Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The Two Towers, Fish on my Feet and the Final Show.

Hello all!

So we're all back safe and sound. In fact, we've been back for 3 months. Whoops! Sorry for the delay. Here is the fifth and final CT Tour blog, enjoy!

So, our final three days were a relaxed affair. On the Saturday, myself, Mud, Scottrina, Valentina, Kevin, John and Kim went to see the Two Towers (The Petronas Towers not Orthanc and Barad-Dur from The Lord of The Rings.) I can confirm that they are quite big but dissapointingly there were no evil wizards played by Christopher Lee in them. The attached shops were very expensive, particularly compared with the Chinatown night markets we went to that evening. My one peice of advice when visiting a market like this, don't wear a football jersey if you want to be left alone. In particular, don't wear a Manchester United jersey. It is amazing the amount of United merchandise there. I think i did quite well to restrict my purchases to two shirts and a cap.


We returned to the YMCA and myself and John King returned to our room to find a most horrific sight. Joel, in his underpants, cigar in one hand, beer in the other, watching Project Runway. Joel insisted that he was 'living the dream.' It seemed more like a nightmare to me. So we left to go out and watch the Australia/Ghana game at a bar called 'Ronnie Q's.'

We performed TPATFPOYP at The Temple of Fine Arts for the final time the following day. Personally, I was a little sad to finally say goodbye to Sima but it was some send off and certainly a very different experience from the final show at Nexus. We took photos with some of the children afterwards and oddly, some children did want photos of Joel! On the plus side, never again will I have to put that damn moustache on! After removing them, Jenny wisely disposed of my fetted whiskers safely before I performed arson upon them.

Our final day of the tour saw the majority of us prepare to leave for home. Once our bags were packed and we had left the YMCA, we dropped off our luggage at the temple and went to spend one last afternoon in KL. 'What ever did you do?' I (imagine) you ask. Well the obvious; buy a remote control helicopter for $17 Aus and let a tank of fish clean my feet.

You may have seen this activity on TV where people stick there feet in a fish tank full of tiny fish and let them nibble away. Well Scottrina, John King and I saw a shop in this massive shopping centre offer this service and decided to participate. It was an interesting sensation. I never expected it to be so pleasent. It feels odd at first, as the fish latch onto your foot and nibble away but the slight tickling aside, it really is quite relaxing.

And that was pretty much it. We returned to the temple in the evening, showered, flew remote control helicopters for a bit and then gathered up our belongings and took the coach to the airport. We arrived in Perth at roughly 5-6am where it was a dazzling 8 degrees Celcius. Brr! Still, we got through customs, I picked up a nice big bottle of port from the duty free and we parted company, all of us ready to sleep.

Within two hours, I was home just in time to wake up my brothers for school by landing a remote control helicopter on their faces. Their mood improved once they realized I had gifts. I fed the dogs for the first time in nearly two weeks (they seemed happier to see me than my siblings) and I slept in my own bed. As sleep enveloped me in her heavy embrace, I found it odd that almost thirteen hours prior I was in a Malaysian temple, having a shower and whistling the Swedish Rhapsody.

It is a funny thing, Children's Theatre, isn't it?

Yours belatedly,
Stephen B. Platt, former Confucian Bear.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Joel-hor Bahru, Hawaiian Shirts and Haggling

Welcome to Kuala Lumpur! The Hawaii of Malaysia!

Or so it appears to be as I sit here typing this in a bright orange Hawaiian shirt in the cafe of the YMCA we are staying at. I'll get onto why I am in such a shirt in a moment but let me get you up to speed first.

So at the end of the last blog, we were about to start our second and final performance in Johor Bahru. Or as it shall now be known Joel-hor Bahru. This is due to Joel's 'overwhelming popularity' with the local children. You see, after our first show and the whole SSIFC appeared, old Joely Wet Eggs decided that he wanted in on the adoration. So after the show on Wednesday night, Joel tried to get the children to have photos taken with him. They were not as keen. Eventually, Joel ended up chasing down the children and trying to wrestle them into submission. OK, I am perhaps over stating the facts but none the less Joel seemed to feel that whenever we return to JB it will be renamed 'Joel-hor Bahru' in his honour and the palace will be waiting for him should he wish to stay.

Anyway, we had a good final night in JB before flying out to Kuala Lumpur Thursday lunchtime. A quick point to any budding architects though, when designing a urinal, don't make it look like a water feature. Or vise-versa. I'm still not entirely sure what it was. Just visit the male toilets in JB airport and you will see what I mean.

A coach dropped us off at a YMCA where we shall be staying for the remainder of the tour. It is not as lavish as the Straits View hotel but it is perfectly comfortable. Once again I am sharing with Joel and John King. This time, Joel was detirmined to get the best bed, so me and John let him pick. Much to his annoyance, all three beds were of equal quality so he picked the one with the best view of the TV. We later discovered that the TV doesn't work. :)

Once we had dropped of our belongings we headed to where we will be performing the final two shows, the Temple of Fine Arts, KL. This facility is much less rustic than the JB branch. It is an incredible building that has the capacity to facilitate many different dance and music lessons. We all had dinner in a restraunt on the bottom floor, which led to this excellent joke from myself.

Me: Hey! This yellow sauce is writing a message to me!
Katrina: What?
Me: Oh! It's writing a book. It's called 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.'
Katrina: Huh?
Me: It must be Rohl Dhall.

*APPLAUSE*

Thank you. Thank you. OK settle down. So today we went to the markets in Chinatown and I discovered a new talent, haggling. This is what I found works:

1.) Identify the item you want and think of how much it would cost back at home.
2.) Look in the general area the item of interest is. The shopkeep will see you and engage in conversation.
3.) Be as polite and friendly as you can. Ask how much the item in question costs. EG: How much are your football jerseys?
4.) Listen to how much it costs. EG: 45RM (RM is the symbol for Malaysian Ringet)
5.) Make this noise whilst appearing to think about it: Errrrrmmmmm.....
6.) The shopkeep will make a revised offer. EG: 35RM. Just for you

If you are happy with this, accept. If not...

7.) Pretend you have a better offer. EG: I don't know. There's a guy selling one down there for 25RM.
8.) Wait for counter-offer. If they match or better the 'other guy' accept the price. If not...
9.) Walk away, saying you will take the 'other guys' offer. Remember, you have the money therefore you have the power. One of two things will happen:

9a.) You don't get the item. Big deal, in markets like this, there are at least ten other stalls selling the same thing. Or...
9b.) The shopkeep will yell to you an improved offer. EG: 20RM. Accept.

Congratulations! You have successfully haggled!

So we are about to go to the temple to have a rehearsal ahead of the two shows this Sunday with myself, Scott, Jason and Mud ready to show off our new Hawaiian shirts. Oh yeah! There may be one final blog before we return on Tuesday. If not, there will be one that sums up the rest of the trip available by Wednesday. Thank you for following our adventures and I'll speak to you all next week.

Yours,
Stephen

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

What country friend is this? Ponchos, Joel's Bed, Harrison Ford and The Scott Suffling International Fan Club

Sorry for the delay in this update, everyone. A lot has been going on and i've only just found a computer. This blog covers the rest of our stay in Singapore, the journey to Johor Bahru and our first performance at the Temple of Fine Arts. Also, by popular demand, puns will be appearing in this blog. You can thank Emma for this. :)

So, where to begin? Well on our second day in Singapore, the tutors decided to take us to the zoo. When we got there, the dark grey clouds that had appeared in the morning turned into a monsoonal downpour. You could say it was Singapouring it down. In spite of this, we carried on, with bright green ponchos to protect us. The zoo was incredible, in particular the elephant show, which I would highly recommend you all seeing if you get the chance. I had no idea just how incredible these majestic creatures were. I could tell you more about the zoo, like Melissa 'emu-lating' the emus, the chimp that won a race, therefore becoming the 'Chimp-ion', or the pizza shop inside the zoo called 'Pizzafari' but they are irrelephant by comparison. (Happy now, Emma?)

After the zoo, myself, Scottrina, Joel, Jason, Nick Choo, Claire and Kate went to a local bar to watch the Australia/Germany game. Oh dear. That was a mistake, if not for the result but for the large amount of alcohol that was consumed. The shop owner, who insisted we call him 'Uncle' was more than happy for our patronage. I also got to try a 'Singapore Sling' at a swanky bar in the CBD with Scott and Mud, an interesting cocktail to say the least.

The following day (Monday) we left The Hive on a coach and drove into Malaysia. After a quick delay at the check in (Kylie, Meagan and Leanne managed to get lost somehow) we had a lovely lunch and were taken to our new lodgings in Johor Bahru, the Straits View hotel. It is an improvement on The Hive, as we are now in rooms of two or three as opposed to rooms of 6 and 12. I am currently sharing a room with John King and Joel. As myself and John were the first two in the room, we claimed the proper beds, leaving Joel with the fold out cot. We haven't heard the last of it;

"It's too small! My feet are hanging over the edge!"
"This pillow is too hard!"
"You call this a blanket? I can see through it!"
"I can't see the TV properly at this acute angle!"

Etc, etc. In fairness, these comments are justified. But Joel's complaining has been very funny none the less. Anyway, in the evening we were taken to the Temple of Fine Arts for a rehearsal. The Temple is a dedicated school of the arts, mostly in the area of dance. We were treated to a short segment of a 35 minute dance routine that the students had been training for for an exam. It was pretty incredible and I don't know how impressed they were with our Duck Dance by comparison.

The first night went by without much incident, or so i thought. It turns out that John and Joel are the latest to experience a sleeping Stephen, who it turns out is just as talkative when unconscious as when awake. I have been know to talk in my sleep and apparently (i have no memory of my dream from the night) I was talking to Harrison Ford. We must be good friends, as i referred to him as Harry for the most part.

The following evening (Tuesday) we had our first performance scheduled. So after a morning shopping and lunch at 'Kenny Rodger's Roasted Chicken Restaurant' we spent the afternoon relaxing before the show. Unless you were Claire, Kate and Kylie that is, who proceeded to climb through windows, spell out words with their bodies to say "Joel love poop long time." and zip poor Hannah up in a suitcase and leave her outside our room.

Once we were all hi-jinxed out, we had another quick rehearsal before leaving for the Temple. Now CT people, if you thought it was warm and uncomfortable backstage in the Nexus, you have no idea how we felt last night in full makeup and costume outside on a balmy Malaysian evening. It was disgustingly uncomfortable and the thought that in an hours time I have to start putting that gear on again is making me a bit unhappy. However, it is cooler today so it shouldn't be as bad and the audience were incredible. They made us all feel very welcome in their community and after the show the children came to have lots of pictures taken with us. So in spite of the discomfort, we are all more than willing to do the show again.

Last night also saw the reformation of the SSIFC (Scott Suffling International Fan Club), an organization with two main objectives:

1.) To show an almost irrational amount of love and general revelry towards Scott Suffling.
2.) To really annoy Claire and Kate.

Last year, when Scott, Claire, Kate, Katrina and a few other students toured a play around Chile, Scott had a huge appeal to the youngsters, particularly 15 year old girls i'm told, who had 'I LOVE SCOTT!' written on their foreheads. Well last night, the Malaysian branch of the SSIFC turned up and demanded that Scott come out of the changing area to have photos taken. They absolutely love him and it is remarkable. Claire thinks it is because they have never seen anyone with ginger hair before and I wouldn't be surprised if Kate turned up tonight with her hair a redder shade than 'The Fire Boy.'

So tonight we are performing our second and final show in Johor Bahru and then tomorrow we fly out to Kuala Lumpur. I'm not sure how long it will be before there is another of these blogs. Possibly tomorrow night but it is more likely to be up the next day. (Friday) I do hope that this finds you all well.

Take care,
Stephen

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Planes, Trains, Boats and Manchester United themed Cafes...

Greetings from Singapore!

I'd better start from when I finished the last blog. The journey from home to The Hive in Singapore took a total of 11 hours. Everything went very smoothly. After saying goodbye to loved ones at the airport, we boarded the plane for Singapore. The 5 hour flight was pleasant enough, even if we had to make our own entertainment. This primarily came in the form of a game of I Spy in which it took Scottrina most of the flight to figure out what began with L. (The answer was 'Label')

After landing, we boarded a fleet of Taxi's and were driven to our lodgings whilst here in Singapore, The Hive. As it was close to 4am by the time we got there, none of us were in the mood to appreciate our surroundings. We went straight to bed and would have gone to sleep immediately if it weren't for Kevin's 'hygiene routine.' I think Joel summed up everyone's feelings; "Who cleans there ears at 5 in the morning?"

Due to the heat and humidity, the boys room has established the rule of 'Pants off, shirts optional' which is being enforced, mostly by Joel. The rooms are basic but secure. Both rooms were air conditioned until the girls AC started leaking. In Kate's ear so I'm told. So there may be a small invasion tonight. So I'll be fortifying the room after this.

So today, whilst the girls (and Kevin) hit the shops, myself, Scottrina and Mud (John Langdale) decided to go explore some of what this city has to offer. My overall impression so far is that Singapore is a very charming place, particularly by the waterfront. The public transport is of a high quality. The trains are on time and clean. As someone who uses Perth's trains a lot, I am unsure how I can ever return to a normal life after the dizzying heights of Singapore's standards. A place where T.V's display movie trailers and informative transport announcements while you wait, a place where the bars you hold onto whilst standing on a moving train split into three bars at shoulder height, meaning three times as many people can use them. A place where the signs say "No smoking, No eating or drinking, No flammable goods and No durians."

The buildings here are some the most daringly designed I've ever seen. I can't even begin to describe some of them to you. I'll put up pictures when I get back but they are incredible. But the building that impressed me the most was the Manchester United themed cafe on the waterfront. We stopped there for a tasty lunch as the others watched me get very excited over the wall dedicated to United's great number sevens and the framed and signed Rooney and Giggs shirts.

Once we had eaten, we left the cafe (with me now wearing a new official United top that cost over $50 less than it would back in Aus!) and decided to take a river cruise. Singapore continued to be amazingly beautiful, with highlights of the tour being a brilliant statue of 5 little boys jumping into the river. They literally were! Again, pictures will be available when we get back.

We made our way back to The Hive afterward and sat down with Joel and John (King) with some Tiger beers, which I would recommend everyone trying. People began cooking up plans for a night on the town but tiredness and Tiger Beer caught up with me and I had to have a long nap. This worked out perfectly for myself because, as much as I'd love to drink until my brains turned to mush and started dribbling out of ears in a Singaporean night club, instead I get to kick back and relax in the lounge of The Hive, write this latest installment of our travels and watch the World Cup with a Tiger Beer or two ;)

A trip to the zoo is planned tomorrow, so with any luck you may get another of these blogs in the evening. Or I may wait until we arrive in Johor Bahru on Monday. We'll see. Anyway, going to watch the England game in about an hour or two and then hit the hay.

Wishing that you were all here with us,
Stephen

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Packing, Humidity and The World Cup

Hello all!

Stephen here. As you may be aware, I am leaving Perth tomorrow night for a 10 day tour of Singapore and Malaysia with Murdoch University's Children's Theatre course. I am going to attempt to use this blog to keep in touch with you all, getting online when and where I can. Feel free to ignore me if you wish. :)

So, in 24 hours time I'll be at Perth International Airport preparing to depart for Singapore. I'm quite excited about the whole thing. It only occured to me this afternoon just how soon I would be leaving. I was exchanging money at the Travelex in Perth when Suki (the polite lady who was serving me) asked when I was leaving and I was shocked to find myself saying "Tomorrow." For the last few months, the trip has been a place for me to anchor the future. To realize that it would start tomorrow threw me slightly.

Still, very excited about the whole thing. Just finished packing my suitcase and I am pleased to report it doesn't exceed the 15kg limit. It mostly consists of t-shirts and shorts as I am informed that it is very warm and humid in South-East Asia at this time of year. Apparently the first day we are there, it will be 31C with 67% humidity. I have all the essentials as well, toiletries, socks, undies, an empty camera and an iPod filled with enough podcasts to last me all three flights and the coach trip. Oh, and the passport. Better not forget that!

The route is fairly simple. Tomorrow evening we fly from Perth to Singapore. Then on Monday, we take a coach across the Singapore/Malaysia border and into Johor Bahru where we will stay and perform two shows before flying to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. We then do two more shows before flying back to Perth on Monday evening, landing at approximately 5.30am Tuesday morning.

One thing I am looking forward to that starts tomorrow as well is the World Cup. I'm actually in the air when the opening match (South Africa v Mexico) kicks off. I am told that Singapore is football/soccer (take your pick) crazy and there are lots of my fellow Manchester United supporters living there. I wonder how many of these 'fans' will know who Bobby Charlton or Denis Law are. Oh well, at least they have the right idea. Watching England v USA in a Singaporean bar should be quite the experience.

So i'm going to sign off now. Hopefully the next time you recieve one of these i'll be in Singapore and presumably I will have found internet access too. I do hope that this message and all future ones find you well.

Speak to you soon,

Stephen