iPod.. and then some

Yayyyy.. I got my iPod...

Booooo... I'm RM1,499 poorer.... oh well..

Now, I'm really crashing it in! I've spent half my day today copying CDs into my harddisk and uploading them into the iPod. I've copied a bunch of albums (of which i admittedly downloaded) already in my iTunes, and I'm copying a bunch of CDs from my collection. I've already done about over 10 CDs today. The sound quality in the iPod is stunning, la. Worth every cent.

Anyway...

.... I'm feeling sick la. Shit. Got the sore/swollen throat, cough, and I've been feeling weakish the last couple of days. Could be haze, could be lack of sleep (or rather sleeping late), and god knows what else la. And I played the Jazz Latino gig last night at Alexis, and another one tonight. Tomorrow have to wake up early for the duathlon, then the 50 Cents gig.. wah liao. Lucky I'm only doing 5K la. Not so pressure...

Wish me luck for both.. hahahaha..

Yesterday's gig at Alexis was.. in a funny sense, okay. We only rehearsed yesterday during the soundcheck. And basically we were just winging it, no idea about what songs we were really gonna do. Thankfully, MOST of the songs we played, I knew.. and for those that I didn't know, I just had to use my ears and wing them all la. Ahaha.. the good thing about being a sax player.. or a melody player in general.. we have the luxury to wing it just by using our ears, without having to know chords or look at a lead sheet.

Okay, that's it for today. Won't post till I come back from China.

Have fun, y'all..

I want an iPod... and then some..

I so want an iPod!!!

Let's just say I'm really, REALLY tempted to get one now. I mean, I've always been tempted to get it, but this time a little more than usual.

Okay, here's the deal: I'm going to China this coming Monday morning, right after my Sunday night 50 Cents Jazz Club show at Actor's Studio. And I am gonna need music a whole lot, too. And I really don't feel like lugging around a CD Discman and a CD case in my waistpouch! A bit sick, right? Like getting an iPod just for convenience? Well, on one hand yes, and on the other hand, I'm eventually gonna get one anyway! And I will be travelling a whole lot, whether sooner or later, so.. like what the heck.

Now... iPod mini 6GB or normal iPod 20GB??? Hmmm.. in KL the former is selling for RM1,199 and the latter for rm1,499 i think. Argghhh, how la????

Well, I'll know tomorrow.....

Right now, as I type, I'm actually importing songs from my CDs into my iTunes... later..

----------------------------
Some other news:

It's one hell of a busy weekend I tell ya...

... I just got confirmation from my friend Alonso, a Colombian percussionist that we're doing his gig at Alexis Bistro Ampang tomorrow AND Saturday night. He only comfirmed with me short of a few hours ago from the moment I'm typing this! I wasn't even sure if the gig was on, although he did tell me about it over a week ago. I assumed that since we didn't do any rehearsals, the gig might not be happening, but it is. Oh well, nothing I couldn't handle, I hope! AHahhaa..

... will have to DEFINITELY pack my bags for China on Saturday, because...

... I'm taking part in the Malakoff Malaysia Duathlon Series 1, this Sunday morning. I'll be doing the relay with Greg's (who will be doing the individual) wife, June (10K), another cyclist by the name of Sanjiv, and myself on 5k. So that's gonna be fun...

...after that, I have to go home, make sure I've packed everything I need for China. After that, I have to go over to Actor's Studio Theatre by 2:30pm to do my soundcheck for the 50 Cents Jazz Club show, which of course will start at 8:30pm...

... then I have to rush and have my friend send me to KL Sentral to grab the KLIA transit train to KLIA for my 1:40am flight to China...

... and then it's 8-days of non-stop moving around in a group package tour. Oh, I how I don't like package tours!!

... and I'll be reporting my travels (if I'm not too lazy to write) in my blog once I get back from China.

Till then...

If I don't blog before I go to China... you'll hear from me after I get back from China!

Ta ta...

Force of Nature Concert

Force Of Nature

Did you go for that one?

I did..

.. although I didn't expect I would.

How'd that happen? Let me tell you:

Thursday 17 March:

Approximately 9:30pm: I had just finished teaching some students. I was due to meet my japanese friend Izumi, for a farewell dinner. She was going back to Japan the next morning. I got a phone call from a guy named Paul. He asked me if I could gather a horn section for a show... the tsunami aid concert show tomorrow (Friday).

*blink blink* my eyes went.

I asked him, "Did you say the show was TOMORROW??". He said, "Yes." *blink blink* my eyes went again.

He told me we were gonna play one song, called Love and Happiness by Al Green, for Eric Benet. *blink blink* again. He asked me if I knew who he is, and I said of course! And he seemed happy that I knew him by name, and asked if I was interested, so I said yeah. I said it might be difficult to get a horn section at such short notice... it was crazy, but sometimes we musicians and artists do crazy things sometimes anyway.

I had trouble finding players, of course. My regular trumpet player, Eddie was in Bangkok. Another trumpet player I know from Canada had a gig that day. Finally Paul managed to get a trombone player from the Petronas group, and two trumpeters from Lauryn Hill's band.

Friday 18 March:

Went to Stadium Putra, Bukit Jalil at 11am for the rehearsal cum soundcheck. I met the horn section for Eric Benet: myself, Jessie on trombone, and two of the afro-american trumpet players from Lauryn's band. On the way, I had listened to the song Love and Happiness on a CD I burned from my PC. Lucky me. Met Eric Benet (nice guy), and also Ruth Sahanaya, as her Malaysian band was backing her up for the show: Mac Chew on keys, Zailan Razak on bass (and Musical Director), Lewis Pragasam on bass, Aji on guitars, and some others (can't remember their names la).

Me and the other horn players ran through the horn lines in the song briefly, and we did our soundcheck and ran through the form for the song. Easy job!

Later I went home, relaxed, then went out to Taman Tun to teach, then rushed to Bukit Jalil again. When I reached there, I saw some of the artists around, like locals Sheila Majid, Ruffedge and V.E, Ruth, Dayang and Anuar Zain. I also saw Lauryn (on stage), Black Eyed Peas, Wyclef Jean, Jackie Chan, Nicholas Tse, Michelle Yeoh, Carmen Electra (hot!), Paula Abdul, Ken Watanabe (of The Last Samurai fame), Backstreet Boys, some fellas from N'Sync, Jody Watley, and Boyz II Men.

After waiting for a couple of hours, it was our turn to play. We went up, played one song in front of 10,000 (could be more) people and that was it. My 5-minutes of fame.

Then I continued to check out Wyclef Jean (probably the best show of the night, as well as Lauryn Hill's.. check out her 15-over piece band!), and even the Backstreet Boys. BSB, well... can't say much about their singing, it was alright (in tune at least), but they did put up a good show. No surprise about the screaming girls abound.

Cool huh..? By chance, really. Thank God for that. The night before, it was 50-50 situation: it might happen, it might not happen. And I'm pretty glad it did. At least, can get some contacts.

Here are some pics that I managed to take:

Me and Eric Benet

Me and Ken Watanabe

What a cool weekend.

Gig update...

If you haven't seen the Upcoming Performances column yet, I've just updated it. So here it is!

SOUNDWORKS PRODUCTIONS and The Actor's Studio Bangsar Presents

50 CENTS JAZZ CLUB ALL STARS LIVE!

50 Cents Jazz Club

Venue: The Actor's Studio Bangsar, 3rd Floor New Wing, Bangsar Shopping Complex
Date and time: 27 March 2004 @ 8:30pm
Tickets: RM40 (adults), RM20 (student, senior citizen)
Reservations: 03-2094 0400/1400

I’ll be performing with a guitarist/composer/sound engineer Hardesh Singh, under the monicker 50 Cents Jazz Club. For those who have seen us, and for the benefit of those who have not, 50 Cents Jazz Club (led by Hardesh) is really a musically experimental band, incorporating different sounds from jazz music, live electronics, asian musical influences, odd-time meters, and more.

I first played with them during my early years of involvement in the music scene in KL (which is really not too long ago) in 2001-2002. It’s probably one of the most musically interesting groups I’ve played with at the time, and I definitely believe it will still be. It’s been a long while since we last performed together, or at least since the last time I’ve performed with them. So it will also be an interesting adventure for me to see how it’ll sound like, especially when all the musicians involved have probably grown in ability and experience since then!

I hope you can join me in this experience as well.

Note: Book early for tickets to avoid disappointment, as this is a ONE NIGHT STINT only.

- JULIAN -

Easy Run..

Just did a nice easy, short run yesterday. I only ran once last week after the KLIM '05. 10K is not a lot, but for a person not in good training, it's still almost all out for me. Anyway, I went to Lake Gardens and did an approximate 4km route: from the car park -- > past Lake Club --> into the park heading towards the playground --> up the Carcosa (slow hill) Road --> back into the lake area --> up the hill past Jln Perdana --> and back to the Bkt Aman car park. Finished it in about 30:05. The run felt overall sluggish, probably the body is used to the sedentary mode it was in last week, so it's pretty much expected. Didn't want to get upset or anything... positive thinking! Got to try my NB 766s too. Nice... :-)

Training run:

Distance - approx. 4km
Time - 30:05
Pace - 7:31min/km

Gonna hit KLCC park today. Gonna try to do at least an hour's workout. Maybe 5 laps. See how. I want to get my body used to training a little bit more this time around.

Next race... maybe MMDS-1, in the relay team, if I get a partner.

Wedding bells...

Noooo.... I'm not getting married... not in a long time anyway! I'm a musician... expected to marry late... I'm not even hitched yet *hint hint*.

But my friend, and fellow musician/bass player/band leader, Vincent Ong just got married... well, they got married a few months ago.. but had their ceremony recently on Sunday. He had asked me to be his "heng tai" or "Brother" in Chinese. "Heng Tai's" generally help the groom to try to "fend" off the "chi mui" or the bride's "sisters" so that the groom can get into the bride's house and ask her hand in marriage and stuff. That's the first time for me doing that! Interesting.

And later at night, I also attended his wedding reception dinner. He invited his former teachers at ICOM, and of course, his musician friends, and his former Catholic High friends. Let's just say, the musicians table (our table at least.. all the Happy People Quintet members sitting there, and of course the ever loud trombone man Chee Chow Ming!) were one of the loudest tables in the restaurant. And among us, and his old high school friends, we were the ones who had the loudest, LOOOONNNNGGESSSTTTT "YAM SENG" cheer during the toasting ceremony! So much so, that by the THIRD toasting, everyone else except the loud tables gave up the "yam seng" while we were still holding it! Eddie and I had such a good laugh because the rest of the guests couldn't do the third yam seng as long as we could, and we could tell they all pancit! Ahahaha...

Vincent and Sun

But anyway, Happy Wedding Belles to the newlyweds!

New Balance 766

Check it out.. just got them yesterday!

NB 766

Check out those funky laces

That's my reward for KLIM'05, my first race for the year.

Yay...

... and of course, KL International Marathon 2005

D-day..

5:30am: I woke up still groggy... with only about 3 over hours of sleep. I'm thinking to myself, "Oh god.. how to race la, like that?" and at the same time, "Finally.. race day!!". After two days of back-to-back performance work (along with a whole week's rehearsals, with not enough training!), I was quite skeptical of doing well on this race. But I tried to remain positive, as I was looking forward to this race a lot (despite lack of training). I freshened up, change to my race clothes, and packed up pre-race and post-race.

Pre-race meal: Nice hot Milo with muesli and dried fruit. Dunked a bit of PowerBar Endurance Drink I prepared last night (filled up my bottle full tank, and drank just enough for me to consume during the race). Had some chocolate rice crispies from my friend, Kay Ti.

6:15am: I picked up my friend, Kay Ti, who'll be running his first race and 10K race for the very first time! Drove and talked about about the race and what to expect. As we drove by Jalan Loke Yew, we were already awestruck by the marathon runners who were running on the opposite side of the street, with cones on the far end of the left side of the road to open up that part of the lane for the runners, and traffic on that side of the street was already congested.

As we approached the Bank Negara/Bank Rakyat traffic light, I'd expected that parking was gonna be a problem. I tried my luck at Jalan Tangsi, but ran out of luck. At that point, I didn't have much of a choice but to park at the Bukit Aman/Lake Gardens car park. Even so, the normal parking lots were already full to the brim and more! But we managed to slip in a small little area next to the power station and badminton court (which was next to the toilet/bathrooms)... lucky.. it was almost 6:45am (and check-in time was 7am). We prepped up our running shoes, pinned our bibs, drank some isotonic drinks, caps, HRM, and we finally jogged our way to Dataran Merdeka (in retrospect, it was a great idea to park there BEFORE the race, can already do a warm-up run to the start point).

7:05am: We were trying to find the check-in point and only after several minutes of looking around (and thinking that the check-in point was one of the tents), and asking around, we found out that the check-in point was the entry point in the "kandang kerbau", or the back of the starting point where all the runner's got ready. We only had to put in the check-in portion of our receipt in the plastic bag the check-in officials were holding (how efficient is that?). We both stretched up a bit then, and saw some friends and mingled. All of us were psyched up about the race. We stretched a bit more and just waited for the gun!

7:15am: *BANG!* And we were off. I started off walking to the start line, and started running easily at the start line and clocked my watch. Me and Kay Ti started off easy, and didn't want to get carried away with the rest of the younger runners (read: school kids and "make-the-numbers-runners".. they're usually all wearing the race tees) who started out bursting into speed.

*10K route: Start point at Dataran Merdeka ---> head towards Jalan Istana turn-off ----> Jalan Dewan Bahasa exit ----> Jalan Hang Tuah ----> Jalan Imbi ----> Jalan Bukit Bintang ----> Jalan Sultan Ismail ----> Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman ----> Dataran Merdeka finish line.

Along the way, I definitely saw some familiar faces (of people I know AND don't know), like the triathletes from Coach Chan's team, the foreigner Pacesetters (very good runners), and a few more and of course, Ajeep (who's doing his first 21K) speeding past me after saying hi, right along Jln Sultan Ismail.

Somewhere in Jalan Sultan Ismail, I told my friend Kay Ti (who's obviously a faster runner than me), who paced with me for the past 5-6k to move on if he felt like it. Our pace generally moved up after about 30 minutes of running (that's probably somewhere at or almost 5k). Kay Ti increased his pace all the way after Jln Sultan Ismail and I kept on with my almost 10K-pace (around 7:10min/km). Halfway in Jln Sultan Ismail, I also increased my pace pretty much to my 10K-pace (average 7:06min/km... could be faster also), and tried to keep it there all the way to the end. I sped up a little more during the last km in Jln TAR, with 2-in/2-out breathing (that's an indication of very fast pace for me already.. usually 2-in/3-out wan). But then... there was a small cramp creeping up to my left calf. At that moment, I was like, "oh no... not now...", and was just reminiscing my Desaru 21K. And this was just a few metres from the finish line! I slowed down a tad bit, and tried to stabilise my breathing a little more. I kept running, sprint a little, slowed a little, until I reached the finish line.

My clocked time showed 1:11:25.

It was so exhilirating at that point in time. Kay Ti was already ahead of me, probably by about 4 minutes. We exchanged hi-fives, and I continued to jog a little bit and stretched my left calf. Met up with some of his friends, and my friend Pek Fui who also joined the 10k (didn't see her until after the finish line). Got some 100Plus drinks and Milo and stretched some more. Hung around and chat a bit. Then I went around to look for the Pacemakers and Penguins. Met up with Kenneth (pm20), Andrew (Ketam Batu) and Bernice (Becholi), Rohaizad, Justin (pm19), Mei Jyn, Azwar (pm3), and even Sukaimi aka The Lonely Runner (who came all the way from Singapore to do the race!).

This is the most memorable part of the race:

At this point, there were runners from the 21K and the marathon who were still coming in. There was this old guy who was straggling near the finish line. He looked around 70-something, in a white vest and red shorts. I was so awed with him, I just started clapping a bit for him. He looked at me, and next thing I knew, we were all clapping and cheering for him. I could virtually see his face light up like a christmas tree, and all of a sudden he started SPRINTING towards the finish line! The whole bunch of us just cheered so loudly for him! Talk about awe-inspiring! Absolutely amazing!

Later on, me and my friend Kay Ti had to leave earlier; we had some appointments to keep, so I didn't get to take any photos with anyone, except with Becholi and Ketam Batu's camera. Hope I can get those pictures soon, and I'll post them, too!

Post-race Analysis

Performance:

My performance of 71 minutes did not beat my Powerman 10K of 68 minutes. In retrospect, running a duathlon race is a slightly different situation than a running race. My last 10k running race was probably Adidas King Of The Road 10K (I did 79 minutes on that one). In the duathlon, there are very little competitors compared to running races (esp 10K ones, where you have to overtake walkers and slower runners). But I also suspect, the Putrajaya 10k route is possibly less than 10k.

Anyhow, because of lack of training, I decided to pace myself really properly, using a combination of my heart-rate monitor, perceived level of effort, and also BodySense (from ChiRunning).. which basically means internally monitoring how my body felt all throughout the race. At the same time, I was also concentrating on NOT stopping at all in the duration of the 10k.

The first 5k was on a fairly comfortable (but not too slow) pace, at around 75 - 85%. The remainder saw a steady increase in pace, up to 86% - 90%, and keeping with that tempo. I monitored my lean so that I can run a little faster but with less muscle effort. I tried to focus on being running comfortably and relaxed but at the same time pushing myself bit by bit. I also monitored my breathing by breathing 2-in/3-out, until the last 2km, where my pace was at about over 90% and my breathing was 2-in/2-out, but still focused on being relaxed.

When the light cramp started creeping down my left calf near the finish line, I suspect it may be due to under-training, and my body is not up to running non-stop.

Race Organization:

Plus points:

- Traffic control was generally well done (at least for the 10K route)
- Started on time
- Adequate water stations (but no isotonic drinks for 10K)
- Water spray section, from Nike, at Jln Sultan Ismail (although I didn't feel any different after passing through it.. as though there was no power to the water)
- nice route in general

Minus points:

- lack of km markers
- 10km stragglers and walkers.. AT THE FIRST 2KM OF THE RACE!!! Most of them kids.
- lack of signs for check-in

Anyway, it's my first KLIM race, so I can only compare if I do it next year. KL has still a lot to learn about race organization. But one thing's for sure, the quality of the KLIM organization is miles better from the local municipal races! Kudos to FTAAA for that.

Overall:

I'm hyped up to do races again. I was bummed out since Singapore Marathon 21K. This is my first race for the year 2005, and I think it's a great start of the race year.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Post race..

I looked up my sifu Greg Lyons after the race, and we had lunch at San Fran Coffee at KLCC. I had a Hot Chocolate, with a vegetable pie and a grilled vege sandwhich. Nice food to eat after that race. We hung around and talked for over an hour, and met some friends, like Sam Pritchard (a very good triathlete who was doing the KLIM as well). I got hungry again after that, and we drove all the way to Kanna's Curry House in Sect 17 PJ to eat... I had rice! I don't know why I got so hungry so quickly. Later I went back home to have a nice sleep.

Epilogue:

I'm going to treat myself by buying the New Balance 766 shoe after this... yaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy!!!!

Happy Running and Training, y'all!

Good gig...bad gig...

Friday 4 March:

The good gig....

I was to do a charity show with Sean Ghazi and Friends for the Special Children Society of Ampang. It was a fund-raiser for the society to build a new complex for their "special children". It was held at the Sentral KL Hilton Hotel. The Sultan of Selangor as well as the Raja Muda of Perak attended the function as well.

The players included myself on sax and flute, Charles Wong on drums, AJ on his spanking brand new SWB Aria electric upright bass, Vivian Chua on violin, David Gomes on piano and vocals, and singers Sean, Salamiah Hassan, and Junji Delfino-Gomes.

We were to do excerpts from the Sean Ghazi "I Have Dreamed" (IHD) show we did last year at the Actor's Studio Bangsar. But the first problem Sean's production team (Baby Grand Productions) was the absence of Aura Deva. They managed to get Junji Gomes to sing, so that was okay. But the main problem we encountered was the fact that Adam Farouk (who played piano and sang) couldn't make it back to KL to do the gig.. and he was the musical director for the whole thing! Secondly, Izlyn Ramli was in Washington for work and couldn't do the show either... and our bass player Wan also had to pull out due to family commitments he had that weekend! In the end, we managed to rope in David Gomes to play piano and sing, AJ to play double bass, and the effervescent Salamiah Hassan to sing the other female part.

The gig went exceptionally well, despite the fact that it involved new people to play previously arranged material. The rehearsals themselves were initially shaky (with the new additions to get used to the music and the arrangements), and it eventually fell into place just enough to get through. Despite a couple of generally unidentifiable mistakes, we had a ball of a time on stage and just played our butts off. We played tunes like The Way You Look Tonight (not the Elton John one!), The Prayer, Can't Take That Away From Me, Sway, Hujan Di Tengahari, Singing In The Rain, Getaran Jiwa, and some others from the show and other additional tunes which were not included in the IHD show.

Kudos to Baby Grand Productions (with Deborah Michael and Sean being the producers) for really, REALLY taking care of the musicians and artists (we got rooms and good food.. IN THE KL HILTON!) as well as other aspects in making the show really happen, despite some problems in dealing with the event management team for that charity event. We were all pleased that the show pulled through very well. We all had really good fun.

Saturday 5 March:

The bad gig...

Slept a little late the night before (almost 2am) and woke up early around 6:30am to go for a short easy run with my saxophone sifu Greg Lyons and his wife at the Lake Gardens. It was a short run for me just to get my body in tune to run the KLIM 10K the next morning. Then we had a good breakfast and I hung out at their apartment a little while before my soundcheck at Sunway Convention Centre.

The show today was for the birthday of the chairman of Public Bank, Tan Sri Teh *something* Piau... can't remember. It's an annual big event they have, and it's done in a very grandeur fashion (even more than the one I did yesterday at the Hilton!). The Chinese just have a knack for these kinda things.

ANYWAY..

Note: My plan was that I was to do the soundcheck, go into the room and maybe sleep for an hour or two, just to get as much rest as possible, for the race.

I decided to go later than the stipulated time (1pm) for our soundcheck, as I know it will usually never start on time. I reached Sunway around 2:30pm and when I went up to the Convention Centre, the guests and employees of PBB were still having their lunch! If I knew that I would've come even more later. When we finally DID start.. it took such a long time for the sound people to get things sorted out, that the artists didn't even have time to finish rehearsing their songs with the band (it's Ning's usual band, Sunday Lollies, with Ning's M.D, Alywin... horn sections: me on sax and flute, Eddie on trumpet and Roger Chee on trombones).

When we finished our soundcheck at about 6:45pm, we were told that we had to standby for the opening gambit for the the Tan Sri's arrival at 7:30pm!!! That left us with SOOOO little time for dinner (catered food.. but it was crap!), rest, shower and get changed. So in the end, we had to use the restrooms to change.

okay, fine... slight change of plans. We could go to the room after the opening gambit, get some shut eye the do the show with the artists at about 10:30, 11pm.

Next thing I knew, I was told that we had to play the DINNER set...TWO of them! And I had no prior knowledge or information to that before. I hate surprises like that. That left me with no hope of getting to the room to shower, sleep, change and get ready! One of the worst things about this night was that I was getting hungry very often! Maybe it's my body's signal to eat and carbo-load up for the race! And due to the fact we had to be on standby pretty much a large portion of the time, I couldn't eat. And for Julian Chan, a hungry Julian always usually means an easily p-o'ed Julian! And true to that, I was! I was p-o'ed throughout most of the sets, and even up to main artistes show! Due to the nature of the way the event company was coordinating the event (which was bad!), getting bottled water was already a bitch.

By the time I got a chance to go out and eat, it was already past 10pm... the shops in Sunway Pyramid would've been closed. Even the Coffee Bean kitchen was closed... no way I could get a pasta dish then. Even the order I made for a Brownie Cheese Cake came out as just a Brownie! Patience... patience... I told myself.

When we finally started the artistes shows... I found out my mic was not working. So basically I cannot be heard. But I had to continue playing. The sound guys eventually changed the mic to a working one. The show went on longer than I expected (at least 1.5 hours!). When the show finally finished, I just proceeded immediately to pack my horns and leave, before the leaving crowd does. The employees' choir and the artistes were still singing the Birthday Song on stage, when I left (then again, a whole bunch of guests also left with me... like they really wanted to stick around to listen to them, puhlease!). Didn't bother with hanging around and saying goodbye. I was already p-o'ed with the fact that it was almost 1am in the morning, and I am not asleep yet! And I had a race the next day, dammit! I was p-o'ed the whole night.
When I finally reached home I slept at about 2:30am in the morning.

Post-comments: It was definitely the WORST gig I've ever done for year 2005. It's one of those gigs, and one of those days, that every situation that's happening at the time, brings out the worst in me! The pay was less than last year... and the treatment we get was also worse (event management fault.. will not reveal which company is that)! I didn't even STEP FOOT into the hotel room. So you could imagine how much sleep I really got (zilch!). I dread times like this because I felt that it would bring down my performance on race day (even though it was only 10K).

If you were to compare how the two gigs, two days back-to-back, fared against each other.. it's like comparing almost two extreme circumstances of my weekend work situation. Bottom line: I wouldn't know if I'd do this gig next year, if they didn't pay us more and treat us musicians a little better. It's just not worth the trouble.

SMS-ed Alywin that night... told him: Your Public Bank gig tops the Year's Award for the Worst Gig of The Year 2005 Award!

Next: the KLIM '05 10K report! Stay tuned...

Happy People Quintet @ Avanti's Restaurant

I didn't even know about this until someone told me about this (Thanks sMack!). It's a newspaper clipping from the NST on March 2nd for the Avanti's Friday Nite Jazz for the month of March and April.

So here it is:

Happy People @ Avanti's Restaurant

My band Happy People will be playing on April 22nd, and I will be performing with High Wired on the 29th. Admission free... so do come and check us out!!

Among others who will be performing are:

Mar 4 - Farid Ali
Mar 11 - Jeep Jazz Trio
Mar 18 - Black Machine feat. Izlyn Ramli
Mar 25 - Soul Fingerz

Apr 8 - Aseana Percussion Unit
Apr 15 - Black Machine
Apr 22 - HAPPY PEOPLE QUINTET (yay!!)
Apr 29 - High Wired (I'm playing this too!)

Support Live Music... Support KL Jazz!!

------------------

Other news:

Despite my un-preparedness for KLIM (even for the 10K), I've already registered myself last week. So I'm definitely taking part la! Thanks for your concern, guys... Lonely Runner, Haris, Ajeep, and all... and thanks for dropping by too!

... I was just walking Bangsar today to go collect a cheque.. and I was passing by La Bodega. I was just admiring the decor inside (just thought that it'll be nice to put a jazz band inside). This bloke with a combover and working outfit, having lunch at the outlet, just waves towards me... thinking I was a waiter! I looked at him waved both my hands and shook my head. You can tell from his look, that he's one of those kinda guys that thinks everyone is beneath him, and he's so damn important. Shameless.. some people. Man, I was in t-shirt, 3/4 shorts and slippers, with my waistpouch. If I was in a monkey suit (read: tux or anything of that sort.. or even waiter outfit), I can understand la! I'm a bypasser for crying out loud (!!)... shameless, some people... plain shameless.

Well.. see ya guys at KLIM!!! Like a friend said.. by hook or by crook.. see ya at the finish line!

I'm not ready...

... for KLIM... not even sure if I'm ready for the 10K. I think I can do it la.. but can't expect to break past thru my current PR. Well, if anything, I hope it can be a release of stress from a busy week I'm having.

I'm involved in two shows this weekend.. a charity show with some of the cast and crew of Sean Ghazi's "I Have Dreamed" on Saturday, and Public Bank's (Chairman's) Anniversary, to be held at Sunway Convention Centre on Saturday. Gawd.. I hope I can get enough rest for Sunday, man.

Oh well.. despair not I shall.. there'll be plenty of other races around.. and there's next year, too!

But you know what I'm worried about most? Putting on the pounds from not running consistently the past couple of weeks.... damn!

How la...???