RWMF '08

I went to the Rainforest World Music Fest '08 held at the Cultural Village outside Kuching this year. I had heard all sorts of good comments and reviews of the festival and had been wanting to go for the longest time.

3 days of world music... people of all walks of life attended.. nothing but good ol music to bring people together under one banner.
I went with Mai
and Arid ... it was a good thing too cause both had been to the festival so they kinda knew their way around and all..

During the day there were workshops. Those were quite good. Performers would come together to 'jam'.

Some just do their thing... some were better on a smaller stage in a theatre as opposed to the big open air one at night. You can then actually see what's going on!


I bunked over with Mai and Arid at the Damai Laut Resort.. gorgeous sunset...

I even got a Henna tattoo whilst there... it was REALLY nice... take a look yourself!

me and Mai at the Iban Rumah Panjang during the acapella "jam" session...


Hiroshi during his solo performance in the evening on the Second Stage...

The main stage...

One of the performances on the main stage..

All in all, it was a good experience. The weather unfortunately was not as good. They might need to think of doing something about it for next year. The atmosphere was so energetic and lively. If I dont already have plans next year, i would definitely want to go again and this time take an even larger posse with me!!

Urbanscapes 2008

"Urbanscapes is organised by KLue and is the first and only all-day “user-generated” creative arts festival. Urbanscapes aims to bring together communities and participants from the fields of music, arts, lifestyle, film under a single banner to showcase the best of the local scene."

I hadn't had so much fun in such a long time prior to Urbanscapes. It was f**king brilliant! Plus the company was great!
As one of my colleagues rightly said, it's just the type of event I truly enjoy attending. Live music of all genres, theatre, improv theatre, art, crafts, food, etc...

We did some shopping and I found a studded Rolling Stones t shirt!! Just what I have been looking for! RM40.00... no brainer.. buy!!! I cant remember the exact details of the whole day, but the I do remember going to watch the improv theatre and somehow I got dragged in by Amelia and Sophie!
I was really lost.. didn't know what the heck I was supposed to be doing!!! I just went with the flow and had my fingers crossed hoping I didn't look like a complete retard! Unfortunately I'm not all that arty.. haha.. but it was fun.

Later we went into the main building and there was this huge chicken rice box man figure..
quite impressive really..
There were art installations in the lobby of the main building... very interesting indeed...
Later we went to the Acoustic Live House and watched Mia Palencia perform..
she's really entertaining. Very interesting lyrics.. always keeping us in stitches. She's got a really good voice too.


We later progressed to the main theatre where snippets of Air Con by Shanon Shah was previewed. Very disturbing play. I watched it a couple of weeks later. 3 hours long!! no joke.. very heavy stuff. Very eerie at parts and very moving story. Very real in parts too... too real... some scenes I was very very disturbed watching.. almost in tears even..

On our way out, we stopped at the entrance of the main building. A group of percussionists were doing their thing. It was fantastic! The booming rhythms.. they take over your body and it becomes one with the beat. You cant help but stand there and dance... everyone just danced around the performers and then I realized that one of them was Sham from Mix FM!
So I coudlnt help but feel like a gropie and took a pic with him.

We got food cause we were starved by then. The hot dogs were ggggoooooooodddd...
then it was off to the main live stage where local rock bands were playing.. and later to the makeshift outdoor dance floor.. absolutely fantastic dancing outdoors.

All in all, the company was briiliant, the food was good, the Acts were very excellent (well.. mostly.. haha) and I'd definitely go back again next year!

Dance

We competed at the Lion City Championships 2008. It was our first time tanning too! haha.. boy.. is it expensive!!! It was a really good experience tho... we've never competed outside Malaysia together and it was real fun.


We competed in the Grade C and Rising Stars latin... boy did we get our asses whooped!!! hahaha... knocked out in the first round of the RS and made semis for the Grade C...

None of the Msian or Singaporean couples made it to the finals.. it was left with only the Philipino and Thai couples.. shows how strong they are really..

Later, we competed at a competition in Shangri-La. I really cant remember what it's called.

Only in Grade C, and yes, again, we got our asses whooped! ahahaha...


The Thai kids were amazing!! We made semis again and then were knocked out.


Later, we tried to redeem ourselves at the Seremban Superstar Championships. Unfortunately, I have no pictures from that competition. But it was one to remember... not because we did amazingly well, but because my pants ripped from top till bottom and my ass was hanging out the entire Jive round. Maybe that's why we were placed 2nd in Grade C!!! hahaha... we didnt expect to do so well to be honest.. and we came 4th in the Rising Stars (4 dance) so that was a very good experience. It boosted our confidence.

Unfortunately, we stoppped training and having classes for a long time now and it's going to really affect us at our next comp which is this Sunday... good luck to the both of us!!!

In the past 2 years...

Where have I been? I've been working... I've been dancing... I've dated (mostly ending in disaster... one even abusive)... I've met new people.. made new friends.. lost a few... life goes on.

I'll attempt to blog about the few significant sparks of interest of whatever I have not blogged about...

Firstly and most importantly, I have to admit... my new found strength stems from an external source. A special someone.. KK... it's been a long time since I've felt this way about anyone.. sure I was in the dating game, but it became excruciating to the point I made it a conscious decision to stop dating anyone. It was unbearable and I wasnt dating anyone I was really interested in...

but KK is different... it took so little and yet KK has so much to offer. It's not so much what KK has to offer but it was the kind of person KK is. KK found me online and we started exchanging msges on a daily basis. My interest was sparked.. who was this person who was captivating me? I would always get excited when I saw KK's msg appear. Soon after, we met up and KK was everything I ever wanted. The perfect fit for the imperfect me. I've found life again in KK, and even though I'm stressed out from other aspects of my life, KK's love is carrying me through. Loving KK came to me like breathing... natural and done unconsciously. The best part is, KK loves me too...

next, I have a nephew and a niece.. both beautiful angels and there's always that fuzzy feeling of love when I see them even if only in pictures.


They're both precious and beacons of innocense and love. I cant help but feel overwhelmed by the feeling of love when I think of them.

In the past year, I've gone to several events. The ones off the top of my head now are Urbanscapes at KLPAC, the Rainforest World Music Festival 2008 in Kuching, the firm trip to Bali and to several plays such as Shanon Shah's Air Con and Gavin Yap's take on Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart". I'll blog about them separately tho.

As for dance... off late, it's taken a back seat to work and KK. But slowly I'm sorting out my schedule so that I can get back to dance again. Since the last entry I did on the inaugural KL International Dance Fest, I also competed in Singapore at the Lion City Championships, a competition at Shangri-La and the Seremban Superstar something in March.

I bought a new camera. After much consideration and advice from various parties, I decided to get the Panasonic Lumix TZ15. It was purchased in time for my trip to Kuching and also Bali. I absolutely love it. Next on my to buy list are a phone, an external hard drive.. my comp's dead so I've got to send it to a service centre soon... I HOPE I DIDNT LOSE EVERYTHING! *fingers crossed*, a holiday, a plane and maybe one of those mantions in Malibu... wishful thinking...

Anyway, I'll elaborate on everything else so I'll just stop here...

It is time.

Remember that line? Rafiki had said the exact line to Simba at the end of the movie the Lion King when Scar had been defeated and the hyennas turned on him. It was time for Simba to climb pride rock and take his place as the King of the pride lands.

Well.. it is time for me to resurrect from the 2 years of absence from my blog with only scattered fragments of my life appearing on it. I have been depressed, confused and silent for too long. It is time for me to re-emerge from the depths of my voluntary confinement.

I realize I used to write about lots of topics which had interest me. A lot of my dance competitions were documented well, and I talked about people and my life in general. But my e-journal has been silent since I fell into emotional turmoil. But I've found light again. One that is strong... oh, how I pray that this light will stay with me... stay with me in life, stay with me in death, and stay with me in love...

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

Looking in your eyes I see a paradise
This world that I found is too good to be true
Standing here beside you, want so much to give you
This love in my heart that I'm feeling for you

Let 'em say we're crazy, I don't care 'bout that
Put your hand in my hand baby, don't ever look back
Let the world around us just fall apart
Baby, we can make it if we're heart to heart

And we can build this dream together,
Standing strong forever
Nothing's gonna stop us now
And if this world runs out of lovers,
We'll still have each other
Nothing's gonna stop us,
Nothing's gonna stop us now
Woh woh oh

I'm so glad I found you, I'm not gonna lose you
Whatever it takes, I will stay here with you
Take it to the good times, see it through the bad times
Whatever it takes is what I'm gonna do

Let 'em say we're crazy, what do they know
Put your arms around me baby, don't ever let go
Let the world around us just fall apart
Baby, we can make it if we're heart to heart

And we can build this dream together,
Standing strong forever
Nothing's gonna stop us now
And if this world runs out of lovers,
We'll still have each other
Nothing's gonna stop us,
Nothing's gonna stop us

Ooh, all that I need is you,
All that I ever need
And all that I want to do,
Is hold you forever,
Forever and ever

And we can build this dream together,
Standing strong forever
Nothing's gonna stop us now
And if this world runs out of lovers,
We'll still have each other
Nothing's gonna stop us,
Nothing's gonna stop us
(And we can build this dream together,
Standing strong forever)
Woh oh oh-oh-oh
(Nothing's gonna stop us now)
Nothing's gonna stop us
(World runs out of lovers)
Now (we'll still have each other)
(Nothing's gonna stop us) us now
(And we can build this dream together) hey baby
(Standing strong forever) I know
(Nothing's gonna stop us now)