Remembered.

"We will never forget"

A decade on and the rest of the world has not forgotten too.

We lost three of our own that fateful day.

And it has never been the same.

9/11.

Some Kind of Wonderful

Langkawi, returned
I can never get tired coming back over and over
It is never the same
There is always something else to fall in love with
This is not a vacation, it feels more like i was going "home"
After all, I left my heart here long ago

{Listening to......}

This is the beach edition of "Listening to..." as i will heading to one very soon. I always compile a list of songs both old and new before i head off for any vacation. This is because when i suffer from post-holiday syndrome, i want to associate those songs i put in my 'vacation song list" to how happy i felt then by listening to them. It works all the time.

Hey Fatima Rainey
Come Away With Me Norah Jones
Don't Get Me Wrong The Pretenders
Thinking of Me Olly Murs
Don't You Want Me Atomic Tom
Valerie Amy Winehouse
When I First Kissed You Extreme
The Sweetest Love Robin Thicke
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Elton John
Happiness Alexis Jordan
Mornin Al Jarreau
Some Kind of Wonderful Peter Cincotti

Bright City Lights.

The beautiful sight and sounds of Bangkok, 2011

The Photolog : RWMF 2011

Rainforest World Music Festival 2011

RWMF 101 : Practical Tips.

Now that you have gathered all your willing buddies, handed your leave form to your HR lady, booked your flight tickets, paid for your accommodations, bought your 3-Day passes and is counting down the days (read PART 1 here on planning for your RWMF trip). You are excited and pleased that you got everything sorted out so soon. Heck you even managed to save money from all the early booking discounts and deals. Congrats because you have now extra dough to spend on more booze (ok that's just my friends) or some awesome rainforest festival souvenirs or even for all the yummy food you are going to eat in Sarawak.

Before you head to RWMF : What To Wear and What To Bring

• Wear appropriate footwear. Slippers or flip-flops are the smartest choice. Preferably an old pair that is comfortable or one that is inexpensive. This is because you will be walking/standing alot, there might be rain which equals mud everywhere and yes, there is a chance you may lose a pair while dancing.


• As for attire - keep it as simple, light, comfortable and decent. What you rather not wear : jeans, anything white, maxi dresses, your expensive jewelry, skintight clothes you wear when you go clubbing, heels (see above) or your birthday suit as we want this event to be PG rated.


• You can bring a mat or foldable chair to the festival to rest your weary feet. But for us who are not local may find it a tad hard to bring it all the way from home. My favourite spot for when i am tired but still want the concert atmosphere is right behind where the sound crew is located. There are these steps where the rock formations are and sitting there gives you a great overall view of not only both stages but the whole crowd as a whole.


• Bring enough cash. Not too much or too little. There is no atm machines in the venue or nearby. Credit cards are of no use as everything is cash basis. So in essence you would just need some cash and an ID in case.


• Other things to bring (optional) : Camera, hat, sunblock, sunglasses, small umbrella, disposable rain coat/poncho, tissue and wet wipes, hand sanitizer, plasters/band-aid, a towel and an extra change of clothing if possible.


• Be prepared for the rain. You may have your raincoat for yourself but not for your things. A good tip is to put your handphone into a clear zip lock bag. That way you can still see and use your phone without it getting wet. You can do the same with your money and essentials too. If you are bringing a bag whether a handbag/backpack, bring along a large clear garbage bag and put the entire bag into it to keep it dry. Looks silly carrying it around but it will work.

Festival Tips : What To Do During The RWMF

• Attend as many daytime workshops as possible. You will not regret it nor would you want to miss it. I cannot express how amazing the experience can be.


• Buy all the awesome CD's from all performers. Each year, the performers would bring some of their albums (even T-Shirts) with them to be sold. It is only available at the merchandise stall right at the venue entrance. However you need to be quick as it runs out fast as there is usually very limited quantities. So if you hear a group you absolute love that night, it's best you start running to the stall.


• Check out the arts and craft bazaar at the Melanau House. Good if you are looking for souvenirs. There is also awesome sape player who performs there too.

• The best place to chill out during downtime between 5pm to 7pm includes in and around the lake area as it is the coolest spots, food court if you want to grab dinner and have the fans cool you down or my other favourite spot would be Damai Beach. It's a little tricky to get in but it's a beautiful place to chill.

Final Checklist

• Stay safe always.


• Respect the forest and other festival goers there by not littering or being insensitive or disrespectful. Let's play it civil people.


• Don't ever drink and drive. The roads to and fro Santubong can get dark and dangerous. Be responsible and take the shuttle bus.


• Be friendly and smile. Its fun to just mingle around too whether you are sitting by the lake or at a workshop event. You will never know who you may meet and trust me, i had met some every interesting people from all over the world at the festival.
  


• Make sure you enjoy your experience truly. Take your time to just soak up all the wonderful sights & sounds, the festival energy, the rich culture and the beautiful surroundings of Santubong.

What are you waiting for, The Rainforest World Music Festival beckons!

RWMF 101 : Planning Your Trip.

Hey all,

Recently since coming back from The Rainforest World Music Festival in Kuching, i had many friends asked about my trip over there. I would excitingly tell them about the music and bands that were playing or how the atmosphere was like and their faces would lit up for a moment with curiosity to what really goes on in this jungle in the far end corner of Borneo.

And this is when i realized that the curiosity of wanting to know what goes on soon quickly translates into the next few questions which include - "how did you plan for this trip?", "how much did the entire trip course" and "when must we start booking if we want to go next year". So i guess my friends do want to go but just don't know where to start.

And with those questions asked and asnwered, i thought that seeing that i am having a little downtime now, i could share some tips on how to plan, book and other things on how to have an enjoyable RWMF experience.

BEFORE - Planning Your Trip

Start with the four basics - Date, Flight Tickets, Accommodation and Festival Tickets.

First things first, you can start blocking out your dates for the RWMF which is held every second week(end) of July (Friday, Saturday & Sunday) every year. It's your best bet to fly in by Thursday or latest Friday on the earliest morning flight. You can start applying for work leave early or make sure you don't have anything that weekend.

From my experience, i usually start searching for flight tickets of all things first. My timeline for searching and purchasing flight tickets starts as early as 9 months ahead. There are three airlines that flies from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching which is AirAsia, MAS and Firefly. The average fare should be around RM 300 per person or more depending. I find that AirAsia has the lowest fare and if you are lucky, you can get them for less than RM 100 for return tickets when the airline have their infamous "free seat" sales. You should try MAS too as they do have that occasional sale for their domestic flights. That's why you should always start looking whenever you get the chance and try to book months ahead for the best deals.

Next is accommodation.
There are two options to where to stay which is either :
a) in one of the surrounding Damai/Santubong resorts nearest to the festival grounds
b) hotels/resorts/B&B's in and around Kuching city.

The best choice would be (a) because it saves tons of time travelling back and forth (almost an hour from Kuching city) and it's safer if you intend/foresee yourself to be drinking throughout the festival. This is a however a little subjective as it really depends on your budget and how willing are you to book (and pay a deposit upfront) months ahead. Please be forewarned that prices for rooms can increase up to three times the published rates for most lodgings because of the demand and even more so for the three main hotel/resorts at Santubong.

A friend who is a loyal festival goer of almost 10 years tells me that the very day they check-out from Damai Beach Resort on the last day of the festival is the very same day they place a booking for a room for next year's festival. So book way ahead which is best done 2-3 months ahead or else you will risk being put on a waiting list or worst still, made to pay overpriced rooms for last minute bookings. Last year, i was fortunate to be able to stay at the Sarawak Cultural Village itself at one of their home stays for being part of Media. This year however, i stayed at Four Points by Sheraton Kuching. Although i had to travel quite abit, the stay was fantastic which i wrote a review for at Trip advisor (click here to read).

My Tip : Try searching and comparing prices from hotel reservation websites like agoda, asiatravel, booking.com, asiarooms and many others. This is especially useful if you are booking a few weeks ahead the festival and need a good bargain. Agoda and AsiaTravel are my two favourite and have been booking with them for many of my holidays. For a list of RWMF recommended stays, check it out here.

Next is the festival tickets which has two options :-
a) 3-Day Pass which you can only buy online only and its not for sale at the festival (RM300)
b) Daily Passes (valid for one day) which you can buy online or at the Festival ground ticketing booth during the festival (RM110 per day)

This has been the standard price for the past three years as far as i know. Many festival goers and first timers hasve complained that it is pretty steep and that puts them off from going. However, don't fret people as there is a few ways to score cheaper tickets. Here is how :-

a) Be an early bird. RWMF starts the sale of tickets in January and sells them through Ticketcharge. This is when you should buy your tickets because it was almost half price for the 3-Day Pass. So instead of RM 300, it was only RM 180.

b) If you were still not sure whether you are going then, no worries as there will probably be more promotions but just not half the price. This year, RWMF contiuned on with two more promotions in the following months. The prices for the 3 Day Passes went from RM 180 (Jan to Feb) to RM 240 (March to April) to RM 260 (May) before it went back to full priced by June. So it gives you about 6 months to think about it and still get a discount.

c) Now for those who really have just decided last minute and is hitting your head because you now have to fork out the full RM300 then stop because you never know when RWMF would decide to have a last minute promotion. For those lucky last minute goer's this year, RWMF offered the same 3-Day Passes at RM180 again for a period of 6 days in the last week of June.

d) Lastly, if you really want to try your luck, there are many competitions and giveaways ongoing where you can score free tickets. I do know that one of the best giveaways is from Heineken where you can win an All-Expense Trip.

Alright, this is PART I where i share a little about planning for your trip. Check out my next post where i discuss some practical tips on what to bring, what to do and others while at the festival (read PART 2 here on what to do, what to bring and more festival tips for the RWMF)

Gosh No!

Hola,

It's Summer, it's hot and i am on an 'unofficial' break for the time being. Just so you know that i haven't abandon my blog yet. There has been lots of things going on and changes undercurrent. I am moving into another phase now whilst getting life sorted out. It's more play though than work at the moment as i am taking a vacation or two in the next few weeks. Can't wait - beach and shopping!

Since i have some precious 'time' on my side before i venture into the working world, i think i would be taking a little break from blogging till around mid August. So till then, get out more often, soak up some some, enjoy a drink or two and i will see ya soon. Have a great month ahead!

P/S : Isn't the poster above too cute :) And btw, RWMF 2011 was fantastic. Had such a great time x

There is only one place.

The journey

The sights and sounds

The depth of forest.

The spirit that lives on.

And here we are again.

In the midst of it all.

With love.

Have a great weekend. I know i will x

To have and to hold.

Just heard the craziest kinda news. Ok, screw the last post about midyear madness and change it to mid-life crisis alert because we are going to talk about weddings.

Woke up, washed up, powered up the computer, boiled water, made some tea, threw some bread in the toaster, changed, headed back to kitchen, grab tea and walked back to computer, opens Facebook and on the News Feed it was flooded with congratulatory messages. Woah.

Hold up.

Its not to me silly but to a friend. This friend is rather a friend of a friend, really nice girl who i know has been dating this guy for eons. Through FB (you will be surprise that lots of people write all sorts of things on it), i knew she was on a vacation. So how did she announced it to the world? Well, she wrote a a simple "YES" followed by numerous exclamation marks on her status and it didn't take a genius to put that with the vacation that someone just got proposed to.

Well, it's not really the idea that she is getting married at such a young age* that is the point (*young age - depends on what you think is age appropriate). Its really the bigger picture that is scary. Its reality with a capital R but the thing is she is not the first friend to get married or have a baby at my age (woah, a baby? This will be for another day) so why does it feel like a wake-up call? I guess all the reality check is happening because i am at another crossroad in my life. Reminds me so much of Green Day's "Time of Your Life" beginning lyrics which says;

Another turning point;
a fork stuck in the road.

Time grabs you by the wrist;
directs you where to go.

I am crazy excited, crazy confused and crazy everything at the same time. So many plans to carry out, so many life long dreams yet to be fulfilled and so many places to go. Well, its almost a good amount of time of life left to start something. So bring it on :)

P/S : Congrats to the happy couple. I doubt she reads this blog but it's nice to wish people happiness and love as they start their lives together x

The Second Half.

We have reached the midway mark of 2011 as of today. Its been fairly a great balance of ups and downs but more on the ups. Balance seemed to be the keyword for the first half as a good amount of work and play.

Its crazy how comparing to the last year things are now.

Things have started to pick up pace heading towards the second half of 2011. I am grateful for all the opportunities and am certain (maybe, almost certain) about what i want in the near future. Well here goes the saying "what doesn't kill you will make you stronger" and it's true. You will survive and come out glorious.

Hopefully the second half is going to be life changing and if not so, equally great as the first half. For now make everyday count x

The Good Life

My schedule for June has been absolutely packed. I understand that it is the mid-year and all but woah, this was far out. And the thing is, it was all the last minutes unscheduled things that had me on a constant go all week and weekend. I can say i am a little overwhelmed. I just came back from a short weekend away with the familia and i had just catch up on all the much needed sleep. Hence, i am able to blog abit more than i have been doing (sorry about all the filler posts!).

And there, i said it once, twice and have always have been saying it countless times that when life is good, good means busy".

So what has been going on in busy ol June

• Market Research Techniques, Strategic Marketing and Business Law classes this semester. The trifecta of subjects of all subjects. But no sweat, just tons and tons of project work, exams, presentations and no sleep. Last semester though so gotta persevere or in this case more like survive



• Our cousin Daniel from New Zealand came and stay with us for one of the weekends. Its a long story but we basically all just reconnected with our mom's side of the family last month at an Uncle's birthday after not seeing them including Daniel, his sister Rachel and his parents Uncle Peter and Aunt Ineke for 15 years (amazing stuff but will blogged about another day). It was so fun to have him around as i brought him out most of the days (mostly to eat - banana leaf rice, chicken rice, Thai food, noodles & all kinds). The sisters and i got to know him a little better and it's nice to rediscovered your family connections again!



• Celebrated 3 birthdays which was Alina's, Tasha's and Jason's - 3 different celebrations, 3 different places, 3 different nights.



• Tasha was back for the Summer albeit and earlier one. This year because she had such a short time here, we had to cram whatever plans we could have which involved lots of eating out as we tried so many different places - Ben's, Canoodling, The Apartment, Spaghetti Grill, goreng pisang stalls & more, shopping, Gong Cha (she has converted me into an official GC addict), road tripping to Seremban to meet some of her friends over yummy food, dinners at her place and just some good quality amounts of time spent. I missed you already :(



• And there was good old family time where we had a weekend family getaway over at Camerons which was as usual awesome. It was a good holiday just chilling out, eating lots of fresh food/veges/fruits, enjoying the weather, going to our fave Boh Plantation and the highlight was karaoke night at the hotel. It was funny coz we were bored at the apartment and there is really nothing much at night to do so when my sister saw a banner at the lobby stating RM40 nett for an hour, she was like "Lets go karaoke!". We were like "what?" at first but when there is a private room with 3 microphones and 6000 songs, family karaoke was crazeee fun :)

June has been not only good but great in my books. And it has come to an end. As for July, I have been looking forward to you too. Happy weekend. Till then x

Tinged Nostalgia.

Life at best is bittersweet.

Deconstructed Salad

via Sweet Paul Magazine

Closer.

The thought about endings. There are always a feeling of something tagged to it.

“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.”

Have you had that feeling of being caught between being relief that something is over and done with that rush of excitement and yet being absolutely terrified that it is coming to an end?

So close that i could feel it, yet so far still.

As Time Goes Slowly By.

Welcome home.

When you're back, it always feels like Summer. I love how for all the past Summers we had, it has been always super fun, carefree and there was a fair share of the randomest things done. It has been lotsa long talks into the day, shopping trips, stayovers, drinks on the balcony and the love of eating be it lunches, brunches, teatime, snacks or dinners. Never breakfast because we are always sleeping in late. The good ol days :) I know this time you are only back for a relatively short holiday but i am grateful for the time we will get to spend together x

SaturdayNight

Celebrating Alina's 23rd at TwentyOne.

Stumbling Across

Holla there.

For some reason, June is always a good month. Things will be winding down and moving lazily into Summer. Good friends are back, holiday trips are planned and things seemed to move slower when your having a good time. I am going to enjoy the gift of time that i have now and used it wisely for after this, i am afraid Summer will just be another season - nothing more, nothing less. It seems like June is the begining of a very good journey to the end of the year. Catch you all later x

The world needs more love.

Let Your

Light Shine.

Be A Source

of Strength

And Courage.

Share Your

Wisdom.

Radiate Love.

The forest that never sleeps.

I am stoked. Extremely stoked actually because the rainforest dream is back and alive :) After months of "nays" and "let's sees", we finally made flight bookings today and it's as good as locking the dates down. I remember at the initial stage of toying with the idea of our return to Kuching this year, i made it a habit to check up on random flight promotions as a "just-in-case" measures of all the domestic airlines. I guessed i had always harboured that desire to return eventhough it's currently one of the busiest times of the year and you don't have the luxury yet to think about taking a holiday and all.

So for almost 7 months religiously, i did that. Amazing how being slightly compulsive can be a blessing. And today, i managed to score relatively cheap tickets to Kuching via MAS especially considering it's quite last minute. I have been lucky to stumbled onto this ongoing promotion for MAS when i was logging in to activate my Enrich card membership which had just arrived a couple of days ago. Btw, just to point out that AirAsia has been getting ridiculously expensive. They started including fuel surcharge recently & their baggage prices is just expensive. My MAS tickets were not only cheaper but it included 20 kg's of baggage, refreshment and i get to earn Enrich points. So always check all airlines and compare prices.

With that done, i am a little at ease. A friend of mine Kay and i have actually been talking about this trip since the beginning of this year. It would be her first time and i have been telling her all about it. In fact she has been the one keeping the "jungle boogie" (as what we call it) alive for me. She will be going with a large group of friends with some of them based in Kuching itself. Can't wait to hangout with her and some familiar faces that will (or hopefully) be going including Reza and his family, Aaron and friends, Simon and his Lithuanian friend. Also, i am excited and hope very much that Priscilla and Geoff will be come back to M'sia and we can all meet up in the festival as promised. I miss them much. Now if only i can convinced some of my other friends to contract the festival fever and come along. I can imagine twice the fun and memories.

Mmm memories. I had so much of them there. I still can feel myself standing in the middle of the forest, with all these exotic sounds permeating through the beautiful jungle. The beautiful revellers, the warm sun during the day and chilly nights, the wonderful kaleidoscope of different world music and the spirit of the festival is something you just take along with you and never forget.

For now i am one step closer, i have only the lodging and misc to worry about. But it's all good. I still can't believe i am planning for Kuching. If you had asked me just a few weeks ago whether i was going, i would have hesitated with my answer and yet i would be standing there telling you how amazeballs the whole thing is. Yes, i have been shamelessly promoting the festival to everyone i know. RWMF organisers would be so proud. You would too if you felt as if you left your heart there when it was all over :)

And the countdown begins - 1 month 14 days more to go.

For more information about the Rainforest World Music Festival 2011, click here.