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Finding My Way - Jen's BlogThe Minstrel’s journey begins... ... the ongoing 1st Season Episode 1 - 12th April 2008 “Never ever allow someone else’s opinion become your reality” – something I have tried very hard to adopt but nevertheless it helps, I’m sorry I couldn’t remember who said this, it might have been Les Brown When I mentioned that “you will see us in action with the heavy loads” I really wasn’t kidding! We can spread the load in our humble car but we can’t spread the load we have to carry. We arrived at Subang Parade at approximately 6.15pm and Brabon was going on incessantly ”please God, please, please, please, let us find a parking! I, on the other hand was going quietly in my heart of hearts ”closer to MPH store”, ”closer to MPH store” There! There! While pointingyes! How lucky is that, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne works? I quickly added out loud, ”I think it’s going to be a great night after all”. Well, we carried the 1st load, and paused 3 times on the way. On the way out to the 2nd load, Brabon says, wait a minute, don’t we have to get some mineral water? Yes, we need 3 bottles, I replied.Ok, wait here, he scurried off and so I waited. 5, 10 minutes later, here he comes strolling along with a big grin, supermarket trolley filled with 3 bottles of mineral water. But what took you so long, I said. Do you see any trolleys in this part of the mall? The rest was easy….. Next, set up time! Ok, let’s hope he remembers the “set up lesson” from Kuah yesterday. It’s not that we couldn’t remember; it’s those senior citizen moments that can pop up out of nowhere! By the way, in case you’re wondering who is this Kuah: he is the owner of the Guitar Store and he is the reason we have all these 1st class equipment - remember, the heavy loads? He’s been supporting us since the Minstrel was 16. Wonderful, we’re ready for sound check! So far, so good. The Minstrel played 2 sets and the performances were very good. You could see about 10 folks in the book café at any one time. The bigger crowd were within earshot and like Mia mentioned, “I know you’re listening while you pretend to read those magazines”. We heard many actually laughed out loud; you know the kind Dick Van Dike demonstrates in the movie Mary Poppins?
We had some loyal friends who turned up to show support, some friends we hadn’t seen for some time were there purely by chance (or divine intervention?) I would say there were more new folks. I reckon we sold about 30 albums, not bad for a start. Ok, time to load the car, oops, it’s drizzling... Ok, home sweet home, care to unload? 2.00am, beep, beep, 1 message received, “Just picked up the trolley from Rudy - Mia”. Oh! Bless Rudy, bless Mia! Episode 2 – In the morning of 13th April 2008 “Every great company, every great brand, every great career has been built in exactly the same way; bit by bit, step by step, little by little”. There is no magic solution to success! We arrived late to the sound of music. All that you know about music and what it has the ability to do? Well, this was total confusion. There was a main PA playing very loud music and the huge speakers were positioned right next to a tent filled with several competing telcos and they were playing their preferred music. Our booth was smacked right in between! It’s funny also that when you happen to be tardy, Murphy’s Law is waiting in the car park! The set up and sound check was put on hold, apparently the main stage tent blew off or fell apart due to the morning heavy rain and winds, but everyone’s cool! We’re cool! Where is everyone apart from the vendors? Tasha says, “Inside the college”. Ok, Mia and Jun - short for Junior (his name is actually Alejandro) - time for sound check, man, it would help if we could hear? I told Lily; stare at them until they get the message. Everyone stared. Ah, finally. I heard Mia, this is a sound check, this is a sound check, oh, and we’re on? Well, I guess, might as well. The Minstrel played 4 songs to a good crowd of 30, including vendors. They seemed appreciative, some stared, some nodded, and they cheered and clapped. We sold 3 CDs to 2 lecturers and a student, they were very nice people. We had to shout at one another though, to rise above the noise that had started again. Someone recommended the Filipino food over the other side. We have Filipino heritage but we’re Malaysians. We say 4th generation and that we’re mixed, from Sabah. You know, the 3% they don’t talk about during the elections or any other time. We stayed awhile and watched a cultural dance and a dance performance by Celcom promoters. I’m sorry folks but in our state of confusion we had forgotten to take photos. We only remembered to take some when we were saying our goodbyes and thanks.
I played with my eyebrows on the way back. According to Joey Yap and face reading, he suggests that when your eyebrows are standing and pointing out in different directions, it implies confusion; blame it on the eyebrows? Episode 3 – In the evening of 13th April 2008 “Inspiration will find you when you see beyond the rain” A quotation my youngest daughter installed as a greeting on my phone. We had plenty of time to set up and sound check was easy. The heavy loads were a breeze, thanks to Rudy’s trolley! Over the years, this is our third time working with MPH so we pretty much know where we would be stationed; as always the centre court complete with accessories was organized and ready. Eugene (from All Dat Jazz) and his wife, Melanie was a very pleasant surprise and a few others! Peter J, our loyal friend dropped by, Vanessa who I had been thinking of lately and 4 of Mia’s childhood friends. I remembered their enthusiastic chattering during sleepovers and birthday parties; I love to see their smiles especially Evan and Acom, and they’ve grown, perhaps even found their way. We saw some familiar faces from Sabah and Kuching but more new faces. It was natural, the acoustic was great, you could hear Mia’s voice in the entire store and the mood was set to wow! The Minstrel played two 45 minutes set, she was pleased, everyone was very pleased. Jun attracted some fans; people were going through the CDs, our cards, our flyers, the works! We might have sold 25 CDs, I’m not sure.
We met and talked and talked and talked to some folks who are apparently in similar businesses. In a nutshell, I guess they were trying to help with some advice and I think to also figure out why we are doing what we are doing. This will not help or impact the local music scene or the minstrel, they say. Well, I suppose we will have to wait and see, beeeeyond the rain. One thing for sure, it’s easier than doing the entertainment outlet loop; we’re always competing with cover, the noise and F&B, everyone’s scrambling for profits and clarifying what was agreed upon. There are some upsides, less heavy loads, the mood for sure. We left satisfied and bid our goodnights with smiles. We are safely home, time to unload, unwind and shower. Wait a minute, a note from my 13 year old son, Chris, on the kitchen table. It read “HUNGRY?? Finally made the doughnut balls like the book! It’s in the microwave…Leave 3 for me I wanna bring to school”. Thanks son, the doughnuts were awesome but the thought, indescribable! Episode 4 - 15th April 2008 “Just for today, I will deepen and live out my faith – John Maxwell” Today for me is what I would call a classic day. The internal dialogue seems stronger than all the training and motivation you’ve accumulated from all the self help books put together. Complimentary Parking! How wonderful, we must be either grateful or lucky. Unload time! Must remember to tell the Minstrel how much the trolley has helped so far. Oops, a staircase! Well, just got to do what we have to do. Remember the mantra? Be grateful, feel lucky. We subtlety impose into KDU’s recruitment drive day for clubs. It was an entirely different culture, this time you catch “The Lions Club”, who are also into campus. The Africans students were either dancing to the loud music or playing basketball, and there were promotions in the likes of a recharge drink, selling of t-shirts and all sorts of recruitments by youthful clubs. It was amazing; it made me feel old, out of place and wondering about my personal goal of working with the youth. What was I thinking; my son’s coach is in his late twenties! The Minstrel played 1 set of 5 songs to a relatively new audience of 30? They appeared to have enjoyed themselves, well; they must have considering many signed up for our mailing list and we sold 13 CDs. Well, you’ll be the judge, enjoy the photos.
I looked out for our promotion poster on our way out and there it was, smacked right at the entrance, how effective is that? By the way, we broke the big bag strap while lugging it up the staircase on our way out. I wondered some more on the way back, what happened to all those independent politicians? What kind of fate awaits them, what are their odds? Will the word independent ever change to interdependent? How would we phrase that, indie, interdie? Are there similarities between indie musicians and indie politicians? What about indie managers? Are there similarities between entertainment reality shows and real life realities? It was a full day, ever changing schedules, can you send us more posters? Ok, print more posters, send more posters, remember to write to so and so, remember to see to this and that! Ahhhh! Must be the age, cheers! “Then one day, I will see compounding results of a day lived well” – John Maxwell Episode 5 – In the morning of 17th April 2008 “The road less travelled” – borrowed from a titled book by M. Scott Peck, you should read it if you’re a misfit like me. I had been waiting reluctantly for this day. You see, Brabon was going to play charity golf today (something he was invited to prior to the road show) and we pretty much had him only for the first part of the morning to set up the sound, the next destination was going to be a whole new experience for us! All of us had also been under a lot of pressure, meeting diverse groups of people and having to respond to their cultures and sets of environment can be like a cruel joke. The ride to our destination started off fine, however along the way interruptions began to get the better of our attention. Here we were trying to go over the drill for the day and anxiously coping with our MAP, there we were handling calls with new ideas from his golf buddies! Work on the mantra, Jen, one step at a time, one step at a time. Of course we had to recruit extra hands for today, remember, the heavy loads! The trolley, well, that can help to a point. For one, we have this huge bag that can’t seem to fit no matter if you had an engineering degree. For two, we have been struggling with steps that seem to appear out of no where. No wonder our poor “friends on wheels” are screaming for some attention. Well, because we had extra hands and some extra time while waiting for the minstrel, we counted the chairs; 68 CHAIRS? Wow, that’s rather ambitious for a sit down audience and a relatively small college, so we thought. Is that a professional video camera already on stand by? Yes it is, is that another one over there? Yes, it is! When the minstrel arrived, almost all the students were already quietly seated. The minstrel played about 6 songs to a serious listening audience. There’s something very heartening about Life College and its people, I think it got to most of us. Perhaps it was the warm reception, perhaps many of them are misfits like me, you know, from out of town, the thinker, is this life...? Anyway, to add on the pluses, we got just about everyone on our mailing list and it was wonderful to see some recent friends we’ve made along the way like Neil and his gang dropping by. Also, our Jun is getting more famous by the day. See for yourselves.
Not only did we recruit the extra hands from Aunty Pat (she’s my best buddy by the way), we also headed off to her home and invaded her kitchen for lunch. It was Nasi Goreng Kampung (Fried Rice village style?) served with bull’s eye egg. Very Malaysian, very delicious!!!
Episode 6 – In the afternoon of 17th April 2008 “The road less travelled further along” – also borrowed from a titled book by M. Scott Peck The usually later team (the artiste, musician-s, celebrity crew) had to move ahead to our second destination for the day with Tasha. Somehow, just before lunch, my son, Chris, whom I am assuming was, oblivious to my concerns for the day, had scurried off with his cousins to an unexpected call AND I had to wait impatiently for their return and to also have their lunch! Nevertheless, by the time we got there and to my pleasant surprise, Superman was already halfway into making great progress, there was nothing really to fuss about, Superman was in charge. (Since everything was pretty much under control, might as well hope Babs (that’s who I call Brabon) wins that hole in one, we could surely sell off that Mercedes...) This time round, MPH at One Utama had relocated us towards the inside of the store, I’m still thinking if that was a better option. Needless to say I was also concerned about the people traffic at 3.00pm on a Thursday and perhaps we should have been. The psychographics you find in a bookstore at such a particular time are ones that would very quickly get what they need and go! You know like “White Rabbit” in Alice In Wonderland? But of course, the minstrel almost always has her muse with her so luckily for us; some people flock by and stuck around. We also have these wonderful strings of the most extraordinairy of friends who never cease to amaze us, tagging along more and more friends. Leslie, Syaf, Zhin, what can I say? The minstrel played 2 sets as per the norm at bookstores and I liked very much a new song Mia performed called “Chocolate”. I mean that’s what chocolate should do to a person – blow them away! It must have something to do with those absolutely wonderful Swiss chocolates that Gilbert - my nephew in Switzerland (and you have to pronounce his name the French way) - has been sending to us for many Christmases now - they are delectable.
We packed up for the day pleased with ourselves. It’s past five and no news yet of the hole in one from Babs? Well, one might say that the odds for a hole in one are pretty much like the odds of streaming on myspace - happens to everyone except ourselves? Sigh, I was so sure that in the midst of everything I did imagine my hands on that steering wheel. All in all, the roads we travelled today were rather encouraging except my hands are still on my humble proton wira. Hah! You’ve not heard a proton wira make music yet? Episode 7 – In the evening of 18th April 2008 “one climb up, one slip back” – apparently the voice that led Gert Behanna. I had to keep with me the above quote for today most importantly for two instances. Firstly, the destinations we were scheduled for have everything and anything to do with music and the business of music; I figured that would provide us with opportunities to keep abreast with music-orientated individuals. Secondly, we were about to have a very important meeting with some folks who were driving up all the way from Singapore. You might have guessed, we were 2 minutes later than our Singaporean friends for our meeting. Aiya! After our meeting, all of us snuck into ICOM’s (International College of Music) music room and watched individuals strutting their stuff on stage for their Friday performances. It reminded me of the times the minstrel had to do just that during her time at ICOM; and American Idol. Yes, it’s a paradox and I can add on to that - but I will not attempt to, not now anyway, I’ll keep it mild. The minstrel played with her band a set of 4 songs as a finale after the students performed. Of course the best thing about performing in music colleges would have to be the audience and the culture - apart from the sound system and the crew, that and who are also already there. As of today, we sold the most number of CDs and I’m quite certain we were successful with our Singaporean friends.
I’m not sure if there were any more classes after the performances, it’s either there were many white rabbits or productivity was high. Nonetheless, we stayed awhile and gratefully chatted with Vivien and Christina - thanks gals! Episode 8 – In the late evening of 18th April 2008 ......, one slip back” Our experience in this late evening at The Guitar Store is like one of those true dreadful variations you read about. Apparently, in the Midwest, USA, audiences are so unresponsive, some musical conductors will not conduct there. This brings me to think and wonder and mind you I’ve been thinking and wondering since earlier this evening. What’s with these people who take up music? Are they being traumatised? While most people might find that it’s quite easy to become addicted to music and forget about the rest of the world, this I can’t seem to put my finger on. The other thing that also got to me is the parking facilities at Hartamas. I truly believe that Hartamas was designed with parking spaces allocated only for the shop owners, don’t you agree? Well as you will see and note from the photos we didn’t have much of an audience, the staff helped though and stuck around. In fact on my way up I met a guy who thought I’d come to attend some kind of talk or something like that lah, he said! Poor chap stayed for 2 songs and scoot grunting good, good on his way out. It’s expected that some days we might slip back and not everyone subscribes to song writing and poetry but days like these, man! You uncontrollably begin to imagine all sorts of things and we even had some moments of hysteria that started off with a sneeze.
Kenry apologetically sent us off but I think he deserves our gratitude. He courageously handled the evening according to his original flow complete with speeches and all; he didn’t pass up on anything. We went around the corner to feed our faces after that. Episode 9 – An entire day at Astro Nextgen Award, 19th April 2008 “Patience is truly a virtue” – “Timing is everything” I wasn’t present at all for this occasion, perhaps I should have been and you might agree. I shall attempt to relate what I heard all about this day through Natasha. They left for KL Convention Centre early in the morning and waited at the auditorium for sound check with almost everyone else who was performing - there were the Dancers, APU, Love Me Butch and Reshmonu who came in much later. Finally at noon it was Mia’s turn for sound check but her guitar decided to take a break, it was of course timely again for folks like Reshmonu. Interestingly when Tasha returned with a fresh set of batteries – it was too late for sound check instead it was time for rehearsal. In the meantime, on the other side of Palm Springs, Damansara, yours truly and Brabon had their errands to run. Unfortunately while about to cross the road, 2 guys on a scooter in very slow motion but it all happened too fast as well, grabbed a hold on yours truly’s favourite handbag and happily got away. Yours truly was left with a half twisted arm and gradually swelling fingers. Well, Babs will just have to propose to me again, my wedding ring was in that bag! Where are the cops when you need them? What about police patrol, don’t we have them here? Babs says, you ah, always get mugged. Go to America, also get mugged! Forget about it lah, finish your noodles so we can go – I replied. Mia eventually got to do her sound check at 6pm and according to Natasha that apart from sharing a changing room with The Bantus Capoera who were all 14 men and 1 woman, the event was rather successful. The guys at Astro were goodful! I tried my very best to stay awake but I gathered they got in only after 2.00am. By the way, remember to watch it live – 11th May at 3pm and 10.30pm on Astro Ria and Hitz.tv – 17th May at 10.30pm and 4.30pm on TVIQ.
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