My Chill Out "Jazzy" Week

 

Of late, I have been going bar hopping a lot. No, not because I'm happening, but because there are some really good Jazz acts that are really worth going to. On Wednesday, some colleagues and I decided to go to Sevenatenine for their Bar Night, which featured their international mixologist and also it's our excuse to finish up our bottle which was "parking" there since September. Also featured was a quartet group called G-String. Kinky as it might sound, they are actually quite good. Thanks Jolene for getting us a table right in front of the stage. We were later joined by my friend Michelle and Joshua to what was a nice night out.

 

 

Rabin & I

 

 

Chui & Sonia

 

 

Our bestest best friend, Mr. Johnny Walker

 

 

Rabin and his "Around the World" drink...he was gone after that

 

 

Michelle & I

G-String!

 

 

On Friday night, I was at Alexis Ampang together with Elisa and her friends for Ida Mariana. This is my first time listening to her perform and I must say, she is really good. Sorry about the blur images below though. Didn't have my camera with me then, so have to resort to using my mobile's camera which is practically useless for night shots. Us sitting quite a distance away didn't help either.

 

 

 

Ida Mariana

 

Then last night, I was at No Black Tie for another performance. This time it was Albert Sirimal (guitar/vocals), Badar (percussions/vocals) and a special guest saxophonist. They don't have an official name for their band though but they were really really good. They did really good Bossanova renditions of Carol King's I Can't Hear You No More, Lionel Richie's Stuck On You and even Michael Jackson's Human Nature which I thought was absolutely brilliant!

 

 

The unnamed band...which was really good

 

 

So there, my quiet and chilled out week filled with Jazz. I'm starting to believe that I am getting a bit too old for clubbing nights already. Don't get me wrong, It's not that I don't enjoy clubbing, I still do...it's just that going for a Jazz night out is simply more fulfilling.

The Weekend That Was..

 

After a stressful week of work last week, I decided to have a fun filled weekend. Yes, I really needed the weekend to unwind...chilling out, catching up with friends and just not think of work basically. On Saturday night, I met up with some friends for Moonshine at The Apartment KL, where Mia Palencia and Reza Salleh was performing. I must say, whilst the music is good, the venue isn't really built to stage this kind of performances. The ambiance isn't as good as say...No Black Tie or maybe because the positioning speakers and setup was not good. Nevertheless it was a nice event.

 

Mia Palancia (center) feat. Melina William & Zalila Lee

 

Reza Salleh

 

Zara

 

Su Ann & Zelly

 

Elisa & I

 

 

After the event ended...it was still rather early to be headed home on a Saturday night. So we all decided to party at TwentyOne for a bit. We were joined by Richard who is the manager of The Apartment and a friend of Su Ann and Zelly.

 

 

Zelly, Su Ann & Richard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day, I met up with Rabin, Loong Heng and his wife to support Team Malaysia at the A1GP at the Sepang Circuit. We manage to get free tickets for the grand stand area but it was packed to the brim and we have to settle for the secondary grand stand (for all you non-motorheads, Sepang has a dual grand stand area). No complains of the seating arrangement, since it was free!

 

 

Go Team Malaysia!!

 

 

All of us @ Sepang

 

 

Well, Team Malaysia did finish in third for the feature race which sent roaring cheers from within the crowd. Malaysia Boleh!

 

Phew! I actually feel more tired now after the weekend instead of recuperating. But I guess, everyone has a different way of relaxing...mine is just all about having fun and doing the things you like doing...nothing else matters.

Wayang Kata: The Music Edition @ No Black Tie

 

I was with some friends at No Black Tie last Tuesday night for Wayang Kata + Moonshine, which is an event where poetry meets jazz music and I got to say it was simply AWESOME. It's organized by the Malaysian British Council featuring Kim Trusty, Dizzy & The, Najwa, Reza Salleh and Mia Palencia. Highlight was the night was Mia Palencia and also Reza Salleh...obviously.

 

 

 

 

Najwa

 

Reza Salleh

 

Reza Salleh & Mia Palencia performing a duet

 

Mia Palencia on her solo set

Marié Digby Live In Kuala Lumpur

These are some snippets of Marié Digby performing in a packed One Utama shopping centre

A packed shopping mall on a Wednesday night

Really nothing much to shout about, she just performed about 4 or 5 songs, then proceeded with the autograph signing session. There were a lot of kiasu people that already started lining up at the signing counter while she was still performing. Oh well, I'm not complaining since it's free.

The 21 Hour Saturday

*Post modified and updated* - added new pic

Last Saturday was and eventful one. There was so many things going on. My day started at 630AM, as I woke up early to travel to Seremban for a friends wedding. The brides hometown is in Seremban, therefore all the "heng tais" have to gather at Subang at 730AM to start a convoy there. The interesting part of this was, it was something rather different than the rest of the customary bridal pick-ups. We were all FORCED to wear Manchester Utd jerseys as it was one of many criterias from the bride before the groom can get to her. Not only that, we were also FORCED to memorize and sing "Glory Glory Man Utd!" before they even open the gates! Buggar! Me and another one of the "heng tai" are Liverpool fans, and the groom is actually a Chelsea fan, so making us wear those jerseys was a bitter pill to swallow. The bride is a die hard Man Utd fan you see, but nevertheless, for the groom, we were willing to let this one slide (you owe us one Teej!).

This is the FIRST, LAST and ONLY time you will ever see me in a Man Utd jersey...

All the "Chi Muis" & "Heng Tais"

Anyway, we all arrived in Seremban at around 930AM and were torchured in doing stupid stunts (all part of the Chinese custom) in order to get to the bride. From putting fruits down another guy's pants and drinking out of milk bottles to doing Karma Sutra positions, I shall leave it to your imagination on how bad it was. After the torchuring, we all had something to eat and then headed home to KL at about 1230PM (the dinner ceremony will be the following week where alcohol will be served...yay!).

As soon as we arrived, everyone headed their separate ways. I went to my condo to get some measurements as I need to source for tiles and also furniture. After getting the measurements, I headed to a few lighting shops to get some quotations for some lights. There was a shop having a 50% off promotion on all their items apart from their Best Buy items which I thought was great. Problem is, I have to speak to my contractor first because some of the lightings I want require special installation and rewirings to be done. After the light shopping (pun intended), I headed home for awhile to get some rest. It was already about 430PM by this time.

Upon reaching home, Jean called me up for dinner at BSC at 7PM. We were supposed to meet there around 830PM together with some friends later for a play at The Actor's Studio, but since I haven't had dinner plans made so why not right? After dinner, we met up some friends and watched Kam..In Your Face, a musical-comedy-cabaret starring actors Joanne Kam, Douglas Lim, Gavin Yap and Susan Lankester.

The cast members of Kam...in Your Face

Jean, May Lynn & I, just before the play started

For me the show was alright but not great. I personally feel the humor is a little too dry and very localized, meaning the "guai lous" in the audience would probably be wondering "What the fuck are they talking about?" Well, for me personally, I prefer something more witty and not so much of the "trying-to-be-funny-just-because-it's-a-comedy" humor. Then again, it's pretty subjective. I did enjoy the cabaret performances though. Another thing is that I don't find it funny to be dissing the audience that paid less that were sitting at the sides rather than in front of the main stage. I think it's rather rude. Just because they pay less doesn't mean you look down on them. Although we were sitting right in the middle, I still feel for the people sitting on the sides. Very bad of them to do so. The show ended around 11PM and we headed to WIP for drink and snacks.

Just then, Samantha called to tell me that she and her friends will be at Poppy. At first I was rather reluctant to go because I was up since 630AM and was a little tired. Then again, I haven't seen Sam for awhile, so I went down to party with her and her friends. It was around 1230 AM at this point. I must say I am getting too old for the clubbing scene. I don't really enjoy clubbing like I did a few years back. It's extermely packed and stuffy in there. Not to mention moving around is just urrgh! Plus you see so many YOUNG wannabes! Maybe I've outgrown the clubbing phase, I guess that's why I'm not at Freedom 08 for Tiesto in Port Dickson to begin with...haha! I mean don't get me wrong, I still go clubbing and raves if there is a reason for me to do so (friend's birthday, farewell, mother's day...etc), but given a choice, I would prefer to just chill at a bar anytime.

Samantha was so happy to see me after so long...

I left there around 230AM and by the time I got back, it was already 3AM. So there, 20+ hours of activity in one day. I rested for most of the Sunday, with me only accompanying my sister for lunch and to shop for her new mobile phone during the morning. And oh..DAMN IT!..Man Utd and Ferarri won...machibai!

3 Birthdays, A Wedding & A Cultural Event

It has been a rather busy weekend for me. It started out on Friday night, where there were 2 of my friends who were celebrating their birthdays on the same day. After work, I met up with Ashley and some friends for dinner in an Italian restaurant called Caff Restaurant (* links to a random blog site) at Bandar Puteri Puchong, which coincidently happens to be owned by one of her friend. The food was not bad at all, but it was located in a rather secluded area, so not many people know about it. Needless to say, it was still fun when the alcohol came by.

Ashley the birthday girl

Group pic...

After dinner, I had to head down all the way to The Loft on Heritage Row for another birthday celebration. This time, it was my old friend Elaine's party. Well, you don't think you can expect to go to a place like The Loft on your birthday and come out standing do you? That was exactly what happend to Elaine. Well Elaine, I hoped you had a blast that night....if you remember the last parts of it..hehe..

2 posers - Elaine & I

Alice, Jek, Me & Elaine

"Nooooo...not another one!!"

Saturday night. There was another birthday gathering. Well actually, it's a belated birthday gathering for Lyn, since her birthday was actually last week. You see...some people celebrate her birthday in Krabi by the beach (tsk tsk..), so she had to do it on Saturday night at WIP @ BSC. It was fun seeing her unwrapping her presents..

The many faces of Lyn

All of us @ WIP

Sunday morning, I picked Lyn up from her place and we went down to KLPAC for their Open Day. They had loads of cultural performances and workshops from morning way up till 5PM. Unfortunatly, both Lyn and myself can't stay that long as we both had other plans. The highlight of the day was definately the tour of KLPAC, where we got to go backstage and see what goes on behind the scenes during performances. We went up to the lighting room, the locker rooms and even up on the catwalk area high above!

Lyn & I @ KLPAC

Click here to view pictures taken @ KLPAC Open Day

Later that night, I had a wedding dinner to attend. My ex-classmate Julian got married, and their wedding reception was held at JW Marriott hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Congrats Julian & Alesia! It was also sort of a mini high school reunion too as I caught up with a lot of my ex-classmates and friends.

Us with the bride & groom

Mini high school reunion??

Phew!....so that was my weekend. Next up, it's my brother's wedding. So looking forward to another busy weekend again...so stay tuned for that.

Juwita Suwito

What:
Intimate Acoustics with Juwita Suwito

When:
24 October 2007

Where:
Sunway Resort Hotel Selangor,
Avanti Italian-American Ristorante

Time:
7:00 - 10:15 p.m.

Reservation 03-74928000 ext 3176
Price: RM168++ per person

4-course set dinner with wine and an exclusive showcase by Juwita Suwito at 9:30 p.m.

Click here for more information

Anyone interested?

Help Bring Norah Jones to Malaysia

I was chatting with Sue-Anne online a couple of days back, and she told me of this project where they want to try to get Norah Jones to perform in Malaysia. Immediately I told her I was interested to contribute as I would also like to see her perform here. Question is, why isn't she already here to begin with? Well anyway, I'm now part of this project together with some of her friends to setup a petition to gather enough signatures as well as online presence to make this project a success. So if you're a true blue Norah Jones' fan, visit: http://bringnorah.blogspot.com/ and sign the petition.

Please help spread the word around to everyone about this project, especially if you know any of Norah Jones' fans. Your contributions do count and will be most appreciated.