MEET-THE-FANS-SESSION WEEKEND PACKAGE

6TH MAY 2016 ~ One in a blue moon, I get students visiting me at home which is not during Eid season. Last night, a group of SMKTUN's ex-students from SPM batch 2013 came and they were welcomed with open arms even though it was already 10:00 p.m.

They were served tea and shortly after that we adjourned to Bigfood Restaurant for a late dinner.

We were the last customers to arrive there. It was a short session as we were ushered out by the waiter as they had to close the shop by 12:00 p.m.

It was only a short meeting but we could always do this some other time, and not necessarily in a big group like this. Thanks Mr. Syazwan, Mr. Fahmi, Mr. Iqbal and Mr. Syafiq for the time and company.

"It is not the quantity of the meat,

but the cheerfulness of the guests,

which makes the feast."

~ EDWARD HYDE ~

MOVIE REVIEW - "THE JUNGLE BOOK"

Finally, I got to watch this movie from the novel by Rudyard Kipling: "The Jungle Book". And I am glad I did that. While many are more excited to see Iron Man and Captain America, "The Jungle Book" is the movie for people who love (1) Disney movie (2) animals (3) English literature (4) story that teaches one the value of love and friendship.

I even managed to grab the novel of the same title from a Popular Bookshop near the cinema. The experience of watching the story on the silver screen and reading it from the text are two different things. Many would say these two media are definitely incomparable but sometimes one might enjoy reading more. That is what I am yet to decide. 

GETTING MORE CAKE AND LATTE AFTER SCHOOL

The "happy meal" get together continued today. (OMG!)

McCafe is now having a promotion in conjunctions with the upcoming Mother's Day. Two cups of regular latte cost only RM6 so that could be a strong reason to make a comeback after visiting a McD restaurant yesterday.

Other than that, considering the limited number of friends I have nowadays who could keep me company over coffee, I would never say "NO" to the opportunity to have the chance to chat (read: gossip).

Ramadhan is coming soon and I am quite sure I will lose some weight during the fasting month. :P 

Too bad there is a nearby McD outlet (with a McCafe station) near school in Mutiara Rini which has made the temptation to get the cake and the coffee too strong to resist.

Thanks Mr. Syahril. We can still have a few more meetings before the school break starts.

IT'S TIME FOR HAPPY MEAL AGAIN

There would be time the urge to get some kind of food got so strong. And I was lucky, someone, an ex-student of SMKTUN from SPM batch 2015, who is now residing near the McDonald's outlet in Setia Tropika, was available. We had been planning to meet up for quite some time actually and only today the plan was materialized. 

Besides eating, there was definitely a gossip session. You should now know why it is called a happy meal. 

Thanks to Mr. Irfan Daud for the company. Maybe we could meet up again some other time.

ANGKLUNG GROUP'S POST PERFORMANCE ACTIVITY

1st May 2016 ~ Right after the angklung performance in UTM, we went straight to Medan Selera [translate: food court] at Taman Universiti, as planned. It was quite late though - we arrived there at almost 10:30 p.m.

We decided to eat out because of a reason not worth mentioning here. Anyhow, I felt that the boys deserved to be awarded for all the hard work starting from January. So this was like our mid-year annual dinner gathering. At the same time, there were individuals who were kind enough to pay for our meal that evening.

By 11:00 p.m. almost everybody had gone back home when the parents came to pick everyone up. It must have been a very tiring day for everyone, especially when they (or we) still had to attend school the next morning. Nevertheless, I was sure all the Angklung Group members had enjoyed the delicious food served and that should conclude the day's activity with a happy note.

ANGKLUNG GROUP'S SECOND PERFORMANCE OUTSIDE SCHOOL FOR 2016

Our second performance outside school for the year 2016

Date: Sunday, 1st May 2016

Venue: Sultan Iskandar Hall, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Time: 8:30 p.m.

Event: Merbauan Glory Award

(organized by Tun Hussein Onn Residential College)

We were at first having doubt whether or not to accept the invitation. I guess we made the right decision as the event was held at Sultan Iskandar Hall, the venue where grand university events take place. This should definitely a good experience for the Angklung Group members, to get the opportunity to perform on a stage of a huge hall.

We presented five songs, namely "Dayung Sampan", "Still Loving You", "Terukir di Bintang", "Wonderful World" and "Anak Kampung".

This was actually the second time for the school's Angklung Group to be here. The first one took place three years ago. Read about it HERE.

We just hoped the audience could hear us loud and clear as we were not quite happy with the sound system.

There will be a short break for the group after this as the exam is coming real soon, followed by the fasting month and the Eid celebration. We are planning to recruit and train new angklung players, most probably from the form one batch, after the school break.

A DIARY OF AN ANGKLUNG PLAYER BEFORE A PERFORMANCE

NOTE: Although we meet regularly once a week for practice, we still need to go for an intensive training session before a performance especially when there is unforeseen circumstances. There could be group members who could not join in the performance because of family issues etc. We have actually have a fixed player for certain angklungs but as there sometimes unavoidable issues, we have to make some changes here and there, and this would require more time spent practising.

8:00 a.m.:

People started to arrive. However, for some, to be punctual is something difficult to do.

To make people attend meetings on time is always a problem. There is still a long way to go to have a society who would appreciate and manage their time wisely.

9:30 a.m.:

We decided to have breakfast first and start our practice session right after. We had "roti canai" and sardine-filled curry puffs on the tables . 

10:00 a.m.:

Practice finally started. *sigh*

12:30 p.m.:

We had "nasi lemak" for lunch. Then we went for our "Zohor" prayer and had a short rest.

2:00 p.m.:

The practice session continued.

3:45 p.m.:

The van from UTM arrived and we left school. 

Performed our "Asar" prayer at the UTM mosque.

5:00 p.m.:

Trying out the stage and the P.A. system (which was supposed to be there).

The grand event in which we performed would be reported in another post. :)

TO BE CONTINUED...