too much fun already

There you have it, a bloody long post!!!! Next will be on the acting pre final project, music recital part 1, and Raya perhaps

Announcements! Announcements!

2008-09-18T02:23:00.000-07:00

hear ye, hear ye!

1. To those in USM and near by there will be a Mak Yong performance in USM by the Istana Budaya Sri Nilam troupe on:

7 & 8 November 2008
place and time will be confirmed (most probably 8.30pm in dewan budaya but i'm not sure for now)
Performing- "Anak Raja Gondang"

Interesting story of the queen had hatched an egg and the son that looks like a snail and the king thought that the wife had an affair with a snail. ( I cannot imagine that! seriously)

I know that it is during exam week but it is not often that USM gets this kind of opportunity to invite such good performances and I'm sure if they are charging it would not be as high as going to watch in Istana Budaya, I think. For those who haven't heard of Mak Yong, Mak yong is an theater performance that incorporates dance, acting, singing, music and the great thing is it was awarded as an UNESCO world heritage in 2005. Please do not miss this opportunity to go see the performance if you're able.

2. The next is the pre-arts projects from the acting students that will stage 10-15 mins clips fro their plays. The full performance will be held next semester. This is to ensure that the acting and directing students have a clear concept and direction for their performance next semester. The particulars are as follows.

20th september 2008 (this saturday)
9.30am-they finish
Panggung Pelenggang Cahaya, Kompleks Graha Seni, School of arts USM ( its opposite of pusat komputer, next to gamelan room which is near Kata sila open air stage)

there will be a total of 6 plays among the plays are:

Hamlet (indonesian version)
No Exit (the only play in English)
Sakoontala
Nyonya
Laut lebih indah dari bulan
(Umm cant remember the last one...hehe)

so this is nice if you can go an support the arts. Last time there were a series of monologues that I went and it took like few days for all the students to perform and some had the same scripts. it was an interesting experience anyway, and i'm exited to go to this one too

3. There is another performance in negotiation which is to invite the Petronas Performing Arts troupe to perform Mek Mulung. Mek Mulung is a theater form in Kedah and what I've learnt that there is only a few people performing it now days. It is mainly in Wang tepus area and sometimes it is used for ritual healing. So if you are a trance healing enthusiast like me, I shall keep you updated on the particulars if the show is on.

In The Name of Love

2008-09-11T22:40:00.000-07:00

Alright, been busy with assignments and all but just a short filleriee for you guys. On the 28 of August Masa Kini productions came to perform for the second time in USM on a monologue "In the name of love". I had no idea of this theater so I decided to come for the "in the name of love" talk at school in the morning. Dr. Hardy came to greet me at the entrance and asked to sit in front. Mind you that my voice was very "smokey" that day and I thought that any questions that I wanted to voice out was only possible to be heard If I seat in front.

Nevertheless, I also was worried that I might get others sick too since that fasting month was coming soon and it will be a complete disaster to get sick when you are fasting. So I took my chances bringing a clean cloth if I cough or sneeze. The speakers were sitting quite a distance. So, I thought It was OK.

Opening Credits by Dr. Hardy

So the first person to introduce after Dr. Hardy gave the opening speech was Guna. He teaches classical Indian dance and a well known choreographer for the star in the theater, Sabeera Shaik. For the past, he was the one giving ideas for the dance moves Sabeera is going to do. Besides that, he is also the person behind the costume making. This time the costume was simple for a reason which will be explained later. Guna could not attend that night's performance because he was performing at Dewan Sri Pinang for a night of oddisi.

Sabeera on the Left and Guna beside her

The next is the main actor of "in the name of love" Sabeera Shaik who was previously studied in Universiti Malaya. She had done "In the name of love" with Faridah Merican from The Actors Studio and was performed in Panggung Sasaran in USM. Lately, she brought "In the name of Love" to two places in India can't remember where. That's where keeping all props and costumes simple was been thought of. Sabeera also directs and the interesting part is where the difference of "concepts" come in place.

Christopher on the left, Sabeera and Guna

The Director for this theater is Christopher Jacobs. He had been in the industry for more than 20 years now. Through out the years he had experimented a lot such as getting involved with the Circus, Opera company, Ballet Company, event launching and all sorts of interesting stuff that you can possibly think of. One of the things that I find interesting was the fact that he said theater now is very boring. Why did he said so, is because that the more technology has advanced, the less innovations and creativity is produced. He gave an example of his early times in the UK, he was involved with a production called Ghost Train. At one part he said a group of 20 over people were orchestrated backstage to produce the sound of a train. There were wheelbarrows, tin cans, noise makers, all within a few seconds. Sounds exciting right? Nowadays we just click the mouse on a laptop to make the noise. "How boring". He said. I must admit that the advances of technology has limited the creativity in the arts however It does help smaller productions by cutting cost.

Christopher and Sabeera

The other interesting part was the fact that this time, "In the name of Love" was stripped all of the elaborate costumes and had simple props that can be changed through out the performance. Anyhow, sometimes people like me who have problems imagining have problems digesting the parts that require imagination. It improves through out the performance though. According to Chris too, that the reason is to project the intimacy of the character as if you were in a room that no one could see you doing things that you might be humiliated if people saw what you were doing alone. Is the intimacy and the core of the story was portrayed to show how three characters adept to Loss.

The Happy Audiences.....

The main story starts out with Deena, an Eurasian who lost her husband during the communist. Then there was Mak Su, a Mak Yong singer who feels that people could not appreciate Mak Yong anymore and the last is Sarasa. A mother wishing that her daughter will become a film star but eventually leaves her to be with her love.

I did enjoyed the performance though the performance kinda needs attention listening to really understand it. Hope that there will be more from Masa Kini productions performances here in USM so we don't have to travel far for great performances.

Dr. Mumtaz talking with Guna

According to Dr. Hardy, there will be a Mak Yong performance somewhere in November in USM and another yet to confirm the Petronas Performing Arts coming to perform something too. I'll check the details again and post it soon when I have the full info.

What Rainforest?

2008-08-31T23:23:00.000-07:00

There is a topic debating on sarawak's rainforest....apparently there are facing out. Please take time to read this site by our talented dancer, actor, activist u-jean. VERY IMPORTANT

http://u-jean.blogspot.com/2008/08/wanna-go-sarawak-rainforest-music-fest.html

Hope you guys will know whats going on in Sarawak and ways we can make a difference.

Reflections of Hiroshima

2008-08-31T00:57:00.000-07:00

After the long convo week, well not that long anyway. The fact that there were no classes conducted during the week because theater can't be conducted due to our venue were taken for the convo purposes and my Makro lecturer has to attend the convo and could not teach so that much says no class for the week. Weeee. Not much enjoyment, assignments and reviews to do made my week fly fast that you could not realize it.

So at the end of the week on a Sunday where everybody else were evacuating the campus to enjoy the holiday and study for mid terms, some theater students were given the task to watch a theater on the true life of the Dato' Razak our VC's dad. The theater was scheduled at 8.15 on the posters and banners but everybody knows that in Malaysia that doesn't happen. It eventually started at 9.05pm so I was cursing the night because this is an assignment that is for my theater class, If not by 8.30pm I would run to the door and leave. You never let your audience wait and not be given the notice that it will start late. It took a lot to pull out all my patients that night. So by 8.50 there was an announcement that the TYT is coming and that it might start a bit late.

So waiting at my seating place bout the third last row mid section I waited and then when the TYT arrived, the announcement came. The TYT was scheduled to give a speach, the trouble of lack of planning went. So embarrasing, the TYT was on stage and the crew didn't prepare another platform for him to speak. So there he was waiting for all the adjustments to be done. His speach didn't last as long as the wait for him on stage though.

The major planning problem

So the play started to begin and it was a good and funny way to start the evening because I was cursing before that, and luckily that kinda made it worth the wait. I was very happy to see our lecturer Dr. Sam performing. I had never seen him perform on stage before. Well, I did catch him on the early episodes of Mahligai Gading but his scenes didn't last long so I thought that this was a good opportunity for me to catch the talented Dr. Sam in action.

Dr Samad in Action...very funny...hehe

The village people that heard about the japanese occupation in Kelantan

The character Razak was played by En Norhelmi, one of the Dewan Budaya Artiste. His role was more narrated and there were a lot of soliloquy's that he was talking on his own. These seem a bit dragging at some points but I think It was too much to been acted out and that there were a lot more scenes that should be brought out more. Ratna Played the mother and that she too played as like a shadow or a reflection and some parts she talked alone. It was interesting to watch my friends on stage again too.

The Solemn Hiroshima Scene

Razak talking to himself, wondering and reflecting of his past

Razak's mother worried about him leaving to Japan but eventually agrees to let him study there. Ratna as Razak's mother

Razak getting brother's advice

Another funny soldiers scene....the guy cant actually ride the bike so the others need to push the bike.....hehe

The part when he went to Hiroshima to learn was a great scenery and the lighting made the mood of the place more sad and emotional for me. Watching a lot of people suffering during the bombing, students being trapped in caves, well I think it was a cave since there were parts where they were speaking Japanese and I couldn't understand. The part where pangeran wanted to save sensei was too emotional and I would feel the same way If I had to leave some one behind that I cared so much. So as Razak and two of his friends who were still alive went on a train to Tokyo and on the way one of his friends Syed Omar had to stop at Kyoto because he had showed signs of radiation.

Syed Omar seeking treatment in Kyoto by the doctor who donated his blood to save him

An article that shows the downside of radiation due to the bomb. Innocent children suffered badly and many died horribly due to the radiation

This too for me was a sad moment and then, the doctors tried to save him and one doctor donated his own blood to save Syed omar but it was fated that Syed omar didn't make it long enough to see his home land. Those who made it to Tokyo heard about Nagasaki and were all deported back to Malaya. The actual theater ends here but I heard that when he arrived in KL his mother thought he was dead and his mother was really broke in to tears that his son actually survived the devastating bomb that hit his university and mentally affecting Razak.

The bombing

The interesting part of the theater is the fact that the theater incorporates the usage of space in the auditorium. Before the Razak went to Japan, he was thinking what Japan would be like and he automatically imagined the samurai worriers and the sumo wrestlers. So in the Dewan Budaya auditorium there was two places above the stages where they placed speakers and there was the place where the sumo guy went up and the sexy Sylvester the samurai too was acting. Goodness, luckily he wore bicycle shorts underneath. Too bad for me that I didn't get a picture of him on the stage. I was able to get the sumo guy though. Hehehehehe.....

This guy was flashing on stage.....made us laugh like hell

Sumo Guy.....Wished I had Sylvester's picture...haiz..

The director and writer of the play Senibayan had used multimedia shots of the war and that the bomb pictures were also shown on the celling to show that the bomb was flying above the skies in Hiroshima. I did enjoyed the theater and really liked the way the theater was put together. By the way the end there was a dove where Razak let it flew through the hall. We all wondered how the bird went out in the end. I honestly liked the theater, minus the wait before that.

The japanese actors who died on stage

The classes conducted and while it was on sirens were warning to go for shelter. Sometimes false alarms.

The play is in conjunction with independence week, and today is our independence day. I does make you think that will you die for your country or run instead. Well I leave that for everybody to decide. I myself have my doubts but and hope I keep remembering that having independence is only part of our freedom. It is how we portray our country how we preserve its peace, work towards having children that will continue this practice and develop our country to a first world country. Having to think and bring our country to become an example to the rest of the world and be able to compete but think on the effects of the environment will sure be the best birthday gift the country would ever ask for. Happy Birthday my country fellows and hope the fasting month brings more then you can wish for.

Impromtu tag questions

2008-08-27T00:47:00.000-07:00

This is the lil piggy Ching sudah mentag me so I need to answer the questions. Bear in mind that I just had 10ml of cough syrup and all colourful tablets that the doc gave me due to this stupid sickness. So answers might be a lil off perhaps. So here are the rules:

RULE #1
People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs and replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves..

RULE #2
Tag 8 people to do this quiz and those who are tagged cannot refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by and cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by continue this game by sending it to other people.

1. If your lover betrayed you, what will your reaction be?
Just discuss about it with close friends first, go confront him and ask his perspective, then do own paparazzi

2. If you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?
Have a perfect body package: nice height and weight, can see without glasses and face pimple free.

3. What makes you unmotivated?
Late people, people who don't keep their promise and

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?
Open a fund to help the poor learn music

5. Will you fall in love with your best friend?
Perhaps, If he is worth it.

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
Its a barter trade, you need to love someone in order for the other to love you back

7. How long do you intend to wait for someone you really love?
Before I'm 26. I might get worried before 30.

8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?
Just pray. Let fate takes its course which is best for all

9. Is there anything that has made you extremely happy?
Good food, with old friends in a great environment with good music and a sufficient amount of time

10. What takes you down the fastest?
My piano teacher saying that I'm not showing any progress when I try very, very hard

11. How would you see yourself in ten years time?
Having a PhD, have at least one child, not unemployed.

13. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
Ching: Very supportive, lively, helps out when needed, cares about others a lot, a good listener and the list goes on...........

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married but poor
neither

15. What's the first thing you do when you wake up?
Grumble to myself, cursing the morning, hit my pillow and sleep for a few more minutes.

16. Would you give all in a relationship?
it depends, early stage, carrier might come first. Once established, relationship must be in a high priority rank

17. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously, who would you pick?
The person who says he loves me more.

18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing the someone has done?
I might forgive but not forget because the experience makes you more aware of the capabilities of other human beings.

19. Would you suffer now and enjoy later or the opposite?
Suffer now since I have the strength, I might not be as mentally and physically strong later, who knows.

20. List 8 people to tag
Evelyn, u jean, Natasha, Michelle, Zahirah, Teng Shin, Chin Eng, Nadia (I don't know any other people tagable at the moment. Just take time to do it ok?)

Pomp and Circumstance March of the Graduating Music Students

2008-08-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

The day had come for my friends to be officially out of usm (for those who are not doing masters of course) and I did plan to crash the hall again since we have been in the hall for two times before so I thought that the authorities wouldn't mind....hehe. I hope. So dressed properly I went in the hall supposed to camouflage with the rest of the performers but tak jadi. Anyhow this session is for the Pharmacy, Social Sciences, Fine Arts and Music.

When I came in the seats were filling in. The last row just two lines after the performers stage is the music students. They just occupied that row. How nice, anyway. As the seats started to fill, the announcer started to explain the procedures of the ceremony. For the three years in a row my observation was when the guy starts speaking in mandarin, it excites all the audience. Minus us perhaps. Anyway, the alert signal was sounded and the jazz band starts to play the grand march.

Ceremony went well. Boring as usual, but a good way to hear the jazz band play for free, and a good chance for students to do their work in between. Last time when we had Mr. Razif class, we did his work and he could mark it right a way. Convenient huh? Well that was the old days. Now its our future graduates turn.

In the end our music students received a roaring cheer from the jazz band and walk down the stage. After that we all went to school and picture taking time. Plus I had to run back to get Becky's cow that she left with me.

To all my course mates, hope that you guys be successful in the future. I'll miss all the good things that we've done together and go on into the world and make an impact on society. Hope that you will learn to adept to the new environment and get rich soon so that you could throw a party for me on my graduation....hehe. This is for you guys.

To Suhan, you might not grow any taller but in performance you have the tendency to leap further to improve yourself. Your small fingers shows that size does not matter and we'll adapt to all circumstance that might come our way. You are very certain and assertive, the powerful quality of Miss Suhan. You go get em' gal!

Jie Ru, Jie Jie, you are so expressive and everybody likes to hear when you tell a story because its sooo convincing. This great trait of you might pay off one day when you go for an interview so that all the people interviewing will be convinced that you got what it takes to be successful. I'll see you around and to learn from your experience.

Amy, da jie, since I don't have a sister to ask for advice, you are my big sister that is concern of my Chinese language and tutor me from time to time. You show that failure is not an excuse to go further, opportunities come and its your call to grab it or leave it. I hope you find peace and laughter in your future life.

To my fashion guru Yuen Mun, you are good in improvising on what you have and do not complain much out in the open. I shall be looking forward to see you improve your "softer skills". More Mozart-ish, less Beethoven-ish. I hope to learn from each other since I lack Beethoven-ish playing. Together we'll see who will make it to the top first. Chayo beauty queen!

To Yan Xuan, you are unique and rocks on the drums. Sexy and mysterious. Hehe. Thanks for all your help in times of need. Miss you so much.

To the Dude Pin Xuan jazzin' in da house, you are the star of all that jazz. Hope you make a good teacher and try new genres too. I hope you'll perform again so I can go see you play again. Free tickets ok for me. I also hope you'll write music and be famous one day. Keep in touch!

Sweet "Spring moon" Choon Yet, the thinnest of our batch. You prove that you are more than just a pretty face. You rock in theory when others have a hard time. Make sure you stay "healthy" like me...hehe, a bit too "healthy". I wish that you make a good teacher and make the best of it.

To Huey Lin the weight looser, will be bumping into you for quite sometime since you are still here doing masters (and because I didn't take my Tupperware yet) you are so bright then all of us in terms exams and writing. Need to learn your study tips and to learn how to keep fit too hehe. Hope you get what you want in life.

Amira the clubbing queen, you are outgoing, adventures are your forte, you dare to accept a challenge and very honest to me. I do appreciate that your help when times get tough. I sure hope that you make the most of your masters now. Gambate!

Ee Kim, my second sister, since you make the most of my terrible Chinese and never laugh when I make mistakes I then have more courage to speak. I respect you for this and your independence shows that you are most likely to succeed no matter what comes your way.

Cwee Yin, my dear. The quiet one in the group, I do hope you make it in the world and show us that you can be successful. *Woot*

Sharil, the senior. Since you are teaching a bunch of jumpin' beans of kids now you'd better learn to control all of your students or else they will be all over you. Hehe. Imagine that!! Always keep in touch ok? So dude, you left the pop star yang entah kemana now. Which still owe me 20 bucks for keyboard class book.

My dear roomie Rebecca the rabbit jumpin' here and there scouting for the best in herself I wish you luck. Thanks for letting me move in so that I could use the clavinova that has taken all the space in between our beds. You taught me that getting good sleep is essential for good health and beauty. So more the better. Hehehe.

To the saint in the class Jo, you show that silence is golden. You work hard and all that work pays off in your exams. I'll miss you but we'll keep in touch since I might need some help to get things in Singapore perhaps. We'll see. Well, since you are working there I sure think that you'll get richer than the rest here at the mean time. Hehe, don't forget to belanja me next time...hehe. Just Kidding.

Lastly, Annie from Ipoh, although I'll be seeing you a lot. I hope that in your masters study you find what good things that you take for granted during your undergraduate days. That way you'll appreciate more on what you have. Good luck in your studies.

To all of my acting friends, although you all might not be actors on stage, you sure made a change on how I look on theater people now. For how much annoying people say that music is easy, theater people might feel the same way. Arts is definitely abstract and like a director said that, there is no right or wrong there is only good or bad that is which too is in the eyes and ears of the audience. So, I believe that you guys are really amazing people that i met and truly grateful that we have been together for the past three years.

Ini budak yang masuk muzik keluar jadi pelakon
Kak Ayu, talking to fiance?
Michelle and Me,

Prisca with the suave Dr. Hardy,
Kak Mil and Sofia, see, you graduate and thinking of doing masters. Last time sofia was telling me that she wanted to quit when she found out that she got into acting.

who is going to get married soon, this guy is the person to call to. The dude is a wedding planner.

Vern Jin, great to hear that you got a job teaching performing arts in school. Hope you'll be successful.

To the rest of my BA and BFA friends from various backgrounds, I hope for the best and that you do well in what you do. I sooo will miss you guys

First year roommate, Zhaf and Mr Goh

My translator and designer As, already working as a designer for a company. So proud of you.

So to all I wish the best while I crap my way out of here till the end of the year. May all good things come around and See you guys soon!

I sooo love this picture, look at yuen mun's and jo's face... like freaking out. hehehe...

To all I apologize that I have been away for so long, due to this bad cough and flu, been hanging on to the bottle feeling that I might just drink the whole bottle to kill the cough. Its making my sleep not continuous and to add to the the misery is my monthly thingy so I might build a tent in my room since both of us are in different sick stages. Need to be quarantined. Still more to come. *Cough3*

Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum visits the Clinique

2008-08-11T18:11:00.000-07:00

Well its not just Dr Gradus who went to the Clinique talk, a bunch of music students were at dk u at 11am on the 28 July for the workshop. I kinda thought it started at 12 till Annie started to text me telling me that I got the wrong time and requested me to come down immediately to dk u. My dearie roommate too had to rush from the exam hall to take the previous semester results. Poor girl.

Well, since I made my way to Dk 2 through the library, I missed the registration at the counter at the upper floor. Luckily I didn't miss much and the talk started by a guy named Alex. Jie Ru and Valerie was there already and not long after that Angeline too came. The other masters students came shortly after class.

We first got acquainted the basic three step Clinique skincare line. This is the plan for me. Go to the talk, ask whats wrong with my skin, then go for a trial then if it gets any worse, go see a dermatologist. I thought the first part was interesting because they explain the proper way to use the products. These are some of the things that I found out:

Clinique liquid soap doesn't have bubbles. No wonder I used yaya's wash was quite different. I'm used to the bar, although I didn't actually like the concept because you need to let it dry properly before you could keep it in its casing.

Always wipe in an upward direction. The pores kinda have a flap downward and that wiping upward would maximize pore cleaning. I always just wipe in any direction, didn't know there was a direction.

The third one is you must heat up any liquid before applying on your skin by rubbing an amount to your fingers. This is to prevent too much concentration on one spot before rubbing on the entire face. This is a bit debate able. Because some does request you to apply on the cheeks, nose, chin, and forehead before rubbing entirely. But the guy has a point though. Liquids include, moisturizer, foundation, sunblocks and all creams.

Next is the make up. Not really a priority for me since my huge problem is clearing my problem face, however here are some interesting facts that I didn't thought about of:

Eyeliner has always been a problem for me. The best was is to stretch the top part of your eyelids and put it on. It then makes a straight and quick line in no time.

Never make goldfish lips to wear blush. its best to smile.

After a nice quick tour of the whole skin care line, time for some free stuff. We all got the rm100 makeover voucher to use whenever (before 31 august though), depending on your skin preference, get sunscreen or moisture surge cream and the 3 step tester. Val on the other hand went to volunteer to go for the make-up demonstration got a lot of other stuff. (soooo envy her).

At the end of the talk, I got a chance to talk to Alex. He mentioned about whether I have change of diet, environment, or anything. Like a month or so I did get a chance to go to Clinique @ Pavilion and it is a must that we check every six months if you are using the product so that they could recommend different products or just to check whether your skin has upgraded or down graded. Honestly, I also feel that me and my mum have not been able to make time for any consultation and get the best opinion as mummy and yaya.

But anyway, its done annually so if you are interested wait for next year and probably can get more great free stuff. I am now under anti-blemish solutions skin care line. See whether it works or dad starts making appointments with the real Dr. Gradus the dermatologist, hopefully it leads to heaven.

Shopping at The Little Penang Market, in conjunction of Penang UNESCO world Heritage Site.

2008-08-05T03:03:00.000-07:00

The Little Penang Market

Planning for a great weekend getaway due to the all rehearsals, and freakin’ tiring reading week, I decided to head off to the last of the three day celebration at Upper Penang road where previously we had the French Music Festival like two years ago. So due to my "independence", I had to drag along some to keep me company since I had never took the bus alone before. Good thing there was Jie Ru to accompany me there.

Yesterday, I heard that she will be coming back to Penang to work so I dragged her down to the concert that night. I’ve told her about the morning celebrations and then she was interested to watch the Hokkien puppet theater somewhere. Half way through the performance she realized that she couldn’t understand much so she ended up at the t-shirt printing site also by the Anak-anak Kota and made herself a t-shirt with a red lantern with Chinese characters that wrote Penang. It was a good thing that she met a church friend Maria (which is currently working with Janet’s project on cultural mapping) and they managed to get to church before the performance that night. Well according to her, that if she didn’t make it on time she couldn’t make it to the market the next day. Thank god for that. I was desperate to go to the events since due to loads of time consumed on practices we couldn’t make even a single event before the show that night.

So about nine plus I crawled out from my tortoise shell and walked down my block to the Sungai Dua USM gate where I met Jie Ru. We asked the bus driver whether the bus would stop at Upper Penang Road but he said that it’s only a short distance walk from KOMTAR so we took the bus to KOMTAR then. There is where I saw the newly made t-shirt that she made yesterday. I wished that I could make the t-shirt too.*sigh*

So, since both our bearings are cannot be trusted so we kinda made a decision to go green and take a trishaw to Upper Penang Road. Bus fare from Sungai Dua RM1 per head. Trishaw fare: KOMTAR to Upper Penang Road RM10. So RM 5 each. Soooooo expensive!!! But we know that it was meant for tourist but we decided to give it a go anyway because it was Jie Ru’s first encounter on a trishaw. So off we went to the so what Nadia called “Pasar Kutu” or flea market there.

Trishaw experience... quite airy

The view from the trishaw

Upon arriving at The Little Penang Street market we heard music coming from the side of the road, the stalls were all put up and that few of the stalls were selling antiques. In the middle were foods. All the ang moh people bought ketupats which I do not wish to try now since it will be Ramadhan soon and there will be tons of ketupat being fed to me on eid day. So there were interestingly a lot of the Anak-anak Kota people, the dancers, Yoke Pin, I even saw Marie Helen our French teacher at the Alliance Française. Not so long there was Janet and Prof. Tan. We were talking about my project which was music and trance healing because there was a Kuda Kepang performance and they were in trance and the bomoh or shaman was trying to bring them out of the trances. It was interesting though, well, as Main Puteri also could be acted out, as so for this performance. It’s a matter of what you think, as I was telling Prof Tan.

Kuda Kepang Performance from Johor

Strolling along the stalls we manage to look at a lot of Nyonya crafts like bead work(Some could reach RM 400), kebayas, (RM600 per piece, I cannot afford to buy… huhu), preserved fruits or Nyonya acar limau and lots more. There was also a Nyonya heritage exhibition going on in one of the shops showing what its like to be a nyonya in Penang. (Actually, honestly, I thougt there were only Nyonya’s in Melacca. I didn’t know there’s a number of population in Penang as well) since I didn’t have the money, those gorgeous art work needed to take a rain check. I’ll surely come back once I’m rich.

Nyonya doing inventory of items....Making sure that there aren't been mysteriously disappearing

The acar limau or preserved lime fruits. It yellow, Ialways taste the red ones. Wonder what does it taste like

The beads for your shoes, you buy them, then you get your cobblar to fix it on for you. They are so lovely.

Nyonya beading at work, even the Nyonya themselves are very lovely.

The already fixed bead work

Nyonya greeting with a basket.

The sia, where you place your food

This is an Ang Ku mould. Looks like a tortoise shell

The lovely Nyonya's dancing

So besides antiques, Nyonya items, there were also charity items for sale like some weaving products by mentally challenged people, some quilt also for charity and many more. Both of us even got a chance to weave. That was fun. I almost had right and left wrong coordination, but good for a first timer though.

The teacher

Pupil one, did very well. Didn't have too much coordination problem.

Pupil two, can't remember which one's the right or left leg. Did pass though once you get the hang of it.

Ladies who did a good job making the quilt. So please, If you could donate ,help these people help others make a difference.

The others that were interesting were a retired teacher selling his wood work. Among what I admire is the durian opener. It’s made of good quality if not mistaken local Meranti wood. According to him, it’s the best selling item. I wanted to buy one but my parents rarely buy durian (actually they don’t. I will go buy eat alone and go back). So I said whenever I need one I know where to find one.

Others are books, paintings; there was a charity selling soap for women who are challenged and t-shirs which are one of a kind. That company was selling the UNESCO t-shirts for RM15 so I bought for me and my dad. It was like sketches of old Penang, and so after a tired long day, we went outside of the happening area and went to get cheaper near the mamak stall nearby. This is to prevent from over spending, which we didn’t do actually.

Clay or dough art

These are really cute

And these too. Mini wooden clogs

This is a form of printing though I do not know much about it.

Grasshoppers, which don't hop, they are moved by a stick

Around 2.50, we went to the Chong Fatt-Tze Mansion, it was a long but not so interesting tour. We didn’t get to see most of the house but according to my dearie roommate that there is a film by a Singaporean production called the Funeral Party and my roommate knows the people in the production. So I intend to explore more of the house soon. I hope, and meet the cast of course!!

We went for a final round at the market and decided to head home. By the way, at the middle of the market was an open air space where there are dances like the last night Dondang Sayang ladies, Kuda Kepang, Nyonya fan and handkerchief dance and also Indian Karnatak dances were performed during the whole thingy. We asked Maria who was “working” there on how to get back to USM.

The Fan Dance

The Karnatik Dancers. I admire their precise rhythm that they have because, if they make a mistake, their anklet bells would sound awful. They did a very good job.

We wanted to head back to KOMTAR so I could take the bus straight to my residential complex so we waited for the bus along the road. After few attempts, we decided to walk to and see whether we could take the bus some where else. In the mean time, its the time so see the old penang sites.

So we walked, and walked, and walked, enjoying the nice beautiful Penang city and before we knew it we reached KOMTAR. It was like a 20 minute walk and the whether was not so bad so you couldn’t feel the heat. When we reached the bus station we realized that we should have walked to upper Penang Road instead of taking the trishaw. Felt like we got cheated but it was the first time so no biggie. We then took separate busses back and headed home. It was a nice time to just enjoy the show for once the occasion was going on we couldn’t make to any of it but I hope occasions like this come around in the future so more and more of us will understand the importance of our heritage and take a step forward in preserving them for our future generation.

Goodbye Susy

2008-08-04T00:24:00.000-07:00

T’was the first time we met,
we had been great friends,
shared a lot of laughter,
exchange experiences,
as well as culture change.

We share certain similarities,
the passion for great music so it could be shared with others,
trying very hard to become more independent,
absorb as much as possible on what a country could offer us
and asked nothing in return.

So to my dear friend,
I wish you all the best in what you do
When times get rough and hard for you
There are always friends that you can turn to
Hope to see and hear from you soon!!

p/s: The Gamelan CD I gave to you is a court music which was used for palace functions as entertainment in the old days. It was brought from Java through royal marriage and cannot be used by the public in those days. The music has evolved after the Japanese occupation though most of the repertoire was lost but it has been revived and used for public functions such as graduations, wedding ceremony, and many more. Hope you could appreciate the music. Yi lu ping an!!

Our LCP is very rajin doing chores at McD.....hehe

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

2008-07-31T02:26:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-28T02:27:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-23T22:13:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-07-22T00:40:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-21T00:35:00.000-07:00

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.

AIESEC Recruitment Drive- The Prelude

2008-07-17T22:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, being my 1st time doing this I have done done a terrible mistake of deleting the post that I spend about 2 hours writing on. I don't want to curse my lappy because I know that this is all my mistake. Sad.....I need to rewrite again this thing. Anyway I'll just write what I can remember since my files in my brain have also have auto delete after some time. Well, my Mr. Cabby forgot about me today. Luckily I had back up. Called the Mr. Cabby and he called another friend to pick me up for class. I arrived 20 minutes before 8. He drove really fast. But reached safely. Phew! Kinda think of it i could ask my Mr. Cabby to come a few minutes later so I don't reach too early. Then I can have few minutes extra time to sleep. Yay! By the way, the gorgeous rain had poured its heavenly waters that cools the air and made my sleep even better. My dearie roommate went for class and by the time she got back I was still sleeping....Oh dear, am I turning in to you Becky?

This is the last day for our AIESEC Recruitment drive at the DK foyer. Kinda very slow now since all the guys are at Friday prayers and the girls might be sleeping before class at 3pm. We had a briefing last week about doing the RD this week. It was previously planned for a different date but since all the other societies doing it now. We don't want to loose the opportunity to attract students. The good thing is that we have over 200 people who signed up for our Malam Mesra. I really hope that they do attend our Malam Mesra.

Upon reaching the Konkos on the day of the briefing, I met Miss Susy Su from Beijing, an Intern for our RD. Our briefing supposed start at 6pm but we endend up people starting late. As a ritual in AIESEC, we always set expectations for this semester. This is to ensure our focuses in what we do. We can't simply do anything without having any goal. Makes sense? Come to think of it, it It does help managing practices and discussing your pieces with your teacher. Which reminds me, my Czerny is more than three months already. Time to speed things up. Meeting continues with the status of our Local Committee and the some things that we should know about the RD. Time flies and during the briefing I realized that I was fasting and didn't have anything to break fast at that time. Dear tummy please forgive me for neglecting you. I knew that I might collapse soon if I didn't have anything to munch with. So we headed to McD after the long session.

The fun stars when the whole school of AIESECers get together and starts to do all sorts of goofy things after everything is over. When else can you let down your hair. It must always happen in a group. Never alone. Ekun starts debating that onion rings should taste like rings and not onion. The argument comes from the french fries theory. French fries taste like fries and not french. Good argument but i still like my onion rings to taste like onion and not the rings on my finger. Well i might change my mind in the future.

Ekun and Miss Susy Su

Shin Yen, the angle that I took looks like I'm shorter that what I am. Yikes!

Ruby trying to focus on the Big Mac but I distracted her attention.......Sorry Ruby

A dude who is trying for a role in Dracula part 2

Serena Chan Chan which on that day felt like coming out of that 70's show. Nadia beside Ruby engaging in serious conversation.

The Zhe Rong-jerung is very sleepy but he still wants his ice-cream dipped french fries. Mom, if you're watching this, I didn't try this so don't freak out ok? Kinda like dad's style. Innovative. Hehe.

The more imaginative you are, the more creative person you'll be. As Dr. Hardy said that there is no fun in your life If you let go of your childhood. You'll be a more approachable person and like able. The key to presenting and talking to others are also to be approachable. So never underestimate yourself. Always be cool no matter what situation. Unless its unforgivable I suppose. RD continues.............

Not a sunny day

2008-07-17T02:31:00.000-07:00

Today marks the 2nd day I'm 22 and getting older. Its been a soggy and grumpy morning. For the past 2 years i thought of creating a blog but so far haven't had the urge to build one till today. As the day gets colder i suddenly feel the distance between my course mates since they all became piano teachers (except the jazz musician which probably doing jamming sessions somewhere) and are busy with their new lifestyles. However, other friendship bond stronger and kinda think of it, it's not so bad after all. it just needs a few adjustments to make things comfortable even though it would not be the same again. Truthfully i do hope i can make it till the end of my final semester not too hard and i hope my research turns out rewarding enough to get into a good masters program. Haven't thought deep enough what to take yet, but one of my choices are music therapy, music for special needs, conducting and music business management. Haven't made up my mind yet, we'll see how things goes this semester.

This final semester I am taking introduction to theater, macroeconomics and my academic exercise. Trying to be different, I suppose, led me to minor in economics but i find Macro kinda difficult. I'll manage.....I hope. Looking back at previous semesters the courses that i enjoy the most are mostly practical courses with technically no final written exam like dance class, gamelan, keyboard and choir (although results were not excellent) made me more concerned in building teamwork and togetherness. Ensembles are really exiting because as pianist, its all about me. Me and me and me and none other else unless you play a concerto of course but so far we don't get to that level though. Being a pianist made me more an introvert than an extrovert. I feel a certain safety while playing and the excitement is overwhelming. The huge problem with me is my public performances on stage. I freak out big time, my heart might one day leave my rib cage and still keep on pumping hard. I dunno, hopefully i get a cure for this disease and make my playing more musical instead of worrying of my notes, articulations, rhythm and touch. Me and my great piano teacher is guiding me to adapt performers anxiety.

Anyway i hope this year will bring great things and i hope, (I do hope my pizza face with extra pepperoni will go away soon...It's been ages since i looked like this) that i can cope seeing my friends graduation. Don't get me wrong, I am happy for them just feeling like they have left me for another path and probably will not see each other again makes me sad. I also need to spend on 15 bouquets of roses. Yikes! I might just burst...we'll see.