Mad March

Wheee... things will get a little more exciting this month.

March 6
My brother's birthday. But eh, since I got the modem and the wireless router and applied for broadband and all, no need birthday present oredi la kan?

March 8
Yay! Got a decent-paying corporate dinner gig with my band of legal brothers. The boo bit is, it's a Thursday night and smack in town at Equatorial Hotel. Not to mention I have a pitch presentation in Sri Kembangan that afternoon. Aiyaiyai...

March 18
The 10km run. Training has been put on hold since I got sick a week before CNY. Then with all the running around during CNY, it was impossible (though I did run around my cousin's apartment block not once, but TWICE, that week... and I took the stairs to her 8th floor apartment). Ok ok... NO MORE EXCUSES from today on!

March 22
Got a jazz gig with a jazz band (friends of IZ, my usual band's leader) for a wedding function. I like doing weddings. Less stress, more fun.

March 30
Off I go to Kota Kinabalu with YL. And we're climbing on April Fools. Hehehe... how cool is that. Gonna start taking the stairs up to the office from now on.

Yipppeeeee!

Adrenaline crash

It's almost like a sugar crash.
Only you can't fix it as easily.

I guess it's the build up towards Christmas, what with the many gigs leading up to December since October. It was a non-stop work-rehearsal-work-gig-work-rehearsal-gig-gig kinda life. Tiring, but great fun. And now, I suddenly don't know what to do with myself. Hahaha!

It was really nice to have something to look forward to. And to tell the truth, I enjoyed the process more than the final product.

Anyway, gigs with the band of 'legal brothers' went reasonably well. I guess with functions and weddings, we were just out there having fun, with or without screw-ups. No stress. Our latest wedding gig at One Bangsar was cool. Lots of dancing. Lots of people were letting loose. It was nice to feel the energy from the audience.

The gig on Christmas Eve with Fancy Poultry went okay. Although I effed up here and there, haha. Couldn't hear myself sometimes, which I found out later was due to the way I held my mike (aiyaaa). A bad case of nerves didn't help either - soundman said I sounded more confident during the soundcheck (sigh). Felt like shooting myself. Good learning experience though.

Taking this week to slowly shake off the lethargy and bleh-ness.
Been too lazy to blog. Or work. Or do anything for that matter. Heck, even getting out of bed feels like a Herculean effort.

Yet to blog about my Christmas feast at home.
Yet to blog about my very shortlived, futile attempt at girly-ness.
And yet to do helluvalotta things I'm supposed to do before the year is out. Sigh. Will do so as soon as I step out of the fog that is my brain at this moment.

Shameless Self-Promo

We're singing a capella, some jazzed up Christmas carols with GruvAvenue and a standard or two. It'll be fun :D

Free admission.
10pm onwards, Christmas Eve,
Bangkok Jazz, Chulan Square, KL

Come la! Don't let it be a Silent Night.

A very short long weekend

Love?
I saw Cinta on Saturday. When D suggested we watch it I was more than hesitant. Not that I have little faith in locally made movies (heh). But well...

The movie exceeded my expectations with well-developed characters and a good cast (mostly). Datuk Rahim Razali (Cikgu Elyas) was a joy to watch. As was Fatimah Abu Bakar (Rubiah). There was nothing over the top about this movie. Everything was understated, making it real and believable. I also loved how they featured the quaint parts of KL we don't see in our perpetual hurry.

The movie was a little like Love Actually, but Cinta's more than a fuzzy feel-gooder. It showed me what love meant to different people and made me think about what it meant to me, in its many different aspects. I teared at some parts, and I rarely cry at the movies. No spoiler here, so go watch it yourself.


The Bum
Bought John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley in Search of America from Pay Less Books.

I have too many unread books on my shelf at the moment. But I couldn't resist this one. Firstly, it's Steinbeck. Secondly, there's a dog in the book. Thirdly, the synopsis didn't sound as depressing as his previous books (this one's kinda like a little memoir). And last but not least, it was all of RM8.90. Wheeee!

I couldn't put it down and read half the book before I forced by myself to stop at 3am. From the very first page, I could relate to what he felt when he was 58. Although I hope I don't have to wait another 30 years before I actually do something about it. Here's an excerpt from page 1.

"When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever and now that I am fifty-eight, perhaps senility will do the job.

Nothing has worked. Four hoarse blasts of a ship's whistle still raise the hair on my neck and set my feet to tapping. The sound of a jet, an engine warming up, even the clopping of shod hooves on pavement brings on the ancient shudder, the dry mouth and vacant eye, the hot palms and the churn of the stomach high up under the rib cage.

In other words, I don't improve; in further words, once a bum, always a bum. I fear the disease is incurable. I set this matter down not to instruct others but to inform myself.

When the virus of restlessness begins to take possession of a wayward man, the road away from Here seems broad and straight and sweet, the victim must first find in himself a good and sufficient reason for going... [ ]"

Sigh.


Painful Ankle
I went to the gym. The pain in my ankle (goodness knows where that came from) plaguing me off and on for the past week put a stop to my running after just 5 minutes on the treadmill. Crap.

I ended up hobbling around Subang Parade Christmas shopping. I don't think all the extra walking did me any good. But ah... some retail therapy made me feel so much better. Bought a big bulk of gifts from MPH. Renewed my MRC membership. And saw TWO books I wanted to buy. Mark Haddon's A Spot Of Bother and Mitch Albom's For One More Day. But good girl me resisted. Must wait till the paperbacks come out. MUST wait. Hard cover so expensive lah. Tsk tsk.


Rehearsals
Saturday morning - the band.
We still don't have a name.
Any suggestions for a band of 4 lawyers and a copywriter?
4 Legals and A Gal? Nah.
Next gig, a wedding on the 22nd.

Sunday and Monday night - Fancy Poultry.
And more Poultry rehearsals coming Wednesday and Thursday.
Stressed out now cos we only have ONE practice session with Gruvavenue (the band performing with us) this Sunday before the Bangkok Jazz gig on Christmas eve. For some strange reason I'm NOT looking forward to this one too much.


Only in Malaysia...
...you can have a breakfast of yao char koay (fried dough sticks) with kopi-o, chee cheong fun and prawn mee in a coffeeshop, THEN walk to the mamak shop behind it for more drinks. Cheap and good.


Turkey scouting
Shockers.
Cold Storage Summit Subang - RM16.90/kg
Cold Storage Subang Parade - RM19.99/kg
Giant Kelana Jaya - RM16.99/kg
Village Grocer, Bangsar Village - RM18.99/kg

The price difference comes up to alot when an average turkey is around 5kg. No prizes for guessing where I'll be buying my turkey.


I love supermarkets
- I love them. I can browse the shelves for a long, long time.
Today I bought purple potatoes. They're like purple inside out. And Bosc pears. I love pears. And I wanted to get the Carlsberg Christmas Honey Beer but they were sold out. Hmmph.

- I realise I could be a little obsessive compulsive (if so I must have gotten it from my mom... NOOOOOOOO!!!). I found myself rearranging chocolate bars that were in disarray on a shelf. Then I saw another shelf in disarray and felt very, very annoyed. Strangely, I don't feel that way about my room or my work desk.

- Lots of pre-made stuffing on sale. And pre-made gravy. Oh how I'm turning my nose up at those.

- I don't understand this deep feeling of satisfaction when I walk into the non-halal (non-kosher) section. And the little twinge that tells me I should've bought something, ANYTHING, when I leave.

- There are PINK Smarties in Cold Storage. PINK! Nearly RM20. Nuts.

- Kids shouldn't be allowed to push trolleys. I was tempted to roll over one with mine.

Confessions of a cough syrup junkie

I've been coughing really badly since last Wednesday.
And sounding like the love child of Darth Vader and Chewbacca.

I still do. But maybe less of Chewbacca now.
The cough still annoys me to no end though.
Only upside, I have good reason to take Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa. I love that stuff. I'm only suppose to take 3 tablespoons a day. But I finished one and a half bottles over the past few days. Mmmmm... and that doesn't count the Nin Jiom candy I pop into my mouth. Hehehe.

Then I was told Nin Jiom only relieves the cough. It doesn't fix it. So I went to the pharmacy to get a good cough syrup and something to get rid of my phlegm (cos the one given by my company doctor was crap). The pharmacist recommended Tussidex Forte Linctus (the nasty tasting, sarsi-flavoured syrup) and Mucolator, a powdered, dissolve-in-water orange tasting expectorant. After just one dose yesterday, I felt the difference. Ah... quick. I want my voice back! Arrrggh!

Anyway. My last band gig on Thursday (some young lawyers' trivia nite), I couldn't sing at all. I couldn't bleat Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, much less do an Amy Lee. The guys had to do all the singing that day, while I stayed behind the keyboards. We did pretty alright and there was even an improvement on some songs from SY&HM's wedding, so that was good. Hung out at a mamak after that to chat, then bitched about having to work the next day. Obviously the late night didn't help my cough at all. I zombied through most of Friday.

Saturday morning was LL & MT's wedding at Holy Rosary church. It was beautiful. I love that church. Classic mosaic tiles. Pretty stained glass windows all round. If I were to ever get married, I want my wedding in that church.

LL looked nervous with his smile frozen in place, while MT looked the part of the glowing bride. After meeting her dad, LY and I saw where MT got her quirky sense of humour. He's a riot.

Their dinner was held the following night in Cheras. Getting there was a navigation nightmare. Good thing we went early and arrived before it got dark and rained heavily. The highlight of the evening was the video they made to tell their 'story'. It was hilarious and so well done. I loved how they took a jab at typical wedding photo-shoot slideshows (you know, those with corny love songs in the background).

This was the second time I saw a 'video' of this sort. The last being at LN's wedding in January. That was really funny. It's always such a relief to see something different at a wedding. Especialy when you've been attending at least one every month for the past year.

Damn. I really need to get rid of this effing cough. Fancy Poultry (we now have a blog!) rehearsals for our Christmas show have begun and I'm not of much use until I sound more human. I'm starting to feel a little stressed out. Doing a show at a venue like Bangkok Jazz means the audience are more discerning. We really have to make our show work. God help us.

Red hair, rock music & a canine party

That pretty sums up my weekend.

The haircut and colour.
I left it to the stylist to do what she wanted, after seeing the great chop job she did on LY's hair. She asked me how I wanted my hair done. And as always, I liked giving the stylist a creative free hand (I know what it feels like to be stifled by clients). I showed her some references in a magazine but told her she could have fun with my hair if she wanted.

The references I chose were uncannily like my last haircut a couple of months ago (read: boring). She said she'll give me something 'more fun', that is if I'm cool with 'fun'.

I glanced at her blond crop with bright pink streaks and swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Erm, OK. But not 'toooo' fun, ok? I don't know if I can take it."

After assuring me that she had a cool style in mind for me, she went to work.

The result - a shorter crop, with sharp angles at the side of my face and nape of my neck. The colour - a light coppery brown with red streaks. For the first two days, my hair looked more orange then brown. Now it's toned down somewhat, and I'm glad I don't look like Garfield anymore. Overall, I like it. Now I look less 'sleepy'.

The band.
We have a gig for a Bar Council event this Thursday. And we're playing mostly rock songs. Although I do enjoy some rock music, I was never a real fan of this genre. But rock is so cathartic. Syok sial!

We're doing some Radiohead, Good Charlotte, Creed, Bon Jovi, Black Crows, Jet, Howie Day, Snow Patrol and Evanescence. As well as some of the older songs we did for SY&HM's wedding from The Police, Wham and Duran Duran.

Doggy Party.
I finally had the very belated birthday party for Sunshine and got a few of my doggy lover friends over. Between 8 two-legged and 3 four-legged guests, we devoured fried meehoon (made by YL) with my Nyonya Curry Chicken (from the Nyonya cookbook I bought), deep fried chicken (from JK), fruit salad and dumplings (from SW), fresh sweet mangoes (frm JL) and drinks from Geekchic and her husband.



Sunshine thanks all of you for the being there. For your gifts. For the food. And for the sayangs. Wuff Wuff!!

Sayang

Mia Palencia's new single* has been out since September. If you loved her in Double Take, you'll love her first solo single. This very talented young lady wrote it in Malay, the only Malay song in her coming album (all self-written, no less). It's beautiful. Go to her website and take a listen. I love the seruling (traditional flute) bits.

Fancy Poultry (Nic, KL and myself, this time round) had the privilege of singing back up vocals for Mia on this single. It was a nice, informal recording session late one night at her producer Hardesh's place. After which she treated us to some pizza (my first time having pizza from the Canadian Pizza chain - in case you haven't tried, it's kick-ass**).

Oh yeah! Fancy Poultry is scheduled for a gig on Christmas Eve. Venue and time to be revealed to us by the organisers (we don't understand what the secrecy is all about)! Will let you know as soon as we know ;)

Fun! Fun! Fun!


* Available at The Guitar Store and MPH outlets for RM15. Single includes 2 other songs, such as 'Dreams' which will not be in her coming album.

** Go for the Mexican Fiesta - lean ground beef, red chillis, jalapenos, onions and capsicums. Sedap gila! Available only in Bangsar, Taman Tun, PJ and Subang Jaya areas. Call 1-300-880-241.

Wedding Jam

If I receive another wedding invitation in the next few years months, it'd be too soon. As it is, there are still 2 more weddings to attend until end of this year.

It's been coming at a steady stream of one wedding a month, culminating in the ultimate wedding overdose over the past 2 weekends. Just last week was BW & RT's wedding. Then it was WLY & CG's wedding on Saturday. And the day after, SY & HM's. Thing is, they are good friends of mine, and as good friends go, you become a 'sister' or ji mui. In BW & RT's case, BW is LY's brother, and her family has become like my own, so it was an occasion I couldn't miss.

SY & HM's wedding was especially fun for me though. Largely because I got roped into a band. The guys are HM's friends from legal practice (both SY & HM are lawyers) and boy, they are GOOD. The initial plan was for me to sing a song or two with the band backing me up. But IZ, the band leader, asked if I'd like to play with them. My itch to jam could not resist, so I took up the offer after warning them that I'd never really jammed with a band before. That my guitar fingers were way rusty. And that I hadn't touched my saxophone in 3-4 years.

Everything went well though. We were playing top 40 hits, songs from the 80s, Beatles and stuff. Nothing too overwhelming. And I was enjoying every minute of it. Before this band, I was (and still am) singing acapella with Fancy Poultry. It's great fun, and I miss them when we have no gigs in the pipeline. But I didn't realise how much I missed making music with a bunch of people until I started jamming with these guys. I was once again reminded me that I am happiest when doing this.

My favourite two songs from our performance last nite were Let's Dance (David Bowie) and Rio (Duran Duran). It was an 80s music reawakening for me. Never knew I would enjoy it so much. My limited sax vocabulary meant I could only play in limited keys. The guys were kind enough to accomodate my limitations though. Hehe.

Good news is, they want me to play with them long term. And they do get gigs every now and then. So I'm looking forward to more. We don't have a band name, but I think we are unofficially called The Backbreakers (IZ has a bad back from a slipped disk). IZ plays the bass, and he's got this beautiful Fender (I think) in a vintage case. We rehearse in the "mini studio" in his house (the living room upstairs), much to the chagrin of his wife when we create a ruckus in their peaceful sururban home.

MH and GL play lead and rhythm guitar respectively and both have great voices. These guys play and sing like they really enjoy it, simply because they do. And then there's CC, who's a treat to watch at the drums. I wish I had hand and leg coordination like that. I can't even shake a tambourine properly (confession: I have a weak sense of rhythm :P).

Anyway, the crowd enjoyed our music and danced late into the night, eventhough it was a working day today. I got home past 1am and I was still on an adrenaline rush I couldn't sleep until 3am. So it's me on autopilot, typing away right now.

Oh. And I'm so happy I bought a sax stand and this thing that looks like a feather duster to protect the inside from moisture. WOOHOO! Always wanted to get them but I thought, "What for? I hardly play it anymore." Now I have a good reason to. And IZ helped me get 20% off at Bentley's. Wah, good to have connections. Hee hee.

I'm so glad tomorrow's a public holiday.
Damn, I should've taken today off.

Oh, I was tagged by Mint Chutney for this meme. This one's quite free and easy. Let's see...

8 Things About Myself

1. I'm a pushover. I find it hard to say no to people I'm close to. Some say I should stop being "so nice" or I'd be taken advantage of one day. Sometimes I don't know how to draw the line. Some people call it 'giving'. Some call it stupid. I don't know. I just do what I feel is right. I don't think too much about it.

2. I love music. And I can't help moving and bopping and shaking my head to a song. Any song. Even in public. I look like a spaz when I do that.

3. I'm overly idealistic and optimistic. But that has decreased somewhat with age. Still, I never learn that a perfect world exists only in my mind and in fiction.

4. I can't sleep if I don't brush my teeth.

5. I'm a boring drunk. A cheap one too. Doesn't take alot to knock me out.

6. I hate the sound of running tap water. Long story. I also hate the sound of styrofoam rubbing against something. That, I can't explain.

7. While I'm generally bubbly most of the time, I have my dark and morbid days. I tell people that a comet should crash into earth and wipe out the human race. Let the animals rule the world. Being less 'evolved', they have an excuse for always trying to kill each other. Wait a minute. That sounds like a movie, doesn't it?. Oh, never mind.

8. I hate politics. I don't read the papers if I can help it. I also hate being ignorant. But it's less depressing when you are.

I tag Itchy Feet, Geekchic, Shryh, Yules, Spot and Snowie.

My babies

Just took some pictures of them.

Meet Honker, my alto saxophone.
Haven't touched it in awhile though.
Got this Chateau from Mahogany 4 years ago.

Knocky, my guitar.
A Spanish handmade classical - Raimundo Guitarras Artesanas.
And Knocky because I bought him brand new at a substantial discount (due to a dent on its body).

And Tonks, my digital piano, a Yamaha Clavinova.





Aren't they pretty?

Playing the blues

Just heard from my jazz piano mentor Eddy Sambuaga, that his day-job contract is ending. He's a consultant engineer at a local company which is not doing too well.

Being non-Malaysian, he'll have to leave the country.
A sad, sad loss to me cos I've only had a few sessions with him.

He'll be around for only another 2 weeks or so.
I hope I can squeeze in at least another 2 sessions before he leaves.

----------

Tomorrow is my last day!
After which, it's chill time.

Going to Pangkor Island for a short holiday next week.
Then to Penang with D and his granny for a weekend.

I hope I don't make this year-end job change a habit!
Hah!

Tinker Tonker II

At last, I have my first session with Eddy Sambuaga, jazz pianist extraordinaire.

We begin by skimming through common jazz chord progressions and construction. The funny chords I like to play now have names and purpose. And there are many I've never seen or heard before.

Then, we venture into the blues.
Ooh, I love the blues! But keeping in rhythm (especially with the left-hand) is a mean feat.

Yep. All that in lesson one.

Luckily for me, Eddy's really informal.
So it is not too overwhelming.
And boy, can he PLAY a mean piano!

He says if I'm hardworking enough (to practice), I should be able to hold my own after about 3 sessions.

I think he's being really optimistic.

Now back to that part about being "hardworking".
GULP.

Tinker tonker.

I've stopped playing the piano at hotels for 2 years now.
While I still play at ad hoc functions, too little time spent on the instrument has left my fingers stiff, my ears unresponsive and my instincts, flat.

Not that I have much technique to begin with.
I'm classically trained, but not the most diligent of students. I preferred the fun stuff like showtunes and jazz.

For years, I bluffed my way through songs.
And depended on my ear and gut to sound like I know what I'm doing (at least I hope I did).

While I can forget about enrolling in music college (too old, too late, too expensive), I've decided to take my music a little more seriously.

I'm starting lessons in 2 weeks with Eddy Sambuaga, a well-respected jazz pianist in KL and San Francisco.

Can't wait!