Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Post of 25th April 2005
(With pictures)
An Intimate Evening with Lea Salonga - Broadway Pleasures.

Lea Salonga sang only one Miss Saigon song, one Les Miz and a lot of other songs I didn't really like. Her voice is as pure as ever and I enjoyed it to no end but I definitely wouldn't have minded more songs that I liked.

Mrs Rob has been married for 'a little over a year now' (as she kept reminding us) and still very much in love. In fact, the theme for the night was Love. It affected some and didn't affect some.

There was her Broadway album for sale at half-time (which I have already got courtesy of D's visit to the Filipino MP3 market....hehehehehe....The 'Voice of God' announced that it would be on sale after the concert but actually sales started, and ended, at half time intermission!!! Quite a few people missed out on it. Demand definitely sky-rocketed when 'God' promised that Lea herself would come out and autograph your copy of her album.

Lea came out in her 'ugliest costume of the year' a blue suit first and then changed into a shiny red off-the-shoulder chiffon thingy with pants. She looked really bigger on stage - as in more substantial from my vantage point to the left of the stage, one tier up and beautifully right in front of the stage! Circle 1 - A3-6!

But boy! When she came out to sign her album, I couldn't recognise her! On stage she looked bigger and older and not so captivating but in person, she came back to normal size, looked 22 and lived up to all beauty expectations. LA SALONGA IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND THIS IS COMING FROM SOMEONE WHO ALREADY THOUGHT SHE WAS RAVISHING. SHE EXCEEDED EXPECTATION STILL!

Overall, repertoire could have been improved, I thought her voice sounded a bit nyaring but stil mesmerising. As someone very aptly put it, she acts her songs! It isn't just singing - another gem like her is Celine Dion. That's why I can't understand when people say Carrie Underwood and Jaclyn Victor sing well. Yeah they have the voice but they don't emote, they don't bring the song to life, they don't send shivers up your spine and make you want to cry. When Lea sings, I believe.

Well, there is my adventure with Lea - I have been within the closest proximity ever with her and now go home sated. The train ride again - very romantic - all the old world charm and rocking soothing motions - except the AutoDoor won't open for me!

Lovely.
Post of 23rd April 2005

It's my fourth/fifth/sixth trip to Sinsapore and I've definitely run out of things to do, places to see and malls to visit. People always say shopping is fabulous in Singapore....I beg to disagree. Whoever said that must have said it a decade ago before shopping exploded in Malaysia what with the advent of MidValley Megamall; my personal all-time favourite, although I must say Sunway Pyramid comes a close second.

What do people actually do in Singapore? God knows during my second trip itself, I had already exhausted all the 'pleasures' of Singapore - night safari, sentosa island, orchard road.

On my wonderful train trip down here to Singapore on KTM Berhad's Senandung Malam (the train with the sleeping berths), when we crossed the straits between Malaysian soil and Singaporean....lo and behold, the FINE city didn't seem to fine! Malaysian waters were clean but Singaporean waters.....were....(piss!) not! How odd!

Anyway, why am I in Singapore again you may ask? Is it some perverse sado masochistic desire within me, coming back again? A resounding No! I just had to come cos this is the only location and the only night that Lea Salonga - Queen of the Musicals is performing.

Back in Malaysia, it is DAD'S Birthday but according to Lilian Too, I must not travel long distance this month, so I wasn't planning to go home to Penang. But what is a girl to do when Lea Salonga comes to a town near you????? Brave the odds and pray hard as hell! I do feel terrible about daddy's birthday though and wish I could tear myself into two and be everywhere I wished to be all at the same time - preferably with the Lea Salonga concert in Malaysia - but......

Anyway, there was one good development from my visit to Singapore. Edward Kee apartments - BEE-OO-TEE-FULL! I wish I lived here is all I can say!

Anyway, will write more tomorrow about the non-diva diva! Too de loo and til
tomorrow - We Must Love Her!

Sunday, April 03, 2005

It sure is hard planning a holiday! If any of you out there know of a tour agency or travel agent who hosts tours to China with an ENGLISH SPEAKING GUIDE, please let me know! I am desperate. You would think there would be quite a few tours out there with guides who speak adequate English - but it doesn't seem to be the case.

I don't know why I agreed to do the logistics for this trip. Damn! We're looking to go to Australia or China. Australia because we've never been there and perhaps, it's time we did since people seem to rave about it alot although I've never been particularly entranced by it.

China because it was cheaper than Australia but the more I research about it, the more attractive it gets! The Great Wall, the beautiful lakes and rivers and gorges - I heard that the 3 Gorges is flooded up already and the people have been relocated! A natural beauty gone forever! It is sacrilegous that the Chinese government has allowed such an atrocity but.....I guess it is also embarrassing that I have only now found out about it.

I'm definitely looking forward to any input anyone out there can give me with regards to touring Australia or China. I'm not afraid to say I don't know much about either country and get really nauseous looking at the computer too long. Our Malaysians websites also don't seem to provide much information when it comes to their possible itineraries and I've sent some enquiries to their email addresses only to have emails come back to me saying the 'inbox is full' (!!!!) or that delivery is impossible due to some technical glitch or another. Do our tour operators rely solely on walk in business then??????? In this day and age!

I for one, do not have the time to walk into each and every tour agency out there under our hot hot sun to ask you questions and remember all that you have told me! So, TOUR OPERATORS/TRAVEL AGENCIES OUT THERE TAKE NOTE! I would like to contact you online and have you give me substantial information that is HELPFUL - preferably online too so I can file away your answer and contact you if you're good enough!

Reliance so far looks to be the best one out there with a nice website and down-loadable itineraries and price! (most important!) I'm definitely looking forward to even more good service from them.

So anyway, back to the focus - let me know if there are any particularly good travel agencies out there that do Aust/China. THANKS!