Packing list for China

I was the shopping guru when I was in Beijing. I had to help look for some of these items. Here are some things which were hard to find (on a budget) in China last fall:

1. Anti-bacterial hand sanitizer
2. Solid stick deodorant
3. Good shoes (Especially the larger sizes, women's size 8 is a little difficult to find)
4. Fabric stain remover (Spray Wash solid is a good one to bring)
5. Fabric deodorizer
6. 3X5 note cards (You could make your own)
7. Feminine hygiene stuff
8. Good thermal wear (Silk available in Beijing)
9. Dri-fit or Cool Max active wear (Sports bras included)
10. Hiking apparel & shoes
11. Your favorite candy (Bring it!)
12. Clothes for tall people :) (To give you an idea: I wear an PXS here in the USA, but had to get XL.)
13. Supplements and vitamins
14. Ear plugs

Things I didn't regret bringing so I had them immediately:
1. A good knife. I brought a Farberware parer and a peeler.
2. A set of silverware: knife, fork and spoon.
3. Multipurpose tool.

Things I regret not bringing:
1. A good can opener.
2. ... Still thinking ....

Things you should always have with you:
1. Kleenex or toilet paper
2. Hand sanitizer
3. Your own shopping bag
4. A camera
5. A sense of humor & adventure

Things you can get for cheap:
1. Socks (all materials and lengths)
2. Winter coats, scarves and gloves
3. Clothing & other accessories
4. Stationery
5. Umbrellas (get the UV-coated kind, makes a difference in the heat)
6. Clothing alteration (hem pants, repair seams etc.)
7. Gel insoles
8. Prescription glasses
9. Wet wipes
10. Blankets
11. China licensed DVDs and CDs (real and fakes)
12. Surface shipping China Post (All my stuff arrived, undamaged and it took 2 months China-USA. Bring your stuff unpacked and they will pack it for you. If you're planning to ship DVDs and CDs, make sure you save all the receipts and show it to the post office agent for customs clearance.)

Things you should get:
1. Local SIM card for your unlocked cell phone.
2. Travel guide: the local insider's guide written by Beijing expats is a good one. Lonely Planet's Beijing too.
3. Chinese-English/ English-Chinese dictionaries (electronic or otherwise)
4. Chinese-English books, poems

Things you may need to find out more before buying:
1. Musical instruments (apparently there's some paperwork involved)
2. Knives and other traditional weapons (there are restrictions depending on where you buy them)

Random advice:
1. Remember the bus numbers when you get on one. Get a bus/subway card and be adventurous. I familiarized myself to different areas by riding on the bus with no particular destination in mind. I got on a bus and rode for several stops. Then, I got off the bus and walked the bus route, exploring all the shops and places in between.
2. Dab clear nail polish on all the buttons of cheap clothes you buy. This will help them stay on for longer :).
3. There's no return or exchange policy in the bargain areas. May not be able to try on clothing. Bring a tape measure if you're a serious shopper. I brought my fav pair of jeans and used it to measure. This worked well.
4. Cheap scarves sewn together make a good sleep sack.

Will update this page when other things come to mind.

Summer Plans 2009

Things I look forward to when I finish everything at UA:

1. Job applications: Quite a few decisions to make on what career path I would like to take. I'm looking for a job combining music, cultural studies or Chinese studies. Very few can claim to have lived in and taught the Hokey Pokey to two remote villages in China!

2. Read: I'm more interested in non-fiction so I will probably keep reading books on Chinese history and Beethoven. Maybe I'll start some work on tracing Beethoven in Chinese music history?

3. Piano: I want to attend Barbara Lister-Sink's workshop but that depends a lot on $$ and transportation. I'm toying with the idea of playing through more Beethoven stuff or I'll return to Bach.

4. Chinese: I have all my Chinese textbooks with me and I can't wait to dig into them again. I will continue translating Madame Mao's speeches and possibly prepare them for publication. I have several Chinese versions of English texts I would like to start working on like the "History of Western Music" Palisca-Grout and the bible.

5. Car: Yes, it's time to let go of my car or I can attempt to fix it again on my own with a friend's help. Distributor cap, I officially dislike you! Where's the lifetime warranty? I'm getting around in a borrowed vehicle these few weeks (or months).

6. Beading: I'm thinking of expanding jewelry making to beading embroidery. I'm a little concerned as the last time I did such intricate work, I inflamed a nerve in my right wrist. No permanent effects, but it sure hurt! I long to work on stained glass again.

7. Dance as much as I can.

8. Secret! You'll find out when it happens.

Back in the USA

Yes, I've been silent for a long while on the blog. Doesn't mean that nothing is happening in my exciting life. In short, my last two weeks in Beijing were great. I managed to get copies of all the scores I needed, shipped about 40 lbs of books back to the USA and managed to get home in one piece. I came down with the most awful cold before leaving Beijing and was sick through Christmas. I had to pay around 1000 yuan for my excess baggage and I just did it. There was a little surprise on my flight home, as I was upgraded to business class because the flight was overbooked. I guess the money I spent was well-worth it.

I'm working 25% of what I used to last year. I teach "Music in World Cultures" and one private piano student. It is nice to have some time to myself and I am still keeping very busy, but this time on my own terms. I am practicing for my upcoming recital and writing my dissertation. Today the one month countdown to my recital starts. I have just finished the poster and program notes for the recital. Next would be the invitation cards.



I will play the recital on Qing Ming festival. This will be my final doctoral recital and will be part of Asia Interest Week activities. The recital will be featuring some Chinese pieces and will relate music to the history of China. I have five settings of Chinese folksongs, three in miniature forms and the other two in concert etude style. There will be a display in the lobby of scores and concert programs I brought back from Beijing. A photo exhibit preview will be held. A reception will follow the recital, provided by Creative Campus. I'm thankful for all the assistance, because I cannot afford all this this semester.

I am juggling preparing for job applications at the same time while this is going on. I am a little surprised that there is little career guidance or counseling in music schools. I'm wading through the process myself, very likely making mistakes but it's live and learn. There's always something new to find out.

The most exciting thing now is having a new set of friends - my China gang! I've been to the student center more often in the past couple weeks than I have the whole three years. :) I'm still actively dancing with the contra group here and in Birmingham. I may be giving the ballroom club a miss now and then. I've discovered, I just like to waltz and contra. I like the other dances too, but going to ballroom without a partner is a waste of time (I feel) because if I go to a dance, I expect to dance. If I'm not dancing, I'd rather be doing something more productive like practicing, reading or writing. Sleep is getting to be a precious commodity, much harder than the economy in my books.

Alright, back to the 88 keys for now....

Rural Study Tour aka Hokey Pokey special

I just want to post on my rural study tour to Guizhou and Yunnan. If you are on facebook or my email list you have already received this. I will write about some other things concerning the study tour later.

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I just want to give you all an update of my adventures in China. I was away from Beijing for 16 days and visited several villages in China. I was at a Miao (Hmong) village in Guizhou and at a Tibetan area in the Himalayas. The tour was crazy and very challenging. I'm glad to be back in Beijing and sleeping in the same bed.

We were hosted by families in the Miao village, which is farming community in the mountains. I dressed up like they did for part of the time while I was there. Our group worked on repairing the road, harvesting rice and doing some of their traditional craftwork. It's the first time I picked up a shovel, a pick and a sickle. As for the craftwork, it's been a long time since I did any embroidery or beading, and I enjoyed that. The Miaos also love song and dance, so I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I was one of the last few at their singing event, which I also had to emcee in Mandarin (of course). This I had no advanced preparation for. I didn't even bring any water to the event which lasted 4 hrs. By the way, they only drink rice wine (50% alcohol) or beer and I was not going to ask for anything to drink. (I had more alcohol in this village than I've ever had in my life, including beer for breakfast.) I have no pics of me playing emcee as I couldn't take pics of myself. It was intense and I had to think quickly in Chinese...argh!! I had to dig up every Chinese song I remembered from childhood and they'd join me in singing. The ladies out danced us. It was funny watching them dance to techno but it worked. The villagers also enjoyed doing the Hokey Pokey with us, and we had encores of that. Our last dance before we left the village was the Hokey Pokey. The villagers walked with us for part of the hike downhill and then they waited from across the valley until we were totally out of sight. They shouted from across the valley when we were 1/2 into our hike. It was very touching and just indescribable. They will miss us more than we ever could. I was really sad to leave this village.

After the Miao village, we had some down time to do touristy stuff. We went to some caves and Huangguoshu, the biggest waterfall in China. We did take a sleeper train to Kunming city and I managed to give myself some nice bruises slipping of the bunk. I also developed a bad cold while in Kunming. We flew into Zhongdian, which is now called Shangri-La for tourist reasons. We travelled by bus through the Himalayas to Deqin, going over a mountain pass of about 4200m high. You can guess it... my cold and the altitude made it unbearable for me. I couldn't breathe and my head felt like it was going to burst. We rested for a day in Deqin which was at around 3400m. It is an interesting town, somewhat like a frontier town and it was the only place I didn't feel safe walking around by myself. I felt better after sleeping for 12 hrs and taking lots of medicine.

We drove the following day to a small village where the hike to the glacier at Meili Snow Mountain began. The village had vineyards all around it. We had Tibetan guides and mules to haul our stuff. That was really nice as I wouldn't be able to hike with any extra weight. I have been fighting a hip and knee problem for most of the trip anyway. It was a fairly steep and dangerously narrow trail at some parts. I'm glad I am no longer afraid of heights, if not the hike would have been a nightmare. When we hiked in the Himalayas, I camped out for the first time and was brave enough to do it for two nights. We had beautiful weather for the three days we hiked and it was clear enough to see the snow capped peaks. I had the option of hiking down the second day but I didn't. I attempted to hike up to the glacier with the other students but I quit after two hours as there was no trail. They were hacking their way through the forest. I couldn't pace myself and didn't wanted our guide to be dragging me by the hand. I sat in a valley for 4 hrs waiting for the rest of the gang but I enjoyed every moment of it, sitting in the sunshine staring at the mountain peak and chatting with my Tibetan guide. I was the slowest hiker everyday but didn't mind at all. I wasn't sore from the hike and I had our main guide with me the whole time. He had to take me by the hand more than a little. I didn't feel bad to be rather helpless as I had not hiked for ages and couldn't afford to fall.

We stayed overnight at the Tibetan village and something special happened that evening. They danced and sang for us. Tibetans are usually very shy people and rarely do this, unlike the Miao who are incredibly outgoing. This village also had not had foreigners since the early 80s. The other students were really tired out from the hiking but I saved some energy for my dancing feet and so I joined them. We wanted to engage them so I taught them the Hokey Pokey. So somewhere in the Himalayas, in a remote village, they know the Hokey Pokey thanks to me! I also did another simple circle dance with them. We danced and at one point, a friend and I danced a swing & a hustle. It's hard to process all this. As far as food went, they had amazing fruits here: pears, grapes, apples and pomegranates. I tasted my first pomegranate here. The next morning we made our way back to Zhongdian. I could tell our guides were heavy hearted to see us leave. Unlike the Miao village, only three guys saw us off but I could tell it was hard for them to say goodbye. We had danced, drank and ate with them and were just about to have some interaction but we had to go. I hope to go back.. as crazy as this sounds.. I do.

What I wrote is not even half of what happened on the tour, but it's already long enough. I hope the pictures give you a glimpse of what happened on the tour. I will try to recover from wanderlust and hit the books here in Beijing. It is rather surreal to be sitting in a classroom after this experience.

Beijing Olympics 2008

Yes, it was great to be at an Olympic venue and see the Bird's Nest with the Olympic flame burning. It was a crazy day and it was really hot when we went to the Olympic Village. We managed to walk around the area close to the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube. Having two blondes and a bunch of American guys walking around the area caught the attention of the majority Chinese crowd.

Needless to say, we were mobbed (or they were) for photos and such. It was really humorous. At one point, I suggested we walk ten across down the street so people could take all the pictures they wanted without them pulling one or a few of us aside for pics. I felt like we had the paparazzi after us. Everytime we stopped to take a group photo with one of our cameras, we would find a crowd of other cameras taking pictures of us. I would love to see some of our pictures taken by other people. These were random strangers. So funny, I laughed so hard.... (well, I didn't feel too left out. I'm Chinese, not considered as special but I had a great time watching the spectacle and translating when needed.)



When we stopped for a break, someone offered to braid the hair of one of the girls. That was pretty amazing as the lady did a fairly complicated updo, but it was awesome. There were lots of people trying to sell us imitation Olympic souvenirs. We had to turn many of them down. Then there was a man who looked like he was trying to sell us a button and each one of us said no. I was the last one he spoke too and he said, "I'm giving this to you for free. Take it. I'm not selling anything." He was a little frustrated and we were sad we turned him down. He was trying to be nice to the foreigners.

After a lunch of Beijing jiaozi, we tried to reenter the place but the police had already cordoned it off. We walked through a park and found a vantage point to see the Olympic flame. We found a kid there who was catching little frogs (some of them were still tadpoles). He had about 20 stuffed in a water bottle. It was fun convincing him to put some of it back into the pond.

Later that evening, the brave few went out with me to try to see the fireworks live. It was both exciting and frustrating at the same time. The places where we were in the morning were cordoned off by the police. We couldn't understand why some things were blocked, and then the next second it wasn't. When we found a spot, the fireworks were already going off in the distance. I sprained my ankle trying to secure a spot on a hill slope. We also couldn't get back to the subway station we arrived at and thankfully we found some Olympic volunteers who walked with us to the next nearest subway station. It was a fun day but really really tiring. It was worth it catching some Olympic action live.

Watching the Olympic Men's Marathon Final

This was on Aug 26 as well, the last day of the Olympics. We set out early morning at around 7:20 am to get out to the main street past our campus. We had heard that the men's marathon route would pass by our university. There were just four of us (three guys and I) cos the others bailed out at the last minute.

We walked across Zhongguancun street and found a spot close to an intersection. My friends were obviously the foreigners cos there were no Caucasians around. One of my friends wore a USA shirt. We drew lots of attention wanted or not. The police and security had their eyes on us the whole time.

When we parked ourselves at the fence, a friendly policeman came over and asked us quite a few questions. It was a friendly chat, but an interrogation nonetheless. How many of us? Where we live? Why we are here? We answered those, but few minutes later they were repeated. I told him there are more but they are sleeping. He said in English, "Lazy bums, your friends!". We laughed.

We also got interviewed by BTV. It was so funny... when my friend has the video up, I'll post the link. I had to play the interpreter and I'm embarrassed. I think I translated about half of the questions and answers. LOL so much for being huaqiao (overseas Chinese). Another funny thing happened.. a policeman fell when closing off the street. One of the metal cordons fell on him... hahah, he laughed too!

There was an older man next to us who was saving two spots for his elderly parents. He was a real interesting fella. The crowd started gathering at around 8:15am and of course, there was a lot of pushing and shoving. One lady kept shoving us, elbowing her way and I wasn't about to give in. This man all of a sudden gave her a mouthful, basically telling her off and that we have been here for an hour... if she wanted a good spot, she should have been here early.. she was giving a real bad impression to foreigners.. and that I was being a good friend for bringing them here to see the Olympics... that when the runners come, we'll surely make room for her to see them. WHOA!!! I pretended not to understand a word.




I was pretty surprised the crowd was very quiet when the runners came by. Of course the Kenyans, Jamaicans were in the first group. They cheered the CHinese runners of course. When the US runner came by, I yelled "Go USA" so loud I think I shocked myself and the people around me. My friend yelled "Jia you mei guo (Add gas, USA)" and the giggly girls around him laughed. The same man was trying to rouse the crowd and he almost succeeded until a Japanese runner came by. I was clapping at that point but bowing to peer/crowd/Chinese nationality pressure, I stopped. It was a very obvious silence. I felt very sorry for the Japanese runner. The Belarusian runner almost dropped out of the race and started walking towards the cordon. The crowd cheered him on and he picked up his feet and kept going. That was encouraging to see. The last two runners in the race received the most cheers.

Later my friends decided it would be really cool to get China flags. I had them go up to ask the Olympic officials for the flags. It was so amazing. They just handed them over and the Chinese people were snapping pictures of this whole process. I mean I felt like we had some paparazzi following us. IT was a fun morning and we decided to go to the Bird's Nest asap.

Shopping Overload ARGH!!!!

This may seem really strange coming from me. I finally had shopping overload today and it only took one hour. I have never been bombarded with so many store, such a huge selection and amazing variety but also similar in a sense. I never thought I could get shopping overload until today.

I have to live like a local here as I'm on a tight budget so I set out to find the closest cheapest clothing wholesale market around. I just basically googled the area searching for "Cheap clothes Haidian District" and found out there were some markets near the Beijing Zoo. The zoo is about 4 bus stops away from here. I jaunted out yesterday morning when it was rainy and found Tianle market right next to the Beijing Planetarium. I managed to get some clothes there for around 15 yuan a piece. I thought I had hit the jackpot there and told the rest of the gang about it. They wanted to go back so I decided to do some more investigative work and found out I had actually missed the BIG one.

I dropped them off at Tianle this afternoon and went in search of the Zoo Wholesale Market (Dongwuyuan Fuzhuang Sichang). It happened to be just a block away above the bus depot. So we went over there as Tianle was closing. When we got there, we had to split up.

I walked around the market/mall but it was rows and rows of shops, followed by more rows and rows. I didn't reach the end of the other side and there were several floors of shops. It was busy but not terribly busy like say Petaling Street. I was so overwhelmed I didn't buy anything except for a tank top. Totally crazy. I need to upload pictures of the place so you can get an idea. I am definitely going back for my winter coat.

Tomorrow I am going back to Tianle as it is manageable. It is a little bit more dingy and darker but the prices are still good. Most of all it is contained within a little building. Let's see whether I can find a pair of Columbia pants again. :) I am also going by the dancewear shops close by campus and buying my ballroom shoes.

Leaving for Beijing

I will leave for Beijing on Aug 22. Most of my things are packed and ready. Everything is as planned except ...

I'm still trying to iron out insurance legalities. It's no fun being an international student and I am now caught between the rules of two different university systems. It is frustrating and extremely time consuming. Makes it hard that I do not have a printer or scanner here. Makes international faxing a hassle and much more difficult.

I do not know whether blogspot is accessible from China or not. I have seen it among the list of banned websites, although blogger.com is available. This could mean I could blog but I may not be able to see my own blog when it is uploaded.
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To follow up on my previous blog, The STAR had no guts to print the letter as it is right on the nose. I have found out more stories of ragging here since the posting.

Summer Travel in a Nutshell

1. I was in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province China for a few days.
2. I went to Bangkok, Thailand for two weeks with the Chi Alpha Team from the University of Alabama. I had a great time with the Thai university students and the team.
3. I have obtained my Chinese student visa to enter China on Aug 22. I will miss most of the Olympics but if the closing ceremony is broadcast somewhere live, I will go watch it on Aug 24.
4. I am planning to go to Singapore sometime before I leave for Beijing. :)
5. I'm mostly at home in Kampar and I do mean at home! I didn't renew my driver's license, bleh... so there we go. Hopefully I will meet up with a few more friends before I go away. Unfortunately, I will miss quite a few weddings.

In the meantime, I am keeping myself occupied by practicing piano, practicing my written Chinese and following the Malaysian political saga. The politics here are much more interesting than any soap opera I have ever heard about. (Yes, it is better than McCain v. Obama and much juicier than Clinton & Lewinsky!! The "plot" is so complicated and has so many sub-plots, a Malaysian film producer should start a tv series.)

Goodbye USA .. at least temporarily

I am officially ABD. The paperwork was signed and stamped on Tuesday. (For those of you who don't know what that means, I just have one major requirement left and my research proposal has been approved.) I have to wait a minimum of 9 months for the conferral of my degree from today. There is a slight hang up with my dissertation committee but it's out of my hands.

Beginning June 10, I will leave the USA for home. En route, I will be stopping by Hong Kong to cross over to Guangdong province. I will meet my father's relatives for the first time in the city of Zhongshan (Sun Yat Sen's birthplace). I will return to Malaysia after this short trip and be there for a couple weeks, until I head for Bangkok, Thailand. I am joining Chi Alpha ministries on a missions trip there, teaching English and working with their campus ministry. I will be in Kampar, my hometown after that until I leave for Beijing.

I will be studying abroad as part of the University of Alabama China Study Abroad in Beijing. I will arrive just as the Olympics is ending :( but may be able to catch some of the festivities in the city. I will be there as a language student and not as a music student. I will be able to do some research in Beijing and hopefully be able to connect with the faculty & students at the Central Conservatory in Beijing. I do speak Mandarin when forced and am pleasantly surprised that I remember quite a few characters. I have been reading travel phrasebooks and elementary Chinese books these few days.

I am packing up my one bedroom.. how can one person accumulate so much? So if you're interested in size 6P, you should holler! There is a chance I may be applying for a job for the spring of 09. Depending on what works out, I may or may not be physically present at UA in the spring. I am still planning on graduating by May 2009 pending my last recital and the document.

In the meantime, I'm packing, practicing, ripping music & scanning documents to my laptop. I'm actually excited about spending 6 months in Asia. I will keep you all posted on my adventures over there.

Perceptions: After the Recital

I am shocked! It’s surreal. I still don’t believe it. The feedback and comments I have received are a far cry from what I perceived the recital to be. I knew I have been playing well these past few weeks but whether I had improved or regressed, only the Winfield recital would reveal.

I was very surprised to hear some of the comments. I don’t often blow my own trumpet here on this blog. Some of the comments I received include:
- You had the audience in the palm of your hand for most of the time
- You kept the audience on the edge of their seat wondering what would happen next
- We have not heard that piano sound so beautiful for some time
- We were breathless and it was breathtaking.
- Your playing lifted my spirits.
- You have grown so much and now you don’t just play the piano, you are the instrument.
- You played an incredible, fabulous, wonderful, great, etc. recital!
- You’re finally playing at the doctoral level.

I had to wait to meet with my former piano professor to find out what exactly happened. I am glad he pointed out a lot of the things I did. I hope he puts them in an email because I still have a hard time letting it sink in. I’m playing with a good full tone. I’m taking more time and freedom at the piano. There was a certain serene and calm quality about the Schubert that was projected to the audience. I’m also finally giving myself a little more and the extrovert is slowly coming back. There is much more personality in my playing now. Perhaps dancing has helped my playing and performing.

With my curiosity peaked, I watched the DVD of my U of Alabama recital and I shocked myself. I have to wait to get home to review the Winfield recital. I already know it is the best recital of the five. To enjoy being on stage again, to be really calm in a recital and to love the piano again, confirm that the change of teachers was the correct decision. Now with all these experiences behind me, I’m ready for the next set of challenges and a new chapter at UA.

End of another recital series

The end of another chapter... Funny the suggestion to blog came from one of my piano teachers. It is almost surreal to hear some of the comments about my recent recitals. I am having a difficult time coming to terms with what I perceived and still perceive, and comparing those to the feedback.

It was good to perform at SC again and get reacquainted with the piano in Messenger. After many years away and playing on different pianos, I could now detect some of the strengths and weaknesses of that piano. I struggled with the dynamic level of the piano and that it wouldn’t play any louder. I knew I had to bring my level of dynamics down to match it but still play with a nice tone. I have been working diligently to play with a full tone without pressing or being wimpy.

Tuesday October 23rd was a strange day for me. I was pretty tired from the weekend and an overcast sky the day before didn’t help. I did not practice as much as I intended to the few days prior to the recital because I had so many people to see and catch up with. I studied the score when I had a chance. I had a headache for most of the day but decided to continue with my recital routine. I have found out that evening recitals work best for me as I am able to take a nap in the afternoon. The ability to be relaxed enough to sleep is a blessing!

Prior to the recital I told myself, I just needed to have 95% accuracy tonight and allowed myself room for failure and mistakes. It was great to have Meagan help with my dress and getting my hair pinned properly. Fun times! I was pretty pleased with the Bach Capriccio although the fugue had some slips due to unexpected (expected) interruptions from the audience. I have had two note perfect performances of the same fugue but both weren’t recorded so I can let this one go.

Debussy was a challenge to play at SC. I have memories of myself being the awkward teenager there and how was I supposed to project the sensual. At the same time, I knew without sensuality and languidity the pieces would be a flop. I had a great time playing the first two movements but somehow struggled with the third. I left the stage feeling pretty discouraged for whatever reason. I collected myself at intermission and reminded myself that I had successfully completed 4 recitals, tonight would be no different. I wanted the adrenaline and excitement of a bigger audience but the people that cared about me were already out there. I couldn’t and shouldn’t ask for more.

Just before walking out to play the Schubert, I had this attack of “what ifs”. What if I forget? What if I mess up this or that? I looked back on the journey for this sonata, from the moment I decided to program this, learning and fighting for it. I had fought hard to perform this piece musically and emotionally. It is because of this piece that I met many people, had many discussions, listened to umpteen recordings and shed a lot of tears. It would be a waste to lose heart at the last recital of the series. I immersed myself in this very reflective state and started the piece, just the piano and I. The one thing I noticed is there was always dead silence in the hall; not a chair squeaked, not an audible breath, especially at the end of the first two movements.

I ended the recital securely and went on to greeting my guests. For the first time, I had to walk around and compose myself after a recital. I wasn’t quite ready to meet everyone and hear the feedback. I thought it had gone okay only.

People Watching at Airports (Pt 2)

Since I blogged about people watching at O'Hare on my way home to Malaysia, I want to continue with the same coming back to the USA. This round it was more of parent watching.

My journey back to the USA was very smooth considering other experiences I have had. I, along with other fellow passengers, was plagued with screaming children on almost every flight segment. I also was landed with the great honor of sitting next to a screaming toddler on my last flight segment. I actually didn't mind it too much since I wisely always have earplugs & an eye mask with me.

What appalled me was the lack of parental sense! The flight from Singapore to Japan is about 7 hrs. I felt sorry for the toddler who didn't have his toys, his snacks and his blankie.. and whatever it is that could occupy him. I thought that after takeoff the parents would take something out, but sadly nothing. The child was allowed to screech everytime he wanted something.

We almost had a lost child scenario.. screaming child running on the concourse in O'Hare. Security personnel even tried to get a hold of him. I pitied the mom who could obviously not handle him. She had a baby on her back and just couldn't handle chasing this toddler.

I noticed the same with the parent who sat next to me. There were no toys, nothing. The toddler's routine is already disrupted and what more could torture you more.. Then there was another toddler and they decided screaming was the best form of communication. It was rather comical! I was the one with the earplugs *grin* and slept through the whole fiasco. The other poor passengers...

I didn't have perfect parents but I remember every long trip we had to make was filled with some planning. My brother and I each had our own bag. Dad would take us to the candy store and we'd choose our favorite stuff. We chose what snacks, books, games and toys we were bringing along. Usually these trips involved my dad being in a meeting and we had to keep ourselves occupied.

Buy your child an interesting new toy secretly. Only bring it out after takeoff. :) I once read this and will take this advice pretty seriously. Only I will have to buy a few new toys since there are quite a few flight segments from the USA to Malaysia. Sometime in the future my days of perfect parenting will end!

A Horrible Case of Malaysia Tak Boleh (Cannot)

This is not my regular blog post and does not reflect the many nice people I met at the festival. This letter is directed at the management of the Rainforest World Music Festival and the Sarawak Cultural Village. I apologize as the letter is scathing:
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I have plenty opportunities to attend concerts of world music in air-conditioned, acoustically sound halls with comfortable seating. However, I chose to brave the heat and humidity of the rainforest to research the local music of Sarawak and to gather more resources on world music only to find great disappointment. There were many aspects of the festival which were disappointing and a letdown after all the hype. During the course of the festival, I had to listen to the grouses of many foreign tourists and appease them.

Tour brochures state that the Sarawak Cultural Village the best living museum in Southeast Asia and I have to agree with it, after visiting many similar museums around the world. I have visited the museum three times prior to this visit. The museum is designed to be visited with a guide and items are not labeled for individual browsing. However, this famous living museum was dead for the festival three days and the day after. The Sarawak Tourism Board should answer to the tourists who were expecting the SCV to be running. I was appalled and shocked when I arrived at the museum to find that it had fully suspended its normal activities. The houses were unmanned and there were no demonstrations of the local arts and culture. There was no notice on the website of either the RWMF or the SCV that stated this.

The RWMF only had programs from 2:00 pm-5:30 pm, with the evening concerts starting at 7:30 pm. The full suspension of the museum programs left tourists who arrived early or who did not want to attend workshops with nothing to do besides eat and shop. The administration of the SCV should have taken advantage of the attendees of the festival and provided alternate activities to complement the RMWF festivities. You would be surprised to know that in the three days of this festival I never witnessed neither a Malay joget, nor an Iban ngajat, nor a Melanau bamboo dance nor an Indian bhangra nor a Chinese lion dance. In fact, I took it upon myself to teach the volunteers the bamboo dance and danced it myself. I do understand that with the influx of thousands of people for the festival would have affected the normal day-to-day running of the museum. It would have been wise to schedule a few performances at the different houses, instead of totaling canceling everything. I had to convince many tourists and Malaysians that the SCV is a living museum, the tourist brochures were not a lie and they should revisit another day.

As for the RWMF, I could not fully enjoy myself given the disorganization. This is the 10th anniversary and it looks like this is the inaugural year of the festival. Annually, I attend an acoustic music festival in Winfield Kansas, where the attendees number to 17,000, nearly doubling the town’s population of only 10,000. Concerts start at 9:00 am until 1:00am with four different stages going at one time. If such a small town could organize a world class festival drawing names like Tommy Emmanuel from Australia and bands like Cherish the Ladies and the Dixie Chicks, Kuching can surely handle the RWMF. It is also not more expensive than the RWMF costing only USD$80 for the 5-day pass.

Firstly, there was no map of the SCV in the program booklet. I have visited the SCV three times so I knew my way around. The volunteers were usually standing around and I was not exactly sure what their duties were. I was also surprised that people who bought advanced tickets had to wait longer in line than the people who walked up to the counter at the SCV. There were usually only 2 lines for admission, with very confusing signs for re-admission. The exits were also confusing as nobody knew how many lines or what lines were for which shuttle. You could be politely queuing up in the wrong line.

The shuttle service was a shock to most of us as the bus would not leave until it was full. We thought it would be a timed shuttle and were annoyed that it spent lots of time circling the city. The 12:00 noon bus only left the city for the SCV at 12:50 pm, after some tourists scolded the driver. Thankfully, I made it in time for the first workshop. The return shuttle from the SCV was also the same. However, they should be commended for having enough buses.

I left the concert early on Friday as the crowd became so rowdy as the time went on. I pitied those who were less able and had to remain seated. There were no sitting areas or bleachers set up. At the festival where I’m a regular, there were places for those who were going to dance and those that were going to sit. If in the unlikely event of an emergency, it would have been utter chaos. Without a map, an evacuation plan would have been difficult to follow. Security patrols were only seen on the fringe of the crowd. It was doubtful that they could prevent any unruly behavior. I do not mind having a great time at a festival but watching people waving glass bottles while drunk is unpleasant. I didn’t mind the beer, wine and tuak sales but I saw people who brought in bottles and bottles of liquor.

On top of this, they also ran out of evaluation forms on Friday. There is no excuse for not knowing or estimating how many people would attend the festival. According to the organizers, there was a limit in ticket sales. Furthermore, the SCV also only has a capacity for 8000 people.

Despite these, I returned on Saturday and Sunday to learn as much as I could for my course. I had to resign myself to watching the concert from the screens instead of braving the crowd. I also talked to the staff of the SCV about learning their cultural dances to teach my students in the USA. They requested that I return on Monday when things were supposed to return to normal.

I patiently waited till Monday and paid the admission and shuttle (totaling RM70) to get to the SCV for the 4th day in a row. I checked with the admissions, the bookstore, the staff at the houses to make sure they would be teaching the dances. When the time came, the teachers were nowhere to be found. I had to go to the office where they kindly asked me to return to Kuching later or come back the next day. I could not as I was scheduled to perform and lecture that evening. I would miss my flight if I returned the next day. Apparently, the staff was too tired as they were cleaning up after the festival. Imagine my great disappointment! I had traveled thousands of miles to vacation in my own country and learn my own country’s culture only to be turned down again and again. One’s patience only goes so far. Please take note that I defended your museum’s reputation constantly during the three days of the RWMF. I hope the people I talked to don’t call me a liar as well!

Suggestions for future RWMF/SCV:
1.SCV should operate on a lesser scale and not totally suspend its programs. It is a prime tourist destination for Kuching, Sarawak available year round and should be prominently featured and marketed to the world.
2.Alternate activities must be offered. Perhaps you could organize competitions, kid-friendly workshops, instrument or craft making workshops, short dance demonstrations scheduled by the SCV staff or volunteers. We are paying for a day ticket but there is just too much time when nothing is going on.
3.Rotate the workshops so more people can take advantage of them. Also this would allow for more capacity and room, not to mention this would preserve the structure of the buildings.
4.Please insert a map of the SCV in your program book. Don’t take for granted that it is easy to navigate and everyone will know where things are or have great memory skills.
5.Allow advanced tagging for those who have purchase tickets the week of the festival. This could be done at a central location in the city where tickets are being sold. Tag the 3-day weekend pass holders and Sat-Sun pass holders once. It saves everyone a lot of time and energy, not to mention not standing in the tropical heat.
6.A timed shuttle needs to operate whether or not the bus is full. There also needs to be service from the SCV in between the hours of 1730 and 2230. There were many of us who were tired out and wanted to leave but had to wait for 5 hrs.
7.Alcohol sales need to have some sort of regulations.
8.Security patrols should be among the crowd not on the fringe of the crowd.
9.Train your volunteers to be knowledgeable about the SCV to work alongside the museum staff.
10.Engage volunteers, uniform units or the national service to help clean up during and after the festival. Leave the regular SCV museum staff to do their job which is to cater to the tourists.

If I were to rank the quality of the performers, I would say that the music was great. It is the only reason that made me stay the whole weekend. As far as the food and craft vendors go, the prices they asked for were fairly reasonable. Would I return to the festival again? No, thanks to the lack of organization. Will I come back to the SCV? No. I now understand why Malaysian music is still largely undocumented and unknown to the West. However, I wish to commend Mr. Mohamad Suffian Abdillah for all his efforts to help me at the SCV. The Sarawak Tourism Board should answer to all these and how you have failed to sell SCV to thousands of tourists. It is afterall “Visit Malaysia Year 2007” with about 5 more months to go.

See you in Winfield, Kansas at the Walnut Valley Festival!

People watching at O'Hare

It's bright and early in Chicago. I occasionally like people-watching but not when I'm sleep deprived. This travel round doesn't seem too bad especially with a good massage and hot tub at my friend's last night.

I'm wondering this: if a Boeing 747 seats more than 300 people, how do they expect everyone to be in the waiting area. There are barely enough seats for those who are waiting. So I find myself a corner to devour my McDonald's breakfast. The only time I will suffer fast food breakfasts. There must be the unwritten sign "parents with little children". There were three families with little ones. I told my students once that I can almost pick out people from different countries based on how they treat or handle their kids in the airport. I still can! Travelling with real little kids is tough and right now, I really appreciate it that I'm a single traveller. I will enjoy this while I can.

Trouble with travelling so much

*sigh* I wonder how I'm going to keep my private students happy. I have had to move their lessons around so many times these couple months. My audition at U of Nebraska-Lincoln was postponed to the next week meaning I have to reschedule everyone for this week and next week again. There are two more auditions coming up and no more weekends available until April. I have two conferences I will need to present at. I am also going to have to move at the end of March, so there goes Easter weekend.
Lucky me!

I may never get to fully unpack my suitcase until April except for changing the clothes I put in. I'm so thankful for a laptop. It makes travelling, editing papers and keeping in touch much easier. (I love wireless connections.)

It's also very difficult for me to find another part-time job since I'm gone so much. I don't think my employers would understand. So far, I've two interviews. I was hired in Jan but never called to work. I am waiting for word on my last interview which was on Monday.

I hope gas prices come down and that I would be able to afford all these trips I'm taking. I may have another job and may have a cheaper place to stay. I'm thinking of bunking with a friend for the next couple months and just see where things lead to.