Odysseys of George

Well, I have been waiting for this and now I manage to go for the 26th July performance. That would be the only day I would be free to catch and of course the highlight for me was to catch Mia Palencia.

The venue was at Plaza Mont Kiara. The layout was acceptable. It was packed when I reached there with the center area just in front of the stage being left empty. Many photographers took this to their advantage as I grow in jealousy to see them aiming their delicious gadgets (DSLR) and having the time of their life taking shots .

The music I felt was too loud at its bases. The crowd was there quite obviously for Mia Palencia because by the end of Phunk Mob performance which was for me was a little lack of the jazz soul, most had left and the audience picked up again just before Mia Palencia came back on stage at 11.15 pm. Bassgroove 100 played just before Mia came on stage and they were good but with the anticipation and the warm and humid environment, the audience was geting restless a little. Things were not the same the day before as many reviews said that the 25th performance was fantastic and so was the turnout. It was also too hot and humid for the musicians who were drenched in sweat just about 10 minutes into their performance.

Mia Palencia

I did my share for the local jazz industries by buying Mia’s and Karen Nunis’s albums. No matter what, personally I think this was of good effort and should be done regularly. Jazz awareness is still quite infantile in Malaysia but that is also because jazz is a lot about the feelings and moods of the musicians and harmony between them, which is also why not many people take to jazz easily. Even for me, there are some forms of jazz that is difficult to like. Hmmm….. maybe I should do some research on jazz then…..hmmm.

Sultan Abdul Hamid Collegians can stand proud again as this prestigious school once again stand above all to celebrate its 100years.

The celebration activities actually started in Jun last year with a fund raising dinner held at PWTC organised by SAHOCA on the 3rd of November 2007.

Tomorrow, there would be a THE 100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY HUNT.

The SAHOCA Treasure Hunt 2008 with the theme “ Jom Sambut 100 Tahun Kolej” was initiated by SAHOCA Selangor/ Kuala Lumpur to motivate ex-collegians in the Klang Valley to make a journey to Alor Setar and partake in the festivities organized in conjunction with the 100 years Kolej celebration and events.

The starting point is the Car Park B, One Utama Shopping Kompleks, Petaling Jaya and he finishing pint is the Kolej School Hall, in Alor Setar.

The flag off will be at 7.45am on the 24th July 2008 and the closing time of arrival is at 5.00pm at Kolej Hall, Alor Setar.

PROGRAM FOR TREASURE HUNT 2008 - ( 24th July 2008. )

7.00 am
Gathering at Car Park B, One Utama, PJ
7.15 am
Final Briefing by Hunt Club, Organiser
7.45am
Flag- Off by VIP Hunt will traverse North South Highway and into Kedah - Entry into Alor Setar is the North Toll PlazaTreasure Hunting around Alor Setar with relevance points of interest to Kedahan and ex Collegians

5.00pm
Hunt Closes at Kolej Hall, Alor SetarAfternoon Tea at Kolej Hall
6.30 pm
LCD Answer presentation and Prize Award
7.00pm
Event Ends

On the 26th of July, would be the Centenary Celebration Day.

For a walk down the memory lane, check out Down Memory Lane

As for me, I would have to miss it. I am on call tomorrow and would have to work on Saturday too.
However, I have a facebook group that I have created which have managed to bring together many of us. Hopefully the group can do more that just be online.

Well, this is the last of my blogging about this beautiful country called Vietnam and it infamous city Saigon, or presently called Ho Chih Minh city.

I did not manage to complete the tour of Vietnam and as such, have decided to hopefully do another trip there. The next time, it would be to see the War Tunnels which is situated 3 hours from Saigon and among others to fit in a diving stint at Na Thrang.

These are the other fascinating sights in Saigon:

1. Reunification Palace

- also known as the Independence Palace built on the site of the former Norodom Palace. This is the site of the official handover of power during the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. It was then known as Independence Palace as at 10:45 am 30 April 1975, a tank of the North Vietnamese Army hit the main gate, ending the Vietnam War.

- In November 1975, after the negotiation convention between the communist North Vietnam and communist South Vietnam was successful, in memory of that event, the Provisional Government of the Republic of South Vietnam renamed the hall Reunification Hall.

2. Church of Notre Dame

- Established by French colonists, the cathedral was constructed between 1863 and 1880. It has two bell towers, reaching a height of 58 meters (190 feet).
-All building materials were imported from France. The outside wall of the cathedral was built with bricks from Marseille. Although the contractor did not use coated concrete, these bricks have retained their bright red color until now.
- In 1895, two bell towers were added to the cathedral, each 57.6 high with 6 bronze bells with the total weight of 28.85 metric tonnes. The crosses were installed on the top of each tower of 3.5 m high, 2 m wide, 600 kg in weight. The total height of the cathedral to the top of the Cross is 60.5 m.

- In the flower garden in front of the cathedral, there was a bronze statue of Pigneau de Behaine (also called Bishop Adran) leading prince Canh, the son of Gia Long by his right hand. The statue was made in France. In 1945, the statue was removed but the foundation remains.In 1959, Bishop Joseph Pham Van Thien, ordered a Peaceful Notre Dame statue made with granite in Rome. When the statue arrived in Saigon, on 16 February 1959 Bishop Pham Van Thien held a ceremony to install the statue on the empty base and presented the title of “Regina Pacis”. It was Bishop Pham Van Thien who wrote the prayers “Notre-Dame bless the peace to Vietnam”. On the next day, Cardinal Aganianian came from Rome to chair the closing ceremony of the Holy Mother Congress and solemnly chaired the ceremony for the statue, thus the cathedral was then-on called Notre-Dame Cathedral.

The crowd overflowed to the road outside the church.

3. The Post Office

Me buying souvenirs from the post office

4. City Hall

- this the modern and hip place of Ho Chih Minh city.

5. Dinner

- a very beautiful restaurant aongside the Saigon River. Enjoy the meal.

and lastly the Five Variety Salad

A lady in her late 40s presented with passing black tarry foul smelling stools (malaena) for a few days prior to admission. This was the second episode after the first being a few days earlier.She was admitted then but was discharged home on a negative finding on endoscopy. On the day of admission, she fainted at home after complaining of feeling lightheaded.

She was admitted and an urgent upper endoscopy was performed. As we were about to withdraw the scope in disappointment, I caught a glimpse of this near the fundus and got excited!

Any takers?
The man responsible has my name too! Ha Ha Ha
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called A Rare Bleeder or is it really?

One of the highlights of the trip was the Vietnamese Water Puppet Show. A little bit of research reveals that Múa rối nước is Vietnamese water puppetry, which literally means “puppets that dance on water.” The tradition dates back as far as the tenth century when it originated in the Red River Delta area of northern Vietnam. When the rice fields would flood the villages, villagers would entertain each other using this puppet form.

Water puppetry is performed in a chest-deep pool of water, with the water’s surface as a stage. The puppeteers stand behind a curtained backdrop. Up to 8 puppeteers stand behind a split-bamboo screen, decorated to resemble a temple facade, and control the puppets using long bamboo rods and string mechanism hidden beneath the water surface.

A traditional Vietnamese orchestra provides background music accompaniment. The instrumentation includes vocals, drums, wooden bells, cymbals, horns, erhu (Chinese two-stringed fiddle), and bamboo flutes. The bamboo flute’s clear, simple notes may accompany royalty while the drums and cymbals may loudly announce a fire-breathing dragon’s entrance.

Singers of Cheo (a form of opera originating in north Vietnam) sing songs which tell the story being acted out by the puppets. The musicians and the puppets interact during performance; the musicians may yell a word of warning to a puppet in danger or a word of encouragement to a puppet in need.

The theme of the skits is rural and has a strong reference to Vietnamese folklore. It tells of day-to-day living in rural Vietnam and Vietnamese folk tales that are told by grandparents to their grandchildren. Stories of the harvest, of fishing and of festivals are highlighted.

Legends and national history are also told through short skits. Many of the skits, especially those involving the tales of day-to-day living, often have a humorous twist. ( Wikipedia )

Don’t leave Vietnam without seeing this. It is uniquely Vietnam.

I read a passage, and this part captured my attention which was relevant to present situation.

In June 1966, Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, a celebrated boxer, along with an acquaintance were convicted of murder in a highly publicized and racially charged trial. The boxer maintained his innocence and became his own jailhouse lawyer. After serving 19 years, Carter was released when the verdict was overturned. As a free man, he reflected: “Wouldn’t anyone under those circumstances have a right to be bitter? . . . I’ve learned that bitterness only consumes the vessel that contains it. And for me to permit bitterness to control or infect my life in any way whatsoever would be to allow those who imprisoned me to take even more than . . . they’ve already taken.”

When we hold on to disappointment, a poisonous root of bitterness begins to grow.

When angry feelings go unchecked,
They’ll mushroom into hate;
So don’t let time feed bitterness—
Forgiveness must not wait. —Sper

Bitterness is a root that ruins the garden of peace.

ref: RBC ministries