Penang Island Jazz Festival 2006
December 2 & 3, 2006, Bayview Beach Resort

First, please allow me to allow for this really late entry. The PIJF ended a week ago and it's taken me that long to recover. Read three previous blog entries entitled Boo-Boos #1 - 3 for disasters that I personally created.

I can't remember if I've told you this but I love Penang. I love it for its old gigantic trees, for the old bungalows and shoplots, for its food. That it's an island with beaches all along its fringes makes this place all the better.

So for all those who missed the PIJF with lame excuses, SUCKERS! For those who had legit reasons like ... uh... grandma fell on me, boss s*rewed my leave (frankly, you probably should have just quit your job and came to Penang for the PIJF anyway), try harder next year.

Roger decided this time, we should stay in Penang a couple of hours longer so that we could enjoy a "holiday" here. His idea of a holiday is a few hours long. But the Festival was so packed with performances and workshops, we never did make it out of the Bayview Beach Resort. (And yes, I didn't get my Penang hawker fare fix this time although the resort's rojak salad sauce was soooo good)

He wanted to go to most workshops; the line-up of performances by international and local artistes at the Fringe were too good to miss, he said; he had sound check; he had rehearsals; he had to give a workshop; he had to perform at a concert. Roger was totally 100% intrigued with the Festival.

So while he's hopping from one event / appointment to another, I'm tagging along in between my naps. And I'm saying this once again, when there is a workshop given by people like Roger Wang, DON'T miss it. This time, he held a joint workshop with Farid Ali and Albert Sirimai, entitled "Guitar and Gambus".

Then, there's soundcheck for Farid and Roger on stage that Sunday afternoon. The organisers have set up this stage right by the seaside and while the guys were setting up, etc on stage, I've got my book, my shades, my hat and my sunblock and I'm sunning myself out in front of the stage, enjoying the tropical sea breezes. An ice-cold beer or a cocktail would have completed this state of euphoria but for now, I have to settle for mineral water. yay.

With what little spare time we have, Roger and I venture into the secretariat where the heart of the action is. This is one calm secretariat, lemme tell you. I used to work with an events organiser and I've been with Roger for a few events and most of them were hectic. Chaotic. Panicking. This one is calm. It's controlled. People in there are laughing. Then again, it MAY have something to do with all that alcohol they had in the room with them. Or that heavenly chocolate cake that one of the organiser's sister made for the team. Everything runs like clockwork here, by the way. Nothing and noone is late and for that, I'm eternally grateful. And it seems God is on their side too because it didn't rain for the two concert nights and audiences sitting on the grass in front of the stage really appreciated that.

And what a concert it was, that second night. First night was good too but it'll make this entry too long if I wrote about it... The second night concert kicks off with The Jimmy Boyle Youth Talent Jazz competition winners but we missed that because Roger is in the room, preparing for the night. We go down at 7pm and wait backstage. Security is tighter tonight because some unscrupulous people passed their security tags to relatives / friends who entered the Festival for free last night.

Seriously?! I mean, organisers spend months, hours and many sleepless nights to ensure an evening of fun and music and what do people do? Take advantage and sneak in like that?! Instead of paying ... what? RM40 for a day or RM75 for two nights? Then, they'd go out and spend RM3,000 on the latest cellphone and probably RM75 to download fancy ringtones? SERIOUSLY! I'd shoot them but I'm not allowed to carry a gun onboard the plane.

I feel so bad for the organisers. Such an insult to the hours they spent on the Festival.

Roger and I walk in as the James Boyle & The Ragged Tigers are performing. We go backstage and we find that Coffee Bean's got orange juice for us; that in a big bucket, there's mineral water and beer bottles floating amidst ice. There are pastries and sandwiches. I'm thinking, those won't last very long if I'm here... Farid walks in a few minutes later. I sit quietly because I know they need time and space to prepare themselves mentally and physically for the show. But the darn mosquitoes are biting...

Emcee Richard thanks the Tigers and calls Roger and Farid on stage. The crowd cheers. I'm standing on tiptoe because I want to see past the stage and look at the audience, just as Roger is. What a crowd! What wonderful weather! The spotlights are on and the two do their Thang.

I sit backstage for awhile and see Roger's shadow cast on the backdrop. I take a picture of what I think is pretty artsy-fartsy.

Then, I sit right by the side of the stage so that I can see more than just a shadow. Tricia, Farid's wife who had been working so hard as one of the event's volunteers (versus me who slept so much. Eek. I almost feel bad), abandons her post at the CD sales counter and joins me as we watch our husbands perform. She tells me a joke about Farid that I'm pretty certain I can't post in my blog. I laugh as I watch Farid's back. (He was standing, facing the other side)

Then Farid sings "Getaran Jiwa" (which in English translates "Stirring of My Soul"), a favourite by the late Tan Sri P. Ramlee, and I melt. I luurrrvvvve that song. In fact, it stays in my head the whole night. I'm humming that song even when other performers are playing other songs.

Roger and Farid call on their friends, Bada the Percussionist and Andy Peterson who plays the Bass, to join them on stage for the last few songs. All too soon, it's the end of their slot and they leave the stage but the audience scream for more. Farid must be a stickler for time management (aaah, man after my own heart!) because he politely tells the audience that the concert programme has to go, many acts are scheduled... Dude's as diplomatic as an ambassador.

Roger and Farid are then escorted by bouncers (I swear!) to a table by the CD sales counter where fans are waiting for them to sign their album. It's orderly, there are ropes to ensure an orderly line, there are organisers and bouncers to make sure the performers aren't smothered, that no stray underwear (or anything heavier and more dangerous) flies into their direction. Man, this is one well-organised event!

John Kaizan Neptune has taken over the stage by now and the haunting tunes from his Japanese bamboo flute fills the air and everyone's suddenly serene and zen-like. After the autograph session and a very late dinner (I was famished by then!), we find a spot in front of the stage and join audience for the last two sessions: Idang Rasjidi Quartet featuring Tompi from Indonesia and Denise Mininfield from America.

The show ends pretty late, the audience walk away, I stagger back to the room and to my bed, Roger stays back for post-festival chats with fellow performers and organisers. He won't be able to sleep that after a great gig, he's still on high. Everyone is happy.

I have but one complaint. There were stalls on the festival grounds, selling food. How come there's no ice-cream stall? I would have walked out of the resort, crossed the road and to the mini-mart to get my ice-cream but Roger's friend who was on his way to the Festival got me my ice-cream.

Try to make it next year, OK? Buy a ticket. Seriously.

Boo-Boo #1: Lost paperbag
I'm usually a pretty meticulous traveler who doesn't make stupid mistakes like forget airtickets, misplace bag keys, etc but this time, when we went to Penang for the Penang Island Jazz Festival, I was a basket-case, a loser (literally), a stranger - even to myself. I hate to write about this but I think getting these issues off my chest will make me feel better. A result of my Catholic upbringing, I guess. You know, how a confession always makes you feel better? Only this time, we're not in a confessional, I'm not on my knees (yet) and you're not a priest. Are you?....

This entry is titled Boo-Boo #1 because there were THREE boo-boos. Sigh... here goes.... By the way, there will be no pictures in the next three blogs because noone was in the mood to take pictures.

December 1, 2006 - the day we flew to Penang. On our flights from Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur, from Kuala Lumpur to Penang, Roger struggles to manage the following:
1/ two suitcases,
2/ one guitar bag,
3/ one (carry on) backpack,
4/ one carry-on bag for his guitar equipment,
5/ one pouch for airtickets, etc

... while I am in charge of just one thing - a paper bag, containing Christmas pressies for my friend's kids.

By the way, did you know that when you fly on budget airliner, AirAsia, the bags don't check all the way through Penang. We have to take them out, then check 'em in again. Traveling's tiring, it doesn't help that our stopover in the LCCT KL (Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Carrier Terminal) was more than three hours long and we started the day at 5am that morning to catch the 7am flight.

So by the time we get to Penang and organiser Paul (Augustin of The Capricorn Connection) picks us up, we are tired. I'm ready to hit to sack. When we get to the hotel room, I suddenly remember my sole charge, the blasted paper bag. and we start searching the whole room for it. I swore I had it with me in the airport, that I had put it in the organiser's car with us when we loaded our stuff in his car, and that I had brought it down from the car. Roger begins to worry that I had placed it down somewhere in the lobby and someone might have stolen it by now. So he goes down to the secretariat and alerts the organisers and they all begin a hunt for the bag because Roger is probably freaking out about it.

Meanwhile, I am upstairs in the room - sleeping - because it had been a long day. The day started at 5am, we had an early morning flight to KL and later a connecting flight to Penang. By the time we got to the hotel room, it was 4:30pm. I wake from the blissful nap at 6:30pm, call Roger and ask him about the paper bag.

They did finally find it - in the car. I had forgotten to bring it down...

Boo-Boo #2: Lost CDs
Our last morning in Penang. I go to the secretariat who is in charge of selling Roger's CDs, it is time to settle accounts with them. To collect cash for what's sold during the festival and get back unsold CDs because the festival's ended.

They give me a list of sold and unsold CDs, hands me corresponding cash. Wow, I think, that's bloody efficient! Every performer is checking out today and they've got everything ready for us already. I'm super impressed.

I check the CDs, check the cash and write them a receipt. I'm efficient too, I brought my receipt book. I even brought a bag to pack all unsold CDs into. Yay, me, I'm smug. I wheel the bag up to our room.

Last minute, some guy calls Rog and orders a few more CDs. Among his orders were two of Roger's Platinum album. Roger looks in the bag for them. No Platinum CDs in here, he says. I let out a huge sigh, I tell Roger, if I find them, you die. So I squat down in front of the bag and start looking for it. No luck. I'm sheepish.

Oh no! Roger panics. Did she leave them accidentally at the secretariat, he wonders? Will someone steal them? Or accidentally take them because a lot of people are at the secretariat that morning. But I'm adamant and I insist, I had all CDs in the box put in our bag, including the Platinum series.

After a few minutes of trying to figure out where the missing CDs are, Roger gives up and goes down to the lobby to meet the guy who ordered the CDs. The chap is waiting downstairs. Ten seconds after he leaves the room, I decide to check the list of CDs sold. I call him on his cell and whisper, "The CDs aren't missing. They were all sold during the festival."

Now, if Roger is thinking, "Boy, that freaked me out bad" then, little does he know, the worst is yet to come... Remember, folks, all good / bad things come in three.

Boo-Boo #3: Lost Identity Card (I/C)
I'm not even sure I can post this info legally in a blog without dire consequences but a confession's a confession and this has GOT to be the worst of all three.

December 4, 2006
Countdown to KL - Penang flight departure: 2hr...
A van brings us from the resort to the airport that last day. Before we leave the hotel, the van driver reminds us, "Brought everything? Passport? Airticket?" I ignore him, just like I ignore safety briefing on planes before take-off.

Countdown to KL - Penang flight departure: 1hr...
It usually takes 30-45 minutes to get to the airport from the resort but we get caught in a jam in town, a nasty car accident involving four cars! We arrive at the airport, hurriedly thank the driver and have our bags scanned at security. Walking to the airline check-in counter, I search my wallet for my I/C because we have to check in using that. Not there. I look elsewhere. No luck. I tell Roger.

Color drains slowly from his face.

All I remember is this: On our first day in Penang, I had taken my I/C out from my wallet and had it put in a new little black pouch. I hung the pouch on my brand new AirAsia lanyard - which we bought onboard the budget airline plane on our way to Penang. I put it in the black pouch because I didn't want to leave my I/C in the hotel room just in case I needed it. But by the end of the day, my neck was sore from the heavy lanyard: both phone and pouch were hanging off it.

So the next morning, I put the pouch (with my I/C) in the room safe deposit box. Decided I really didn't need to have my I/C with me at all times anyway.

That's the last thing I remember.

Standing there in the middle of the airport, with the contents of our bags spewed all over, I look at Roger and manage to whimper a very pathetic, "How?..." That's exactly how I feel: very lost, very helpless, very pathetic, heart sinking very fast.... It's like when you were in school and your teacher announced, "Test today!" and you've completely forgotten about it. That second of realisation, that resignation, the defeat...

Roger makes a desperate call to the organisers to look for my I/C in the room.

Meanwhile, we ask the airlines if I can make it back to KK without my I/C. I can still board the Penang - KL flight, they say, because I have my driver's license with me and flights between states in Peninsula Malaysia are "domestic".

I can't, however, check-in for the KL - KK flight because KL - Sabah / Sarawak flights are not considered domestic flights. I have to have at least my I/C or my passport. And even if the airlines DOES let me go onboard this KL - KK flight, the KK immigration won't let me into the state without neither document.

Rog and I discuss our options if we didn't get the I/C in time:
(1) that he flies home first and I forfeit this KL - KK airticket. That I'll stay in the airport hotel in KL and wait for the organisers to drive back to KL the next day and hand me my I/C. Then I buy a new ticket and fly home OR
(2) I forfeit this KL - KK trip, get a new ticket from KL to Labuan (since Labuan is technically a Federal Territory and I don't need ID to get in and it's much closer to KK) instead, stay there with family and wait for Roger who'd go home first, get my passport from our safe deposit box in KK and fly to Labuan OR
(3) we beg and sob at both AirAsia and Immigration counters...

Countdown to KL - Penang flight: 45 mins
R gets The Call from the organisers. They found the pouch - in the safe deposit box and they're rushing over to the airport immediately. But it usually takes 45 minutes to drive from Batu Ferringhi to the airport. And we had just ... 45 minutes left before the plane takes off.

We sit at a restaurant, anxiously waiting. We hear the boarding call. I look at Roger, he looks me.

We decide I should board the plane first, carry his hand luggage (backpack and equipment bag) while he wait for the organisers who are on their way to the airport. Then, once he gets my I/C, he'll run all the way to the plane. We ask the organiser, where are you? Gurney Drive.

Countdown to KL - Penang flight: 30 mins
I struggle with his backpack and his equipment bag and make it to the departure gate. I explain to the airline people that my husband is outside waiting for something urgent and if they can hold the plane till he boards. They are diplomatic, they'll make the announcement first and after two minutes, he doesn't show, they'll close the gate. The bags are heavy, my heart's heavier still.
I settle in the plane, reserving a seat for Roger. The cabin crew ask us to switch off the phones, I put mine on silent mode and wait anxiously for Roger's call. What if he misses this flight? Then I'll just wait in the new low cost carrier terminal in KL for him. He'd have to buy a new Penang - KL ticket. What if we miss the connecting KL - KK flight? Then we'll have to buy new tickets. I can't bear the thought of leaving him alone in Penang. He couldn't bear to leave me alone in KL. This suck big-time.

Countdown to KL - Penang flight: 15 mins
No sign of Roger.... I begin to get really, REALLY worried.... Every passenger is onboard, the crew is counting heads, I hold my breath....

Countdown to KL - Penang flight: 10 mins
He walks in!!! But he's shaking his head. He says the organisers called, they are stuck in a jam downtown Penang and can't make it. Roger can't wait any longer. He sprints to the plane. The minute Roger walked into the plane, the crew shut the door.

He barely put his seatbelt on when the plane begins to taxi down the runway. AirAsia Flight AK6315 took off at exactly 14:55:00. A damn record, if you ask me.

KL
Throughout the flight, we run over all options again in our heads. What ifs. We land in KL airport and wait for our luggage.

Then, I have a brainwave. For the first time in five months.

I call an ex-colleague, the Front Office Director of the resort I used to work in, Mike T, on his cellphone. I'm diverted to his voicemail. I call his office's direct line. His secretary say he's in a briefing. I ask for his assistant. He's resigned, she say. ARGH! I send Mike a text-message, explaining what's happened and asked for his advice. I brace myself for more waiting.

Almost immediately, Mike answers my message, What other documents do you have with you now? I say, just my driver's license. He answers quickly, make a police report at the airport. Declare lost I/C. Fly home with the report and the driver's license.

Gratefully, I tell Roger Mike's suggestion. He's doubtful. Can it be that simple?

We collect our bags and head for the police room in the airport. We tell them about the "lost" I/C and they are so helpful. Mike calls me immediately after his briefing, consoling me, telling me it's OK, there's no problem at all.

Long story cut short, we get our report, check in at the airline counter, hold our breathes, waiting for rejection. None came. It is smooth-sailing all the way home.

YAY MIKE T!!!!!!

Roger calls me an illegal resident now. But we're just glad we're home together.