Pulau Tioman Trip!

This happened almost 2 weeks ago :x

Had some trouble retrieving pictures from my SD Card, hence the delay in updating.

So, I planned this trip since the MATTA Fair in March lol. I wanted to try scuba diving, so I dragged Stephy, Oliver and Emad to go as well haha.

We went to B&J Diving Centre in ABC Bay, and stayed there for 3 days 2 night.

It was a try dive package, RM430/person. We took the Quad Deluxe Air Cond Room.

It was clean, and quite spacious I guess.

There's a queen sized bed, and two super single bed. 

Anyway, we went to Mersing by bus. It was a 6 hours ride -_-

We took the night bus, and unfortunately I could only sleep for around an hour during the ride fml.

We reached Mersing around 4.30am lol. Then we spent around 30 minutes searching for a toilet. Emad was desperate for the loo, but the toilets at the bus terminal was locked, which is just plain stupid.

In the end we managed to find a 7-11 and borrowed their toilet.

Anyway, here's a random picture of Oliver and Emad while we were waiting for the bus in Bandar Tasik Selatan.

Anyway after we went to the toilet, we roamed around trying to find the jetty. It was a 10 minutes walk from the bus terminal. We failed to do so though, since it was still dark. In the end we went back to the bus terminal waiting for sunrise. After the sun rise, we went to a nearby KFC. It was only 6am though, so we chilled outside the KFC haha, using their wi-fi to keep ourselves entertained.

Slightly before 7am (the time KFC open), we got bored and wandered to this little port behind the KFC.

Beautiful sky

Selfie!

Chilled there for a bit and took pictures, then when we walked back to KFC, it's opening! Yay!

Went in for breakfast, and finally when it's almost 8am, we walked to the jetty to catch our ferry ride to Tioman Island. 

The ferry ride lasted 2 hours :(

I was getting really sleepy since I didn't sleep much, so I tried to sleep in the ferry, Couldn't sleep well too. Only got another hour of sleep sigh.

The ferry wasn't too comfortable, and there's kids in front of me -_- They were noisy :S

When we reached the island, I was glad because I was starting to get dizzy lol.

We walked about 5 minutes before we reached our resort. We checked in, and actually we were supposed to have the dive on that day, but since we were all tired, we postponed it to the next day.

Instead, we just chilled around the beach and explore the bay.

It was mostly rocky beaches. We had to walk for around 10 minutes to the other side before we get to a fairly sandy beach. 

Rocks everywhere

The water was clear though

Horizon!

It's a nice island, with the rainforest close behind the resort. 

There are no fancy fancy resort there, mostly 2 stars or budget chalet. It's nice though, feels very...Earthly? No idea how to explain it lol.

Oh, and there's quite a few pond (idk if it's really a pond or what) there as well, which we have to cross. Looks kinda eerie, especially at night.

There's trees along the beach as well :D

More random pictures.

Dead moth

We found a swing as well :D

The string is long, so it makes it even more fun than a regular playground swing hehe.

Plus, it's only one string.

Hahahha Oliver tried to go on it, but he had no idea how to sit on the sing lmao. I was laughing so bad watching him try to get on it hahahaha. 

He tried sitting on it crossed leg lmao xD

Emad was patiently explaining how to sit to him.

I was too busy snapping photo and laughing xD

Lol Emad swinging

Me taking a turn as well, and Emad running to push me -_-

Stephy's turn! 

We strolled further after swinging, the we turned to go back to our rooms to get changed into bathing attire.
Here's more random snaps on the way back.

Coral stuck on the branch

Pretty shell

Saw a erm....dunno what species of lizard as well.

After getting changed, we walked all the way to the end of the bay and swam there.

We had fun swimming :D There's a huge rock by the beach as well, and the tide is rising up towards it. The rock is slippery with moss, and it was slanting down at a perfect angle for a slide.

Emad got the genius idea of climbing up the rock and sliding down it xD

Was freaking fun :D

We spent close to 2 hours bathing I think. Can't really remember, but when we finally went back to our room, it was almost sunset and we had our dinner after we took our shower.

Around 9pm, I went out alone and took a short walk outside.

I expected to see stars, but the sky was nothing but just plain darkness. It was kinda creeping me out, so I walked back lol. 

We slept around 10pm that night, since none of us had good sleep the previous night.

Next morning, I woke around 7am. I went out and took a walk by the beach by myself, since the others are still sleeping. It was cool, almost cold even. Kinda wish I brought my jacket out with me haha. 

I sat down on a rock, watching the waves and relaxing. I just love the sound the waves make, and feeling the pebbles and sand on my feet. The tide was rising as well, and I sat there until the tide started to reach me. After that, I walked to the jetty, and just stared out down to see the fishes below me.

I walked back when the sun ray started to shine across the rainforest behind and reach me.

When the others woke up, we went for breakfast. After breakfast, it was time for our dive!

Well, not exactly haha. We had to watch a video, sign paperworks, and be taught about scuba diving. That took around an hour, before we were brought to the pool to try it out.

Spent another hour plus there. 

The first breath that I took underwater was kinda magical.

It was kinda scary to me as well for some reason. I took a few breaths and for I don't know what reason, I started to panic. I rushed to the surface and spat out the regulator from my mouth, and got told off by my instructor, Megan.

But then, after that it was alright.

After we were done practicing, we went to a nearby cafe and had a snack. 

After about 2 hours break, we went back, geared up, and make our way out to the sea. :D

It was a pain going out though, cause the tank was so heavy, and the shore was very rocky. But then in the end we made it to the appropriate depth to actually start swimming, and that wasn't that bad.

Until we started diving down. 

Megan deflated my BCD (Buoyancy Control Device), and I started sinking at an alarming rate. (Well, to me at least.) About 1.5m down, I panicked for I don't know what reason again, and inflated my BCD. Well of course, I shot up to the surface, and for some reasons, the others shot up after me as well lol.

Next thing we know, Megan was screaming at us, cause if we do that below the depth of 5m, we could get decompression sickness.

Anyhow, when she calmed down, we attempted again diving down again. This time I get to the depth of around 4m, but I couldn't equalize my ear, even after 3 to 4 attempts. In the end, Megan told me to go back. Obviously, I was upset. I felt so unaccomplished, but what could I do? My stupid ear wouldn't equalize and it hurts. I don't want to risk anything by ignoring it. Damn, and I was so close as well, another meter and I would have reached the bottom :( Sigh. I'm still kind of bumped that I didn't manage to dive to the bottom completely right now ._.

Meh, one day I will do it again.

The reason why I couldn't equalize is apparently, I had a cold damn it. I'm guessing I caught it when we had our snacks after our pool learning session. I just walked to the cafe, dripping wet in my bathing suit and sat there with wind blowing at me. Fml. 

Oh well, anyway I went back into our hotel room, and kinda emo at the corner reading my novel waiting for my friends to come back lol. I expect them to be gone for around 20 to 30 minutes, but surprisingly they came back early, around 15 minutes after I got back.

-_- They told me I didn't miss much, so I guess I had that going for me lolol. But then, I guess there wasn't that much to see as well, a lot of the corals there are dead :( 

Later on, we went to swim at the beach again, and we hiked a short trail over to the next bay. There was nothing much there, so we went back to the spot where we swam the day before. We actually swam till sunset, and continue swimming in the dark. It was creepy, yet there is something very satisfying and tranquil about swimming in the dark. We went back shortly, and went to a barbeque restaurant for our last dinner at the island.

There was this cat that climbed onto the railing beside me, and it had the guts to do this lol. 

Being "mean" to it

After the dinner, I somehow got into a pillow fight with Emad back at the room -_-

Forgot how exactly it happened, but I remember me trying to snatch the air-cond remote from him, but he won't let me cause he don't want me to adjust the temperature lol. We were being really childish, which was fun xD I can't remember the details, but I think it includes being rolled in the blanket, getting tickled, and flying kicks? lolol. 

In the end I just steal his blanket, with the help of Stephy xD I think Oliver was just playing his Ipad, ignoring us and facepalming at us hahahhaa.

After the chaos ended, we played cards and just chillax. 

And slept around 1am lol.

The next day, it was time to leave :(

We have to catch our ferry at 9am, which sucks cause that leaves us no time to do anything on the last day. In the end, it's more like a 2 days 2 night package sigh.

Oliver making goodness knows what sign before we leave our room

Some pictures at the dock while waiting for ferry.

Group photo, taken using the timer on the camera haha

Lol I think I was sucking my stomach in subconsciously, since I know my tummy is not that flat lololol.

This was a fun and memorable trip, hopefully we'll be able to travel together again :D

C2age 2014

C2age happened two weeks ago.

I was there sessioning on the keyboard for Myclamyra Project's performance.

OOTD!

As usual, I go all black haha.

Ear hooks from taobao, skull shirt mom got from I don't know where, pleather skirt from taobao, leggings from Daiso, and black chunky boots from taobao as well.

So much love for taobao wwww. Oh, bag from taobao as well xD

On that day, I became a driver for Kyee and her friends as well.

Fetched them to c2age as well.

When I got there, I met up with Gem and Kamal, and after we stored our stuffs, we went our ways. I hang around with Acap, and soon the time to meet up again came.

Unfortunately, Susan was still stuck in the traffic haha. The other band members were starting to panic. About 10 minutes before performance, she finally arrived.

I remember I ran down to find her, and unluckily my phone died on me, so it made everything harder.
After a while, I found her though. Brought her to the main stage, where the others are almost done setting up. Luckily, they've took my keyboard and kind of setup for me as well.

Nose ish itchy

After the performance, we took a few group photos, but with the drummer M.I.A

From left: Dustin, Kamal, Acap (our helper for the day haha), Gem, Susan, and me.

Random selfie

After that we went to a nearby mamak restaurant for lunch, except Dustin that left, and the drummer which are still M.I.A

It was fun to talk about audio and music with these people hehe.

We hang around more, until about 3pm Acap and Kamal left to go to Bently's Music for a Battle of the Band. Gem, Susan and I continued hanging around since it was raining, and Eugene (another member of Myclamyra Project that didn't perform this time) join us as well.

Around 4pm, Susan leave. I hung around with Gem and Eugene for a while, then I met Leena!

She gave me a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and guess what, I got a booger flavored bean fml.

It tasted horrible, yuck yuck yuck. Uggghhh.

Anyway, after chatting with her for a while, I met Captain Allen, and Nekochi!

Selfie together wwww

Another with just the Captain hehe

After meeting them, can't remember what I did.

Lolololol. Guess I just roamed around, until Kyee finish her mini shoot and we went home.

:3

That was Day 1. For Day 2, initially I did not plan to go at all. Then I talked to Minori, and in the end I went to support her performance.

Got there sort of early, then I bumped into Calvin!

We went to Old Town, he have his lunch and I was just drinking hehe.

We chat, then after he's done, I went to find Minori.

On the way there, I passed by Feito, and he yelled my name lolol.

I was sorta rushing, and I didn't her him go "Joe joe joe joe joe joe joe" but then I heard a sudden "JOE!!!!!!" lol. 

                                

Poor Feito, having to try so hard to catch my attention hahaha

After that selfie, I rushed into the stage area since Minori's performance was supposedly starting.

But as usual, there's delays lol. Wasted my energy rushing -_-

Her OOTD! hehe

Some shots of her on stage. I kind of end up being like the stage photographer today LOLOL.

Just took photos of all those performers :3

A performer, I have no idea who he is even though we said hi :x

I forgot his name :x

But he sang awesomely though! 

Despite some problems he had to deal with, cause of the freaking sound engineer.

The freaking sound engineer....Damn, where should I start?

Let's start by..He moved the speakers to the front of the stage, which is bad because the performers can't hear themselves, being behind the speakers. And because there is no monitor speakers wtf.

Why would he move the speakers towards the front?

Well because...The vendors opposite the stage were complaining that it was too loud.

Okay, I get it, it's loud. But what I don't get is, WHY DAFUQ IS HE MOVING THE SPEAKERS TOWARDS THE FRONT WHICH IS CLOSER TO THE VENDORS.

Ehhhh hello?!?!? It's common sense that the nearer it is, the louder it'll get. What da bloody fuck.

I can't brain, and I don't even-

*Sarcastic tone*

Another thing is, if people is complaining that it is too loud, (and it really was LOUD), you should lower the volume damn it.

And even though it was loud, he keep increasing the gain when people are performing wtf. 

As a result the sound is crackly, and feedback occurs. -_-

And ohhhhhh, he had the nerve to say "I am sorry, but I can't guarantee that you'll be able to hear anything at all up there."

Wadafak. He told that to Kaoru before her duet with Minori.

..........................

What's wrong with him? zzzzzzzz

Anyway, in the end they managed to get him to move the speakers back, which kinda made things a little bit better. 

(but because of the venue and the way the audio engineer keep tampering with the gain, everything was still bad)

Minori and Kaoru dueting

And oh, there was a ramen eating competition as well haha. Can't remember whether it happened after or before the duet though.

Among all these people, there's only a girl. And she won!! Hahahah xD

Awesome wwwwww

Harmonia ACG performed as well, and here's a few shots;

Sophia helped out during a song as well :3

They did a good job, I like their harmonies haha.

A photo of the crowd for I don't know which performance lol

I guess that's all?

The on the way back, I stop in front HELP Uni since Kyee's friend left her stuff there.

And bumped into Yun hehe. Selfied with her, with me inside the car hahahaha xD

Ok, got to go now, ciao!

More updates will come soon hehe.

View of KL International Jazz & Arts Festival as a stage crew

KL International Jazz & Arts Festival, UM, on 17th May 2014.
It was a 2 day event, 17th and 18th May, but I only attended the first day, 17th May.

Upon arriving, I was given my volunteer tag and their T-shirt, which said KL International Jazz & Arts Festival 2013 :S

In UM's toilet LOL

Anyway, Emad and I were assigned to Experimental Theater.

When we got there, it was around 1pm. 

They were still setting up, even though they were supposed to do that in the morning :o

The sound guys told us that they've been trouble shooting problems since the morning.

While they are still setting up, I checked out how they mike up the drums, piano, amplifier etc.

The piano there was C.Steinbert, and holy shit the moment I pressed the first note, I was drawn. Completely drawn. As if something was sucking me to it.

I've never felt such an awesome piano before. The clarity of it, the touch, the feel.

Sigh. One day, I'll get a piano like this!

And oh, when the sound guy asked who can play the piano, without thinking I just raised my hand up and shouted ME!!!!!!! 

Then I played on the piano a while for them while they check the signals and everything.

Sigh, it was so beautiful. BEAUTIFUL. 

After that, I just hang around until the first band that were supposed to soundcheck arrived.

The stage manager brought Emad and I to the main stage to check out others performer soundchecking. At that time, I was lucky to have heard Keiko Matsui's soundcheck.

I was completely blown by how she performed, even though it was only a soundcheck. She was playing "Dream Seeker" at the time. After a while though I have to go back to Experimental Theater cause the soundcheck there was about to start.

Lisa Young Quartet was the first band, followed by Niccolo Faraci, and then it will be performance time.

During the soundcheck, there was quite a lot of problems :S

The sound guys were rushing about, panicking while Emad and I just looked at them and kind of..Facepalm. They have no clue what they're doing, I won't go into details about what is happening since I didn't really communicate with them, but I remember one of them finding out that a cable is actually not plugged in, after HOURS of troubleshooting what went wrong.

.....And another case is, Lisa requested more higher mids for her mic channel, the sound guy was like "The highs?" Lisa kind of looked confused for a moment, then she said "No, the higher mids." 

Then the sound guy just increased the volume. ....................Yeah, I'm kinda speechless.

Anyway screw their problems, it is not my problem lol.

I was kinda like an extra since I'm volunteering under SAE. There is nothing much for me to do except see to what the artists wants. One of them even asked me to go get his jacket lol, but seriously other than that I was just standing backstage enjoying the performances.

Most of the time I roam around the place, checking stuff out.

This is the soundroom

View from the room

Niccolo Faraci Trio

Lisa Young Quartet

And erm...no idea who's this.

After the event finish in Experimental Theater, Emad and I roamed around more, checking out other stages. 

Later in the evening, we just sat and chill with our seniors at the CD booth.

Until I heard Keiko Matsui playing in the other hall.

We went in to watch her performance which was MIND BLOWING. The atmosphere was awesome, and her band sounds so well balanced. It did not focus entirely just on her, other instruments got some awesome parts too.

After her performance, she headed out to the CD area where we were chilling for her autograph session. And the whole time, I was standing behind her, photo bombing everyone that is taking a picture with her x'D

And I'm not sorry :p

Keiko-san selfie-ing with a random dude haha

We waited for about an hour of so (?) before there is no more crowd left, then I asked for her signature and a picture with her. She's very friendly and nice! She even thanked me for volunteering when she signed on my "volunteer" tag. :')

And oh, when Emad told her he would like to play alongside her one day, she looked at him, and genuinely asked what instrument he played! :O 

We did not expect that at all. 

Hahahaha I selfie with her www

Emad taking a proper picture lol

Sigh. I would love to attend her live again someday, and hopefully worked along side her as well.

Meeting Keiko Matsui and playing the Steinberg piano is the only experience that I really enjoyed. Other than that, it wasn't that fun :/

One of the performer (quite famous pianist) was arrogant, and pffffffttttt his music wasn't even that great. I expected his music to be good since he was quite arrogant, but when he performed, all I can do is try not to laugh. I don't find emotion in his music, and his band wasn't balanced, I felt like the members were trying to outshine each other.

Funny thing was, he's so arrogant backstage, but on stage he pull on a "Oh I'm a great guy, look how funny am I" type of attitude. It just kind of disgust me :/

It's like there is no sincerity?

Oh well.

Keiko Matsui is still the best :D

Humble and nice person, and her music truly inspired me.

To the point I get kind of emo, cause thoughts like "Why didn't I continue with a music course?" "Why did I choose to go backstage instead of onstage?" starts to bother me.

But oh well, I'm not really regretting, knowing all these audio stuff is great too. I did not regret picking up audio engineering. And it will never be too late to take up music as well :3

Well, I guess that's all.

Hope to meet more awesome musician in the future!

Everything changes. And life just happens.

I never know what I what.
Not then, not now.
I was always confused, my desires keep changing and I can't really picture my future.
Whenever people ask me how do I see myself like let's say 20 years down the road, I'll probably shrug and say I don't know.
If they demand an answer, I can only tell them I want it to be near the ocean, related to music, arts, and I want freedom.

I wonder, how do I piece those things together?
I have no idea how, but I guess it'll just come to me when the time is right.

That's what happened to me so far. Stuff just came, out of the blue.

For example, The Crestfall. 

Carlson just messaged me out of the blue one day asking me whether I want to join a band or not. I had no idea what I was agreeing to face when I said yes. I was only 16, and the reason I joined is because I love music and want to play it together with people that share the same interest.
I only want to have some fun.

I did not realize the stress, time, money that would come with it.

Stress, because we went through members changed so frequently and we need to deal with last minute jamming.
Time, because there will be jamming sessions, home practice, and events to attend.
Money, because we need to book the studio outside and pay ourselves.

Nor did I realize that by agreeing to join The Crestfall, I would take up an interest in audio engineering.
And that lead me to take the course I'm taking now.

Thinking back, it was kind of funny though. When I first join the band, I don't even know what the fuck is a bass guitar.
I didn't know that usually there will be a lead guitar and a rhythm guitar.
I don't even know how to play the keyboard properly, I'm only basing everything on my Grade 5 piano knowledge.
Without realizing I've pick up more knowledge and skills.
Previously I can't detect the bass line.
Previously I can't sing back up vocals.
Now I can. There is so much more other things I learnt.

Anyway, being in this band also introduced me to friends.
There's members from other bands, event committee members, and just plain music lovers.

It's so weird how one thing lead to another.
Stuff just happened, and I never seem to realize it until time passed. Only then did I realize how much something small could be big.
And how something big could become small again.

The Crestfall seem dead now.
Or maybe it's just me. Am I losing interest?
I am a sessionist for Myclamyra Project for the upcoming c2age event, and also to help them out with the video audition for Jrock no Tamashii.
Jamming with a band feels so different from how it use to feel. There is no more hype for me.
I even told them I don't want to join Jrock no Tamashii.
I used to want to join it so much.
But now, I have no more interest in it.

Minori applied for Crestfall to perform in c2age as well, but I said no to it.
I don't know why I did that.
I was the one that said I missed the band, that I want to have jamming session and performance.
But I guess I can't be bothered anymore.

Despite all these, when I saw those band's audition video for Jrock no Tamashii, I felt a sharp pang on my chest. It was quite depressing.
It's like, how can I love and hate something at the same time?
And all the while I thought that it doesn't matter to me anymore.

What the fuck do I actually want?
You probably can tell I'm fucking confused lol.
Somehow this post turns out completely different from what I want to talk about.
Again, I guess it's because stuff just happens.

Meh.

Why I didn't update much (or bullshit)

Haven't been updating for quite a while, and I'm too lazy to do one of my 'updates' post lol.

I guess the reason why is because I've been quite busy lately, or at least I think I am?

And I guess it's just that I don't know if I care that much about stuff anymore.

I used to keep updating because I used to love reading my blog again, it refresh my memories, and I use my blog to keep track of what happened in my life.

Now...I don't know.

I don't see the point of it much.

Maybe it hurts to read back sometimes. 

Or maybe I was convincing myself that I have a 'happening' life.

Lol. Bullshit to all of those, whatever it was.

For the past days/week (whatever, can't really remember when) I think I feel a lot better about myself than I've ever felt. I think it's finally safe to say that I finally don't care anymore, don't give a damn.

I'm me, and I'm awesome. Hahahahhaa.

Anyway, this blog won't die though.

I enjoy writing, and I only write here mostly.

I will still use this blog to keep track of my life, even though I said it was bullshit.

I guess the reason behind me wanting to keep track of my life is different now. :)

Nowadays I've fallen in love with photography.

I'm starting to view things differently, every small little thing will mean something to me, and I see beauty in different things I used to see.

I'm starting to feel serenity, and solitude is no longer a thing I'm afraid of.

Photography somehow creates serenity and solitude for me, they mask the noisy bustling real world I'm in.

I guess you could say I'm being delusional, but it works to keep me calm and happy.

Lol what am I writing anyway.

I'll come back again with more updates when I have more free time. 

Meanwhile, I'll deal with my band performance as a sessionist, assignments, finals, and random errands that have to be done.