Sunday, July 22, 2007

world music: a new phenomenon

The Rainforest World Music Festival is a unique festival that bringstogether on the same stage renowned world musicians from all continents and indigenous musicians from the interiors of the mythical island of Borneo.



Its formula of afternoon informative workshops, ethno-musical lectures, jamming sessions and mini concerts, followed by eveningperformances on the main stage has proven to be a hit with the audience, who come from near and far.



The festival site also sets up a variety of food and drink stalls, an arts and crafts area as well as a counter for festival memorabilia, Sarawak souvenirs and CDs by the performing artists, all this contributing to a fun filled, wholesome festival experience. World Music plus a country fair atmosphere in the midst of lush greenery.



The Rainforest World Music Festival, a not-to-be-missed occasion, guarantees a smashing time in the heart of the Borneo Jungle!



And yes, i was actually there last weekend to celebrate their 10th anniversary.










And we stayed at the nearby Santubong Kuching Resort.







A night before we headed down to Santubong, we were actually in Kuching, in Aunty Susie's place for a night. Look at the satellite dish in the photo above, it was spotted in Aunty Susie's place. And guess what, it is an 'open secret' for Sarawakians to have one in their house! Imagine, you can actually watch thousands and thousands of TV channels from all over the world!






Kuching - the capital of Sarawak, also known as the city of CATS. meowwwwwwwwwww... *trying to sound like a cat


For your info, it wasn't my first time in Kuching, it was actually my 2nd time there.


The photos below were all taken at the Sarawak Cultural Village, the place where the festival was held at. Enjoy!











L-R: The sister, Me, the mother, Pei Ling (sis's fren) and her brother, Yao Wen.






The main stage was just right behind us, where it came alive only at night. (:











That's the tree stage. Pretty cute, isn't it? *winks






Mother and daughter.






Mother and another daughter. ;)






While waiting for the concert to start. Teeheeee.






Me and my Heineken! ;)






The workshop by Huun Huur Tu from Tuva & Russia. It was pretty impressive as the awesome mysterious throat singers of Central Asia with their traditional instruments, wonderful costumes and culture, juxtaposed with urban Russian contemporary musicians. Really unique sounds i must say.






The first workshop: The Oldest Instrument In The World. The human voice in different cultures. They came from all over the world: Madagascar, Vietnam, Russia, Tuva, Poland, UK, Afghanistan, Peru, Chile, Australia, Italy, USA, Scotland, Zimbabwe, Canada, and Malaysia. They were seriously good and talented musicians!






At night, this was where the party started. The lively music got everyone dancing on their feet, swaying along with the beats and rhythms of the music. Atmosphere was great! Danced, danced and danced. We practically danced the night away. ;)

However, the whole thingy looks more like a club, something like ZoukOut minus the variety of alcohol. They served only Heineken here, that's why. There were so many ang-mohs, and they were practically smoking like nobody's business. -.- A few locals (i presume they're Sarawakians) looked high and started kissing their partners. I guess Sarawakians are pretty open-minded, no? I didn't feel as if i was in Malaysia when i was there. Heh.



Overall, it was a good experience for me. My favourite musicians are from Madagascar and Zimbabwe! They can really dance! And the workshops were fun! (: Definitely worth the money and time to attend this festival as the music played were of world-class standard. It's unique music, and not mainstream music, which makes it really good.
*smiles to herself

P.S.: The photos above are just a small fraction of the whole collection of photos we took. So, just look at whatever that is posted in this blog. =p



And yes, i'm back in KL again. My 2nd year has officially started. Unfortunately, it didn't start off with a bang. Instead, it started off with me always feeling lost in the damn new and damn concrete campus. So yeah, the new Monash campus is NOT a big deal. It's just a few blocks of buildings with ultra-cold air conditioning and A LOT of lifts and staircases to confuse people. Nothing impressed me so far... so yeah... there it goes.

by Yina at 5:27 PM |