Come see my music grp performance

My music group will be performing at the Esplanade this Sunday! 
Yes, I will be part of it too :D There will be two sets.. we will be playing different tunes for the sets.. come support if you are keen!

Venue -  Esplanade Out door Theater 

22 Apr, Sun
NUS Singa Nglaras Gamelan Ensemble
7.30 – 8.15 pm
8.45 – 9.30pm

Ramayana Under the Stars-- Gamelan and Wayang

22 May 2010
Stamford Green ( space outside of National Museum )

I was at the Peranakan Museum event last Saturday.
There was a joint performance by Gamelan Naga Kencana (RP), Singa Nglaras Gamelan Ensemble (NUS), and Gamelan Asmaradana.

I couldn't commit to the practices, so had to give this performance a miss. What a pity. But I had fun being an audience for a change! It was great catching up with everyone....

There were stalls set up with activities for the whole family. There's face/hand painting, caricature picture painting , balloon twisting for kids as well as yummy food stalls to cater to the hungry tummies .


I am too tired to write more... so..

Enjoy the photos!





Dear Yoki brought along her niece and nephew to the event Boy with balloon hat is Cody and girl in white polo is his sister Charmaine

They're very cute! and of coz.. my nicole is there too but she missed the kids coz they went home liao

Highlights of the performances



our fav. Pak Midi was there
and he was the dalang for the wayang


I miss these people!!
It was great catching up :)



We did henna on our hands!
it's a first for me :D

Nicole had so much fun
Helena looked so grown up here
( can't imagine she was just a kiddo
when we first knew her )

check out the crowd :)

Panji - Javanese Mask Dance Drama

My ensemble's performance was a success :) It was great being able to be on stage with one of Indonesia's popular entertainer, Didik Nini Thowok. He sings, he dances, and specializes in cross gender and cross ethnic dances . It was fun watching him perform. With him being famous in Indonesia, he has totally no airs and we all had a great time working with him :)

Mas Didik at one of our rehearsals

I wouldn't be writing too much, just wanna share some photos with everyone :)

Pre Performance... at the dressing room

See the big hair on Sherina's head? that's fake
And it's rather heavy :P


More pre performance photos...



Here are the guys

The hall was pretty small only with seating capacity of 400 some people came but couldn't get in. I got this photo from a friend.. It was full house by the way :)


back stage.. Mas Didik's masks

dancing to the tunes of Sakura..

eek..here's the ugly demon



I don't have any pictures of our performance
( duh.. obviously.. )
and photography by the audience
was prohibited :{

Here are the group photos taken after the performance



That's Mas Didik in the middle :)

Upcoming Performance in October '09

Another up coming performance by my gamelan ensemble :)

It is gonna be a fun adventure ~ Come watch us :)


Follow Prince Panji on his journey in search for his bethroted, Dewi Sekar Taji as he traverses the lands of Southeast Asia, and encounters various military and romantic adventures full of complications, disguises, mistaken identities, and magical transformations. This performance will bring together the rich artistic resources of traditional Javanese wayang topeng (masked dance drama) with the newer tradition of wayang mbeling (naughty theatre). While most of the dance and music will be in traditional Javanese style, for certain brief episodes Thai, Balinese, Japanese and other Asian styles of dance and music will also be introduced. Famous cross-gender (male) Indonesian artist Didik Nini Thowok will play the main female role in this production that also features music arranged by Trustho and Jan Mrazek and performed by NUS Singa Nglaras Gamelan Ensemble.

Music by NUS Singa Nglaras Gamelan Ensemble and Guest Musicians
Conceived and directed by Nunuk Sri Rahayu and Jan Mrazek
Choreography by Didik Nini Thowok and Nunuk Sri Rahayu
Music arranged by Trustho and Jan Mrazek

Date:	Saturday, October 24, 2009
Time:	8:00pm - 10:00pm ( approx)
Location:	University Cultural Centre Theatre
Street:	50 Kent Ridge Crescent, University Cultural Centre, S119279

Eileen's Mini Escapaes

Thursday 30th April 09

Truth is, my tummy still feels slight sore especially at the right side. Plus, the wound at the navel didn't heal as nicely as the other two..so I am still applying cream ( by doctor) to it. I do still feel tired ..this is quite puzzling as I have already finished all the antibotics and have also stopped my intake of painkillers. Perhaps it's all the cooping at home and the weather that made me drowsy and tired.

But yeah, the medical leave officially ends today..and phew...thank goodness tomorrow being labour day means that I officially go back to the office on Monday :P I can't imagine the mess on my table..nor the amount of paperwork I have to finish... -_-

Enough of this crap.... here are some updates :)

*************

Escapade I

Hello... Were you expecting Eileen to be writing this post? Well, NO!

It's me Nicole, her darling god daughter bringing u the first edition of her escapades .

Eileen godma has been a good girl, staying at home most of the time.. So mummy , daddy and I decided to bring her out last Sunday ( like a plant, a human needs to get some sunlight and fresh air too hahaha! ) for dinner at Ichiban over at Esplanade.

I was very happy to see godma and greeted her when she entered the car. I also showed off my new toy to her. U'd never guess what that is. It's a torch light! Daddy said godma still look pale and sickly. I think it's becoz she hasn't been out in the sun for so many days..

Dinner was great! I finished a whole cup of chawanmushi. But not for a reason! I was eying at the orange slices that came with daddy's bento set. Mummy said I have to finish the chawanmushi then I can have the oranges. Boy you should have seen me gobbling up .

Enjoying every pulp of the orange!

Godma had salmon head miso soup , chawanmushi and
few pieces of the cooked sushi

See..that's me doing my 'investigation' work
I am checking if there's anything inside the cylindrical container


I am learning how to 'act cute'
Every 4 year old should know how to be cute!


Chris Mummy treated us to ice cream from
MOF at Marina...


We had a great time though I know I was a little naughty that night..
Anyway, we all went home at around 9 ish pm as
Eileen godma hasn't fully recovered yet.

-----------------------


Escapade II

Wednesday 29th April

I was out yesterday!Needed another breather and hey..there is a reason to be out :)

One of the members in my music group is leaving for Indonesia and wouldn't be back for quite sometime. She treated everyone to dinner and you know how troublesome it is for me to partake in 'mass dinner' these days..so I told her not to include my share :)

Guess what they were eating....

Sashimi and sushi!!

Li ching bought them from the fish market cum restaurant at Alexandra.. I have been there...I can't wait to go back there for the fresh hamachi.

The almost finished spread of food.. oh..There was also pizza, so I happily munched into one slice and I had some pickled and cucumber sushi. I try not to eat too much for fear of a bloated tummy.

I'm glad I went yesterday!
It was fun being in company of these friends and they were trying to get me to laugh..Hahah..I am still feeling the pull after all the laughter!

See.. there's even a birthday cake!
The sweet birthday boy treated us to a
not too authentic black forest cake

Birthday boy Xin Wei and I
with unker Edwin at the background...
believe me..he was seen everywhere! hahaha

There..told ya he is everywhere! hhahha
edwin kinda hijacked everyone's photos..

Thanks Liching for the food..
seeya when u are back for holidays :)

Wednesday with a difference

It was Wednesday with a difference . Our gamelan group decided to take a break after our performance and chose to chill out at dear Deyana's new bookstore~~!!

This isn't one of those run out of the mill mortar and brick book store.. I mean mortar and brick it is..however , there is a hint of ccsy-ness and touch of bohemian about the place itself. And if you happen to pay her a visit in the evening, you may even get to see the 'lovely' ktv girls in their pageant gowns and sashes ( oh so cabaret like!) at the pub on the first level. The area where the bookstore is definitely has an eclectic mixture of business :) It is slowly becoming the
IT place to be.. eheheee.. I know this place too well, it's just a stone's throw from my place..plus his office used to be in the vicinity

The street scene from the shop..
located on the 2nd level of a shophouse
Do you know where this is?

Now for a tour of the place....

-GOHD-
That's the name of the shop..
Cool mural

What do you expect? Books and bookcases of coz!
All the books have been carefully and meticulously selected by
the owner herself...


I love this idea of using wine crates as bookshelves~


sit , relax , read


walking advertisement for the book
look at the uncanny resemblance


me and the energetic owner


what's a chillout without booze..
so here you go..
this was just the beginning


One by one.. slowly but surely, we spilled, in this order,
red wine, beer, and more red wine on the pretty carpet


Chips and more chips!


one of our memeber, Genevieve
fed us with bread, olives, tomatoes and ham~


Our Japanese lecturer pal Emi baked a mean yummy
Pineapple turnover!
I had 3 slices!
*disclaimer* Mus sliced it really thin..


Very nice...


Oops..smokers caught in the action :P


It's nice to chill and just relax..


tied up my hair last nite.


So have u figured where is GOHD located?
It is just within walking distance from Farrer Park Mrt Station :)
Diagonally opposite of The French Stall :)

GOHD
519, Serangoon Road
opens from 12noon to late..
( i may be wrong with the time hehee.. )

It has been a busy busy week! More to come...

wooo....to say that this has been a busy week is surely an understatement!
My ensemble's performance ended on a big round of applause from the audience

Preperations for the performance started couple of months ago and after practices and rehearsals , we managed to play reasonable well ;)

Program notes and my sarong

Most of us wore the costume made in Solo Indonesia . As for the sarong, my friends did get me one during their first trip there, however, I wasn't pretty please with the design and according to one of my friends -- " it looks like table cloth''.... -_-"" so you tell me..i wouldn't wanna be seen as if wearing one! So 3 hours before our last dress rehearsal on Saturday.. I made a dash to Mustafa to get the one that I wore for the performance. It was a good choice as most of my friends said it has pretty prints ;) Phew!

wanna see how the 'table cloth' like sarong looks like? Come to think of it, it wasn't really that bad, just that it wasn't as pretty as the rest of the girls'

Me and Mus with the LT as backdrop...
that's the sarong.. I guess I'll still
wear it on some other peformance :)

During rehearsal..seated in front of my instrument

I was playing alot of fast pieces on this instrument

and had to hit really hard. My right arm was sored after

the performance! The wooden mallet is afterall not very light....

Oops my sms-ing got caught by Mus

In the changing room hehe

As u can see...i still can't tie a sarong very well
look at the ugly bulge in the middle.. eeks!


Rehearsal....


I have to cut short this update again...
I am already late for my lunch appt!
And it's Nicole's birthday today
gotta celebrate with her later!!

gotta fly now... till later.

Edited -- It's 12.50am now, Monday morning...in the midst of editing the photos and trying to finish up this post

Do you know how difficult it was to sit down wearing a sarong? My legs had pins and needles as some of the pieces we play were rather long and had no room for me to change the sitting position. Overall I am quite pleased with myself plus the fact I still managed to fit into the kebaya of coz.. hahaha. An old friend brought his friend along to watch ..though they left during intermission due to hunger pangs ;p Well..all I can say is music like what we play is kinda of an acquired taste . Nevertheless, it was good effort on their part to drop by

~~~More photos~~~

top -left to right- Xinwei, Precious , Nassar

bottom- Deyana, Xinwei ( dance costume)

Our happy family portrait
Everyone is all smiles

Our serious one!

Alicia looked damn fierce!

Khim came to watch us..and we were joined by Edwin and Alicia for supper at crystal jade h.v

I only realised I didn't even take a single photo with Edwin the entire day! And also didn't capture any photos of him!! why why.. aiyo.

my yummy porridge...