~*Something Shinny*~

We are often intrigued by things that we find shinny and it is always interesting to discover something new. For the apparent reasons, we get excited about somebody that we've just met......... (^_^) Getting out of the confinements of our houses was a very rewarding especially when you get to hang out with a like minded friend like Arip.

We had promised to meet at a park near Amcorp mall in Petaling Jaya. I felt so guilty because I was late for about 3 hours.... Not having a schedule for about 2 years made this so. My only alarm clock was my mobile phone which the battery had died forcing me to wake up with a sensible shock because I realised I was really late.. I could not take the public transportation because I wanted to cycle. Need to save money for the Taiping trip. I called Arip to say that I was going to be very late.. I was like a machine getting ready.

As soon as I arrived, he was laying on a bench reading the Chainbreaker book. He said he even fell asleep while waiting for me. I really felt bad! I couldn’t stop apologizing. He was cool though. I don’t know what was going through his mind.. I just hoped they were not anger and disappointment. He was too kind to offer me bananas. We exchanged flowers picked by the side of the road. I had always yearned for those pink flowers along the highway. Riding on a bicycle made it possible for me to pick these flowers... He must’ve thought of the same thing. Sweet.

We moved further into the park to settle under a tree. Ahh fresh grass~ We leaned our bicycles next to the tree and made ourselves comfortable. We could not wait to get our stuff out to share with each other.. Books, sewing kit, Ocarina, sketch book and tape recorder. We were like little kids sharing candies. We talked about everything... Interrogating as I like to call it. Getting into a friendship needs tending with lots of memory storage. So many things to ask and tell.

Arip is a sweet guy who like me, loves to dream of the ideal world we would like to live in. He envisioned himself living in a kampong house with a garden someday. He commutes to work with his bicycle from Pandan Indah to Bukit Bintang. He’s a vegetarian. He’s a casual smoker (ehem). He’s a geeky book worm who gets excited about everything. He was kind of the ideal guy who every visionary revolutionist girl would ever want (so typical of me to say this). :p Not at all being a cynic, it’s a sincere compliment.

We were two dreamers in a semi-busy town trying to find little hope of our roots with nature on a working day where everyone else was busy meddling their desks in their offices. Some did not have a choice. We were gathering puzzles that made us our lives. Trying to make connection. Interaction. Trying to make sense in our mere existence. Reality does not imbue beauty so much as these words conveyed to you. It’s with the power of words that we stand together to dream.

I had a very lovely time that I forgot that it was time to go. It was The Pips jamming session that night. I changed plans to go with Cem instead of cycling to the studio in Sunway leaving more time for Arip and me to talk. We cycled to one park to another. After having early dinner, we cycled to the playground in front of Ponyo. I had to leave my bicycle at Ponyo to hitch a ride with Cem’s motorbike. We sat at the table and talked more about ourselves while the sun sets its orange rays in between clouds and into the hills at the end of the horizon. When it was dark, we moved to the swings. We talked about plans that didn’t really been materialized because of financial and time constraints. A lot of projects with good ideas got lost in the busy life of seeking money for food and shelter. Maybe it will only take a few sparks from a few passionate people to get things going. I always believe that when you are excited working on something, you will find effort to make it happen no matter what. Maybe those few passionate people are you and me Arip. Let’s get shit done. We shall invite others as well. :)

When Cem arrived, we had to part. It was a lovely day.. Thanks Arip for willing to meet me all the way just so that I could have my thumb drive back. It is one of my precious belongings that I could not live without. Thanks also for the awesome songs copied in it. Hope you had an amazing day like I did. We should do this often...

Oyen

Ini kucing Hana. Dia sangat comel dan bulat. Nama dia Oyen. Dia manja dan sangat selalu minta dibelai. Oyen adalah seekor kucing yang telah didomestikasi. Dia sering baring dimerata tempat didalam rumah. Terutama di bahagian laluan utama. Aku pikir ini kerana dia selalu mahu perhatian. Oyen kucing istimewa kerana dia tidak sempurna. Kakinya tempang sebelah sejak ditemui oleh keluarga Hana. Dia mempunyai kemahiran mengelungsur mengunakan kaki yang tidak berfungsi itu. Dia akan berlari dengan pantas lalu berhenti dengan mengunakan kakinya itu. Mereka panggil teknik ini sliding.

Aku selalu tertawa setiap kali melihat dia terbaring dengan menampakkan perutnya. Memang terlalu selesa kucing ni.. Kucing yang liar tidak akan tidur dengan mendedahkan tempat yang sensitif ini iaitu perut mereka. Lebih lagi membenarkan manusia mengusap tempat ini dengan kaki. Manja!

Sebenarnya ada lagi seekor kucing yang dibela oleh keluarga Hana, iaitu kucing yang sudah bergelar nenek, Ami. Ami sudah terlalu tua sehingga Oyen sering menghalau dia ke belakang rumah. Oyen menguasai tingkat satu, ruang tamu dan dapur depan meninggalkan Ami sedikit bahagian di dapur belakang. Ami tidak lagi dapat mengawal air liurnya daripada terkeluar dan dia sering kelihatan dengan air liur yang menjuih.. Suaranya juga sudah berlagu seperti tidak bermaya. Kesiannya Ami...

Melihat mahluk lain adalah suatu yang istimewa kerana sudah terlalu banyak haiwan yang dihapuskan dari pandangan mata kita. Kita sering menganggap mahluk lain sebagai perosak dan mengganggu kehidupan seharian kita. Didalam era modern ini, haiwan berevolusi untuk menyesuaikan diri mereka dengan keadaan yang telah dicipta oleh manusia. Mereka adalah golongan super yang aku anggap hebat kerana mereka dapat mencari dimana pelosok pun tempat tinggal, makanan dan kehidupan diantara kesesakan besi dan batu simen.

Aku pernah terdengar tentang bagaimana kita boleh mengenal pasti sesuatu tempat itu akan keadaan ekosistem atau keliarannya dengan memerhatikan haiwan yang masih menetap dikawasan tersebut. Walaupun haiwan boleh berevolusi, terdapat banyak tempat yang sudah tidak lagi dapat di diami oleh mereka. Ini adalah benar melihat pencemaran yang tidak pernah putus membabitkan manusia dan ciptaan mereka.

Bagi aku, kita perlu selalu mengenalpasti apakah yang kita perlukan didalam kehidupan kita dengan penuh kesedaran tentang apakah kesan sampingan daripada pilihan kita itu. Manusia adalah mahluk kompleks yang mempunyai keupayaan tidak terbatas kerana manusia mempunyai akal dan nafsu. Disebabkan hal ini, kemahuan dan keperluan diciptakan untuk mendefinasi kehidupan.

Kita semua sedang mencari erti kebahagiaan didalam kehidupan. Ada yang memperolehinya dengan harta. Ada yang melihat jauh daripada hal material untuk mengenal apa itu cinta. Hidup ini satu ujian dan cabaran. Ada yang sanggup menelitinya dari perspektif yang berbeza dari umum untuk lebih memahami konsep kehidupan dari yang sedia ada. Kita semua mahu merasa "lengkap" tetapi ini ada satu hal yang mustahil kerana akal dan nafsu. Dengan menyedari apa itu keperluan dan apa itu kemahuan, mungkin kita dapat sedikit sebanyak mengawal kesan dua perkara ini.

Akibat ketidaksempuraan manusia, kita acapkali lupa untuk menganalisa hal-hal yang sering menjadi tabiat dan norma dalam kehidupan kita ini. Limitasi ini lah sering melalaikan kita dari berfikir secara dialektik.

bersambung...

Banner for The Pips

Yesterday Yuen, Hana and I went shopping for stuff to make a banner for The Pips. Mula-mula nak ke rumah Yuen but bila nak dekat rumah dia kat Kajang baru dia realise dia tak bawak kunci rumah so kitorang ke rumah Karen instead.

Kitorang masak-masak! Vegie soup and Karen’s awesome dhal chicken. Set up stove kat luar rumah.. Chill gila. Macam ala-ala camping. We brought the projector out and watched Ponyo and The Diving Bell and Butterfly.

Lepas dah kenyang, banner making time... Karen helped to sew the cloth together. It was 3meter divided by two to make it more symmetrical square size. Yuen continued with the rest of the sewing while Karen cooked her dish. Mcm Ottoman~ Awww...

Memang best ada projector! Dapat buat screening n outline banner. Nanti hari Rabu ni baru nak color banner sama-sama.

I got a new toy! Yuen bagi pinjam Ocarina. It’s a flute like wind instrument. Cute pulak tu. Dia boleh jadi necklace jugak. Abis lah bising... I’ve been playing it like crazy.. I used to be on the recorder in the pancaragam when I was in primary school. Here’s a link to a sample of what Ocarina look and sounds like. Catchy habis!

That morning a few cyclist friends went for a protest in Damansara against the destruction of forest in TTDI. Too bad we can’t make it as I was sick and had made other plans.

Overdose + Psycling + Sewing Circle + People from The Garrison

So I'm here at The Garrison's dwelling. Everyone's still asleep right now. It's 9.30 a.m. I had a very bad gastric attack that woke me from my sleep and that has only been since 5 a.m. I had to find something to munch on. I knew those biscuits that was taken from the big hamper given to us during CNY would come handy somehow.. I couldn't sleep and had to distract myself from my pain with some light reading. This place is like a palace for punks. Shit their computer doesn't have Microsoft Word for me to write this to help me with my grammar and spelling. They even banned that huh? This table placing the computer is too short hence too close for the eyes to see the screen. I'm complaining because I'm in a bad state of mind. Or else I would be chirpy to be here. I'm in so much pain!

Was it the heat from the day before that had triggered the gastric? It has been a long time since I cycled through the highway. For two sweet days it had rained yet on the day I wanted it too it won't. Life is cruel. (Photo : Columonimbus)

Was it that I had skipped lunch yesterday? Was it that I had too much isotonic drink?

Was it the sms I got from my mom asking me to reconsider living outside because I'm bumming and got my bicycle back for that matter? I would never consider bicycle as a hobby as she demanded me to. I would rather not pay near 10 bucks just to get my poor ass around using public transport.  I would rather buy a CD / a zine / pay for gigs / buy fucking 10 colors of threads for that matter. I would rather eat with those 10 bucks than continue to support the fossil fuel more than I have to (when ever I can avoid it). I'm sorry.... I’m trying to find my way mom...

Is it okay to write about people's houses? This house is weird. It is a flat/apartment where in a single unit consists of two floors. It's like a double storey house in a flat. Once inside you won't know you're in a flat. I don't really know what the term for it is. It's really cozy here. Sort of reminded me of the old new Sunway punk house minus the mural/grafitti on the walls. They are a bit more creative and hung banners with stencilled of bands and famous icons instead (The Clash!). I think it is to avoid having to repaint if they were to move out someday which hopefully won't happen. I later found out that Abang (the bassist from The Garrison who was also an artist for that matter) is the one responsible for these artworks. I see it is true that what Arip had told me the other day about Apeng's obsession with calendars. They are everywhere. Well there are four so far I've seen. I wonder why so.... I should ask him someday.

Now it is about 3 p.m (continuing to write), Arip and Apeng had gone to work in the morning. Abang came back to do some work with Styrofoam. He made spiral shapes that imitate the traditional wood carving of the Malay style bunga kerawang without the bunga. He said it was just for fun and would put the three pieces of the work somewhere in the house. Rajin gile. We had a good chat with him and hit a couple of Atari Teenage Riot songs to muse our ears. We left the house at about 5 p.m for Yuen’s CNY open house in Shah Alam.

Working at a major bookstore does have its advantages. They housed about more than hundred copies of books. Mainly ranging from music to veganism. The rare kinds which would be too expensive but they got it off with staff prices. It is like free cataloging. All the range that most of you would like are available. I got the crochet book from Arip!!! Thanks Arip! Hana got the herbal medicine book to add in her witchcraft collection. I think if they were to open a mini library like Black Rose Library or Jura, they had half of what it takes. Maybe combine with the FNB house books a bit coz they have more art books. All these dreams/wishes to someday have a multipurpose space. Library+Music+VeganCafe.

Talking about bumming and wishes, I had a chat with Hana the other day about how to sustain oneself by still able to do what one loves. We both thought of something what we might do to achieve that. Since gigs seemed to be an equally good place to get music and meet friends, energy spent on the extreme nights must be replaced with fuel which is food. Thus we have decided to fill in that need by selling exactly that. How about vegan/vegie burger sound like to you? They are easy to make, carry and distribute during the jammed packed occasion. I'm also thinking of soy drink to go along with those juicy burgers. Haha am I writing this in a manner of excitement or just plain hungriness? CROSSES FINGERS! (suddenly realizes that this phrase some how might be my sewing collective's name which the other meaning is HOPE and kinda have that double meaning as a straight edge thing.. ye meh?)

I really hope this works out. Need to plan things through. Find the recipes for the patties and the bread with vegan ingredients. In a conversation with Arip in YM the other night, we sort of got into the veganism / vegetarianism topic in a new light. We both shared how it is/(was for me) like to be vegie in this meat eating society. What worked and what sucked (dilemmas). We had a session of doodling online. Doodled about the topic of course. I think it was rather sweet when Arip drew Earthlings = a picture of him crying. He told me that he cried during the screening of the documentary. We also discussed how it was strange that some still consume meat after watching those docu (shit that includes me). I gave my part of opinion which I thought that it was all a matter of brainwashing ourselves to hate meat just on the basis of the animals being treated before slaughter. The fact that the form of food (meat) we received from our end of the plate had been "cleansed" from the bloody truth. The hunger we feel constantly and the system that provided the satisfaction. I don't eat meat that often though this is no excuse. I wish I'm as courageous and strong to fight off the urges and guilt. I still have this stigma that I need the protein from meat (fish mostly). Living under the roof of people who does not participate in the same ideology and understanding as you is a bit limitating although what goes in your mouth is your choice. Bummers can't be choosers. Having had a bad experience being vegetarian for one and a half year doesn't help. Dizziness and fatigue. I know it is a lifestyle choice that needed special research, guidance, high sense of awareness, responsibility and will. I will get there... soon. Got to get my shit together.

Cycling is another factor that needed to be considered where energy is concerned. I had cycled from Seksyen 8 to my house at noon yesterday to get some stuff. The sun was fierce that afternoon. It had absorbed every last bit of liquid from which ever source it can reach with its heat. No it wasn't a drought. It's just me on wheel forced to go under this extreme condition. I find that it was a big mistake to cycle during this time especially after Friday prayer. It was dangerous as there were many motorcycle and cars on road this time of the day. I hate the intersection that diverges. I had to wait for vehicles to clear to cross to the other side which at this time with this many vehicles, took me ages to get across! I had to wait under the scorching sun for nearly five minutes in the middle of the highway... This I had to live with if I want to cycle in Malaysia. There will be better cloudy days...

Yesterday Noisy Studio hosted a gig with a touring band named Overdose.. I adore the femme vox of the Overdose band and Killieur Calculator's performance. They were just amazing.

The Pips! Lama tak tengok them perform. They opened the night with Hana giving a little intro and act about how cruel this world is. The act of ripping off a toy monkey’s chest and letting the stuffing out represented how it would be much better for us if we’d just let out and share our feelings and thoughts because it is no use to suffer alone when you have friends by your side.. The bassist, Yoyo, had just got back from Golok just to be here for the band. Ekin who wore a light blue Minor Threat t-shirt “lead” the band with her sweet jazzy guitar riffs. Alak and Cem, the two gentlemen in this tough pink band whom had been with the band from the start, gave their best performance throughout the 5 songs played. I miss the band so much~

Killieur Calculator – guitar electronika with their own groove. They are definitely a band to watch out for. One of the best local bands I’ve seen. Not at all monotonous thus arouses you throughout the entire set.

Overdose – Superb. The vocal sounds so much like Karen O from Yeah Yeah Yeah. She was so nice to everyone that she gave their CDs and stickers to whoever that talked to her. Such a big voice contained in a humble leng lui. I would Die with You.

Other bands were Pusher and Atomic Death. Marr got violent in the mosh pit. She now has a bruised cheek bone. It happens. You go girl!

After the gig was over, some friends from Massa Kritikal wanted to ride to Genting Sepah for their weekly ride. We didn’t join them because we want to go to Arip’s place to crash (The Garrison’s house) since we’ve promised to hang out. Plus we had our ride earlier that day.. No energy oredi~ Owhhh I found a girl who knows kickboxing!!! Lili, you're my idol~

The people who live in the house are nice people. They had fed us reggae music from Jamaica that night. I heard someone said that Apeng would put on reggae music every single day without miss. It’s like his breakfast and air to breathe.  Arip shared his zine Radical Review which he claimed to be the anonymous author but was exposed by a friend in Ricecooker’s website. Nice try. He said this year; he’s going to work on the zine for its next issue after realizing he’d been slacking for the whole 2009. I’m thinking nak menyelit. Boleh ke Arip?

I have managed to sell patches! Yay! Thanks for those who bought them. I will dedicate myself to produce more of these cute things. Hopefully a collective will form out of this obsession. Sewing circle - it has been spoken about. It’s floating~ floating~ floating.. One step at a time..

Okay this entry is going everywhere... It’s the gastric pain I tell you. It’s making me nuts! I’m constantly struggling with the pain.. I need to get to the clinic if it persists for a couple more days. I will try to limit the words and carry on writing this blog entry. So many things happened. The best part is saved for last......

Cycling from Pandan Indah to Shah Alam

Have you ever cycled long distance and let your mind wandered? I found this experience very rewarding both mentally and physically. I had thought of few wonderful ideas about a few things while I cycled yesterday.. I will share about it later lah. Having carried a spray can was like having a b-o-m-b. Under the overhead bridges made perfect spots to spread messages and words.

The word that starts with the letter (A) is our horror nightmare which gives us the chill although being fully aware that it can happen anytime anywhere regardless being on two wheels or four. Hana got kissed by a car when she tried crossing over to the other side of the road to get to the other intersection. She said she thought the car was slow and that she could make it after having calculated the distance and speed in a matter of seconds. Maybe it was a bad move or just plain luck that the car wasn’t that fast and managed to break upon hitting Hana’s bicycle from the back. She miraculously managed to land on her feet during the collision. She was so lucky to go off without any injury as the impact was minor. The driver of the car got off his car asking whether she was alright and drove off after she claimed stability. I screamed seeing her being hit! I could’ve sworn that I practically threw my bicycle aside the road and got to her. She was cool though.. We sat at the intersection to check on her bicycle for damages and for Hana to gather her strength to calm down. Everything was okay. The bicycle and Hana. After that I kept reminding us to recite the holy words (Bismillah) before beginning our journey. Panic siot!!!

After having cycled for about 5 hours, sampai jugak akhirnya to Yuen’s house. A few close friends were there... Alak, Ekin, Diana (Ekin’s sis), No-e (Ekin’s friend), Onie (Pusher’s bassist) and Cem Cem! I was so exhausted from the ride had to excuse myself to rest. They were enjoying themselves with games, special drinks and the fluffy centre of attention, Yuen’s lil sister’s dog, Bell. They made her wear cheongsam! Emm.. I don’t want to go into the details. Yuen seemed very happy having his friends over. They were too, getting ang pows from his mom and booze from his dad. Thanks Yuen for inviting us.

p/s: will upload photos soon.

New! Cross Stitch Patches

Yesterday I went to fix my bicycle, Gajra, at Seksyen 19. Now Gajra is good to go. I left out the stand so it's less heavy now. It rained right after me and Hana were heading home. We had to stop at a gas station nearby. We got ourselves ice creams while we wait for the rain to cease. I've always loved the rain and the atmosphere it brings after. There is no more intrinsically enjoyable time to whiz through a landscape than when the leaves are still dripping and the air is brimming with that crackling newness only rain can deliver. It gives the eyes its crystal clear view of the world. The grass and trees became greener than usual. Fresh green.

I got a meter of cross stitch cloth before getting my bike fixed. I want to sew some cross stitch patches to get some money! Need to get a few things for my bike and new threads. I'm flat broke. I'll be selling them at Noisy during the Overdose gig, the gig at Taiping where The Pips and The Garrison are playing, and at any events from now on. I'm still deciding about the prices.

I love cross stitch! It's so personalize and the designs are way cool. Pixel art! Okay better continue Jah-it!

Rice Above #2 - Birushanah in KL

Yesterday I came down from Mantin to Hana’s house to assemble my bicycle. I had to wash it first as it was dirty! The chain and cogset were covered with black oil and dirt. I miss you Gajra! This was my first experience assembling and meddling with bicycle parts. It was surprisingly exciting to mess with the bike parts. Although lacking with tools and knowledge, I found it to be empowering for girls to get their hands dirty. The only thing I was unable to figure out was the alignment of the wheel. Need to get to the bicycle shop to fix it but the shop was closed due to CNY holiday. The excruciating wait! Baru je nak ride ke Cloth & Clef.

We got a lift from Kelly to get to the Birushanah touring gig. As soon as we’d arrived, Think Tadpole Think was playing their first song. I know I will do this each time.. Reviewing new and old bands in every single blog entry after each gig. TTT was awesome! The vocal was very expressive and very much a performer. He was all over.. from playing didgeridoo, bass, turntable lp, diving on the floor, tearing his nice collared shirt bearing his chest. Wearing white gloves makes his hands visible through out the performance. Their songs were very very catchy experimentalish. I know it now that the band that gets to play first always has this heavy burden to warm up the crowd. In which case, they had succeeded with greatness.

(A) band called Khayal performed after. This band did not had the bass player that night as he was stuck somewhere in traffic. The front line was Bart (Aghast) as vox. I think this was the first time I’ve seen him perform since I know him as a didgeridoo basker. He was freaky. His voice was freaky to me. Not to mention his face expression. Talk about intense. Was Khayal a new band? I’m not so sure. Mirdza played the drums. Their guitars blew me away. Ganaz gila.

Kah-Roe-Shi was next. Taken from their blog - Firstly took formation sometime in 2006 with the name Union Of Slaves. Kah = excess, Roe = labor, Shi = death, translated literally from the Japanese as "death from overwork" or occupational sudden death. Musically characterized by unrelenting heavy crust hardcore and human-system-hating lyrics. A collective of system hating armchair revolutionaries. The guilty comrades (not in hierarchical order; as it supposed to be abolish!): kid: vocals, tiong: guitar, vocals, fahmi: bass, zul: drums. That night they wore white shirts with hand painted words in red which reads something like a downfall of something or death. It was supposed to be a gimmick however hippie it maybe.. They threw flowers to the crowd. The Jasmine flower, which is often associated with cemetery and death. This band has good reviews in several zines. They are superb! Marvelous.. Viola~

It may appear strange when you don’t really know a certain person as a performer or in general. Abang Zai was in that persona. I never heard of him. It is kind of fun though to have a bit of solo performance once awhile. It gave me the chance to sit down during his performance. Actually, he was all the way from Singapore. He was supposed to perform with Joe Kid and Bullet. The Abang Guard. They play groovy kind of experimental sound highlighting Abang Zai’s guitar riff. You should’ve seen Bullet. He was fast to hit those snare and tom toms! They don’t call him Bullet for nothing. He was an unstoppable force. All these while Alak had overshadowed/hid him by being in front with the mic. I had never really seen him play up close and this intense. The drummer always gets lost on the stage.

The moment that we were all waiting for had came when Birushanah got on stage. This sludge metal core band is from Osaka, Japan. As written in their Myspace intro, they said they used many Japanese traditional scales with fretless bass. The amalgamation of Japanese sounds was deliciously magnifying to our ears. It was not that somewhat soothing, it was more than the ocean crashing onto the rocks. You’ll hurt badly especially when you stand beside the speaker! I had specifically chosen the spot, as I wanted to “hear” and see them up close without getting in the middle of the storm in the mosh pit. They were downright brutal. The drummer was in the spotlight with his buff sweaty tattooed body. The crowd went wild for the powerful trio. The head bangers with long hair got most of the front row glorifying this mad occasion. Who knows what goes on at the back of the room. I was very much immersed in trance. This is sick. Now my ears will wring the thin buzzing sound echoing the quiet. Birushanah encored after the crowd’s request.


A photo with the band's drummer and vocal/guitar. The other was missing.

Once again another satisfying gig.

Seems to me that anarcho punks with patches swarmed the place making the place pitch black as ever. Arip was there! We had promised to visit his house and chill together but did no such thing because of our clashing schedules and other lame excuses. He steal holds the book for making crochet that we asked from him. We’ll hang out someday Arip.. When my bicycle’s fixed and the sky is clear. We’ll make you a crochet!

Many friends were there… Baglo who others and I had noticed to be skinnier had said that I looked nice with the veil. Thanks for the compliment. I know it was the cheongsam I wore. Psychedelic. You are confused. Wojtec was in town! And I never knew he could speak Bahasa. He looked like he had plenty of sunlight. Cher stood out with her corn coloured hair. Goldilocks. She came with Glen. Niesa yang comel pun ada. The cyclist made their presents known too by littering their bikes in front of the entrance. This Friday I will park my bike with The Wild Dogs in their home ground but won’t Overdose. See ya.

p/s: photos curik dari Shieko's FB in Ricecooker Shop group page. Thanks.

Chinese New Year Dinner

It is this time in a year that I get to eat extravagantly which later I’d felt a sense of guilt of being gluttonous as if it was a sin to devour each course with full intention to bloat myself without shame because it was Chinese New Year.

All the expensive dishes with special ingredients were exotic to taste. First there was the Yee Sang. It’s a must for starters in Chinese dinner during Chinese New Year. It’s made out of several colorful condiments with seven colors to resemble the rainbow. I would like to name all of the ingredients but I wasn’t paying attention to the details as I was hungry at that time. I know there were shredded pamelo fruit, nutmeg, orange pickle, raw fish, crackers, fried crispy bee hun, cinnamon powder, pepper and some sesame oil plus blackcurrant sauce. There were other unidentified things in it too. I’ve never tasted Yee Sang before. It had filled my mouth with an explosion of flavors. The blackcurrant sauce was the binder for the dish as the pungent sweet and sour taste with pleasant aroma invites you to eat more of it. It was tradition for everyone at the table to stir the dish with their chopsticks together. You have to pick up the shredded ingredients with your chopsticks as high as you can. This symbolic gesture was to welcome increasing wealth, fortune, health, etc.

I’d want continue to describe all the food I had that night but it would not really fit the purpose of the whole event as there were other things going on that night too. The dinner took place in my dad’s restaurant in Bukit Antarabangsa (international hill). It was a gathering for the mualaf (converts) especially Chinese Muslims to celebrate Chinese New Year. My mom and dad are Chinese Muslims who are also members of Chinese Muslim Association. The members would always get together for Hari Raya Aidilfitri and this year for Chinese New Year.

There were about 15 tables with 10 people at each one. Many familiar faces were present. A lot of them I’ve known since I was small. They came in their vibrant colorful Chinese outfits. Everyone looked happy to meet friends. My mom was the pretties that night with her white and soft pink satin Chinese dress. I swore I couldn’t take my eyes off of my mother that night. She shines more with the soft pink veil embedded with glittery pink sequins. She’s a beautiful goddess.

My dad was the busiest that night. He did not have time to sit down to eat properly as he had to attain the guess. I find that he has always been good with people. He has a very good PR with even strangers. I think it came with the experience of being a salesman to managing a factory and now a restaurant. He had met thousands of people and travelled to so many different countries throughout his life. Indeed he is old and wise. I’m glad they married.

It was my first time sitting at a table with my dad’s sons and daughter-in-law. They were really nice people. At the same table as us was a veteran actress named Shariza Mahmod. I don’t really know her but I’ve seen her acting in a few TV series. She’s nice too. My dad said that she is one of the strongest supporters for the Chinese Muslim Association.

Earlier that day, my family and I had gone for a last minute shopping for clothes to wear that night. My parents were busy that we had to do it on the day itself. I’ve got myself a cute Cheongsam! It’s very colorful~ I really like it!

It has always been an interesting part of my life to have diverse culture and celebrations. Although I don’t really get all hyped about it, but I do try to get into it as much as possible. For younger generations, some traditions are followed from the family and it will be much later that they really practice on their own. In a country with so many cultures and traditions we some how intertwine with one another. Having to hear the elders speak and tell stories about traditions is something to treasure. It is like a wrapped up gift which you hand down to someone else that will hopefully open it and tell others after them about the gift. Myths and mythologies. Secrets and folklore. It is what makes them interesting and something to talk about and shared with generations to come.

As we left the restaurant at midnight, we passed a parade of lion dancers going up the hill! Too bad the camera was out of battery~ there were also characters of the Chinese mythology like the Gods and others. It must’ve been an expensive occasion because there were about 20 lions and about 30 big colok (which costs about 100 bucks each according to my dad) plus to hire the characters/actors. But I think it was worth it to them to celebrate this Tiger year with all out grand occasion on top of the hill. The scenery that stretches your eyes through the horizon of the lighted city, added the whole occasion its mystical and Godly atmosphere. Some do spend heaps of money just to recreate what we don’t see everyday that only exists in myths into this modern reality. The firecrackers resonated as the clock stroked twelve to invite the auspicious New Year with a roar.

GON XI FA CHAI XIN YI KUAI LE. ANG POW NAI LE.

WORK!

Today kerja. Helped my father's catering at Klang for some factory. The owner of the factory belanja his workers for Chinese New Year celebration. He wanted a halal Chinese 8 course meal because a few of his workers are Muslims. The factory was some kind of machine assembling factory. It was my first time masuk these kind of kilang. Rare jugak lah.. The factory was not very big, the tables were set for about 56 people. I've worked at a restaurant in Putrajaya where they serve Chinese course so I knew a thing or two about Chinese table setting and those stuff related.

It was kind of kelam kabut as the day started. My father's car broke down. Battery's dead. A few essential items got left behind at the restaurant. Maybe they weren't that experienced to cater kot. We were half an hour late to get the meals out. I like yee sang! They're colorful.. Ok lah.. Semua mcm happy je celebrate makan2 dgn fellow workers. Siap ada yang mabuk lagi. Yeah in broad daylight dah pecah!

Just some observation when i was there.. Humans are destructors. In one day at a small factory like this, I've already noticed the waste the factory produced and discarded. There was oil and some other chemicals flowing away in their gutter. The office smelled like some kind of chemical. It's scary lah to imagine what other thousands factories out there are doing. What their byproduct exposed and discarded into the environment and their effects on their workers as well as the earth.

Hmm.. I don't want to write about this sangat.. Kind of tired today. The heat of the air today was unbearable. Some more the catering was outdoor! I'm dehydrated. I need to replenish myself with water and rest!

A day with the third sister

A day at third sister's house gave me to get closer to (her). It was really funny to have several third "sisters" who are guys. Often we would hang out and there had been one guy friend with us and we’d call him our third sister. A few of them was Cem and Luka. Yuen is one of them. He always said things as though we are being separatists when we grrrls get together and he was the only guy there. I feel that is a weird thing to say because whenever guys get together and there’s a girl there, it won’t matter. And that’s normal. Hence the birthday card we gave him yesterday after the gig at Cloth and Clef.

Yuen’s place was a minimal and cozy small flat house at Kajang. He lives there so that it’s easier for him to get to class at UPM. He’s taking his masters in Anthropology and Sociology. He said he’s doing a thesis on punk rock culture and community (or at least that was the idea conveyed to me as we spoke) which I think is great! It will definitely highlight things that are not known or neglected in the atmosphere of the whole scene. I’m really keen to read it when it’s finished. Caiyok Yuen!

He had load of books to keep us entertained while he was away for his class today. It was like finding a treasure chest. I’ve borrowed a book titled Undisciplined Theory by Gary Genosko.

At noon he was back from his class and had bought food. Briani Rice. We watched the U900 songs on YouTube over and over again while we eat. It’s an addiction. U900 was insanely adorable! They are made out of crochet and played the ukulele. Both are the things in my checklist to learn. COMEL!!

I asked Yuen to help getting my bicycle at Mantin since it was very near from his place. We also made a detoured trip to the Sungai Tekala at Semenyih. It was the waterfall which we had gone to during our all grrrls cycling trip last year. The place was very much empty due to the weekday. On weekends, the place would be packed with families that even pitched tents and set up fire to cook stuff. Indeed we had the place to ourselves that evening. Some mischievous monkeys were there as well and roamed the place as their own since humans were not present. They stole our food while we were in the water. They distracted our moments there thus made us be wary of our things. We had to watch them eating our food on the trees. There were eight of them and three of us. Yep.. we had been “bullied” by monkeys! It was their turf.

It was nearing dark when we got out of the forest. Off we went to my house to take my bicycle. It has been awhile my bicycle left disassembled. I was waiting for it to be transferred to Shah Alam when my family had moved there. Due to the busy schedule that both my parents were under, I had to ask my friend to help. Luckily Yuen was available to help and his car was big enough to fit Gajra – my bike!

After packing my bicycle onto Yuen’s car, we went to makan satay at the nearest restaurant! It’s the famous dish of marinated meat on skewer that’s grilled with splash of sugar and oil which is the most delicious in these parts of town. Later we went to Hana’s house to send her and temporarily keep my bicycle there. It was then that we had trouble opening the trunk of the car. My stuff was in there plus the wheel of the bicycle too. Yuen called his father and asked for help. His father suggested to us to try and open the back seat of the car but we had failed to do so due to the stubborn nut bolts attaching the seat to the car. So Yuen said he’s going to ask his father to open it tomorrow morning.

We hanged out for awhile at Hana’s house and Yuen told us about an experiment on human psychology that was performed on students in a university. The professor who performed the experiment was barred from the university and education ___ for two years or so but later received a noble price? For the experiment had significant contribution to human understanding on human psychology although how unethical it was. The experiment was about testing human behaviors when they were made to role play two sets of characters. One group as prisoners and the other as prison guards. Yuen explained that the outcome of the experiment was rather disturbing as the students were almost convinced and got seriously into the roles as they started to really enforce power over the weaker characters which were the inmates. This crazy state of mind over the power of these individuals had been “granted” was unbelievable but true. They suffered from mental physical and mental torture. It was a reflection of what was really happening today in prisons such as in Guantanamo Bay. I’m going to read more of this. Yuen said the video is available on YouTube.

Yuen lives near my house. It was so close that I could probably walk to his house if I wanted to. Yay! We’re neighbors. I’m imagining the projects and meetings we could do since we live so near by to each other now. We were talking that day of us forming a basketball team in Shah Alam. There are six people that we knew who live in Shah Alam. How about that? Most are cyclist. Critikal Mass in Shah Alam! I’m really happy and grateful that Yuen was able to help…. I had a really good day! I got my bicycle and got to know a friend a bit closer~

Rice Above #1 - You Can’t Keep A Good Scene Down

Last night was euphoria for an ADD person like me. Rice Above #1 - You Can’t Keep A Good Scene Down at Cloth and Clef, Bukit Bintang. As the description in Facebook invitation reads - This is the first of a series of Tuesday gigs happening at Cloth & Clef. An attempt at breaking that "weekend-only" curse which had been a bane for the DIY scene since forever! It’s definitely a session to de-stress for the work related sufferers. You don’t need to wait until the weekend to let out the steam.

The bands that performed yesterday were Carburetor Dung, Swampy Zombie Fever, Pusher and The Garrison. It was my first time being in the club and the atmosphere was chillexing. As usual, a lot of familiar faces ^_^ Yes this is a community of people loving hardcore punk rock music. Although I sometimes get edgy when meeting and surrounded by huge crowd, I did enjoy myself that night~

Where do I even begin to start?

Carburetor Dung opened the night with their kick ass set! They are awesome punk rockers. Father of punk rock in Malaysia. They are getting old but still sounded as loud and fast as any young blood bands. I’ve heard of them since I was in high school through friends but I’ve never seen them play until I got involved in Food Not Bombs. It’s crazy that you seemed to idolize a band through stories from friends who worshiped them. Later in your life you’d know them and became friends with them thus seeing the friendly and cuddly side of them. I did felt kind of anxious when I first hang out with the old timers. I think it’s really great that Joe Kid opened up Ricecooker shop as it had provided a space for people to get to know one another closer besides the usual place –the gigs. This is especially for anxious people like me who a lot of times try to avoid crowded places. There’s a term for this condition – anxiety disorder. Mine is mild (i think). I used to have to gather my “courage” kononnya to go to gigs and try to enjoy the music without being too obviously awkward. The music really helps a lot to distract the mind and give it some sort of strength.Dulu takde kawan..Heh.

They played two sets last night. Opening and closing.Can’t get enough of Carburetor. I will finally get their CDs this time. Some funny stuff uttered that night; after the first song, Joe called out for the drummer to be given water as Joe said the drummer is old already. Haha..it is the usual joke for the band. Dah tak berapa larat tapi jiwa masih muda dan punk rawk! Before playing their song “Jilat”, Joe added that the song almost got them killed.

Controversy habis! The story goes like this..ni nak bukak cerita ni... :p They were invited to perform at an oil hike protest organized by the opposition party back in July 2008 and Alak did the butt showing act while shoutingjilat (lick) in front of the conservative left wing people! Mana tak naik darah diorang. But he did not exactly show off his butt in the flesh. He showed part of his boxers from behind as part of the symbolization of the song. You know, sucking up to people with authority sampai sanggup lick their butts if it need be. That caused the mob to throw bottles and stuff at him. Then they got on the stage to bash him. The stage bouncers who sympathized with the band rescued Alak. He was brought to a safe place and the show was called off as the angry mob started to attack other bands by giving them the stink eyes and cynical verbal attacks along with some takbirs. Hisham Rais who was responsible to invite the bands to perform calmed the mob by giving a speech of apology.

Alak's face made HEADLINE in the newspapers the next day. They reviewed the band and their controversial song. It was a "free" promotion for Carburetor and an exposure for the mass to really look at the lyrics. This is big. They've made us proud! minus the violent threat on Alak and the band.

The whole event had shown signs of trouble from the start. First there was a commotion about the poster of the event. It was too punk and too “entertainment” to be associated with the opposition party. The issue got bigger as their supporters had googled the bands listed in the poster/flyer and found photos of the bands. Stinky, thrashy, skull+black+sick kids in myspace photos. How technology had helped improved conservatism. There were several blogs that wrote about this and opposed the concert to be part of the anti oil-hike protest’s agenda. After some protests over the issue, Hisham had reduce the number of bands playing from eight bands to about three I think which goes under different names. Even the famous Malaysian mainstream rocker, Amy Search got stroked off from the list.

Secondly, since the opposition party took over the Selangor state under their wing, it was often the choice to held demonstrations or talks over this jurisdiction. They wanted to use the Amcorp Mall field in Petaling Jaya but they failed to obtain police permit and had to oblige to the order despite the fact that the state minister was one of them who had the authority to give out the order to allow them to do so. Perhaps there were also some other factors they were considering at that time. Like canopies, parking space, accommodations such as toilet, surau etc. In the end they chose the Shah Alam Stadium to gather people for the protest - a place that can accommodate people for big occasions.

Lastly and most often tricky, the event was about common issue – people’s issue. But it is always been “misdirected” and used as a platform for the use of political parties, which opposes the current government to gain supporters and votes. Never on a neutral grounds. I guess, being neutral only “solves” problems and does not really give them to be the “rightfully” representation of the people. Furthermore, they did all the work to mobilize the people or their supporters..so yeah.. it’s their turf to further convince, campaign and own the “support” from the people. Am I making sense?

Swampy Zombie Fever is next. It’s Aiman’s new band. If I’m not mistaken, they’re cover bands? I’m so pekak in gigs. Selalu cannot hear announcements. They covered Transmission by Joy Division as their first song. They’re solid hardcore punk rock. The drummer even looks like Poodien. Hana, Ekin, Yoyo and I laughed about this because so many people looks like Poodien. The afro hair, the cut sleeves shirt, the shorts, the Poodien style. Wahh Poodien ada trademark dah! The fourth and last songs were quite amazing. Aiman also used to play in a band called Dum Dum Tak.

Next to perform that night was Pusher. Hana kept going on about how Pusher had become post rock. They do sound streaky. I fell instantly for them when I watched their new video Artificialize. The crowd started to pogo and mosh wildly while they play their set. Everyone was getting warmed up and getting in the zone. Hmm.. I knew so little about this band. A few info I know from friends, Pusher has been around since Alak was in uni matriculation. They sounded rich and intense. The Garrison is next.

The Garrison has always been the center of attention as they were the few who played reggae and punk. Only recently they had toned down they reggae tune and sounded more punk rock in their new album. El Pheng, the vocal has a beautiful rare voice. Kind of like those deep old school voices. The band also has the 80’s vibe whenever you see them together. The bassist has got this personified style from the good old days. Their combination with Pusher was said to be an atomic killer and a must. That night they covered an Operation Ivy song. I like their song Pagan Second Coming and Media Protest. The skin head boys who lined the front row in front of the stage loved them.

I saw Chem very much enjoyed the music that night. Everyone did. It was pretty much a reunion as many close friends in the scene were there. About 70 percent of girls I knew that were in the scene were present! Aie, Lili, Rauda, Ekin, Yoyo, Linda (Ekin’s friend), Hana, Karen, Maya and the lovely Nor who was very much pregnant were the equalizers, the dazzlings, the important people amongst the crowd. For the longest time it was not really that many girls. It is improving not just by numbers but as well as the things we’ve contributed. It was really great to meet them there. Marr was sick and couldn’t cycle this time.. Kesiannya….

The mosh pit was outrageously fast and physical as always. Epie was practically naked. His clothes and belongings flew everywhere leaving him with only his boxers. Joe Kid did not let the younger kids get all the fun. He jumped into the crowd as they were moshing when Pusher and Garrison performed. Avroco was as usual chaos and messing with the mic on stage. Everything was going really fast. Like a ship on the verge of a wreck in the middle of a hurricane. Messed up.

At last, the final performance by the legend Carburetor Dung. They played their old songs. By this time I was already exhausted and had to sit down at the back of the room. The crowd had shrunk into half. They performed five songs. Someone said Alak was getting too much glamour as he performed for three times in a row that night. Alak pecah malam tu. He even forgot the initial plan to celebrate Yuen’s surprise birthday party after the gig.

Yeah we had planned a party for Yuen that night after several changes of dates and places. His birthday is on 13 February which fell on the same day as Chinese New Year. There was no way to celebrate it on that day as he was going back to his kampong. So the only time that people could get together that didn’t clash with his class schedule was on the day of the gig. It was really last minute confirmation. We didn’t have a proper cake for him. Takpe lah we had settled for some manufactured banana cake, marble cake, and fruit cake bought at a kedai runcit instead.

It’s time for the presents! Chem gave Yuen a very sweet sketch of Yuen sticking his two fingers up his nose. (Why does this sound weird? Do you get what I wanted to describe?) Kawaii! Cem had improved a lot on his drawing skills. He said he is really serious to brush-up his drawing skills because he wants to practice to become a tattooist and open up a tattoo shop someday. Good luck Cem! I gave Yuen a stenciled picture of a bird on a paper and a cross stitched patch with the Pacman’s enemy icon which also reads Pause. (yes it was a hipster thing) It was all last minute. Hana gave him a card which kind of teases him a bit. He always said he wants to be one of us and that he felt left out every time we girls get together and he’d be the only guy. The card reads Happy Birthday Girl!

That night we went to Yuen’s house in Kajang to keep the birthday boy company. Happy 27 years of younger days Yuen. Shang Yat Fai Lok!

Howard Zinn + Cyclown + Marjinal

There was a screening on Friday about Howard Zinn called Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train (78 minutes). He was a writer, activist and historian who passed away a couple of weeks ago. The screening was held at Annexxe, Central Market. Hana and I came early at about 6.30 p.m because we wanted to drop by the Ricecooker Shop to meet Mat Nor and check out the new space. The shop is not at all hard to find. It’s a corner shop at the lower ground floor in a building next to Mydin at Jalan Silang. You will notice a restaurant called Shukran and A&W outside of the building. It was our first time being there since it opened. Mat Nor said the rent was cheap. It’s a very cozy place and while you’re there, you can trim your hair at the next door barber shop. Hana did.

When we arrived at the shop, Mat Nor wasn’t there so we phoned him and found out his whereabouts. He was having his evening tea break with a friend from Jogja! We were so surprised that Maya was in town. We knew her as one of the members of Cyclown when they toured in Malaysia back in 2007/8.

A bit of a story here about Cyclown. Cyclown was formed as circus clowns who travel by bicycles and performed from one country to another. They’ve travelled to so many countries, performed endless circus acts and recorded a few songs. They stayed in Lost Generation Space in Seputeh and joined Not That Balai event when they were in Malaysia. They even performed at Food Not Bombs serving place to entertain the homefree people. They are really nice people with loads of sense of humor (hence being clowns). A few times I was awoken by the sound of their trumpets in the morning. They practiced really hard. I really admire them for their spirits to travel by bicycles and make friends from all over.

They were striking wherever they go as it was not easy to miss them with their tall bikes and dashing colorful outfits. I’ve never rode a tall bike before, for them, it must’ve been a whole different view of the traffic and scenery. Once I heard one of them (Raphael) said that the pollution was unbearable whenever they visit any cities and that included Kuala Lumpur. This was and still is true for the streets are never lungs and bicycle friendly.

I remember hearing stories about their amazing stories from their travels although I’ve only had brief encounter with them during their visit here. One of it was that they had travelled through the SAHARA DESSERT BY BICYCLE AND STILL LIVES! Imagine that! They were tough young lads I tell you.

If I’m not mistaken, there were 5 or 6 of them (mostly from the States) when they were here but many others had been cyclowns. You see, Cyclown was an open “collective”. Anyone can join them. They’ve got a few new members whenever they travel in each place. They had always without fail to invite us to join them. Let see if I can remember some of their names.. Raphael, Bob, Christine, Maya, errr.. I forgot most of them. There was always something interesting to learn from visiting friends. I know that they DIYed mostly everything, from their bikes, bags, food, clothes etc. I learned from them to substitute chain oil with cooking oil but later found out that there is some downside to this – ants love the sweet cooking oil – but I’m sure that was not of a big issue compared to holes in their pockets. Travelling does make you learn survival skill and force you to rethink about living with less money and more brains. Being vegan/vegetarians also another skill that needed to be learned while travelling to other meat eating countries. Cooking is always the best part. You would know what they eat and substitute – sugar to honey to maple syrup. Whichever with less contribution to the world pollution and animal cruelty. Ethics.

Here’s their website with more details and photos http://www.cyclown.org/. If you ever get your hands on their CDs, check out the KUCING (cat) song. COMEL (cute) and AWESOME!

Back to the day’s story, I know Maya studied culture and arts in Jogja after the Cyclown’s tour there. Maya’s from the U.S. In Indonesia there’s this program (with sponsorship I think) for foreigners to study Indonesian culture and arts. If it’s not with sponsorship, then it might be cheap because a few friends from abroad did try it out. She said she was renewing her visa and had to work for survival because she was broke. She’ll be in KL for the next two weeks working with the Annexxe gallery. So many things to talk about! She was still as friendly and cute as ever. (I’ll get her picture!) She said she had dropped out from her study because she didn’t find what she had hoped for with the course she took.

Mat Nor was so nice to entertain us with some music from Deepset, gave free zines, and stickers. Wahh ni shopkeeper yang baik ni. He gave Hana a copy of Morgan Muffel's zine and had promised to give me one too, This time Isi collaborate with another cartoonist. Looks really interesting... Much like Mat Nor zine. Scenery is Free. He said he's going to compile them and make it into a book. He doesn't have enough money to get it publish just yet. Money seems to revolve around everything... I'm glad Mat Nor went through his surgery well. I asked him to show me his scar, it's a very long scar across his chest. Now his heart is doing well and he's still on meds. Cheers bro.

I’ve been to Maya's house in Jogja in 2008! It was a very nice house with a garden at the center of the house (like most typical houses in Jogja/Indonesia). For ventilation I think. I remember that the house had countless rooms (compartmentalized buildings) that surrounded the garden. It has got a neat common living area where you can chill. Maya said her room was the only one that is on the first floor. Yep I’ve been inside her room. Not many furniture only a thick mattress with “kelambu” and one cupboard. Minimal. Not minding that, she had the view of the village instead. It’s awesome…

She said her house was considered expensive in Jogja. The rent was RM1200+ a year! That’s about RM100 monthly! They had to pay annually though. For the longest time I envy who ever lives in Jogja.. The rent for houses are extremely cheap, the food is very tasty and not to mention - cheap, the warm inviting locals, and most of all, the feast for the eyes – street ART!

In Jogja, it’s still a lay back part of Indonesia. Some areas are still very much kampong and anak punks or weird looking artists/youngsters blended well with the locals. The popular art movement “bloomed” as I heard the term used by art magazines and artist friends’ chit chats since the fall of Suharto’s dictatorship in 1998, moving along side with the activism/resistance movement back in those days. Jogjakarta is considered the center of art and culture for Indonesia.

I went there when I joined the Jatiwangi Art Festival (JAF) in 2008 with Ili, Bebe and their two kids. An artist friend from Malaysia, Aswad also tagged along with us. Ili had a special mission while she was there. That is to document how art event was organized and artists and peoples’ involvement with it. Bebe and Aswad did their share of performance of interaction with locals. Okay this is going to be a whole other story all together and it will be a long one. So, I promise I will write about it in specific details in my next entry.

Aside from that, I thought I would want to add in a little bit about something interesting in Jakarta instead. I’m thinking about another documentary which will somehow relate to the Howard Zinn’s documentary. It was a documentary made by Mash (a punk girlfriend from Germany) on punk band – Marjinal. The band had assimilated themselves with the locals in the kampong (village) where they live. It was rather amazing to see “boys” with dreads/Mohawks, tattoos, pierced who clung on black shirts as their everyday theme helping out the villagers with their gotong royong (_) fixing the road and gutters, cooking, and teaching kids to silkscreen t-shirts and sing. Yes, kids from all ages worshiped them! Their songs are catchy and easy to sing along. Rakyat songs (People’s songs). One of their songs, Hukum Rimba had been covered by The Pips in their new album.

In the documentary, the band members explained how they had open up their space for people to learn about punk DIY resistance culture. In return showing that they are as human as anyone could be because what was important to them is communal living and community. They had been well accepted by the people in the village. I think part of it was because of the warmness and friendliness of the band members with the villagers. They were not at all as fierce as they looked. In fact, they were very polite and respectful. That’s the true (or should be) nature of punks in community I think.

I’m impressed that old folks there are easy to accept the band without being judgmental of their appearance and lifestyle. (At least that is what we hoped for) I think being in the same village does make them neighbors and part of the community where they had to work together to help build the community regardless of religion, ideology or culture. Indonesia and their culture…. I’m not good with history but I do know a few things about Indonesian culture revolution by Suharto where he had made the Bahasa Indonesia as the national language and it has been successfully implemented as all the races speak in Bahasa Indonesia as their first language. Although this has its downside where people lost part of their language/cultural identity i.e Chinese can’t speak Chinese. But I think the unity of language had brought forward the downfall of the dictator himself via his own vision where people would be united through their words and these words were understood thus had educated, mobilized, and empowered people to bring him down. Other than the economic factor and IMF. Read more here.

Talking about history, mobilization and people’s power, I shall continue with the daily journal about the screening about Howard Zinn. See I told you it would somehow relate. Overall like all documentaries I’ve watched, it was fairly good. One comment from a young emerging film maker, Fahmi Reza commented that it was a bit dragging and could’ve been shorten at some part. It was not those documentaries where you’d watch before going to demonstrations to fire up your spirits. It’s more of a memoir of his struggle during his teaching and writing years. He was a modest and decent man with his inspiring words. He wrote several books, to name a few which was mentioned in the documentary, Emma, Karl Marx, and the most famous The People’s History of the United States. He had led many protests against racism and the war while he was teaching at Boston University. One of the intense parts of the documentary was when he told about how he used to be a bombardier during the World War II. Like many uninformed soldiers who were convinced (brainwashed) that they were fighting for their countries, he had explained how on several occasions that they dropped home made napalm bombs on places where German soldiers were awaited for the war to end. Many were near civilians. A shocking statement by the deputy minister of America during that time quoted of saying that they bombed the headquarters of the enemies, which “happened” to be surrounded by civilians. WTH? This was to justify and blind the masses of their bloody war. Howard Zinn said being up on the sky dropping bombs, they were clueless of the impact on the ground until they saw what had happened in Hiroshima. Noam Chomsky was one of the people interviewed. A quote from Howard Zinn – if you don’t know your history, it is as if you were born yesterday. He was kind of like Hishammudin Rais of Malaysia with a little less fashion sense.Ye ke? HAHA.

Oklah.. that was some of the things I could capture in that documentary. We met Pik-Svoon and Fahmi as well as a few others old friends at the screening event - Poodien, Thilaga, Yew Hun, Sis Mas and Kak Yati from SIS, the Brown couple (musicians) and other 50 people or.. After the session was over, we went to downstairs to the mamak restaurant and bummed into the cyclist friends whom just finished their Massa Kritikal ride every Friday. Alind brought a kite given to him by Rat who was there as well. Rat got the kite from his ever-so-resourceful workplace as an installation artist. Others were El Pheng, Sidh, Nana, Nobeat and friends from Sky Bunker, Setapak which I don’t really know/ forgot their names.

After realizing that the mamak restaurant was closing, we headed to a stall at an alley near Kotaraya and Petaling Street. Talked about plans, catching up, movies, gossips, jokes, critics, eat, drink etc. Hana and I didn’t realize that we’d almost missed our bus to Shah Alam. Luckily the last bus was at 11.30p.m. So nice of Pixie and Fahmi to walked us to the bus stand Klang. We felt safe. Thanks mommy and daddy. :P

The day was going to end with something sweet to remember it by. We spotted a boy who looked just like a younger version of Poodien. Memang saling tak tumpah. Serious. The hair, the eyes, the short pants, the bag, the notebook and sharpie! They could’ve been brothers or twins! He even got on the same bus as we did. We decided to give him a card/note which reads “You look like our friend. Wish you’ll have a good day. And at the back, “ Life is so isolated and alienating that all we have to do is reach out to each other”. I managed to secretly snap a photo of him using my hp by pretending to take Hana’s picture. Stalker! Hehe. He just smiled and kept the note. He did not look at us after that. I think he was shy being “harassed” by two crazy girls on the bus.

That was that. After we got off the bus, we had a long walk and talked about how we would feel about getting a note from strangers. For me, it’s fine if a boy gave me a note on the bus or somewhere. Sure I would be shy but I would like it. Indeed, we pass each other every where we go and crossed paths but yet no interactions. These small practices are little sparks of happiness we encounter in our lives.

Maybe that’s also how I feel about street art. They are sweet and cute little “nuisance” that some may not understand. They appear at some corners of these blocks of concrete “life” that shouts Hey! Here are some cute things we did to make you think or just to express. They are not as intimidating as the billboards, which are forced onto us. You’d know which giant corporation that demands your attention and loyalty by repeatedly flashing their ads. I missed those old days where movie signs, shop signs etc were painted by hands. More personalize and “REAL”.

That night we had to pretend that we were crazy because we too had been harassed by passing vehicles as we walked. Maybe we theorized that it would chase them away hence adding a bit of the “illusion” of safety. So imagine two girls walking and laughing while swinging an umbrella given free by an insurance company the one that resembles like a cane in the middle of crazy Friday night trying to make it home safely. All this while still trying to have a good time chatting and enjoying the sky with clear stars. Not yet the full moon…

And I quote “Any woman will ovulate with the full moon if she’s exposed to enough moonlight” – Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver (a book that I’m reading)

p/s: Sorry if my words get a bit long and confusing. It’s just how I like to write them. Don’t really like “fullstops”

Jamming + Other Sweet Wonders

It had just started to rain as I went out of the house this evening. Yes, I'm finally moved to Shah Alam! Today ada jamming session with The Pips at Sunway. Some thing interesting caught my eyes as I walked pass the field, I saw about a dozen cows! They were chewing away the grass while some kids played football on the basketball court near them. It was a really funny sight..

A friend who lives here called this part of Shah Alam as the ghetto. Migrants, factory workers, run down flats, crowded streets. I like it. It gives the place its signature compared to the lonely quiet middle class suburbs. There are "guerilla" gardens everywhere. I think I kind of get it when my friend said he's proud of this place. Haha.

Wahh.. dah lama tak join jamming. Cem taught me my first drum lesson. I have an unresponsive leg. My motor system needs practice to synchronize with movements of my hands. Nasib baik ada cikgu! They practiced a new song. Wait for it at the next gig on 19th at Noisy Studio, Ampang. Best!

After the session was over, we had a quick chat about how it's uncool to held a collective convergence during CNY. Some of us wanted to go but couldn't due to the celebration and the poor public transportation condition there. I wanted to go but i celebrate CNY! Both my parents are Chinese now... Used to be half. Don't know lah...

Hujan je baru baru ni.. It’s a good thing.. for my room doesn’t have a fan yet. I sleep on the floor. Not so good to go out coz I don’t own an umbrella. I’m cool with using just plastic to cover my head for now although I hate the water for soaking my sox+shoe and being splash by cars/buses as they drove by gila laju through the puddle! Another thing I like is when it’s an excuse to search for nice hot soup….. Nyumm.

Okaylah enough for tonight. Nak tidur. zzzzzzzzzz

Mono in Malaysia!

Last Saturday I went to see Mono perform at KL Pac with my friends Hana, Marr and Poodien. Thank you so much Poodien for buying me the ticket. I owe you one. Hana, Marr and I went as early as 6.30 p.m (one and a half hour early! – semangat!) Slowly the fans started to arrive at about 7 p.m. We can see many familiar faces such as friends from Findars (I think they have connection with the organizer of the concert – Soundscape Records coz they managed the booth and entrance). We also bummed into some friends.. To name a few, Fahmi (FSF), Nobeat (Crimescene), Zairy (Suara Anak Muda), Yasir Sunway, etc.

The show started with an opening act by the famous Deepset. Apparently, they are friends of Poodien that used to live/squat together. They give me chills every time they play their piece.

Mono was awesome! It was a mind-blowing experience just to be at the center of the crowd. They are an instrumental post rock band from Japan. That night they played 10 songs. I almost couldn't stand up as my feet started to ache on the seventh song. They were so brutal with their sudden attack of shock noise. It was a nice pick of list of songs as they alternate soft and steady tones with the fast sudden attacks.

The set list:
1.ashes in the snow
2.burial at the sea
3.follow the map
4.yearning
5.are you there
6.2candles,1 wish
7.where am i
8.kidnapper bells
9.halcyon
10.everlasting

The atmosphere of the set was surreal as the whole night Mono had succeeded in pulling out our souls and let us radiate endlessly around the hall along with the magic of their majestic sounds. They reached so deep into my heart and mind that I almost could feel myself somewhere out of this world. They were truly professional performers who knows to vary their acts to keep us entertain. They did not spoke a word throughout the performance to keep people focus with the feel of the entire set. They are legends!

I love when they play the seventh song, from that moment I could feel that they are making their statement saying that this is us – Mono. They stood fierce side-by-side fronting with their guitars. They are unforgivingly cruel with this song as though making a vicious vindication - this is what you’ve been waiting for. All the alternating feeling came.. sadness, depression, love, hate, inspired, captivated, levitated, revitalized, power. It was intense!

It was definitely different from the usual punk/HC gigs because I feel that instead of ranting out and let everything out of my system, I actually felt something went in as well. They had given us a gift of their beautiful music and we transcend with the feeling of fulfilment thus bind us of our wounds. Making us realize that there are some beautiful little sparks of magic and wonders in this corner of the earth where we had gotten together and share this special moment.

By the end of the show, we were calling for an encore as though Mono resembles some sort of drugs. Their music is addictive. We just couldn’t get enough of them. We wanted more of the assemble nirvana. They were tired I guess and wanted to prepare themselves for the next session that is the autograph session with the fans.

My friends and I didn’t get their autograph or meet them in person as we were rushing to get back because we went there via public transportation and didn’t want to pay the extra midnight charges but we were intoxicated and happy seeing Mono perform live! There were no other experiences I would trade for this one. Maybe I’m just a sucker for adrenaline and endorphin. :P Mono I love you!

p/s: that night, I've received a book titled "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud translated to Bahasa Indonesia from Poodien! He bought it when he was in Yogjakarta. How sweet! Thanks~