my travelogue and such...: 2009

Saturday 31 October 2009

Thursday 29 October 2009

Michael Jackson's This Is It

MJ's This Is It movie premiered worldwide on 28 October. It was indeed a great opportunity to be among the first to watch the behind the scenes of the This Is It concert rehearsals.

Should it materialise, the concert would have been a phenomenon! It would have been THE concert of the century. Detailed attention was given to each and every song with nothing left unturned, MJ had lived up to perfection.

All the 26 songs that were supposed to be performed were given special treatment. Elaborated special effects and props were planned for each song. To list a few:
1. Thriller - with the 3D effect of the zombies, flying bride and groom zombies over the aisle, and MJ coming out of a the mechanical giant spider
2. They don't care about us - with a band of one hundred thousand armies generated by special effects
3. The way you make me feel - with the workers on the building construction site in the background
4. Smooth Criminal - with special classic black & white movie
5. Billie Jean - with a special designed bling jacket with 7.5 lb of Swarovski crytals and 60 lights
6. Earth Song - jungle scenes & bulldozer
7. Man in the mirror - MJ's all time favourite song

At 50, his movements were fluid and seemed effortless- he still had it in him. All the dance move were perfectly synchronised. He knew what he wanted for the concert- his final curtain call and knew his music well. Too well. He was a musical genius and unmatched at that.

To me, it was indeed an eye opener of the MJ whom many of us see as a weird dude.

I went to the premier of This Is It merely as an audience and came back a fan.

MJ, may you rest in peace.

Sunday 25 October 2009

The Premier of "Cuci the Musical"; 23 Oct 2009

When WR said, "oh, we are going to watch Cuci the Musical at Istana Budaya on Oct 23", I really thought that he was kidding but since it was an invitation, I went along. As I have not watched the movie before, I do not know what to expect. Having heard from a close source that the movie was not that great, I did not put much expectations on the musical theater.

Boy, was I wrong!
With a line-up of great talents like Afdlin Shauki, Hans Isaac, AC Mizal, Awie, Harith Iskandar, Vanida Imran, Adibah Noor and Ramli Hassan, the musical was indeed in a class of its own.

Although I thought the music was a bit too loud, drowning the songs, I really hope it would be improved in subsequent shows.

Since I did not watch the movie, I couldn't compare the musical with the movie. It is somehow good as theaters should not be compared with movies. Anyhow, the storyline is similar and the bottomline - good will always prevail.

The show was really entertaining. There was never a dull moment throughout the entire show. The actors, being all professionals, played their parts well and made the entire show almost flawless.

Great singing voice from Awie and Adibah Noor, makes this musical stands out from the rest. It is quite impressive to hear Vanida and Hans, who also shared their vocals in this production.

A must watch for Istana Budaya musical theater fans. And for those artsy fartsy freaks, this is a commercialised theater, so go figure!

As usual, managed to get autographs of the main casts

Cool Adibah Noor. Great voice, big talent (no pun intended)

Hans...

The Choreographer of Cuci the Musical, Stephen Rahman-Hughes

Backstage
AC Mizal

Hans' dressing room... Tak dapat bergambar dengan orangnya, pintu pun jadilah...

Caught Harith as he was leaving... too bad, must stop for photos. Hehe...

Finally...
Managed to catch Afdlin as we were leaving...

Also managed to catch Hans right before we left.

Commenting on his singing in the show, Hans said "I also didn't know I could sing. I was only telling a story". Well Hans, the story that comes from the heart is what makes Cuci the Musical meaningful. It also proves that anything is possible if you just believe...

Kudos to Hans and the team for a great show. I laughed and almost cried at the part where the brothers were torn apart by greed and the power-that-be.

Indeed "Cuci the Musical" is a must watch and worth every RM spent on the ticket!

Disclaimer: The comments on this blog entry represents my personal opinion, pictures posted on this page are from personal collections.

Tuesday 1 September 2009

You know its almost Raya when...

Ayah brought back Baju Melayu for Adin and asked Adin to try it on with sampin, and trying to give Adin sampin tying lessons.

This is not the sampin for this baju though...

Monday 31 August 2009

Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

Selamat Menyambut Hari Kemerdekaan ke-52

Photo from Hari Kemerdekaan ke-49; 2006 - Kuching, Sarawak

Merdekakah kita?

Sunday 30 August 2009

Ramadan 1430H

Pasar Ramadan

Ramadan with WR is not complete without trips to various Pasar Ramadan.

Pasar Ramadan Putrajaya @ Precint 2; 29 Aug 2009

Spoilt for Choice

Gulai Kawah Umbut Pisang

Going Western?

Rows of Nasi Ayam...

Baby Chakoi. Innovative...

httippu... Creative & Interesting

Pasar Ramadan Bentong, Pahang; 30 Aug 2009

Varieties of appetising lauk pauk

Why is tongkeng ayam so famous?

I like this signage. Nice...

Going glokal... Otak-otak Gombak in Bentong

Saturday 29 August 2009

Ramadan All Around

27 Years Too Late

A closer look

Can't help but noticed something that is such an eyesore. This banner is on the pedestrian overhead bridge on Persiaran Tujuan, in front SMK Subang Utama, connecting SS 18 & SS 19. The year shoud read 1430H.

Didn't anyone bother to check before it was sent for printing or placed for public viewing?

Thursday 27 August 2009

Ramadan 1430 H

Wishing everyone a blessed Ramadan...

Image from: http://www.nileclub.org/

Thursday 11 June 2009

Mid-Year School Holiday; 5-9 June 2009

Balik Kampung and the Scenic Drive Home

School holiday is here again and due to the current H1N1 scare, air travel is off limits. So we went back to basics and took a drive back to Alor Setar (Alog Setag) and came back to Subang Jaya via the scenic coastal route - Kelantan, Terengganu & Pahang. It took 2 days and 2 nights to get home with frequent stops along the road, as and when we fancy; but the whole trip was worth it!

The things we often took for granted...

Changlon & Alor Setar