Natrah

Managed to organise a trip to Istana Budaya with Big Boss last Wednesday night to watch Natrah, our first theatre night out as man and wife (is that even relevant eh?). I was quite excited about it quite frankly, since the last play I saw was P Ramlee the musical and that felt like years ago since I couldn't even remember when it was exactly.

Furthermore, I was truly fascinated with the Natrah story when I was in primary, even went to libraries to search for the related newspaper articles back then. Yes, I already started indulging myself into history, politics and current issues when I was only 5-6 years old (sad, I know) and only switched to science after form 3 (for reasons still unknown to me considering that I hate biology and physics). So, to get a chance to revisit the history through a musical play was something that I wouldn't want to miss especially when I managed to secure third-row-from-the-stage seats. Bulu hidung pun boleh nampak ok!

My verdict? The play wasn't as good as I hoped it would be especially when it was loaded with well-known personalities like Maya Karin, Umi Aida, Sofea Jane, Remy Ishak, Aaron something (can't remember his full name) Susan Lancaster etc. I think, only Maya Karin, Umi Aida, Sofea Jane and Susan Lancaster managed to relay the emotions of their characters well. Bearing in mind that the Natrah tragedy is supposed to be emotionally-charged, I didn't even shed a tear during the play (and I did at P Ramlee the musical!)

Oh well.

Anyway, if you're interested to read more on Natrah, here's an interview with Datin Fatini (the author who wrote Natrah @ Nadra @ Huberdina Maria Hertogh @ Bertha : Cinta, Rusuhan, Air Mata) published in Kosmo, or of course, you can just search for the entry on the subject in Wikipedia.


A picture of Natrah aka Maria Hertogh with Che Aminah (dicilok from Wikipedia)

Laughter, the best medicine

It's not a good day for me today.. had a bad bout of diarrhoea early this morning and stomachache throughout the day which left me in bed most of the time. But this piece of news from NST Online boosted my mood:

PM not contesting, to quit in March

KUALA LUMPUR, WED:
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will not defend his post as UMNO president at the party’s election in March.

Abdullah made the announcement at the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council meeting. He had earlier briefed the Cabinet of his decision.

The meeting, which started at 3.40pm, was attended by nearly all the leaders of the 13 component parties. Under the BN system, the Umno president is also the prime minister and BN chairman.

A smart move. Hope the successor will waste no time in salvaging our declining economy, state of education and unity...

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If you haven't gone to watch it....GO! Trust me, it is worth your every penny!

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The last time I set foot in Actors Studio Bangsar was exactly 5 years ago, for this play when my then other half, his brother and a few more friendly faces were involved in its production. Yup, October 2003...such a long time ago eh?

Co-incidentally enough, the actor who played Panjang in that play was also among the audience in Gamarjobat last night. Anyway, I am glad that a good friend asked me along to the show...I had such a good laugh and had a new set of good memories of the place too. Maybe I will be back there again for another play before the venue closes down in February 2009...

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They've been friends for years. There used to be only 3 of them, until another member came along 2 years ago and the clique became complete. They hold regular night outs and these meet-ups are always filled with sarcastic (yet friendly) banters and loud laughters. It's the crude frankness they commonly share that make them clicked very well together.

But good things can't last forever.

Two will sooner or later go off to Down Under and the Middle East for greener pasture while another will hopefully tie the knot next year. And since he is also planning to come out of his 'retirement' to rejoin the national squad again in time for next year's SEA Games, he'll be as busy as ever. The one remaining.... well, she knows what she needs to do but hasn't got the guts to take that BIG step yet. Soon hopefully..

Thank you for the wonderful years guys!


4 sekawan met up over juicy ribs at Tony Roma's on Monday night

Liar liar

When I was a young girl suffering from frequent bouts of dysmenorrhea, I was told by a number of people that the problem would disappear when I get married. I couldn't remember who said that exactly but the idea of pain-free that-time-of-the-month cycle was something that I looked forward to when I was growing up. It was a grand notion especially for a girl who had numerous incident of allergic reactions due to incompetent GPs who kept giving her different types of painkillers of which she was (and still is) allergic to.

Such a lie.

I am a full adult now and already experienced a few years of marriage but am still suffering from on-off dysmenorrhea. Like I said, such a lie! And to those incompetent GPs from my growing up years...FYI, I am allergic to Paracetamol, all NSAIDs and COX-II Inhibitors, which you should have detected much earlier if you've learned your pharmacology well at medical schools instead of putting me through hell by testing different painkillers like Diclofenac, Ibuprofen, Aspirin, Synflex, Ponstan etc on me. But thanks to you guys, I took up Pharmacy and found the answers myself..

Anyway, some also said that the pain will go away once I've experience childbirth. Well, obviously I can't testify to that yet but I am wiser now and not going to be lied to twice. Furthermore, I have friends who already have kids but like me, still experience dysmenorrhea episodes. I have now accepted the fact that it is something that I have to go through (until I hit menopause maybe?) and for days when it gets really unbearable like today, I just need to curl-up in bed for hours with a few doses of DF118, half a tub of tiger balm and a RM16 MC slip from my local GP who took less than 2 minutes to see me.

Well, I could save RM16 and get a free MC slip by going back to the hospital to get it from friends there but if I was well enough to drive to my workplace, I might as well go to work right?
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My verdict? SUPERB!

Of course, it was not as good as my all-time favourite Phantom of the Opera, but this is one local production that I wouldn't mind watching again. Musly Ramlee who played P Ramlee was amazing.. he gave me goosebumps when he first sang Azizah, such a resemblance!

Reds in the final!

It was a nerve-wrecking 120-minutes game with one controversially disallowed goal and a very brief appearance of Robbie Fowler (which is pretty rare in important games nowadays). Although the winner had to, at the end, be decided by penalty shoot-out meaning that I didn't get to bed until 5.30am, it was well worth it.. because Liverpool won and they're in the final!!

Fowler didn't get to take the penalty kick at the end (that was the only reason why he was brought in during the extra time) since Riena did a marvelous job saving 2 spot kicks from Robben and Geremi. Now... bring on the Red Devils :)



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It's been a while since I last saw a play.. the last was Puteri Gunung Ledang I think. So, when I was offered a corporate box seat for a play at Petronas Philharmonic Hall a couple of weekends ago, I didn't think twice and just took up the offer. I didn't know anything on the tales of Malim Bongsu and definitely didn't have a single clue on what was Mek Mulung all about so I went thinking it was just one of the usual traditional plays to cater more for the tourists since it's VMY anyway..but I was wrong.

I still don't know exactly what the art of Mek Mulung really is but the play was a highly entertaining musical with integration of slapsticks and current issues although in thick Northern accents. There were times during the show that I had 'delayed' laughters compared to the others in the audience since I needed time 'to digest and convert' the language used. But it was entertaining all the same anyway and I was glad I went.

Oh, my favourite play of all time, Phantom of the Opera is now showing at Singapore's Esplanade. I shall make my way there in about a couple of weeks' time to watch it (again)... Am really looking forward to the trip!

Phantom of the opera

My all-time favourite play and song is now made (or remade to be precise) into a movie. Can't wait to go and watch it!

 

Congratulation!

Before I go back to my cozy bed, I would like to congratulate the whole of Harakiri production team for the enjoyable play. I'm particularly in love with character Panjang (acted by Colin Kirton) who made me laughed everytime he opened his mouth. Although I've seen the actors rehearsing a few times as well as joined one of their trainings in the early days, they still surprised me with their wittiness and spontaneity. Good job!

Harakiri

Harakiri, a debut play by ChakraWorks is due to open tomorrow at Bangsar Actors Studio . The best of luck to the production team!