sights of sydney

my alarm rang at 7am. i got up at 8 :-D

(i did say the bed was cushy!)

registration was fortunately a simple affair - give name, get bag. (a couple of us who attended the finance conference in NZ earlier in the year were amusedly comparing how we got a 'goodie bag' from the Kiwis but didn't get many souvenirs here!)

i found out that yesterday evening's 17 degrees celsius temperature was NOT typical of Sydney climate. apparently at this time of the year it's usually a 'steam bath' of over 30. having just come from a perennial steam bath, i'm GLAD it's below 30.

plenty of walking done today. took a late morning walk from the hotel to the Visitors' Centre, and then on to the area near Campbells Cove for a view of the Harbour Bridge, and then turned around and walked along Circulay Quay to the Opera House.

and here's a photo i took of the Harbour Bridge, viewed from Circular Quay.

one of the nicest things about Sydney, i feel, is its cosmopolitan charm - in my conference (office) attire the locals thought i worked in the city and was on my lunch break. however if people did notice i wasn't Australian, they would assume I'm from China. even after hearing that I'm Malaysian, they would still ask "But you were originally from China, no?"

people should visit Malaysia more often :)

the conference has been good so far. there are no dedicated discussants allocated for the papers, so in the free-for-all Q&A time, the battles ranged from relentlessly bombarding presenters with queries to no comments or questions at all. some (i suspect) slyly dragged their presentations on so that there would be less time for questions, as each speaker is allocated an absolute 25 mins or so. i shall need to learn the art of answering questions of stuff i haven't the foggiest idea about :-D

in the evening i took a second walk to the Opera House (i'll bet no other tourist goes to the Opera House TWICE in ONE day.. unless it was to buy tickets and then watch the performance..) because i suddenly realised that the official souvenir shop was INSIDE the building, and not amongst the regular souvenir shops outside. no wonder i couldn't find it earlier. *hits head on wall*.

there's supposed to be a free wi-fi connection at The Rocks but i can't for the life of me connect to it. would be pretty cool if i could - i can then provide a live webcam of the landmarks of Sydney to envious viewers back home, buahaha.

anyway, on the way back in the evening i dropped by a McD's to see if they had any special Australian promotions on their otherwise standard fare, and decided on getting something from the Deli Sandwiches range. i (probably foolishly) chose the Thai Chicken. it seemed to have more lettuce than chicken pieces, and tasted nothing more than grilled chicken pieces with chilli sauce. should have known better than to try an Asian variation in a non-Asian country. *hits head on wall*. ah well. so again, I got hungry at 11pm (i missed lunch, as i spent a little too much time hanging around outside) so I dialled 1 for an Antipesto Plate with Grilled Breads. I must say I'm getting addicted to Room Service..

down under

taking in the view of the city as the plane touched down, i revelled in the surreal realisation that have actually been here before though i don't remember much of it - 20 years ago; my first ever trip overseas. in fact, I still have a (slightly discoloured) photo of 4-foot-something me with a cheesy grin and the Opera House in the background!

at least 4 hours of the 8-hour flight was over the desert... Australia is almost as large as the United States, and the distances between major cities is staggering, with distances of over 1,000km between, for example, Sydney and Brisbane.

names are familiar (the airport is still called Kingsford-Smith. hey, don't laugh, Hong Kong's and KL's have changed!) though don't remember much of what Sydney looked like then. As the taxi sped through the city (and I mean SPED - thought only Malaysian drivers could drive like that) at 9pm, i was reminded by the deserted pavements and building foyers that there would be no late-night shopping in this part of the world - shops close at 5pm, late night shopping is on Thursdays (now WHY did they have to schedule the conference dinner on Thursday?!)

the Shangri-La boasts a breathtaking view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. my room, of course, happens to be on the OTHER side of the building, overlooking a highway that leads to the Harbour Bridge :-D This area, The Rocks, is the birthplace of Sydney and modern Australia itself (according to Fodor's Australia 2006, the first 11 of England's 800+ ships carrying convicts to the penal colony dropped anchor here in 1788).

when I'm through munching my wondrous late-night room-service Caesar salad (gosh, check out all that cheese and bacon!), I shall venture online (yes, I'm drafting this offline - hey, Internet access isn't free!) and post this, check out some tourist-info websites, and then hopefully head on to bed early enough for me to wake up for the conference registration at 8am tomorrow!

I love the attention to detail at this place - for example the bookmark left on a corner of the bed.

And oh, did I mention how amazingly cushy and comfortable the bed is?! (it helps, too, that i have all 4 pillows to myself! :-D)

Ipoh Down

Broken Bridges in Ipoh was a blast... so will it ever be restaged? If it does, perhaps Cheong Soh could make her grand entrance in No More like this. also, since there was only one Indian character in the current script, spicing up the play with a touch of Bollywood (see this very helpful video of suggested choreography) may not be a bad idea! In fact, it looks like we may already have the endorsement for this from one of the writers (heck, he appears in almost every frame of the aforesaid video!)

also, for the Ipoh run we had the incredible Monsieur Dominique instructing us on breathing techniques I wish I knew 2 years ago in order to audibly project the unseen Shepherd Boy's plaintive tune from backstage of stage left in Tosca without straining the voice (i'm no trained singer), and during all the unmiked singing while prancing around with Anna Glavari the Merry Widow, in this. therefore, the (last part of this) video is a tribute, of sorts, to the sore knees, yoga mats we wish we had, and above all, improved singing voices! (sorry, audience, private joke lah this one!)

...and that's three wacky videos to keep you occupied till the photo story coming up in the next post!

i woke up to monday (sung to no tune in particular)

i woke up to monday
(boy, was it blue)
rehearsals all sunday
(yeh lai xiang for you*)

my colleagues were whining
and going mad screaming
over the loud piling
for the nearby new building

the atmosphere tense
the pressure immense
my neighbour was grumbling
enough with nonsense!

for lunch we drove out
to the village so glee
at the shut stall, we shout
what, no prawn mee?!

the evening had come
my brain declared dead
unfortunately still some
vexation lay ahead

i tried to unwind
Ipoh Town** in my mind
the yoga would do me good
(of course, after food!***)

half past seven arrived at last
the rehearsal was quite a blast
we even got to go home early
so to Caltex****, went the cast

nasi lemak, tandoori chicken
80's tunes filled the cool night air
plans were made for merry-makin'
in the days ahead so fair

the sandman is now taking over
and soon i will be keeling over
but wait, before this rhyme is over
here's something for you to ponder

GO GET YOUR TICKETS FOR BROKEN BRIDGES!
we promise it will be worth your riches
come with friends, and bring some tissue
03-4047 9031 that's how to reach us!

* a line from one of the songs in Broken Bridges (which, by the way, will be performed at Taman Budaya Perak, Ipoh, this Friday to Sunday!)

** title of our opening song

*** the time before and after rehearsals is all about food. well, actually, in Malaysia, rehearsals are all about food...

**** actually, it's the mamak stall near the Caltex station on Jalan Ipoh, where we regularly "fill up" after rehearsals. i think the stall operators actually missed our boisterous company during our 2-month break from rehearsals!

wednesday (ran out of titles)

iGiveup

i found that my iPod at least still charges when i plug it in to a PC. for now, i ain't updating my iTunes any further. in fact i'm planning to get rid of version 7 altogether. found an old iTunes 6 installation file... i shall install that and hope for the best!

the Gmail accessibility problem appears to have disappeared vis-a-vis my home network. not switching email addresses back tho, since i've already set up the new account..

re-building bridges

meanwhile, rehearsals for the Broken Bridges Ipoh show commenced yesterday with a bang... it was like a reunion of sorts.. we should do this every few months! bring broken bridges to Penang! (Building the Second Bridge?) J.B. (Crooked/Scenic Bridges?) ouch.

we had four new cast members, most of whom appeared to have very impressively learnt almost all the songs already (shame on us! ah, then again, we didn't have the benefit and convenience of a CD. ha ha). one hopes, though, they won't be remembered as "the guy who's singing vincent's part" or "the guy who's doing leroy's lines"..

Leong (not his real name) christened me Gen2 for my attempts at imitating our absent pianist (named Gen. duh.) 'tis a deep honour indeed to be named after our a model of our national car. many apologies for the botched modulations, butchered chords and general honky-tonkness (the last one wasn't my fault - couldn't find out how to turn on the sustain pedal!)

ah yes, tickets for broken bridges ipoh. tickets will be on sale to the public from the 22nd to the 26th of Nov 2006 (did i get the dates right? we're performing from 24-26 but the crew will be around from the 22nd onwards) at the Taman Budaya Perak, Ipoh (where the show's gonna be). alternatively, you may contact any of us cast members (i.e. myself included) to get tickets.

for all ye who read previous blog posts and totally regretted missing the shows in KL!

Broken Bridges The Musical, a charming tale of why white coffee doesn't taste the same anymore, and which played to awestruck audiences at KLPAC in August-September 2006, goes to Ipoh this month!

24 & 25 Nov 2006 @ 8.30pm
26 Nov 2006 @ 3.00pm
tickets at RM40
Taman Budaya Perak, Ipoh, Malaysia
For more info, please call 03-4047 9031

the stage right sideshow

play the above video to view the background antics to the onstage love story (in case you've forgotten - Broken Bridges The Musical, August-September 2006 :-) - which pretty much occupied all my blog posts in the past months) i've been trying to post it up for ages (i think my patient fellow cast-members have given up on me and my empty promises to update my blog)... and when the internet connection stayed sane long enough to finally enable me to upload the entire thing, i started having problems linking it in to Blogger.. and finally now i realise that i hadn't edited the orientation of the video, so, sorry folks, just flip your screen 90 degrees CCW to view this, yeah? :-P in case i haven't raved about it elsewhere in the blog, Broken Bridges will be running in IPOH from Nov 24th to Nov 26th, 2006 (hor fun and white coffee, here we come! and oh yes, the Bidor duck noodles on the way too), so pick up your pencils/pens/styli, and mark your calendars now! 'tis the season for failing equipment. first, sis' laptop (actually, it used to be mine) kaputed of what was largely old age. then my dad's PC died of fried motherboard, which left him wondering whether he should get a new one now or patiently wait a few months for Vista (and, of course, i've run out of laptops to lend him - last one was the aforementioned one that went to sis). and today, it looks like my PDA-phone may have decided to give up the ghost too. am using a borrowed Dopod smartphone right now; haven't had time to check out its features, except that it has a pretty cool default ringtone and an SMS alert that doesn't sound too grammatically correct ("You got message!"). the email alert is a little strange too ("You got mail!") and oh, note to self: stop tapping on the screen.. in the meantime, best wishes to all for a grand Deepavali and Hari Raya. may you have a pleasant, haze-free, uncongested (traffic-wise) drive back to your kampung if you are travelling during this wonderful 5-day weekend! after a food-filled trip to penang 2 weeks ago that probably tripped the cholesterol meter by more than a few notches, i think i'll be spending the holidays attempting to sort out a decent research proposal (everybody repeat after me now, "NERD!!").

Ipoh Town - The Unauthorised Reprise

This was taken during the cast party, where someone spotted the mock-up of our Broken Bridges set lying around and started simulating the Prologue.. with the part of various characters played by handphones and plastic cups, and the part of the veg seller played by a leaf of lettuce... Don't expect ANY proper closing-of-words or clarity in pronunciation here...

would you do it all over again?

two weeks passed by in a wink of an eye.

i had gotten so used to the routine that seemed to to be the reason for my existence - jumping into my car at 4.30pm and snaking my way out of the winding roads of the Back of Beyond praying for good weather and good traffic to get me into town before 6.00pm; darting from a hurried gobbling of salads and sandwiches to sweaty warm-ups on stage to rushing out to get miked-up in the middle of applying the third shade of eye shadow on the left eye; belting the instrumental parts to Miss Saigon in the dressing room with the superstars; lending cast members white eyeliner and mascara; taking in spurts of Sore Throat Spray - the elixir of life that was a panacea for symptoms ranging from parched throats to endless dust-allergy coughs; handing my locker key to our dear pianist for safekeeping; standing on stage taking in the view of the hundreds of brightly-coloured seats which would be filled with people within 45 minutes while taking in the Overture that would lead on to chorus after soaring chorus of Ipoh town; hearing what Joe/Faridah/Mervyn had to say to us for the night; returning backstage for the crucial session of vocal warm-ups while staring at the mirror patting on last-minute dashes of eyeliner; listening out for the announcements over the PA system (which wackiness went up several notches on Sunday Sept 3rd); and finally making my way out to join the Stage Left family - the schoolboys, office guys, beggar, fellow pseudo-40-something aunt, coffeeshop owner, char siew pau kid and superstar, watching the screens, exchanging break-a-leg hugs and pacing the floor; and finally, the band would strike up the familiar oriental melody of the first few bars of the Overture.. and after countless nights, the rest of the next 2 hours would run almost like clockwork.

Sunday, 3rd Sept, finally arrived. it was amazing to say the least.. we had come so far. we were passing programme books around for autographs and snapping photos at every opportunity. after messing up my eyeliner tearing up during the warm-ups due mostly to a huge surge of 'this is the last time i'll be [insert every detail of the pre-performance preparations]' (knew that would happen, being the hopelessly sentimental fool i am) i willed myself not to choke up on stage at curtain call (and even took a few extra snorts of the anti-cough sore-throat-spray before going on for whatever it was worth) but that was hard too..

and Sunday marked the curtain on two weeks of unrelenting energy on stage, equally unrelenting wackiness off-stage, the warming-up to the glare of spotlights on the stage where you take on the personality of the simple small-town character that had essentially become your alter ego, watching the screens for the 'usual' laughter-triggering sections of the show, hoping nobody would leave any more footwear or spherical pieces of processed meat on the stage, waiting eagerly for the infamous Stage Right Sideshows during Act 2 Scenes 5 and 7, running to the sound crew for mike adjustments after every other scene, running into the dressing rooms for makeup touch-ups, watching the 15-minute interval fly past, not believing the night has already progressed to "white coffee doesn't taste the same anymore", the mad rush to get de-miked after the curtain call (especially for the superstars who exit from the vormitory!), and of course supper thereafter..

the cast party had a sober feel about it. it wasn't exactly a "we'll be going our own ways now" thing (as many were people i knew i would see in future productions... and others online thanks to the Internet!) but there we were - 4 months ago we were just learning the songs, wondering if we'd remember the choreography, and freaking out over memorizing lines (with me making feeble attempts at doing it while falling asleep in the sweltering Californian summer and then in the heart of the Southern hemisphere winter). now we were holding our cheques and slowly realizing that the next day we would NOT be doing our usual thing at 6pm.. almost as if a fantasy we had been living in was over. back to reality.

i've been having a rather dreadful week at the office clearing up work built up over the last 3 weeks or so AND trying to mask the post-performance withdrawal symptoms with office routine (it doesn't help that my neighbouring colleague bought our Original Cast Soundtrack CD and plays it almost every other hour of the day!).

but it's been worth it.

and yep, i would do it all over again.

(photos in next post. haven't figured out how to distribute the infamous Stage Right videos..)

A Slipper? Beam It Up to Pentas 1, Scotty!

(1) a fictitious Slipper Scene
"Leong, you are my bestest friend.. but your SLIPPER!!!"

(2) a fictitious Meatball Moment
"Aiyah, the Ah Sohs all mengarut lah.. men are actually more like meatballs... red and meaty. Period!"


(3) what will happen next?
"It dropped out of your pocket? So much for your 'A' in Science of Pau!"


(4) how far will it go?
Superstar: "Your Chan durians are ridiculous! They're full of sand! And bricks!"
Sub-superstar: "Yeah, just like the suitcase you made me lug up the stairs earlier! Buahahahaha..."

Cinderella Calls

we had another standing ovation on Wednesday on the charity night. we must have been doing something right. i even managed to bump into a long-lost friend from school who attended the show without knowing anyone she would know would be in it, opened the programme book, found my face, and went "HEY, I KNOW THIS WOMAN!!!" and then flipping some more and going "HEY, I KNOW THE LEONG GUY TOO!!!" so, as it turns out, she and my fellow actor were in the same school bus. (and of course all three of us went to the same school at some point in time)

the arts brings people together!!

the smaller crowd on Thursday were delightfully responsive at times, despite most of us battling various degrees of exhaustion (especially after driving through sheets of torrential rain and the snarl on every single highway and byway between work and theatre yesterday). the topic of the night (and of mamak sessions thereafter, i'm sure) was, of course, The Cinderella Slipper (we still don't know who exactly crashed into whom or who trampled on whose foot resulting in a slipper left on stage, but the names Mark and Vincent are quite high up on the popularity (or is it blame) meter!), and perhaps also, The Curtain Miscall (ah well. knew we shouldn't have relied on Superstar for the cues!).

.. yes i'm gonna leave you with those entirely useless bits of information .. now go GET YOUR TICKETS!

anyway, i decided to stay in and work from home today to make sure i don't develop a headache by the end of the day.

a friend working with a subsidiary of the show's title sponsor turned down two free tickets for tomorrow's show to catch Eason Chan in Concert. ![insert expletive here]! anyway, i've asked the said friend to get whatever free tickets she can from her boss and pass them to me to be given away (apparently the response from her colleagues was rather lukewarm.. must be bloody Eason Chan fans....) so yeah, IF i get a bunch of free tickets to tomorrow's Broken Bridges you'll hear about it... that is, if i still have any left after giving them away...

by the way (nothing related to Broken Bridges at all) a bit of fun stuff and free advertising for the world's largest software company (not that they need me to do it).. get your free Microsoft Tech.Ed 2006 Meego (i.e. interactive MSN Messenger display picture) at http://www2.meegos.com/teched/?PUID=0006BFFD82F61EFB&TCID=2169. (i suppose i'm also supposed to also go on to say "go register for Tech.Ed 2006!" :-D)

oh yes, we have a review on Broken Bridges on Kakiseni, by Nigel.. (and i thought Nigel was here just to watch us in the show! geez.. :-D) here's the review (surf over to the original source of this article on Kakiseni, where there are PHOTOS too!):

The Scenic Bridge of Ipoh
Broken Bridges: Can a musical theatre work by first timers be entertaining?
by Nigel Skelchy
24-08-2006
(from http://www.kakiseni.com/articles/reviews/MDkyMw.html)

There is always that moment of trepidation when a curtain rises on a musical for the first time. If the impact of the first scene is less than a sonic boom, it muffles the rest of the musical. What more an all Malaysian musical written by two untried and untested neophytes? It is the rare one that lives up to the promise of their glossy literature. Broken Bridges, running at KLPac – Pentas 1 right now, opens humbly enough with a beggar woman (Fang Chyi) shuffling quietly onto stage. Then the sepia toned frames, doubling as backdrops, are whisked apart as the townsfolk enter singing “Lively town, lovely town, Where it’s bound to astound…” From the sweet solo strains of Fang’s voice as she wanders the streets at dawn to the Ah Sohs going, “how’s the kailan, not so nice, get some tau foo,” to the men joining in with their baritone, the opening number builds to a big, rousing broadway finish, and nicely segues into the introduction of the protagonists.

Set in Ipoh of 1959, Ming and Leong are teens who have just completed their Senior Cambridge. Leong is content to eventually take over his father’s business and make a brand out of Chan Durians. But Ming, son of a coffee shop owner, Wong, is full of dreams and is chomping at the bit to leave Ipoh and make a name for himself.

Chan and Wong, the boys’ fathers, however have other plans. They waste no time in arranging the marriage of Ming to Chan’s 17 year old daughter, Siew Yee. With great reluctance, Ming goes on a date with her. The three aunties, Yat Soh, Yee Soh, and Sam Soh (although she has a Chinese title, she is, in Muhibbah Malaysia, an Indian), coach the adolescent girl in the arts of attracting a man (men are like char siew pau, “white and clean on the outside but red and meaty on the inside”).

When the two youths return from their date, the fathers joyfully announce their intentions much to Ming’s dismay. It is this conflict of interests that drives the plot to its unexpected but appropriate end.

Likeable small town folks

Broken Bridges, as directed by Joe Hasham and produced by Datuk Faridah Merican, is structured in typical musical theatre style from start to end and makes no pretensions to be anything other than a piece of great entertainment. And as entertainment, it naturally stars some heavy hitters. Douglas Lim, of Kopi Tiam fame leads the cast of very seasoned veterans in the role of Ming. Other notables include the cabaret comedienne Joanne Kam Poh Poh as Yat Soh and popular TV actor Tony Eusoff as Ringo. Choir trainer Colin Kirton plays Ming’s father, Wong. Ming’s best friend Leong is played by Ho Soon Yoon and his father, Chan, is played by comedian Monti.

The leads have their coming timing down pat and the one-liners are delivered with much aplomb. The audience is naturally drawn to the likable small town folks. The loyal friend is played to great effect by Ho Soon Yoon who injects his performance with empathy, and frivolity. Douglas Lim PERFORMS – as opposed to just SINGS – his role to perfection. His theatricality, the larger than life gestures, and the emotive singing are perfect for musical theatre. And Yes, Douglas Lim can sing!

Kudos to Colin Kirton who acts with such nuance that although he plays this tradition bound father who is overly strict with his son, you feel for his pain and bewilderment.

Yat Soh, Yee Soh, and Sam Soh, the dragon ladies, played by Joanne Kam Poh Poh, Chan Wen Li, and Pangasaanii G, add much colour to the fabric of Ipoh society as portrayed in Broken Bridges. The trio are reminiscent of the mice in the movie Babe. Unlike the mice however, they are active participants in the plot and sub-plot.

Do the right thing

Tony Eusoff does his usual star pirouette but his role begs more development. We don’t know enough about him for a character who is the catalyst for Ming’s decision to leave home. Same problem with Ming’s girlfriend, Mei Ling, played by Janice Yap, in the second half. She is introduced as a smart, modern girl with a penchant for reading and thinking – a stark contrast to the girls introduced to Ming by the intrepid trio of dragon ladies. Without much explanation however, she is eventually reduced to being the small town Ipoh girl stereotype. These two seem to have interesting back stories which could be explored further.
Another question mark is Ming’s argument with the townsfolk over Mei Ling’s fate. While it is obvious that the townsfolk blames Ming, his retort that it is their fault is not explored, leaving a feeling that the townsfolk have too readily accepted his judgment in the matter without any discussion. It feels glossed over, this issue of personal responsibility and how people need to do the “right thing”.

While it’s unlikely that the composer and writer are intending to create a musical with issues, it’s the issues that make a story interesting. In a sense, everything that Ming’s father was driven to do – arrange the marriage, dismiss his son’s aspirations as frivolous, and ultimately deliver an ultimatum that becomes too hard to retract – stems from his own desire for his son to be secure and protected. The issue of the father-son relationship is at the heart of this musical and to a large extent any aspect of the plot that has an impact on it deserves some exploration. For example, what does Wong think of Ringo, Ming’s cousin, for example? It’s possible that Wong despises Ringo. It’s also possible that he thinks the world of his sophisticated nephew. Would he have been more willing to listen to reason if approached by Ringo about Ming’s leaving for Kuala Lumpur?

Thankfully, however, none of these unsolved mysteries affect my enjoyment of the musical. They remain as intriguing questions that could be answered in part or in full in the next run, perhaps?
And for completely personal reasons, I think another portion deserving of more time is the cabaret boys scene. They come out looking like outtakes from a Chippendales show and before you can blink, it is over. In a musical, any excuse for a cheesy, corny, sexy number is ALWAYS welcome. Choy Le Roy, nice arms.

No pretensions

Pacing is superb. There is not one moment when the story drags. The singing is polished. The ensemble is well rehearsed by Mervyn Peters, timing is tight and the mood is nuanced. The music, directed by James Boyle, sounds obviously computerised in parts. But given the budget and the small orchestra, the music is pretty okay. Some voices sound tight and do not have the polish of Broadway performers (in a manner of compliment, I don’t think it is unfair to compare them to the industry’s best at all).

The choreography by Pat Chan is not spectacular but is nevertheless serviceable. Look out for Joanne Kam’s four-fingered instructions.

The production designers deserve special mention. Loo Jia Wei and Arica Chia outdo themselves with the clever use of mobile sets and those sepia toned photos of straits settlement shops on the hanging frame. Discordance, disharmony, and discontent are visualised by skewing the hangings and using projectors to display images of cracks.

For a musical that moves forward almost 47 years in 2 hours, costumes can be particularly challenging. But Chin Khin Yeow deserves much praise. From pleated A line skirts to the drainpipe trousers of the men, Broken Bridges is certainly well-dressed for its times.

In musical theatre, plot is secondary to the music. The music needs to be singable, clever, and able to advance the plot. No matter how cheesy or corny the plot could be, the music needs to reflect the mood of the scenes while a central theme tie the entire musical together. The opening number “Ipoh Town” seems to be the theme song but it is not reflected in the interludes. Hence it seems like the song is repeated 3 times rather than being used as a central motif binding the musical together like a ribbon on a present.
The melodies are catchy and the lyrics original. The “question and answer” format of the conflict music – with the singers “arguing” with each other – produces some of the slickest and cleverest songs I’ve heard in a long time. Look out for “Proud,” “Why,” and “No More” to catch this exciting bit of musical creativity. You will never have guessed that the composer and writer, Teng Ky-Gan and Lim Chuan Yik, are first timers.
On the whole, Broken Bridges is accessible, empathetic, and ultimately entertaining. Everything a good musical should be. It has no pretensions to be anything other than what it is. Like a good Malaysian food court, it has something for everyone. Fun songs delivered well, interesting conflict to make the audience root for the characters of their choice, poignant relationships, love, anger, and blind ignorance. In short, people will find it very easy to relate to, whether you are a child, a parent, a sibling, a best friend, or even a well meaning neighbour.

Huge claps on the back for everyone especially to Teng Ky-Gan and Lim Chuang Yik. When’s the next one coming out boys?

Broken Bridges is running at KLPac – Pentas 1, from Sat 19 Aug – Sun 3 Sep 2006. Tel: 603-4047 9000.

Glad to Have You Around!

we had a standing ovation tonight.

in fact, the near-full house audience were great and wonderfully receptive throughout. it was a pleasant surprise, as most of us didn't feel (or i didn't think anyway) that we put on an exceptionally stellar performance tonight, possibly due the exhaustion from the weekend opening run. for me, yesterday's 'break' turned out to be a day of catching up with work instead.. so i was rather difficult today to get into the swing of things.. it seemed ages since i last stepped into the theatre. the usual 45-minute warm-ups in the car didn't inspire my unresponsive grey matter, and after getting miked i had started to nod off (horror of horrors!) during the soundcheck process.

thank you all ye wonderful people who attended our show and provided valuable feedack thereafter.

also, contrary to what was told to me by Box Office staff a few weeks ago, i found out that tickets ARE in fact still available on Saturday August 26th. both RM80 and RM60. so go get your Broken Bridges tickets! Box Office Tel 03-40479000!

Come on down to Ipoh town!

This is Ipoh Life!

(photo on left taken during a rehearsal)

am still reeling from Opening Night Euphoria... the culmination of 4 months of hard work has been nothing less than a thrilling rush of exhilaration... imagine watching your favourite musical from the stalls and wishing you could be one of the actors on stage, revelling in moment after moment of rapture and giving all you've got to the audience.. now imagine actually being up there on stage. this was not my first stage appearance, but certainly a debut appearance in musical theatre... and first freaking LEAD ROLE in ANY musical performance... i suppose this is a pretty significant milestone in anything in the performing arts i've done in the past 6 years (strangely enough, not even being a Grisette in Merry Widow - my first major dancing role - came close!)

could almost not deal with the magnificent surge of backstage adrenaline rapidly welling up as as the band striked up the Overture to the serene Beggar's opening to the rousing first 8 bars of the signature tune (which, by the way, has been my all-time favourite moment of the play - the strings, piano and drums setting the mood and revving us all up to our first appearance as townsfolk of an town awakening to the hustle and bustle of a typical morning).

everything seemed perfect.. from the klutzy cha-cha amongst the drink-drinkers (our Ringo says I look like Olive Oyl in the costume - complete with lanky limbs and hair up in a bun - I must say I haven't heard a better analogy!! :-D) .. to the energy, passion and intensity of the second Act.. tears were coming on as if on cue... they might as well have included boxes of Kleenex on the prop rack ... i could swear a good majority of the cast was so emotionally involved in the story they were trying awfully hard not to choke on their tears by the time they got on stage for the requiem scene and thereafter..

i'd figure if there was such a thing as pure rapture, the Opening Night of Broken Bridges would come pretty close. (and i don't think it's the champagne in me speaking! :-D)

it was quite amusing how some friends thought that the musical accompaniment was "pre-recorded by an orchestra"... (now WHOM did you guys think we were acknowledging at when we turned to face the back of the stage during the curtain call? :-D) i guess the band should take that as a compliment.. i.e. that the music was so perfect it sounded too good to be live.. There IS a 4-piece live band at the back, folks! and (God forbid) in case anyone is guessing, we were singing live too.. (each of us was carrying a few thousand dollars worth of equipment on our heads and around our waists, which had to be subject to painstaking sound-checks before every performance..)

must say i was pretty impressed with our programme book too ... 76 freaking thick glossy pages in full colour where everyone looked absolutely stunning .. and they even printed freaking lyrics to all the songs... all that at a value-for-money 10 bucks! i was quite taken by the simplicity of the cast's unassuming biodatas... right now you guys are the people i love most on this planet...

oh yeah, also, i have a new warm-up CD now for the long drives to the theatre the next 2 weeks ... the Original Cast Recording of songs from Broken Bridges The Musical! i play Track 1, Ipoh Town, and i start to cry. i'm going nuts!!

tickets to Broken Bridges The Musical are still available! call the KLPAC Box Office (03-4047 9000) to get your tickets NOW!

here's to a grand 2 weeks ahead, all you wonderful Ipoh towners!!

of tents

3 more days.

time to brace self for long nights of tech and dress rehearsals.

must eat well and drink lots of water too, in order that i shall continue to look glowing and resplendent in the floral tent of a samfoo. no, no, really, it's quite comfortable. airy, too. one of the most comfy costumes I've ever had (second only to the the nun's habit in Tosca). and no, you're not getting a photo of the Floral Tent.. you'll have to come and watch the show! :)

spotlights

one week to opening night! can't believe we've actually made it through all those months of rehearsals already.. it wasn't too long ago when we were gaping awestruck at the killer rehearsal schedule and sitting in the rehearsal room trying to remember the melodies and lyrics.. or when we were sitting around outside the audition room waiting for our turns.. in no time it will all be over and we'll be wondering what we ever did with our lives after office hours :-D

will there be life after Broken Bridges?

there's SongFest and Xmas stuff with The Phil which i hope to still have the time and stamina to join in by then (family members who haven't seen me much in recent months may start to forget that i exist!). i can probably also get back to watching some shows (especially the ones that are up for judging, before the organising people of the awards start shooting me dirty looks, haha). and to get back to leisurely late breakfasts on weekends without having to worry about whether my digestive system would revolt later on during the warm-ups.

BUT OF COURSE, there's the Ipoh run of Broken Bridges which i can hopefully join depending on the rehearsal schedule! who knows, perhaps somebody will want us up in Penang too (and all our lines will have to be Hokkien-ified ... I can see it already ... "Rule Number 2! Always look down! Pai-seh a bit...")

anyway, for now, am glad for tomorrow's day off. the huge mouth ulcer that has been maiming me for the past four days can finally take a break!

in other news, heathrow airport is in chaos after security measures were put in place resulting from the revelation of a (foiled) terror plot. disturbing. sometimes things are more disconcerting when you think of what *could* have happened rather than what actually happened. (like the incident last year that could possibly been an attempt by road bullies to get me out of my car) anyway, a friend is due to fly back from london within the next few days, and another is due to fly there tomorrow. wonder how their travel plans would be affected.

auntified and ancient

oi, haven you heard the latest news? the Bloken Bliges show ah, sold out aleady on Saterday 26 Auges and Saterday 2nd September wor! yalor, tiket all moh sai. No More! so laku one. but then ah, they say ah, still got a lot of tiket on Auges 19.. nehh, the one they call opening night lor... so ah, anyway, you all must go and call the Kay El Pack faster faster and buy. ha. cannot just stay put lidat one, mus take some action lah! make sure that you not too late!

okokok i tell you all secret lah. mus watch one this show, very keng one, got all the ipoh place inside one. nehh, Hiu Loh Street*, Cathay cinema, all that they got say one. Tiger Lane also got say.. haiyo, so long never hear Tiger Lane.. now that road dunno call Sultan Aslan dunno wat name lah, so hard to lemember one... surrender, surrender (sigh)! haiya but better than Kay El lah, still stuck in that.. wat they call ah? nutshell.

yalor ipoh famous aleady after this show. hai, din know the people who write the show were so lek chai..

haiya, sorry ah, Day By Day become yee soh for so long aleady, the Lingo also become lidat aleady...

eh, don read anymore aleady lah. afterwards people think you are not doing your work...

* Hugh Low Street . Aiya, the spelling just seemed too refined, lah.

opportunities

was flipping channels on the telly last night (that's about all i do nowadays after rehearsals) when it landed Maximum eXposure and i spotted the Malay translation their tagline "we have lots of Really, Really Bad Days for you" flashing away as "kami ada banyak hari-hari yang malang untuk anda". it's a literal translation, nothing really wrong about it, but it just sounded.. weird. dunno. maybe some taglines aren't meant to be translated.

anyway, today has started off as a pretty Good Day. received an encouraging review on one of my academic papers. this particular paper is also possibly one tiny step closer to being published in a journal. *fingers crossed* also, i hope the boss approves my second overseas conference for the year in December! *more fingers crossed* and i hope the conference won't clash with the usual Christmas festivities of the Selangor Phil! *run out of fingers*

we received news yesterday that the PM will be attending the Sept 2 Broken Bridges show, which will coincide with the official opening of the KLPAC. sweet. he attended our performance of Tosca back in 2003 when he was DPM, together with PM Mahathir (as he was then); and i have a somewhat odd photo of self shaking hands with Dr M, with a man in a bloodied shirt and red lipstick standing on my right doing the introductions (well actually that was our Director who played Cavaradossi that night, who was shot dead at the end of Act 3 - hence the bloodied shirt) but unfortunately the photographers probably thought DPM Abdullah (as he was then) wasn't quite important enough to have photos taken shaking hands with the cast. ah well. i'll try and get my Abdullah photo this time lah. and at least i don't think i'll have any bloodied men standing near me who will need Photoshopping out ;) (yipes.. unless we have the Ghost of Mei Ling or The Unborn Child! :P)

anyway, we're having our photos taken for the programme book tonight. found out this morning that i ran out of concealer.. and started wishing that i worked in the city, where a dozen shops selling makeup would be within walking distance. ah well, will have to rely on Photoshop as usual lah.

Sneak Preview of Broken Bridges!

This was taken by Nazrul who attended our press conference last Tuesday. Enjoy! Also check out the post by Jasiminne (who also attended the PC) who also has some nice photos of the actors on stage..

We also appeared in the Weekend Mail on Sunday July 30th.. if you have a copy I can take/borrow (to photocopy lah)... I owe you teh tarik! Or perhaps Ipoh white coffee!

And if you're a reader of periodicals, check out the August issue of Her World where some of the ladies of the cast gave their few sen worth of what Malaysian women want.. (In other news, the FCUK top I wore in that shoot has finally entered the sale racks :-)) Anyway, don't bother trying to figure out which is me. I looked so different it took me quite a few seconds to find myself in that photo..

Broken Bridges - The Original Cast Recording

Title sound canggih or not? :-D

We spent a weekend in Pentas 2 recording the songs .. under the intense glare of spotlights and under the influence of good food - Joe's chicken soup, pomelos all the way from Ipoh and nasi lemak (we tried lah, to restrain ourselves, when it came to the sambal), just to name some!

This photo was taken on the Sunday. I think we were listening to the nth take of either Just This Once or No More. Sorry gals, for choosing an angle that captured butt cracks but no faces..

Buatan Ipoh

Broken Bridges is in the New Straits Times today!

It's a made-in-Ipoh musical
New Straits Times, 24 Jul 2006

Look out for Kuala Lumpur Performing Art Centre’s first original musical Broken Bridges, written by two diehard fans of musicals. FARIDUL ANWAR FARINORDIN writes.

EXPECTATIONS are high for Kuala Lumpur Performing Art Centre’s (KLPac) first original musical Broken Bridges, directed by the irrepressible Joe Hasham who is also the establishment’s artistic director.

A musical in two acts, it is Hasham’s third effort in putting together a cast who sing and dance after sharing the director’s chair with the late Krishen Jit for Opera Uda & Dara, a sleeper hit for The Actors Studio and Five Arts Centre (2002) and The Tree (1997).

Hasham may need help to differentiate between flat and sharp notes, but with composer/producer James Boyle on board as music director and Hasham’s better half Datuk Faridah Merican as executive producer, everything should be smooth sailing until the show’s opening night on Aug 19 (until Sept 3).

However, one can’t blame the show’s writers, Lim Chuang Yik and Teng Ky-Gan for being anxious. For the two best friends from Ipoh, the project — their first ever collaboration for a musical — is more than a labour of love. It’s their life.

Set in Ipoh, the story spans three decades and revolves around two childhood friends who end up seeking their destinies in very different directions. It is a drama that questions loyalty, family values, materialism, traditional values and other matters that can be set to serious music.

In an interview recently, Teng, 24, said the story “was initially our version of (Rodgers and Hammerstein’s) Camelot”.

Lim, 27, added: “We realised later that it didn’t work out the way we expected it to be. What we had in the beginning was an over-the-top musical which was actually based purely on our whims and fancies. After finishing the first draft in 2002, we realised that it was too grandiose.”

Diehard fans of Western musical theatre traditions, the two named musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein (King and I, The Sound of Music, Camelot), Andrew Lloyd Webber (The Phantom of the Opera) as well as Boublil and Schonberg (Les Miserables) as their favourites.

“We made references to the well-known international musicals for some of the scenes in Broken Bridges, just so that we understand the kind of emotions we want to convey. There are (Les Miserables’ protagonist) Jean Valjean-inspired scenes, for example.”

Their fascination with musicals happened when both were still in primary schools. Teng starred as one of the princes in The King and I (with Mano Maniam playing the role of the singing ruler), while Lim claimed The Fantasticks left an indelible impression on him.

With Broken Bridges, Teng said, it’s all about telling a good story. “It’s relatable and realistic, not something unusual and out of this world like The Phantom of the Opera.”

Still, it was difficult to find a producer who’s willing to put it together. “After completing the script in 2002, we approached a lot of people in the local theatre scene, mainly to find out if it is good enough so that we know where we are and what areas to improve on. But a number of them didn’t even bother contacting us back.”

Unperturbed by the lack of encouragement, the two soldiered on. The script was later handed on to the Perak Society of Performing Arts in 2004 to be staged, but nothing materialised. Months later, it found its way to KLPac’s theatre manager Teoh Ming Jin.

Lim recalled: “I was ready to throw in the towel. I told Ky-Gan: “Give it up man, nobody wants our script-lah”. Basically, I got tired of going around in circles. But Ky-Gan’s persistence paid off when Joe got hold of our script.”

Days later, the two received an e-mail from Hasham. “He said that he hadn’t the time to read it and we went ‘oohhhh, not again’”. When our first first meeting with him was postponed, we honestly thought that this was not going to happen. We finally had our first meeting with him on Jan 7 this year.”

On the outcome of the meeting, Teng recalled: “He (Joe) seemed to like it, although he didn’t look like he had read it. He also gave hints that he was interested to produce it only after listening to the music.”

Lim, who reads music “very laboriously”, came up with the show’s basic melody line and chords. “However, I knew nothing about moods, time or tempo so I sought help from Geneviene Wong, who is the show’s rehearsal pianist.”

Now that their baby is seeing its light of day, how do they feel now?

“When it dawned on us that Joe is directing it, we went “whooaaaaa... we got Joe Hasham, of all people!” After the initial “shiok”, we found ourselves getting more excited because there are such big names in the theatre scene who play the roles we created,” Lim said.

Broken Bridges stars Douglas Lim (Ming), Colin Kirton (Wong), Tony Eusoff (Ringo), Monti (Chan), Ho Soon Yoon (Leong), Joanne Kam Poh Poh (Aunty), Janice Yap (Mei Ling), Chan Wen Li (Aunty), Cristina Yap (Aunty), Maybel Chan (Cheong Soh) and Rachel Tan (Siew Yee).

“When we first wrote the characters, we only had our actor friends from Ipoh in mind!” Teng said, adding that he and Lim have been attending the rehearsal process and was happy with Hasham’s interpretation of the story.

“Joe actually removed a big chink of dialogue and replaced it with a non-spoken actions between some of the characters. It was mind-blowing to see how intense the scene came out. It is interesting how your story can be improved at the hands of someone so experienced like Joe.”

Lim now works for a pharmaceutical company in KL, while Teng recently began his career with a healthcare company.

The musical also features a huge chorus ensemble featuring cast members in multiple roles. They include Fang Chyi, Davina Goh, Emily Yoon, Yen Lin, Nicole Fuchs, Callista Chuah, Pangsaasanii G., Joanne Poh, Carol Wu, Vincent Lee, K.C. Lam, Choy Le Roy, Carliff Rizal Carleel, Patrick Teh, Johann Lim, Nick Dorian, Mark Beau de Silva and Azmir Abdullah.

There are 24 songs (including reprises) so far in the show and “Joe just asked me to write one more,” said Lim. As for the set, designed by Loo Jia-Wei and Arica Chia it is expected to be “the most elaborate KLPac has ever seen.”

I can hear the song in my head now, the emotionally-charged Do You Hear the People Sing? from Les Miserables. Ooh, the anticipation.

Note: Broken Bridges will be staged at KLPac from Aug 19 to Sept 3. Showtimes at 8.30pm daily except Sunday (3.00pm). There will be no shows on Monday. Tickets are priced at RM50 and RM30 (students, disabled and senior citizens only).

For tickets, call KLPac’s box office at 03-4047-9000 or The Actors Studio at Bangsar Shopping Complex at 03-2094-9400. You can also visit www.klpac.com for more information.

Get Your Tickets!

For the people who have been getting earfuls from me of "I'm in a musical called Broken Bridges" and "I can't join you all lah, got rehearsal tonight.. tomorrow also got... the next day also got... sunday also got... next week also got... next month still got...",

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW for Broken Bridges - The Musical!

Duration: 19 August - 3 September 2006 @ 8.30pm, Sunday shows @ 3.00pm (no shows on Monday)
Venue: Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC), Pentas 1
Price: RM80, RM60, RM40 (students, disabled & sr. citizens)

I love our poster:



The words in this shrunk softcopy of the poster are probably slightly blur with the exception of the Director's name (;-D) so here's what it says:

The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre presents
The World Premiere of

BROKEN BRIDGES - The Musical

By: Lim Chuang Yik and Teng Ky-Gan
Executive Producer: Dato' Faridah Merican
Musical Director: James Boyle
Choreographer: Pat Chan
Directed by: Joe Hasham

With:
Douglas Lim, Colin Kirton, Ho Soon Yoon, Joanne Kam Poh Poh, Tony Eusoff, Monti

Rachel Tan, Janice Yap, Chan Wen Li, Cristina Yap, Pangasaasanii G, Maybel Chan, Fang Chyi, Davina Goh

Ai Wen, Azmir Abdullah, Callista Chuah, Carliff Rizal Carleel, Carol Wu, Chi Mei, Choy Le Roy, Emily Yoon, Joanne Poh Yuet Foong, Johann Lim, K C Lam, Leo Selvaraj, Mark Beau De Silva, Nick Dorian, Nicole Fuchs, Ooi Yit Boon, Patrick Teh, Vincent Lee, Yen Lin

First time my name's on a poster after 6 years of dabbling in the performing arts. Kinda proud of it. (Normally I'm doing stuff too insignificant to warrant precious poster space, e.g. Random Chorus Member, Random Soloist with Insignificant Line, or Unseen Person in the Wings Who Opens Act 3 by Singing Songs a Shepherd Sings to his Sheep)

Anyway, I'll be playing the role of a middle-aged Aunty in 1950's Ipoh who, inter alia, dispenses dating advice and makes feeble attempts at matchmaking the protagonist. Shan't disclose any more, go watch the musical lah!

More about Broken Bridges from the KLPAC website:

"BROKEN BRIDGES is set in Ipoh in the 1950's. The protagonist, Ming, seeks to chart his own destiny while his father, Wong, has his own ideas for his son. Wong is the quintessential Chinese towkay, to the extent of arranging his son's marriage. Ming's best friend and neighbour, Leong, plays the obedient son. The stark contrast in these two characters begs the question: 'So what's wrong with the old ways?', and on the other hand, 'So what's wrong with the new ways?' With a persuasive cousin from the big city, Ringo, appearing on the scene, Ming finally decides to go against his father's wishes and leaves for Kuala Lumpur. 10 years later, Ming returns as a successful contractor, whose project is to tear down the marketplace and in its place, erect a new building. Problems occur; an unhappy relationship with the beautiful head-strong and self-opinionated Mei Ling; construction problems; promised sums of compensation never arriving...the townsfolk become troubled and angry. Wong, in a final act of fatherly love, makes a sacrifice for his son, totally unknown to Ming. Ming leaves Ipoh, humiliated, disappointed and totally ashamed of his father. In the epilogue, Ming returns 30 years later, and only then discovers the fate of his father. BROKEN BRIDGES is a big musical with an even bigger story; wonderful charm, humour and drama. There are 24 musical numbers, inclusive of reprises. There are 11 lead and supporting lead characters. There are also an estimated 15 chorus members playing multiple roles. BROKEN BRIDGES is a truly Malaysian Musical; but above all, it's absolute entertainment."

The press conference happening on Tuesday.. so look out for stuff on Broken Bridges appearing in a newspaper, postbox, wall or pillar near you!

Surrealism is..

.. doing up a website in a language you aren't terribly familiar with. especially if it isn't romanised. in particular, the Chinese version of the English site I had recently finished designing for a client. Sure, I've been given a bunch of text and instructions on what to cut-n-paste and where, but my forgotten knowledge of Chinese characters is rather limited to start with and to be honest, I don't know what most of the stuff given to me means, and obviously they assumed i did. (for all you know they're saying "we're never wrong. any errors on this website are the responsibility of the web designer who worked on this Chinese version of the site, who, by the way, doesn't know Chinese".) that's what you get for being a banana*. well at least I know enough about the strokes in Chinese characters to make informed comparisons to ensure consistency within the site.. but I seriously need to re-learn Mandarin, properly...

Speaking of learning. I wanna learn the drums too. (Empress is gonna lecture me for this :-D)

*Person of Chinese origin who doesn't know Chinese (Bananas - white on the outside, yellow on the inside!)

Of Recordings and Resurfacings

We will be recording the songs from Broken Bridges for a double-disc CD to be on sale during the run of the musical (Aug 19 - Sept 3). While the Ipoh 'field trip' to check out the places and types of food we've been singing and talking about has been cancelled (for this), it looks like we're still having a feast anyway - we'll be having a potluck of sorts for breakfast, elevenses, lunch and tea of healthy food (i.e. no chocolates, curry, chilli, PINEAPPLE LUMPS and anything else that may result in a cacophony of croaking). Will probably bring some Raisin au Fromage if I have the time to go grocery-shopping today. (Cheese isn't banned, right? :P)

Oh yes... TICKETS ARE ON SALE already for the musical... more info coming up on that!

In other news, the maid has rearranged the study room during our 2-week absence (with the best of intentions, of course; nobody can face the sight of a hurricane aftermath and not do anything about it), and I can't find a lot of things now (I have a photographic memory of where I put things and it's horrible when I can't find something I knew I placed *right there* a few days ago). On the bright side, things I've not seen for a long time have resurfaced.. like this photo of me and Form 3 classmates on an afternoon of gallavanting in the Lake Gardens (though I can't remember the reason we were there!) (Guess which is me.) I know at least three in the photo are married, at least one is in Singapore.. Wonder where everyone else is!

A Kampung Scene

The office is so quiet.

Man, this place is so quiet you can hear kelapa sawit drop!

In other news, I found 1/4 of a packet of Pascall's Pineapple Lumps still lying around in the coffee area from Monday. Shows you how empty the office is. How can anyone NOT stop popping Pineapple Lumps into their mouths? If no one else eats them up by 5pm I'm taking them back.. heh heh. Perhaps the Broken Bridgers may still have some to eat if I don't finish them up before I get off the Cheras-Kajang Highway!

She Speaks!!

Gaa.

Me guilty of not updating blog.

For ages.

So here be a quick 10-second summary of what's been going on in my life.

New job.

Sold old car to get this one. (And of course I'm replacing the front and back logos with Peugeot lions!)

Got involved in this musical.

In June, went here to attend sis' graduation. Traipsed around Palo Alto and San Francisco for a week unwittingly getting a tan and hoping I still remembered my lines for the musical when I got back.

Got back and had to start packing my room in the office cos the department was moving to a new block.

In July, went to New Zealand for this conference. Toured the South Island before that. Saw lots of sheep. Plenty of adventure. Car veered off icy road and got stuck in snowbank, had to hitch a ride to small town 40 km away to get a truck to tow car out.

Got back home with lots of Pascall's Pineapple Lumps to appease all the people I may have inadvertently irritated in some way or another by my being MIA for 2 weeks. Check out the TV ad in New Zealand for Pineapple Lumps.

Found out we still hadn't moved to the new building yet. Not till next week.

And all my worldly possessions in the office have already been neatly packed into 4 boxes.

Re-opened boxes.

Couldn't find coffee mug so using papercups for this week.

Wanted: Cure for Sore Throat

'Tis the season again.

It absolutely plagues and cripples you. You can't sleep, you don't feel like speaking, and you won't have an appetite even for the most tantalising of gastronomic feasts.

Have been drinking honey lemon (2 teaspoonfuls of Manuka honey in water, with 3 slices of lemon) the whole day and that seems to have been a great help. Well, at least the zesty lemon taste helps.

Woe to sore throats!

What's In Your Handbag?

I found out, after getting home, that I just couldn't zip my handbag close anymore. Stuff was just spilling out of it. Excuse to get new, bigger bag? Buahaha. Well, it's gotta fit:-

Phone - which is huge

Wallet - which is huge. And no, not because i have reams of currency or sacks of coins in it. More of accumulated payment receipts, actually.

Car/house keys - Kinda huge too. I don't know what half those keys do :-D

A tube of Mentos (Ice Mint flavour) - Perfect post-bakuteh fresheners, these.

Yellow Staedtler Textsurfer Classic highlighter (What's this doing here?)

Casio Scientific Calculator, Model fx-570s (What's THIS doing here?)

Laser mouse and its wireless receiver (No, I don't usually carry mice in my handbag.)

Thumbdrive, with lanyard - Nowadays, you don't leave home without your thumbdrive.

Black ballpoint pen, Cross - Someone gave me this before I left to study in the UK, all of 10 years ago. It's amazing how I haven't misplaced it yet.

Zebra Drafix Mechanical Pencil - Geeky-looking one. Had a similar one during my picture-drawing days, of course lost it along the way, and sis bought me a replacement ALL the way from the only Japanese stationery store in San Francisco, CA! :)

Lipstick - L'Oreal, Amazing Coral. Come to think of it, WHAT a name for a colour.

Minyak Angin Cap Kapak, 3 ml - Me is my name, headaches are my game. (Minyak angin is therapeutic, really.)

Piece of paper scrawled with access password to the students' common room - The lock on the door to that room used to be a little cranky. I once closed the door, from the inside, and somehow couldn't get it open again. I had to signal someone walking by (fortunately it was a glass door) to help me open the door from the outside. With the campus having just moved to new premises and all, she didn't know the password, so I had to mime the numbers to her from behind the glass, from memory, hoping that I had the correct figures, because otherwise I would be sitting on the floor throwing randomising devices (e.g. dice) hoping to obtain the correct combination out of 6.76 million possible permutations (26x10x10x10x10x26). Yup, that could easily have turned into a Really Long Day.

What's in your handbag?

2000-2005 In Retrospect

New year, new Chinese year, new clothes, new hopes, new resolutions.

And because I'm brain-dead from a designer's block on a web design job, here are 10 Milestones of the First Half-Decade of the 21st Century!

1. Learnt how to drive on KL roads

I only started driving after I graduated as I had all of 2 weeks between getting my licence and flying to the UK (and btw my driving-test session was the very last of the batch that didn't need to go thru P-licences!). My baptism of fire was having to drive from PJ to the Istana Budaya in Jalan Tun Razak, for a Carmina Burana rehearsal; my usual ride wasn't available that day. After having to go through the massive bits of construction at Jalan Damansara (the flyovers weren't ready yet!) and the even more horrible mess at the junction of Jalan Tun Razak and Jalan Ipoh, I got home with a stiff neck and even stiffer hands.. but that was it, I was a Certified KL Driver.

2. Got admitted to the bar

No, i don't mean the type that serves drinks.

3. Got a job

'Cos that's what graduates do when they come out into the job market. Doh. ;-D

4. Learnt enough about web designing (I hope!) to do it for others

Not that I felt I was so 'pro'. I was broke when I decided to give up comfortable monthly pay to do the MBA! :-D (Am still broke.)

5. Got myself a blog

The actual story (never revealed before!) was that, after a bunch of stressful months at work, I decided maybe I wanted to be an arts writer/journalist, and the idea of a blog came to mind as a means for practice. Well, I didn't become an arts journalist, but the blog stayed..

6. Wrestled enough time to take up my neglected second instrument again

And that would be the violin. And I don't pretend I can confidently say "I play the violin" without shivering in fear of someone asking for a demonstration. Whoops, I've got a class at the end of this week and I haven't practised.

7. Wrestled enough time to start tap classes

By the way, here's a recent article in The Star about the tap classes I was taking, and the instructors!

8. Dislocated a knee-cap, thus putting No. 7 on hold for more than half a year

There's something about orthopaedic injury that keeps hindering my efforts at doing something with dance. (Or maybe it's just mother nature trying to tell me that I'm clumsy :-D) Back in uni, I fractured my hip bone during a fall when practising a dance co-choreographed with Hall-mates for the Malaysian and Singaporean Society ball. I can't remember the other historical incidents but let's not bore ourselves with war-injury stories anyway..

Anyway, I'm still not sure my knee can take it yet. Dang. I wanna go back. It was the first dance of any type I attempted that I didn't have a screeching teacher yelling at me asking me to try and be more graceful. ;-D

9. Got an MBA

New knowledge, new outlook, new friends, new opportunities. Am terribly glad I did it!

10. Got married

Possibly the most significant milestone of all. And with it comes new abode, new family, new box to check on forms, new NAME :-D

(You know, the thing I like about numbered lists, apart from being structured, is that it gives the illusion that you've done a lot during the time-span under discussion..)

Anyway here's to another wonderful half-a-decade ahead (and hopefully the end of my mental block for this afternoon!)

YAAAM SENGG!!!

did you forget to feed your parking meter today?

today is a public holiday in KL.

today is NOT a public holiday in Selangor!

being PJ-dwellers and KL-workers, we forgot that the poor Selangoreans (or Selangorites, or perhaps Selangorees..) have to go to work today, and that the MPPJ officers could therefore be feeling mean today and decide to go on a parking-ticket-giving rampage on poor KLites who thought it was a holiday and forgot to put 60 cents in the pay-n-display machines. (got caught early this morning when we headed out for breakfast in Sec 14. fortunately we got the lower fine of 30 bucks as opposed to the (is it 300?) cos we happened to have a bunch of old tickets left on the windscreen - due to that the offence was categorised as "displaying expired ticket" instead of "no ticket displayed". thank God for loopholes, ha ha.)

so all ye gallavanting in merry Selangor today, DON'T FORGET to pay your parking, lah.

2nd chord sounds in world's longest lasting concert

HALBERSTADT, Germany (AFP) - A new chord was scheduled to sound in the world's slowest and longest lasting concert that is taking a total 639 years to perform.

The abandoned Buchardi church in Halberstadt, eastern Germany, is the venue for a mind-boggling 639-year-long performance of a piece of music by US experimental composer John Cage (1912-1992).

Entitled "organ2/ASLSP" (or "As SLow aS Possible"), the performance began on September 5, 2001 and is scheduled to last until 2639.

The first year and half of the performance was total silence, with the first chord -- G-sharp, B and G-sharp -- not sounding until February 2, 2003.

Then in July 2004, two additional Es, an octave apart, were sounded and are scheduled to be released later this year on May 5.

But at 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) on Thursday, the first chord was due to progress to a second -- comprising A, C and F-sharp -- and is to be held down over the next few years by weights on an organ being built especially for the project.

Cage originally conceived "ASLSP" in 1985 as a 20-minute work for piano, subsequently transcribing it for organ in 1987.

But organisers of the John Cage Organ Project decided to take the composer at his word and stretch out the performance for 639 years, using Cage's transcription for organ.

The enormous running time was chosen to commemorate the creation of Halberstadt's historic Blockwerk organ in 1361 - 639 years before the current project started.

That original organ, built by Nikolaus Faber for Halberstadt's cathedral, was the first organ ever to be used for liturgical purposes, ringing in a new era in which the organ has played a central role in church music ever since.

As part of Halberstadt's John Cage Organ Project, a brand-new organ is being built specially, with new pipes added in time for when new notes are scheduled to sound.

Cage was a pupil of one of the 20th century's most influential composers, Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951). Cage's avant-garde oeuvre includes works such as the
notorious "4'33”", a piece comprising four minutes and 33 seconds of total silence, all meticulously notated.

The organisers of the John Cage Organ Project say the record-breaking performance in Halberstadt also has a philosophical background – to "rediscover calm and slowness in today's fast-changing world".

From Yahoo News

More at BBC News

Website of Organ2/ASLSP:
http://www.john-cage.halberstadt.de/new/index.php?l=e

what keeps you sane?

what keeps me sane?

- instant messaging programs - ten years ago i downloaded the first version of ICQ which changed human communications forever (as far as i was concerned anyway).

- mamak or coffee with friends! - requires no explanation.

- music - listening to it, producing it (an exception would be violin music, in that, right now i still prefer listening to it played by someone else..).

- Calvin & Hobbes comics - the best thing to read in bed. lets you think happy thoughts in your sleep :-D

- Appendices to The Lord of the Rings - next best thing to fall asleep reading. (Don't get me wrong, I don't mean that the Appendices are boring. Really.)

- Making things - in school i hardly ever bought a wallet or a pencil case cos i made them all. haven't had time to do much these days but i should get that bag of sewing things out of the cupboard and make something!

what keeps you sane?

lazy tuesday afternoon

it was real hot and humid out there, and the bag of apples i bought 2 weeks ago would be making cider in the fridge if i didn't do anything about it, so i made an exotic (or so i think) drink out of red apples and ginger, topped with a stick of lemongrass (bruised on the thick end) and a bit of lemon juice. it actually tastes quite good, there's a refreshing whiff of lemongrass and a tangy lemon aftertaste.. except that i think i overdid the ginger (my throat is now seething with heat), and unless you're into sour drinks, a bit of syrup may come in handy.

i'd take a snapshot of a glass of the potent potion and post it up but i can't remember where exactly the camera is after the moving-of-stuff-around over the last week in preparing for the festivities..

speaking of which, i'd better start packing up the stuff i need to move over to the new digs. there isn't much pressure to pack quickly cos the two places are 10 minutes apart in good traffic.. nevertheless i think some stuff HAS to go over today.. since i'll have to get out of the post-vacation vegetation state and do some real work soon :-)

me the nomad.

bali hai

bali was great. the after-effects (well, two for now, cos my brain is still a little veggied):

(1) having to get used to the absence of strange road habits

(i) the balinese use car horns like there's no tomorrow. they honk at passing motorists to "alert them of your presence" (this was from a guidebook). yup. when a motorcycle emerges at the upcoming junction and your driver goes *honk*. in fact you would honk at virtually every junction. your driver changes lanes and while passing the guy who was in front of him, *honk* (and i don't think this was cos he knew the driver of that car). when they're stuck in a traffic jam, when it's obvious nobody's moving, *honk*. car accessory shops and mechanics must have a good life there.

(ii) they hardly use their brakes. going up a mountainous road MAY be an exception.

(iii) officially, they drive on the left side of the road. but more often than not, they seem to prefer the right side. (overtaking-lah)

(2) it's such a RELIEF now that you don't have to bargain every time you step into a shop!

i don't see why bargaining is such fun. it's an awful chore. every time you approach a shop they probably think Ooo, here come rich tourist, we must sell everything at sky-high price because tourist don't know better. for goodness' sake, do you seriously think i would purchase a pair of wraparound pants from a side stall in Bali at Suria KLCC prices when i can get the same thing at the Thai Fair near Carrefour's at RM10 without even having to bargain? and i'm sick of the i'll-have-to-say-take-it-or-leave-it-and-walk-away-but-you'll-come-after-me-anyway-yelling-the-last-price-i-wanted.. look, i just wanted to quickly grab a souvenir so i can move on to a bit more sightseeing and and you KNOW you'll sell it to me at that price anyway (and i don't look anything like a gwailo so i don't have any coffers filled with so much Rupiah equivalent the number of zeros will bust your calculators) so how bout we quit the whole charade? (i later found out that at the new Sogo store in upmarket Nusa Dua, you can get little batik-lined souvenirs at less than RM10 each. all in comfortable air-conditioning and no pesky salespersons and no bargaining necessary)

and speaking of Sogo bags, i should have left them at the hotel before venturing out into the stalls outside the Nusa Dua entrance..

"Oo, sir, ma'am, shopping?"

"Oh, So-go!"

"So-go shopping!"

"Eh, So-go!"

"So-go, ya?"

"You want shopping? Oh, So-go!"

"So-go!"

if i stepped into any of those shops then they'd probably be trying to sell me wraparound pants at the price of Benetton cos i'm bloody Japanese and i shop at Sogo (hubby does carry a bulky canggih-looking camera anyway and i lug a tripod around, so of course we're Japanese-lah). never mind that my Sogo carrier bag which attracted so much attention just contained stuff the stalls would sell me at twice the price.

the balinese are a friendly people, they really are. i wish they'd stop trying to make use of their charm to give me the "please ma'am pity me, i'm not even breaking even, i haven't sold anything today" pitch. i'm glad nobody this time round in Bali has resorted to "i've got kids to feed" thing or i'd have imploded (i'm too nice to explode, so i implode). hey, i'll do charity when i wish to, to a cause I feel like donating to. and after all i'm only a millionaire in Rupiah terms..