I went to WOMAD and it was awesome!
If you have never been to a WOMAD concert before, you should seriously put it in your to do list.
Having never been to a WOMAD concerts before, I decided to join Geri and Ntt who were coincidentally heading there on that night.
For one of the rare times in my life, It didn’t feel like I was in Singapore that Friday night. Majority of the people that I saw were foreigners. But it was nice to see all sorts of diverse lifestyles here – groups of friends, a family with their toddlers, Ntt even spotted his professor from his university.
Many were dancing and moving lively to the different bands. The first one that we watched was the Mahotella Queens from South Africa. It was impressive to see these ladies in their 60s, shaking and dancing energetically. They have been performing for the past 40 years!
We were supposed to have Sheila Chandra perform afterwards but as she had a sore throat that night, there was the one man band, Muntu Valdo from Cameroon who played the harmonica and the guitar to replace her.
He asked the audience to sing along with him the song, Di Mala. I chuckled to find out that most of us got confused, till he had to repeatedly slow down and remind us to keep our tempo.
We then headed off to the main stage to listen to Clube do Balanco from Brazil. I really liked the sound of this band. It was a groovy Latin sound which I dig. I looked with amazement at low voice of one of the female singer. But she was great, along with the rest of the band.
Their songs made me start to tap my feet and finally put me in the mood to dance along with the other lively people. I would love to have their CD 🙂
Later, we went to see the Shooglenifty from Scotland perform. It’s an awesome combination sounds of the Irish fiddle and dance. I tried to do a jig, but it was hard to do that as I had no space.
It was impressive to see inhibitions down, with everyone dancing, no one caring if the others had two left feet.
And finally the segment that Geri has been anticipating, the Asian Dub Foundation. It had a electronic, punk sound and uses Indian drums. Ntt tells me that the band had a strong anti racism message which are delivered in their songs. But both of us couldn’t make out the words from the blaring sounds.
Nevertheless, they had the crowd jumping up and down, cheering, asking for more. One can’t help but to jump along to the beats. It was awesome!
I seriously enjoyed myself that night. No regrets!
Here is a clip of the nights performance
Friday night at WOMAD was great. Being live, the music was raw and energetic. You can really feel the music and you cant help but to absorb the happy vibe.
If you had the opportunity to attend WOMAD, just go. You wont regret it. Serious! The worse case scenario is that you could possibly be surrounded by perspiring, stinky people but the music and atmosphere will more than make up for it!
WOMAD Singapore 2007
Fort Canning Park, 24 – 26 August
What is a top blogger?
I forgotten about this clip I’ve uploaded till the pretty Nadnut told me that Lancerlord has linked it through my youtube account.
Pingsters at the first ping.sg party @ geek terminal
I was at the Geek Terminal about two weeks ago to give my support to Ping.sg for an upcoming netcast project done by thedigitalmovement and activechannel.
While waiting for our turn to be filmed, I ask my blogger friends, Brennan, Daphne, Uzyn and DK on their opinions on “Top Bloggers”
Personally for me, blogging is a platform that allows a person to voice out their opinion. I believe that everyone has the right to express what they want as long as they blog responsibly and do not cause harm other people.
As blog readers too, we have our own personal preference to the blogs that we read. Some of these blogs could possibly have a very high traffic. But these blogs do not represent me.
We already have enough of discrimination in real life. Top bloggers? I think everyone should be given the chance to shine not just the so called elites.
We control our destiny
We could have so much more.
We could go so far but sometimes, for the majority of us, I feel that it is a catch 22 – we are potential victims with the choices that we make.
Sometimes I dont understand why we can be so egoistical. That we would not seek help when we are in trouble. What is it that makes a person make decisions unfathomable to us, rather than to seek legitimate help? Is it because they are unaware of the help rendered?
And why is it that we can be so apathetic? That we would rather keep quiet and willingly let others take advantage of us. How did this happen? When did this happen? What is the root? I dont understand.
I believe in the law of attraction – we think of what we want to achieve and we can control our destiny. Of course, success would need effort on our part.
True, some of us may not be rich enough, or famous enough, or know the right people. But what would make me upset is that we dont at least try.
We could have so much potential.
We could have prodigies in our mist but even prodigies need to be nurtured. To spot out and nurture these talents, they will need the support of their environment.
Its a cycle really. What qualities are we imparting to our future generation? Is this the future that we want?
If I could part the water like Moses
Its been raining very heavily in Singapore these few days. So much so that the roads has been about an inch high of rainwater. If only I could part the water like Moses, this would be very very cool indeed!
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Even ghosts need entertaining
On monday evening, I saw the flickering orange flames from the burning of hell money and joss-sticks. As I walked back home, I noticed a red and white tent and a platform being erected.
By tuesday night, I could hear the loud singing of the getai. And I knew then it was the Hungry Ghost Festival.
The Taoist belives that during the month of the Hungry Ghost Festival, the gates of hell opens up and the spirits of the dead goes back to earth to seek food and visit their living relatives.
As there isnt much food and entertainment in hell, Taoists will burn paper articles such as paper clothes and leave plates of buns and fruits for their deceased loved ones.
A getai is a stage performance, meant to entertain the spirits during the Hungry Ghost Festival. These performance are loud, with jokes and singing. The entertainers would typically wear garish outfits.
Traditionally, instead of getais, I remember that the Chinese Opera was a very popular event during my childhood days of the 80’s. It seems to be dying art form now though. I can hardly find one anymore.
On wednesday night after my night class, I managed to catch a getai performance. Here is a short clip :
Sidenote: Yesterday, a respected colleague passed away on an accident in Kuala Lumpur on his way back to Singapore. Today, Juli told me that two of our ex-schoolmates passed away recently. Gone too soon.
I know that we are mortals. But it still shocks me. I cannot imagine how I will cope when my loved ones pass on.
Does your constellation effect your weight?
Last night, after our yoga session , my good friend Juli and I decided to have dinner together. During our dinner, I pointed out that the practises are getting more challenging and that most of the people in our yoga class are annoyingly skinny.
She quipped, “Leos gain weight the easiest!” (Juli and I were both Leos)
I looked at her with skepticism for some time. And she looked at me beamingly, “Its true!” But she didnt give me an explanation. I looked at my glass of water and was suddenly inspired.
Is it because our bodies are made up of 70 percent water? We all know that the moon causes tidal effects on the sea. When the moon turns one direction, it will cause the sea to go to high tide and vice versa.
Thus it is possible that it could effect our moods and also our weight.
I was also reminded of a book that I read in regards to a Japanese scientist, Dr Masaru Emoto. He believes that because our bodies has a capacity of water, human thoughts will affect a person, depending it be positive or negative.
A crystal formed with the words Love and Appreciation
Can it be possible that our constellation affect our weight gain? Hmm …
p.s Last evening, my host was down for four hours! I almost went ballistic. Calm down Marina, calm down … Ohm … Ohm … Ohm …
Come and join us! – Lunch and movie date with the Darul Ihsan Kids
Bloggers Shaz and Aidil, Eja and Raf are organizing a bloggers outing to visit the children of the Darul Ihsan Orphanage.
I think that this is a beautiful, beautiful gesture and this is the first I’ve ever seen done in the Singapore blogosphere. If you are free on the 2nd of September, please consider joining us 🙂
My browser keeps freezing up!
The Singapore Art Museum – Innocently Risque
What an incredibly beautiful day. The big fluffy clouds over the blue sky is gorgeous. I was tempted to lie down on the grass and just stare at the sky all day. It was a perfect way to spend national day.
After finding out that the entry to the Singapore Museums would be free on national day, I finally decided to visit the Singapore Arts Museum.
It has been so long since I’ve visited the museum that I don’t even remember the year when I visited it last.
But I still remember how beautiful the building was. The building was built at the year 1863, which explains the charming, colonial styled architecture. As I walked around the compound, I like to imagine how it was during those time.
Every turn was a peaceful, beautifully quaint sanctuary. It was easy to get lost in one’s own imagination. And then we go back to the realisation of the present time with the large and colourful banners which was decorated around the area.
Whilst inside, this charming display greeted me and as I walked up the staircase to see the gallery, I can’t help to notice the many wedding food recipes gracing the walls.
When I reached the second floor, there was a bustling of activity. I see children participating in a competition, roaming around the museum, looking for the next station to retrieve their clues. I also see couples and families walking, pointing to what catches their eyes.
I see this colourful canvas shoe display which was done by kids all over Singapore. This was to represent the diversity and uniqueness of Singapore.
I took my time taking in the views in the different galleries. The museum was segmented in different parts of South East Asia – I walked from Indonesia’s emotive expressionistic Affandi, to the peaceful works of Vietnam’s Le Pho.
But in the seemingly innocent museum, lies some memorable pieces. Gallery 2.10 housed contemporary South East Asian works. I saw many abstract arts as well as some very interesting ones.
I can’t help but to chuckle out loud when I saw a huge canvas of a painting of a man sitting on top of a toilet looking horrified as a woman looked in his cubicle. In the real painting, there is no woman covering the man’s bits.
But I think the highlight of the gallery was the video display of three different performance art. As I sat down and watched the show, my eyes nearly popped out at what I saw. Although the footage looked amateur and slightly grainy, the content was a little risque.
The first footage showed a many different people peeping in a kaleidescope and I heard suggestive human sounds. Eventually we find out what the curious view in the kaleidescope was and I felt a little uncomfortable, with the wide eyed young kids sitting beside me. But since their parents was right next to them, I guess it was their perogative.
The second footage showed a lady picking out random audiences to the platform and took off her apparel to be exchanged with the chosen audience. I think this particular performance was held in Vietnam. I doubt that the typical Singaporeans would be as daring to take off their clothing in front of everyone.
The third footage shows another lady asking some visitors to close their eyes while she puts her hands over them, but not touching the visitors. All I can think to myself was, “Huh? Is this art? Oh ok.”
Nevertheless, I did enjoy my tour around the Arts Museum. And the gallery certainly was a feast for the eyes and not to mention, an eye popper 😉
It was truly an enjoyable an lovely day.
Singapore Art Museum
71 Bras Basah Rd
Singapore 189555
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