Puteri Gunung Ledang (PGL), The Musical - 24 November 2006

Last Friday, we went to watch PGL at the Esplanade. There were a lot of first times for me on that day.

Before the show, we went to Marina Square for dinner. We ate at Secret Recipe. It was the first time I tried the food there, other than their cheese cake. I'm not so adventerous in my taste buds, so I settled for Fish & Chips. :) Didn't quite like their tartar sauce. Weird taste (bukan pasal basi ke apa lah..cuma rasa weird jer..hehe..biasalah aku). In the end, my friend and Arfi finished up the tartar sauce...hehehe..

Then we went to Esplanade. It was my first time in the theatre. Wahh..soo huge! There are four levels altogether and box seats and all. It's very grand and the stage...wahh so big!! (macam org jakun ek?) This theatre is bigger than Kallang Theatre (duh!! what am I talking abt?? sighh..k nvm, I'm starting to merepek already)

PGL is superb! First time watching a musical in Malay. Great casting..with their own individual strength. Tarian dorang...wahh..gerek seh!! Cam nak join dorang joget...best ahh..enjoyed every moment of the show..music was also superb!! And Stephen Rahman-Hughes (who played Hang Tuah) - walaupun boleh dgr sikit2 slang dia..but he can sing!!! Very powerful voice!!! Terpukau jap aku...he blew me away with his powerful voice..and there was one scene, he held the last note for a verrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyy long time...30 sec maybe..or more?!?! Powerdema!!!

My favourite scene..time Sultan (Adlin Aman Ramlie) joget a-go-go...hahahaha...lepakz!! Dia joget punya lah lembut. Kekekeke...time ni aku ketawa rabakz...tak sangka Sultan zaman dulu boleh joget..hehehe..then Tengku Mahkota (anak Sultan)..so cute...macam Aney (my friend's nephew)...bila dia buka silat jer..teringat Raiyan (my friend's son). Cuttteeee....

I'm so afraid that Arfi might fall asleep coz he doesn't really like these kind of musicals and PGL is in Malay..but glad that he enjoyed it and he didn't fall asleep..yeah!! But he didn't really quite understand the ending..tried to explain to him but he is still not satisfied...it's ok dear, sejarah dia pun tonggang terbalik. Nvm..juz take it as it is ok?

After the show, we tried to get pictures of the cast. Didn't really bother to queue up for autographs coz the queue was sooooo long. So both of us berasak2 nak pergi depan, nak ambik gambar. Since Arfi has the camera, I made sure he gets to capture the casts. So, aku yg jadi 'bodyguard' dia. Org tolak aku, aku pun tolak dorang gak. And I kept pushing Arfi to go to the front. After we managed to get Tiara and Stephen's picture, we decided to give up. Dah dpt the 2 main casts picture jadi lah..kepada sesaper yg aku tertolak, minta maaf banyak2.

Next musical...Phantom of the Opera!!! The last time we catch it was like 10 years ago. It was held at Kallang Theatre. Time tu masih matair2 ngan Arfi. Now, we shall relief the moment again dear. Let's go for it!! Wuhuuu..can't wait for it next year!

Bali Trip - 12 Nov to 16 Nov

Bali is fantabulous! Love it, love it, love it!!

The scenery..Masya Allah...cantiknya! The people are all very nice and friendly...and they still preserve their culture. That's what I like abt travelling..able to see other country, the people, the culture and learn abt them. Bak kata pepatah, jauh perjalanan, luas pemandangan.

Some of the memorable things that I love abt Bali...

Shopping
The salesperson...they are soooo persistent..mati2 nak suruh kita masuk kedai dorang...Tak nak give up..."Come looking ma'am".."Ayuh masuk Buk..lihat lihat".."Lihat lihat saja Buk..saya kasi murah murah"..and both of us will juz be shaking our heads and walk as fast as we could from them. Nak shopping santai2 pun dah jadik seram...takut kena serbu dgn dorang.

Kalau kita berkenan dgn barang2 kat kedai dorang, dah pening pulak pasal nak tawar menawar. Dahlah aku ni lembab sikit pasal mental sums..whatever they quote in Rupiah, kena convert cepat2 in Sing (S$1 is abt Rp5,600 plus minus..so kita divide by 5 jer..nasib tu divide by 5 jer..kalau kena divide by 8..mampos aku terkebil2 kat kedai tu). Nasib lah laki aku ni terror pasal mental sums..kalau tak..terpaksalah keluarkan calculator.

I didn't buy much..although the things here are very cheap..juz some souvenirs for families and frens and some clothes and bags...tak menggila macam kat Bangkok. Sikit2 sudah..budget trip lah katakan.

Kecak and Fire Dance
Kecak is not accompanied by any musical instruments tapi diiringi dgn paduan suara sekitar 100 lelaki saying 'kecak' throughout the whole performance. The performance was ok...but at the end of it...ada tarian pasal lelaki ni kena sampuk buat aku rasa kecut sikit. Dahlah time tu time Maghrib, langit makin gelap, lampu kat dewan tu pulak very very dim. Isshhhh...berdiri bulu roma aku jap.

Kintamani
The scenery here is so beautiful. We gotta see the spectacular view of a volcanic mountain, Batur Volcano (abt 1700m high) and Lake Batur. The air is fresh...sejuk jer...tapi tak sesejuk Genting...tu sejuk gila. Ni boleh tahan punya sejuk pasal tak payah pakai sweater...macam taknak turun jer dari gunung tu..

FOOD!!!
Yessss, food is the best! Sungguh enak dan pedas...I'm talking abt the Nasi Padang style...

Our tour guide, Pak Nur, who is also a Muslim brought us to a warong that sell Nasi Padang. Time tu dah betul2 lapar coz the last time we ate was breakfast and our so called lunch was at 3+pm. Tau tau aja lah..food is a problem down there coz majority of the people in Bali is Hindu. So banyak rasa was-was.

But once we are set to eat, fuyoh!!! Semua senyap beb. Aku lantak kuah lemak nangka, pucuk ubi cecah sambal belacan (looks like sambal belacan lah), paru goreng, ayam lemak cili padi..macam2 lagi lah. Pendek kata, kalau mak mertua lalu pun aku tak sadar. Lapar gila beb..

Another warong we found near our Resort, tu sambal dia pedas gila. Power!!! We ordered something like Ayam Penyet..ayam dia kecik jer..ayam kampung lah..tapi yg buat sedap sambal dia...powerdema!! Aku rasa dorang gunakan lada padi buat tu sambal. Terjeler lidah aku jap. Laki aku makan cam biasa ah..tapi berpeluh peluh. Fuyoh...best ah...tak terkata dia punya best...

For those yg tak pernah pergi Bali..make this yr next destination. It's beautiful...trust me! Hope to go there again soon...

Ok here are some of the photos that we managed to take...you may view them at my husb's multiply..here's the link

http://arfisaurus.multiply.com/photos/album/6

Subaru WRX Challenge 2006 - What an experience!!

Can you see my husband?!? There on the right row, 7th person from the front - number 169.

Yeah, he took part in the challenge which started last Saturday, 4th November 2006 at Ngee Ann City. What an experience it was for him!! ....and for me.

We were there since 7am. I dropped him off at the side walk and he went for the registration while I looked for a parking space. I parked our car at Al-Falah mosque. Looked at the parking charges, from 5pm to 7am, it's $3 per entry. Then from 7am to 5pm, it was like hmm $1.80 for 1st hour, then $1.20 for subsequent half and hour. I went in at 6.55am, thinking that I will only be charged the per entry basis. Well...I was wrong!!

After accompanying my husband for the registration etc, I juz don't feel gd abt the parking charges. Went back to Al-Falah and asked the parking attendant. Well, the person there was juz a security guard and he said the parking cashier will be there at abt 9am. At that time, it was already 9.20am. Guess the person was late that day. So I waited and waited. At 9.30am, the cashier came. The person was a he-she. Talked to 'it' and 'it' explained that I will be charged the per entry basis for my 5 mins there (since I came in at 6.55am) and then they will switched to the per hour basis at 7am. I was shocked! Ran to my car to get it out of there as fast as I could so that I won't hv to pay more charges (these parking charges at Orchard Rd is really a blood-sucking assh*&#). I was charged $8.70 for that 2.5hr or so. Watde****! Darah terus up seh!

Ran through my list of parking charges that we printed out from LTA (and that was printed in 2005...mistake mistake..shld hv kept the updated version in the car!! Honey, remind me to print the latest list please)...saw the next cheapest parking rate at Shaw Tower, $2.50 per entry. So went there to park. But before I went in, I checked the parking charges again to make sure and true enough...it has changed!!! It was on the per hour basis on Saturday!! Arrgghhh...can't reverse coz there's a car behind me. No choice! Went into the carpark and went back out again. Lucky for me there was a grace period and I didn't get charged for that few minutes in the car park. If not...alamakkkkk...boleh sakit jantung sehhh....Thot of parking at Plaza Sing, but decided against it coz need to pass by the ERP gantry again. So parked beside Wheelocks Place. The coupon parking area there. Parked till 1.30pm and then later shifted my car again to Heeren coz after 1pm, Heeren charged $3 per entry. OMG! It was a race against time and the stupid ERP gantry and parking charges in Orchard Rd. This is Singapore! The PAP (Pay And Pay) society. Gosh!! Really hate Orchard area, esp the parking charges. So damn bloody expensive!! Arrgghhh!!! And being me! So damn bloody particular abt expenses...cekik darah betul!!!! Geram geram!

Other than the stupid parking charges, the rest of my day went well. Besides standing in the hot sun supporting my husb, went to and fro Al-Falah for prayers, went in to Taka for a quick bite at Mac Donalds and out in the hot sun again to support my husband. Didn't see any friends and relatives around to accompany me. Well, can't blame them..they might be busy jalan-jalan Hari Raya.

But at 3pm, I have my Hady Mirza to accompany me...hehehe...He came to perform for a short while. Managed to take his photo on my handphone. Wuhuuu...His voice...like I said previously..hai boleh cair aku...so damn powerful..his voice quality cam dgr from CD seh..powerdema!

Waited all the way alone till abt 8pm when my parents-in-law came. Phew!! At last there is somebody to talk to. Nothing much happens except to see that my husb is starting to feel the pain (it was shown all over on his face). Signalled to him to persevere and 'tahan' a while longer. Take hr by hr. At 10pm, my bro come to support after he knocked off from work. He saw that my husb was already in more pain (no more smiles on his face). I didn' want to see his face anymore coz I can't bear to and decided to shift our car to another parking place coz we need to get our car out of Heeren by 11pm. So I shifted to the carpark beside Citibank. While walking back to Ngee Ann City, I began to feel tired already. What do u expect? It was past my bedtime!!! Hehehe...

We waited till 1am coz that's the next break time. My parents-in-law gotta see how chaotic it was during the 5 mins break. Oh oh oh...I gotta tell u this. There was this one contestant, he actually took his food into the toilet!! I felt disgusted by it. Yucky!! After a few mins inside, he came out with his food and still eating it. OMG!! Eeeee yucks!!! Ok, that was the 'interesting' thing that happens during the 1am break. Heeee

After the break, my parents-in-law decided to go home. So I stayed with my bro. We kept talking and talking till suddenly, my bro said "Kak Ana, Abg Arfi dah give up!!" When I turned around, I saw my husb already walked out. So I guess that's it!! He must be very very tired and has tried his best.

So we went over to him. He needed a medic to treat his back pain. Took him a while to stand and walk again. U all imagine lah..aku yg kecik molek ni kena papah dia from Ngee Ann City to the carpark...koosmangat. Sayang punya pasal. Hehehe...Love you honey.

Though we were quite sad that we couldn't stay much longer, but we were satisfied that we made thus far. I'm so proud of him and will support him no matter what happens. Anyway, we will still try again next year and we have more support now coz my bro and my cousin's husb will also join us!! So anybody wanna volunteer to be our coach and trainer?