The Hong Kong Children's Choir

(Last night, the Hong Kong Children's Choir performed at Star City Exhibition Hall. I'll be writing my experience of attending this show in two parts because I feel that I wouldn't be doing justice to the spectacular performance presented by them.)

The weeks before the performance of the Hong Kong Children's Choir, I got to know about their show here in Kota Kinabalu through the several banners hung around town. I had never heard of them before, but I supposed the fact that they were performing internationally at our shores meant that they were probably good enough.

I had no intention of attending the performance, but just last week my neighbour had been talking about it to my wife saying how her daughter had been wanting to go and watch the performance. At the same time, the organisers had been promoting the tickets for the show at my wife's school as well, and that sort of got my wife interested and she in turn got me interested. So, in the end we decided to go and brought along Adelle as well. Our neighbour's daughter came along as with us as well.

We arrived at the Star City Exhibition Hall just after 7 pm without having taken our dinner because we thought we were running late. We bought our tickets and proceeded to take our seats. We sat at the second row from the front so that we could have a pretty good view of the choir. But since there were no signs of the show starting yet, I took the opportunity to have a bite together with Adelle. My wife had packed some food for us to eat so Adelle and I looked for a suitable place to eat. By the time we finished about 15 minutes later, the show still hadn't started. In fact, it didn't start until it was 8 pm. That was a whole hour delay from the time printed on the tickets.

Despite the hiccup, when things started it was smooth sailing all the way. The emcee got things rolling with the usual reminders - silencing handphones, no flash photography, too keep to our seats during performance until intermission - and then invited several VIPs and their spouses to come up on stage to do a ribbon-cutting ceremony. With that out of the way, the choir came in followed by the conducting to enthusiastic applause and my surprise. The troupe is called the Hong Kong Children's Choir so I was expecting to see children. But, the first thing I noticed was that these people didn't look like children - more adolescent than primary schoolers. But it was a small matter - semantics one might say.

We were given a programme sheet for the evening's performance and it'd say we'd be treated to both English and Chinese songs with the intermission dividing the two. The first two songs were hymns and they were followed by several more secular songs. The song selection for the first part of the performance was a mixture of slow and upbeat songs which kept things interesting. But, what proved outstanding were the quality of their voices and the well-choreographed movements. No, they didn't just stand still while they sang, they were moving all parts of their bodies and at certain times, even walking about exchanging places and in what looked like utter chaos! It's a wonder they didn't bump into each other and fell onstage!

Here are some of the photos I took during the performance.

The host for the evening, a Rotarian.

The choir's opening act.

Noticed this girl crying - wonder why...

The group's largely made up of girls.

Singing and movement - perfectly synchronized.

Action during one of the more upbeat songs.

Sometimes, choir members would say something to introduce a piece or provide information about their group.

They dance as well!

Reminds me of a scene from the Sound of Music.

Awaiting their turn to come in - all eyes fixed on the conductor.

You get some really funny actions in some of the songs!

The crying girl becomes a happy, graceful girl.

Different parts of the choir would be doing different actions - all perfectly polished!

The Grandaddy of all ships: The MV Doulos

Just a word of warning: this post is photo heavy, but if you'd just wait a bit, I'm sure it's worth it. :)

Today was a rather special day. My family and a few other friends had the opportunity to visit the MV Doulos. Now, I know that to some of you this is nothing out of the ordinary, but I'm sure you'd change your mind if I said that all of us managed to get a tour INSIDE the ship. How many of you have done that?

The MV Doulos is here

GBA - Good Books for All

Okay, okay. I'll stop bragging. But, the few times I've been onboard the Doulos, my experience of the ship was merely restricted to the bookshop and nothing else. So, I was pretty excited when I was presented with the opportunity to actually go inside the ship and see for myself the different parts of this sea-going vessel.

My passport in

Did you know that the MV Doulos is the oldest ship still in operation? It was built just two years after the more infamous, more illustrious Titanic (which has long before sunk to its watery grave) in 1914. It went through several incarnations in its long history of service: firstly a cargo ship (Medina), then as a ship in the service of the US Coast Guard, after that a passenger ship (SS Roma), then a luxurious cruise ship (MV Franca C.), and finally, just when it was to be decomissioned and sent to the scrap heap, it was purchased and made into a floating bookfair (MV Doulos, Greek for 'servant').

Hong Youn Sook, an 8-year crew member, giving us the history of the ship

It's for real: This ship is really old! 95 years now!

So, our tour round the ship started with the brief history of the ship in the main lounge, and then we moved along to the VIP room which housed the original key of the SS Medina (when it was till a cargo vessel) as part of the glass table in the centre of the room.

The VIP room - notice the ship's wheel? That's the original from when it was first built!

As we moved from place to place, we noticed on the walls in various parts of the ship some colourful pieces of paper pasted on them, usually proclaiming someone's birthday or just saying what a wonderful friend so and so is. All this lends a cheerful atmosphere to the place.

Colourful notes adorn the walls in several sections of the ship

The next stop was the laundry room, where articles of clothing and others are separated before washing. Just look at those commercial-sized washing machines! The laundry for almost 200 people on board is done in this room.

Commercial-sized washing machines!

You gotta keep 'em separated!

Along the way to another part of the ship, we were introduced to Delilah. Delilah holds a very special position among the crew of the ship. She's the one who makes sure that the safety crew are up-to-speed in their rescuing skills. You see, Delilah is the resident training dummy. All new hands with the safety crew will undergo training with her; she's thrown overboard, and it is their job to 'save' her.

Help wanted: Hero

Delilah seems happy about her role on the ship. Just look at her!

On the way to the bakery, we passed the clinic and this very intersting door. I couldn't help taking a picture of it as it was just so colourful.

International door

The bakery is where all the food is prepared and where crew members go to get ingredients if they wanted to do a little cooking of their own. We were told that all the fruits and vegetables to be used would be sourced locally from whatever city the ship was docked at, but meat was supplied directly from Germany. I don't recall now how they actually transferred the meat to the ship. Sorry!

Need for food

Spick and span kitchen: the place where tummy meets yummy!

Then, we had the opportunity to look inside one of the cabins. Compared to the room I sleep in, this one was like a sliver! The usual arrangement is that you'd be given a room with two bunk beds. So that's four to a room, and each room mate would be from a different country to encourage intermingling and to get to know each other's cultures better.

Next stop was to the heart of the ship - the engine room. It was a dark, noisy and humid place. Manna, the person on duty, showed and explained to us the various places in the engine room and the work that the people stationed here had to do (maintain, troubleshoot and fix - basically, to ensure that the ship keeps running). Apparently, if the ship developed an engine fault while at sea and needed a part to fix it, the engine crew would have to fabricate it then and there. So, these people not only have to keep the engine running, they also have to be blacksmiths!

It's a very noisy place!

Personalised ear-guards

The life of the ship

The workshop cum R & R place

Giant cylinders - all 16 of them

Controls for gohead-gostan


A spot of colour in the otherwise drab-looking surroundings

And then he showed us the CO2 alarm. Manna said that if you heard this alarm, then you'll only have 20 seconds to escape from the engine room before carbon dioxide is released into the room to put out any fires inside. Failing which, he said, then it's off to see your Maker, which is a good thing. How comforting...

The death knell? No, but you'd better escape in a hurry when this sounds!

Our final stop was the dining hall for a rest and a drink. This hall used to be the banquet hall when Doulos was a luxury cruise, the MV Franca C., while the place where the bookshop is, used to be where a swimming pool was. We even spotted the original but tattered menu from the cruise ship - the date reading October 4 1958. Cool, huh?

The original menu from the MV Franca C.

Having rested a bit, we proceeded outside and browsed the bookshop before heading home. It was a very rewarding and informative tour. It almost makes me want to go onboard and serve...

Almost.

The expansive dining area

p.s. The next port of call for the MV Doulos is Pasir Gudang, Johor before heading for some repairs at the dry dock in Singapore.

Sabah Fest 2009 - A Night of Colours Part 2

Okay, finally I'm posting the follow up to my previous post about Sabah Fest 2009. It's been exactly a week ago since this event. But, it doesn't matter because I can still remember quite vividly what happened. Yes, I know. The show made such a strong positive impression on me! :)

Anyhow, after mulling about outside for quite some time, the show finally started at 8 pm. So everyone was ushered inside, and everyone was treated to the rather mysterious opening video about the Bobohizan (priestess) and their rituals concerning the rice spirit. The opening was excellently done, and that goes for the rest of the evening as well.

I was really impressed by the quality of all the presentations. The music, the lighting, the costumes, the dancing all made for a sharp performance. Various ethnic groups presented their traditional dance, but I thought the most eye-catching and interesting was the Rungus dance - the Mongigol Sumundai. It simply had me entranced!

I suppose many people would be more impressed with the now-really-famous Magunatip, but I guess I've seen it way too many times to be awed by it anymore. But, the Mongigol Sumundai, well, I was attracted to the movements and just the way the men, especially, were dancing - it was really unique. A man led a line of ladies in the dance, and they basically zig-zagged this way and that on stage. Apparently, the whole line is supposed to represent a dragon, with the man being the head, and the women the body of the dragon.

Interesting, eh?

It was a thoroughly enjoyable one-hour plus of performance. I guess what made it all the more better was that you could see that the performers were enjoying themselves as well. So, I guess that made us enjoy watching them as well. At the end of the whole thing, the floor was open to all in attendance to joing the performers in a dance, and I'd say many people really had a blast letting their hair down!

So, if you happen to be in Sabah around this time next year, make sure you catch this show! And if your haven't yet done so, what better excuse to visit Sabah!

Some more photos taken of the night. Hope you enjoy them.

Dusun women - part of the opening act for the night


The Suluk dance


A dance called the Pangalai Agung of the Suluk people


Song presentation using the gambus (a lute)


Rungus women performing their dance the Mongigol Sumundai


Raised-arm shot of the same women above


How can you not be enchanted when the performers smile like that?


The Magunatip of the Murut people


Children were also involved. This was the closing performance.


To wrap it all up, a photo of the beauties of the night in their wonderful costumes.

Night of Colours: Sabah Fest 2009 - Part 1

This post was actually due four days ago. But, even so, I'm going to have to break this into two parts as I don't have a lot of time to write at thei moment. So, wait for the continuation, ya?

Last Saturday, I attended the opening of Sabah Fest 2009 at the Sutera Harbour Resort. It was a thoroughly enjoyable night. I was sans my wife and Adelle as my wife thought that it'd be a bit too late for Adelle. Too bad, since I was sure that both Adelle and my wife would have enjoyed the whole show. Just in case you didn't know, Sabah Fest is an annual affair and it's the event to witness and experience what Sabah is all about. It's basically a showcase of Sabah's very colourful and numerous unique ethnic groups: their costumes, their culture and their dances.

Tickets were sold for RM30 each, but I got in for free! Yippee! Special thanks to Melissa Leong of the Sabah Tourism Board for putting me down under the media and giving me a free pass for the evening! Amazing, huh? I must admit I was kinda proud to wear that pink media tag round my neck. I popped into the Tourism Office in the morning to get the tag, and I arrived that evening at around 7pm. I thought I was already late as the tag said that the even started at 7 pm, but when I arrived, people were still milling around, and all the performers were still outside in the foyer standing and welcoming people. There was already a sizeable crowd then, and since I had time to kill, I went around snapping pictures of things that interested me.

Around the foyer, there were stalls selling various ethnic products as well as demonstrations in native handicraft making. Interesting stuff! I was totally drawn to all the wonderful colours, not just of the crafts but also the costumes of the various ethnic groups. So, to end this rather short post, here are some photos to share of the moments before the show.

Detail of the costume of a Rungus woman

Rungus man and woman in their resplendent costumes

Handicraft making by one of the exhibitors at the event

Another exhibitor: complete concentration in doing his craft

Fine craftsmanship: making a miniature boat

Making a traditional hat (sorry, don't know the name!)

Some of the colourfully unique things on display in the various stalls around the foyer

See you in my next post for more pictures and the continuing story!

Cheerio!