VV

So the next best thing that’s happening in my life right now: Taking care of a vintage Volvo!

VV, also known as the Grand Ol’ Dame, has been a longtime resident of 35, the home we’re now living in while we await our renovation to be completed.

Recently, I was taught how to drive VV as Aunty Audrey needed someone to take VV out to get her engine running.

Yes, I admit I nearly had a heart attack. After all, VV was a completely different ball game for me – it had been ages since I’ve driven a manual, what more a manual car with a hand gear!

Anyway, a month down the line and I’m completely in love. As VV has been well maintained, she doesn’t give too much trouble. Every alternate day she goes for a drive with me, whizzing past traffic and buildings. I always feel as if I’ve been brought back in time.

So far, I’ve taken 3 passengers with me – Noel, Paulie and my brother. My next will be Mum, who turns green every time I tell her I’m driving VV out.

Image source

Bling bling…

And there you have it, I’m back from Kedah!

It was a 3 day affair filled with unlimited bling, yellow (the colour of Malaysian royalty), pomp and circumstance. The banquet hall we performed at turned out to be (for me at least) the stuff you only see on TVs, where the who’s who of society showcased their diamonds and rubbed shoulders with VIPs/VVIPs.

The performance of Susan’s piece itself went very well even though the production crew somehow managed to screw up the lighting onstage. Basically, we were playing in a terrible red light, making us all look like hell’s children (according to our dear Susan).The solo singer, Yasmin, apparently looked like the ‘mother of hell’.

Nice.

The highlight of this trip, however, was the company. As most of the gamelan girls could not commit to this project, we brought in other musicians to help us out – and what a blessing they turned out to be! Over the 3 days I have not laughed so hard and so much – so much so that I forgot I ever had to return to work.

20 crazy people (read: musicians) on a bus to Kedah over 3 days – definitely the way to live. It was like Little Miss Sunshine 20x the fun.

Horoscope for the Day…

Virgo: Only days ago you drew the line with somebody whose attitude and actions have been a consistent source of concern or unhappiness. Yet they’re still causing problems, although not of the same magnitude. They’re trying to get your attention with their antics. Ignore them.

Wow. That’s good to know!

Leap!

I’ve done it. I finally put in my letter.

I’ll be leaving my comfortable, full-time job at the end of August. It has been incredibly hard, given that I have been bombarded with counter offers, a salary raise and promises of more opportunities.

But I can’t take it anymore. While the opportunities were great, I need to be happy. And I want to be happy.

This is my leap of faith.

I’ll be pursuing my Masters actively. Part time lecturing will help me stay afloat in the meantime.

I need to trust that I will be ok. I need to know that it’s ok to feel insecure and worry about how I’ll manage.

Then again, I guess this is the Man Up There’s way of getting me to talk to him more. Joker.

The Bee, May.

I realise that quite a few of my blog entries these days are classified under the “Nuts” category.

I think it says quite a bit about the person that I am becoming. Ha ha!

Yes, my days have been busy. I’ve been clogged up with full time work and writing exam papers for my part time work. While it is mildly frustrating to sit at the computer to think of music theory (read: dry), I can safely say I’ve finally mastered the Sibelius programme. Yay to me!

Work aside, gamelan rehearsals are starting to become more intense again. Next month we will be performing in Kedah. In August we will be performing at the International Gamelan Festival in Terengganu. Rehearsals are personally tough for me but those who know me well know that anything I find challenging and difficult I always push myself even harder. (Perhaps that is how I burn out? Ha ha ha..)

This week, Rhythm in Bronze’s 2008 community project also begins. It is going to be exciting and fun and I’m really looking forward to it.

All this ‘going ons’ aside, I’m praying I will be able to watch an international film by myself at the cinema. Now that I really miss.

Bzzzz…

p/s: Silent readers, do listen to the Shadowlands podcast, courtesy of ABC Radio National. Get to the Encounter website, click on Shadowlands and you’ll be able to view 7 images taken by yours truly from the Semah Angin. The podcast has been receiving good responses so far, and is a breath of fresh air from the political shit that has been going on over the past week.