Mel and PGL

Yes, I was in KL over the weekend. And, for the record, I was there for ONE NIGHT only. Punya alang-alang. But I am not one to complain because it's not everyday I get a fully-paid trip to watch a musical!

My colleagues and I were in the city to watch the famed Puteri Gunung Ledang - The Musical. This is me and Hang Tuah - the male protagonist and knight in shining...songket. Okay, so he's on a banner. I take what I can.


It was on Friday night, at Istana Budaya. They have so much going on there throughout the year, as the huge banner shows. I'm such a theatre geek and if I lived in KL, you'd know where to find me on weekends...


Me and Sara - my roomie extraordinaire. She watched the movie whilst yours truly had no clue on what was about to unravel on stage. In some ways, I'm glad I didn't so it was like listening to a fairy tale for the first time.

Right outside the theatre. I love the buzz right before the show starts. And when that curtain goes up, I feel all fuzzy inside. I'll take live theatre over the cinema any day.

Istana Budaya from the outside.Yeah, the pic doesn't do it much justice. The last time I was here was to watch 'The Sound of Music', circa 2004.

With my colleagues and the main characters of the play. (Ok, it's another poster, fine). Tiara Jacqueline (who played the same role in the movie back in 2003) portrayed the princess in the musical. She's quite the singer too. I absolutely love how the cast pulled off the Javanese accent. Every detail, every movement was a beautiful reflection of the Javanese culture.

I don't want to ramble on how excellent the show was. All I can say is that I haven't been that riveted since a bunch of well-buffed and shiny men invaded the cinema screen in a little movie called '300' not too long ago. If anything, I've discovered I'm still a sucker for a darn good love story. Throw in a tragedy or two for added effect.Oh and they had screens on the side with English subtitles. Perfect for those a bit rusty with their Bahasa Malaysia - that would be me.

On another note, some people actually scoffed and smirked when I told them I was going to watch this musical. "Malaysian ah?Er, ok whatever. Have fun." Ok, so even I don't have the highest regard for all things Malaysian but let's cut the country some slack. With the awfully bad will come the amazingly great. There ARE some good Malay songs (and no, not the Indonesian ones). There ARE talented musicians out there. There ARE quality productions that we can be very proud of sometimes - and once again, no, I don't mean Cicak Man. If you watched 'Puteri Gunung Ledang - The Musical', I'm pretty sure it'll smack that smirk right off some arrogant faces.

Yes, I'm just tired and irritable. For Monday looms.