Tugu Drum Circle at #Urbanscapes

Usually, as the name suggested, the Tugu Drum Circle do their jamming every Sunday at Tugu Negara. This weekend, the plan changed. They were at Urbanscapes, right in the open at Medan Pasar entertaining the crowd and getting them to join as well.

It worked out great. They got all their equipments laid up on seats arranged in a big circle with the director right in the middle conducting the whole thing. Even those we couldn't drum just followed the interactions and the rest was history.

Getting the place readyEvery instrument was pre-arrangedG-Pro readyTime for a quick briefingIt went on a touch too long I thought with some of the participant already getting tired after around 15 minutes. They did jazz it up though, by playing alternate instruments and just having fun.

The most important guy was the one with the bass drum. He controls the tempo.And they get some of the sections to do a bit of a soloIt attracted a sizeable crowd and yes, there was somebody who started to dance - in a rather suggestive fashion - before being told off by security. On the whole, it was a spectacle. I wonder if my boys - Idlan especially - may be interested.

#Urbanscapes Closing Day

I returned to Urbanscapes House for the final day. They had a long list of events on the ready. Being at an open site and right smack in the middle of the city, there was no issues about access. In fact, I went there twice on the day, first alone in the afternoon to catch some music and later with Anita after dinner managing to catch the last leg of the "Open Mic Stand", a stand-up show hosted by a friend.

It was threatening to rain at late afternoon, hence the start of the festivities was delayed. The first stand-up session was done indoors instead rather than at the intended "nasi lemak" shaped stage - complete with free nasi lemak. The band started playing half an hour late but soon the schedule caught up. The weather also cleared, but the sun was shaded - which was just as well so that it was not too hot.

FluffyThe day's programThe crowd filling up the balcony at Urbanscapes House while the rigging for the concert stage was erectedPrakash was the MC for the "One Mic Stand" showsI took shelter at Central Market while things were starting, taking some tea.

There were all together 3 stand-up chows for the day - I caught the first and the last - featuring different comedians. And they were bold enough to have stand-up in Malays. The first few did not catch on, but the one - the headliner - in the final show was excellent. In fact, the last session was a riot - in the open at night - it was simply excellent. And yes, they tried giving away all the nasi lemak but there were no takers. Me and Anita was already done with our dinner.

The crowd started mingling while the stage was setThe balloons protecting us from the elementsHive of activitiesI also enjoyed the Tugu Drum Circle - where they got the public to participate - but I didn't join because of my tendinitis. More about the drums later. Security was pretty OK, and since Medan Pasar was popular with the foreign workers during weekend, the main job of the security was to make sure that there were no unwanted incident rather than true security. On the while, the whole place was safe, and I hope in the years to come, similar event was done here.

Spring Clean

After we sorted out the desk for Idlan, it was time to create some space for it in his room. That would mean taking out his TV and Wii U, moving it to Irfan's room right opposite. Since we were there, Anita decided to clear everything out.

We badly need a book rackIt will work out fine ....Not even the store was cleared. Looking forward to the delivery tomorrow.

Taking Shelter

I arrived at Lebuh Ampang quite early. There was a stage already set up but nobody's playing. The comedy show I was waiting to see was some time away. And it threatened to rain.

Time to make a timely escape. Rather than going into the Urbanscapes House, I decided to walk on to Central Market. I parked myself at one of the cage and had some drinks.

Might as well order something for the afternoonI was still there an hour later with the sound of thunder ringing outside. Not the time to go yet. But the owner - a fierce-looking Chinese lady - was giving me the look. She sent her waiter a couple of times to clear my table. Luckily there were a few European visitors occupying the table next to me, and they were still there. I guess I would be pretty safe.

The weather didn't seem to let up. I was practically stuck here as I parked my car at Nu Sentral. I'll give it another 30 minutes before making my move...

I Scratch Your Back

A few years back, there was a headline about a speech given by PM Najib. It was during a campaign for a by-election. In that speech, he famously pleaded, "I scratch your back. And you scratch mine."

On the day that Sarawak had the state election, I couldn't help by be reminded by that speech during my ward round this morning.

One of the patient had been having a chronic skin irritation and he just couldn't stop scratching. So, he got this device to service his hard to breach areas. Clever wasn't it. And he was happy with it.

Suffice to say that BN got a huge majority in the election. A lot of back scratching was expected from now.