I've always been quite an open minded person. I may not be able to understand or comprehend a lot of stuffs, but I am able to bring myself to respect them. As for others, being naturally empathic I can easily place myself in the shoes of another and try to walk his life even for a few steps. This novel, allows me to explore the coming of age of a boy as he discovers himself through the eyes of another.

No other word I could think of that can truly express my feeling after reading it : just beautiful. Written in a self-reflection mood, where Elio, the main character, goes to question himself and his actions over and over and over again because of his insecurity. It explores the passion of living life and taking in the small things that makes life worth living. What I loved most was how Elio coped with the feeling of abandonment from whom he felt for, his narration of his feelings and hope and desire, his actions and the consequences.

The story tells of a friendship between two young men; Elio, 17 year old, smart, naive, nervous and Oliver, a laid-back and easy-going American. Oliver came to Elio's home as a summer guest as he writes his manuscript. His way of saying Later! in place of goodbye annoys Elio very much as he sees it being void or emotion and left things hanging without closure. As the story progressed however, Elio finds himself remembering Later! more than anything else. 

I won't lie, this book is not for everybody. One would have to keep an open mind, and mine isn't as open. What Elio and Oliver did to a peach, for instant, I almost closed the book and shelf it for good. *nope, I'm not gonna tell you what they did to the poor peach. You'll have to read it yourself to find out* But then again, I thought to myself, why waste a book? In any case, I'm lending this to a friend when he finishes with his current one. 

The best (and worse) part of a book (like a good movie) was the ending. I find myself reading faster and faster and had to stop and reread a few paragraphs so as to not miss the story. Then I find myself filled with sorrow as the ending comes and the author incorporated an open question that is the title : call me by your name. And to think I almost put this book on the shelf halfway through!!

 My birthday has passed 10 days ago, but I still cannot get it out of my system. The best part of it was actually spending time with an awesome buddy whom I decided to visit on a limb (with invitation) after my initial vacation plan was cancelled. 

I had a ritual beginning sometime in 2006 or 2007 where I'd spend my birthday night having dinner, a cup of coffee and a slice of cake at Secret Recipe. It morphed into a night at Starbucks since I'd get a complementary slice of cake on my birthday month along with my favourite drinks. I haven't gotten around to it this year, so it's still in my system - much annoyance to my buddies (sorry bros..) 

I'm planning to get it over and done with tonight. I have this problem tho, where if I get a drink tonight I'd get another extra. Since I'm going by myself, I dunno what to do with that extra drink.. but if I invited someone along, then I won't be by myself which means it's not totally out of my system. urghh... this is so confusing and hard and frustrating yet exciting all for no particular reason at all.. 

Well.. alls emotions in the daily life of a cancer (the zodiac, not the disease) riding along an emotional roller-coaster, always up to no good trying to come up with the best decision that benefits everybody in their circle. This ritual, however, helps me to center myself and sort of reset, so as to not be too emotionally unstable for the year to come. XD 

Alright.. there is a possibility that I'm the only one who actually give a d**n about my Bonuslink points. I was and have always been under the impression that the points do not have an expiry date. I could not be any wrong. When my June statements arrived, I was MORTIFIED!!! 2k points will be expiring at the end of July. To further rub salt on wound, points expiring in August and September are also included in the statements. 

I was aiming to collect my points slowly up to a point where I could actually redeem something useful for the family - like a new vacuum cleaner or a fan or even a brand new flat screen TV. But alas, desperate times call for desperate measures. I did the next best thing so as to not waste the points. I decided to redeem a Philips SoundBlaster portable bluetooth speaker. 

This thing is actually tiny. Reviews are so so. The only reason why I want it is that it's very useful when hanging out with friends at the park and listen to music or watch movies together.

*Going into philosophical mode* they say nothing in life is ever free, everything comes with a price and you have to work hard, keep trying, never give up to get what you want. Owh yeah, that saying could not be anymore true in my case of redeeming this cute gift. I tried and tried and tried for two days! 

Because my points aren't enough to cover the redemption, I did it the ExpressWay. It means to use some of your points and add cash to it to complete your redemption. Because it is an online transaction, I cannot approach the Customer Service counter at Parkson branches. So I went online, filled in the details and went through the process. Then when it comes to "Proceed to make payments." part of the process, nothing happens. No pop-ups for online banking transaction, no messages saying what to do next, nothing. Except for a confirmation email to my inbox - stating that if no payment is made within 30 minutes, the redemption will be cancelled. 

This goes on every single time I tried to complete my redemption yesterday. I tried Google Chrome, I tried Internet Explorer, I tried Mozilla Firefox, I even tried Chrome on Mobile and Dolphin browser. Nothing. 

Then I realized, pop-up and ad-blocker! I had them on. That's it! So I temporarily allowed the pop-ups from Bonuslink website, and voila! out came the online transaction. So I selected my bank, login, and requested my TAC. Guess what? TAC never came. I tried again, and again, and again!! Almost lost my cool! 

Finally a friend was kind enough to lend his account and transaction got through after what felt like a million times trying! (there was only 6 or 7 but it sure felt like a million with all the steps involved!)

Now that's done and over with, I'm just happy to see an Approved status for my redemptions. I wonder with only 36 points left, will my next statement be in the negative? Well.. two to three weeks until delivery. I'll do a review on the speaker when it comes!

ps : OK there was only 5 repeated attempts.. but it does felt like a million times!!! >.<

For a world class event, just one day is not enough. RWMF is held for 3 days every year, and with the 3 days come the 3 nights of evening concerts. With myself as a crowd junkie and making acquaintance with stranger as a hobby, this is exactly the place I belong.

Along with other festival goers, I took loads and loads of pictures and videos. By all means I'm no pro at photography. I point and shoot, even with a DSLR. However, I hope that some of these pics and videos are able to convey how exciting the festival really is. (Some of the photos are taken by more experienced and even professional photographers, kudos to y'all!)

The highlight performance of the second night concert for me was the performance by Dizu Plaatjies & The Ibuyambo Ensamble from South Africa and The Pine Leaf Boys for USA. I managed to get a couple of videos of their performance (I do apologize if they're a bit shaky and the bad angles). Standby for a massively long post and wall of pictures and videos!

___________________________________________________________________________________________ Dizu Plaatjies & The Ibuyambo Ensamble

The crowd on the second night was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!!! The whole stage ground was filled, some more willing to shuffle all their way to the front of the stage while others sat and enjoyed the festival from afar. As I wondered around the Food Mart, almost every seat was taken. All in all it is safe to assume that the second day is the best day to come if you only plan to come to the festival for just a day!

It was a whole new level of experience. For those who like to meet and mingle with new acquaintances this is the place you wanna be. No ice breakers required, it's provided for you. No need to worry about where you come from, what your believes are, what colour is your skin, what tongue you speak in. Here, music of the rainforest is the only mode of communication you need, and the only currency accepted is joy, fun and unity.

As only one of many who attended the festival, I can only offer my point of view, but boy from behind the lens of my camera I see so many varieties that makes me appreciate even more the world that we live in and the people living in it. 

Resting between the afternoon and evening workshop, I mingled around taking photos  here and there, and made small talks. One of the most common question asked especially by foreigners from the Europe was what are some of the local customs and believes. It was a wonder to see the sparks in their eyes as I narrated the Malay customs (since I am Malay and I am not very familiar with other local customs. I don't want to accidentally give out the wrong information) of cats and mirrors and clothlines and clipping nails. 

In one of the few minutes I spent with a pair of foreigners (I can't remember from where tho - like I said it's as if countries no longer exists once you're on the festival grounds) I discovered that there is a similar believe. Of cats, for instance, if a black cat crosses your path that would bring bad luck, but in Malay believe if a cat of whatever colour crosses your path you're gonna bump into a friend along the way. And of mirrors, I still know some families cover mirrors in their houses with a piece of cloth before going to bed for fear of the spirit of the dead sees themselves and starts wailing, quite similar to their believe that banshees reside on the other side and can cross over to our world using the mirrors as gateway. 

Perhaps one believe that fascinates them most is that of cats and the deceased. In Malay believe, when a cat crosses over the body of the deceased during a wake, the body would spring back to life. I always leave them with this story, their eyes filled with excitement of a new and fascinating knowledge. 

Perhaps one of the best kicks I got out of the 3 days festival was to see how strangers from so many different parts of the world come together and unite with the music and dances. Clearly there during the workshops, sharing tables at the Food Mart, browsing the crafts and merchandises at the Village Mart, and dancing their hearts out at the evening concert. Some even put into practise the dances they learnt during the workshop and danced out at whatever music the performers played on stage. It was a privilege to be part of such an amazing event.

Pictures courtesy of Jack Sciarcca

My father once asked us siblings over dinner, he said "Is it rude if you hear a stranger with aku-kau?". Promptly I responded it depends on the person's age. If a much younger person addresses my father with 'kau' I would say he is rude. Then my father continued saying he had known that person since before we were born, and hasn't met him in ages, and still was addressed with aku-kau, a sign that the friendship between them has not deteriorated since as well as how friendly the other person is in general. 

Some readers may not be familiar with our culture so a little background is due : In Malaysia, particularly in Sarawak, there are 3 main ways to address yourself and the person you're talking to/with corresponding with I - you. Formally, I in Malay is saya, while you is awak. Between relatives, or in situations where there is a big gap between age, or to show affection, saya is replaced with kamek and awak is replaced with kitak. Among friends and peers, it is replaced with aku and kau respectively. 

There are no ground rules regarding the use of these pair of nouns, some mix and match according to their own preferences and origin i.e. aku-kitak and saya-kitak. As a listener, you can place an assumption of how close the friendship between the speakers - then again it is not definite. Closest example I can give is me and my best friend still address each other with saya-awak even after almost 20 years knowing each other. 

As far as generalization goes, among same gender conversation, aku-kau is preferred to indicate a close friendship but not intimate, kamek-kitak is used cross gendered or when addressing a person much older or younger than you are, and saya-awak in formal situations. 

As for myself, (and I believe most will agree) I go with the flow. As a native speaker of the language and dialect, it comes naturally to me to know which addressing noun to be used in what situation. It will be a little awkward the first few times, but usually, once it has been used a few times with the same person, it sticks and very rare changes to a different pair of nouns. Interesting, isn't it?

I was here! At the Rainforest World Music Festival 2013! Marked as an annual event in Sarawak Tourism Board Events calendar, the 3-days world class festival features a lineup of performers from many different parts of the world facilitating workshops in the afternoon and concerts in the evening. 

When the clock stroked 5 pm I was already very anxious to get to Sarawak Cultural Village to soak in the festival. First photo I took, a panorama of the early evening. It was only 7-ish, the crowd was bustling at the Village Craft stalls set all over the venue featuring spray on tattoos and hair tattoos. Not to mention the Food Mart and Heinekabana where most go to grab some bites and cool off the heat.

At 7.30 pm, the concert opens with the Native Festival Blessing. From my vantage point, as the chanting progresses, the crowd began to draw themselves to the stage as if mesmerized by it. The chanting was the local native's way to welcome visitors and spread peace, harmony and goodwill. 

Here's a snippet of the chanting. 

As always, there are two stages prepared for the night concert, and adhering to the theme of the rainforest each stage was named the Jungle Stage and Tree Stage. The performers alternated between the stages, and the crowd of festival-goers follow along as the concert progresses. 

The welcoming performance began with a lineup of local performers : Juk Wan Emang, Lan E Tuyang, and Rythm in Bronze, followed by Chet Nuneta from France, Rey Vallenato Beto Jamaica from Columbia, Alp Bora from Turkey, Nunukul Yugera from Australia (yeap, complete with the diggeridoo) and finally at closing with Kila from Ireland. 

There were so many highlights I could not just pick a few! For starters, I'm a local Sarawakian, have only heard about nose flute but never seen it being played live. It is a dying form of music. In the old days, some of the native tribes in Sarawak namely Kayan played the nose flute (called Selingup, Selingut or Keringut in the local dialect) as part of the courtship process between an man and a woman, as well as during funerals to appease the spirits. To watch and listen first hand brings much appreciation to the land I live in. 

I was especially proud when Lan E Tuyang followed the nose flute performance with their sapé, another local instrument of profound history. The music that comes from this boat shaped lute is soothing and tells a story that comes alive with your imagination. 

Next was the performance from Rythm in Bronze. Here's a small snippet of their song called Suntuk Masa or Out of Time. 

After a dose of local performers, the audience moved to Tree Stage. Chet Nuneta from France. What can I say about them. Their performance was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! Perfect harmony, deep underlying message, energetic, colourful, mesmerizing, so many adjectives I could use to describe them but none will probably do justice. They sang songs from their album called Pangea, what they describe as borderless, of wanderings, of emotions, of vivid imaginations inspired by unrecognized languages, soon to be extinct, the history of a people or a popular poem. Pangea is a tribute to the people's memory. Chet Nuneta performs with a myriad of wonderful instruments that looked like they came from a forgotten place or tribe, or of fairy tale altogether. One of their song called Pigmees Blues sang about deforestation, and I just barely caught the lyrics "No more forest for us, we could build no more forest for us". So very profound message from their music, and such passion!

*Pictures credit to Seth Borneographer

This is when my phone battery went flat. Sux to not have a powerbank or charger handy. 

Next was the Alp Bora and Rey Vellenato Beto Jamaica - both featuring very different, very unique, very elegant styles. Rey Vallenato Beto Jamaica with their accordion and percussion  - Alp Bora with their unforgivably electrifying funky strings. 

The closing number from Alp Bora was very very familiar. The lead singer introduced it to be featured in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, and Black Eyed Peas sampled it in one of their tracks. Unfortunately I don't have the recording because my battery completely died on me much to my frustration (but on the lighter side I reallly get to soak in the performances!) It's called Misirlou. 

Happy as I was to be there, I was unable to stay til late (times like these is when you have to do errands or be at some place before God-knows-what o'clock) and missed Kila's performance. No doubt they rocked it anyways!