Macdepp: the Theatre | Photos from the Night

Here’re some photos from the juniors’ stage-play, MACDEPP. More stories about them here. If you want to see more photos, click here. Kounsikaan!

The bobohizans telling Macdepp and Bangkoh the dreaded prophecies.

I love you, m'lady!

Regicide in the making

Sadness is in the air as the king is killed

Thinking... [assignments pending?]

The WORST photo ever. Haha~!

Bobohizan's Bolly ritual

Do you think what I think?

Lady Macdepp in crazy mode

I'm dying. Get me an ambulance, not singing Get it Right!

Kudos again to you guys!

Yarr... Methink the Moving Picture is Great!

Pirates of the Caribbean:
On Stranger Tides

Is absolutely entertaining, yarrr!

Yeah, Elizabeth and Will did not make a return, but we got new characters like Angelica and Blackbeard. They were great in their acting. Jack was not self-centred or selfish this time though, but as usual, his witty humour and great fighting skill is always there. Oh, I love the pairing of Angelica and Jack. Both were hard-headed, and witty. Heheh. Captain Barbossa meanwhile had a mission of finding the Fountain of Youth under the name and protection of the British Crown since the Spanish armada who is also looking for the same thing. Guess, European brotherhood was not that good during the 1700s?

Still, one thing that made the movie super-duper romantic and gorgeous [aren't that words that were loathed by Pirates Inc. world-wide?] was the presence of Philip and Syrena. Yes, I love them [100x], and I ship them! I mean, who wouldn’t love them? A dazzling mermaid and an attractive missionary, they are made for each other! [And yes, to approve my point, this paragraph is in a different colour.]

Okay… that’s all I gotta say. Haha~!

Memento

Time flees. It never waits for anyone. Each second passes, and we’re continuously getting old. The question: have we achieved the things that we wanted to have or to do, or did we postpone the process of doing it to a ‘better’ date?

If we really think that way, then most possibly many of us will never ever see the light. We can’t see the things installed for us tomorrow, let alone be sure that we will have the time to do something good in the future.

Sometimes, the launch pad to kick-start ourselves is already in front of our eyes. The only thing to do is to plunge into the risks. Everything has risks – even taking a course like Teaching has risks – but if you start to begin, understand and love the things you do, then it’ll be a breeze.

Things can change under a fraction of a second. You could either be victorious, or lose in the tough battle.

Rí

Swiftly through the flourishing confetti
Bellowing sounds made by trumpets
A soldier dared to march
The crowd saw him
The saturnine amongst the colours

Up he went
And with whimpering shriek
Stabbed the king
A royal the king was
But a king the royal was not
Took the throne
As a scarecrow
Alive to the avian creatures
Not to a real man

Fort and battlements did not help
And red coloured the day black
And the soldier marched on

Alaska

The perk of having the final exam so much earlier than everyone else: you can have your rest/holiday earlier.

The drawback of the same thing: you don’t know what to do during the entire time you’re waiting for the real holiday.

The reason on why you could be a reason of annoyance: by posting too many random stuff and what-not on the blog on a single day.

Pieces

She sat on a secluded corner of the park, and was hiding her pretty face between her smooth palms. The night was starless, only to be radiated by a brightly lit tall lamp, its light created a long silhouette of the girl on the dew-ridden bed of grass. Something happened, and she could not bear to accept the consequences. For a long time, she had never let herself to cry, but now it was all too much. She felt as if she was left to deal with the mess by her own.

And then, she heard a faint ‘hey’.

She looked up, and saw a boy sitting next to her. Slowly, he reached out for her hand and hold it firmly. He wanted to say something, but he could not. In that silence, all he could think to do was to smile. She gazed at the boy’s eyes, and for once, pieces of hope seemed to be planted in her heart.

Felix

Maybe he needs to drink Felix Felicis

And find some other girls

His so-called Cleopatra is up to no good

Because she’s just a thief who loves to steal hearts and trusts

And then breaks them like a glass

She sees pleasure in an empty bottle

She loves to see a Bildungsroman torn in the middle

The Boy and The Tree

A boy saw a lone tree, in the middle of the field amidst living carpet of grass. He was enchanted by its silhouette and made his way towards it. From afar the tree was different, but now when the boy saw the tree, it was dry and dying. Its branches, brittle, were waiting to fall. There, on its very top, a black crow was seen perching, chirping a tune as if celebrating the tree’s death. Then, it flew away, leaving only the little boy and the large tree.

The boy looked at the tree again. It must be majestic before, with green leaves and moist lichen all over it, the boy thought, but now, the tree was losing its life, sapped away to unknown territory. His eyes wandered around the field. The rest of the trees were far away, still breathing, still evergreen, yet this big one in front of him, how did it grow here, alone by itself? How did it die?

He imagined if his life would be the same. What if his life was good only in the beginning? He would have friends, loving mom and dad, siblings. He pictured his future, the time when his muscles were flailing, when his feet would not be able to walk, when his vision became blurry. Would there be anyone to stay with him, to coax him, to take care of him? Was he destined to die in silence, in isolation? What would the boy's last image be? Would it be his family all around him or just the zinc ceiling of his house? Would he be alone like the tree?

The boy stopped his imagination and looked back at the tree. The wind was getting colder. The lasts of the leaves started to fall down, landing just near his feet. It would not be long before the tree became a skeleton of its former self. The boy hugged himself tight, defying the cold weather. Black sky was looming over the horizon, yet his gaze was fixed to that same old tree. Then, his feet started to move back, one by one, and he turned around.

His mom was calling him. The boy carved a smile and ran towards her, but halfway through, he stopped and watched the tree again in fascination – or perhaps puzzlement. He made up his mind. He did not want his life to reminisce the tree, and he continued on with his steps.

Matters to the Heart

I presume that when it comes to love, we can be totally unprepared, not just one time, but too many times. It’s like you can’t control the times when you feel like your heart is beating for someone else, someone who is not your family. Someone who you have seen just now or maybe your friend for a long time but that feeling just emerges today, in this moment.

Matters to the heart can be a thing too important to one person, more so than the next person sitting beside him in the bus. Being single is fun maybe, but then there will be a time when you want someone else’s affection. Someone else that can make you feel wanted, happy, joyful.

Still, falling in love is a hard thing, beautiful, but hard. You watch that person pass by you day after day, talk to you, laugh with you, yet you are unsure. This is an uncharted territory. Even if you have the experience with love before, it’s not the same. Each person is a different adventure. You have two choices: do you want to say ‘I think I love you’ to that person, or do you just let it go because you think if you do that, then all of a sudden, comes that hard goodbye. You are never ready for the consequences. You can fall down on a comfy mattress, or a concrete I might put it that way.

Awkward choices.

Love is priceless, but too many people nowadays just look at it as something to be played upon. One day, you say ‘I love you’ to one girl, and the next, you may break up with her, or end up with another one [maybe happens in drama only?]. What if you look upon this feeling as nothing? Here it comes, and there it goes – you only love someone for the pleasure that someone gives to you. Someone who you can take advantages of. Love is not lust. Lust is the animal instinct, and all of us have it. The real thing, the real love is nothing about lust, well, not directly.

Love is when two people accept each other, no matter how large their differences are. They accept the past mistakes, never to be brought up again. They celebrate their strengths. They learn to rectify the weaknesses that they have together. Love is the thing that keeps people to stay strong together forever regardless of the hardship that they go through.

Macdepp: the Theatre

I just want to declare something: the juniors’ stage-play:
MACDEPP
Was super awesome!

Organising a stage-play is a part of the English Studies [for non-IPG students out there, it’s Literature] course and all PPISMP [foundation] TESLians are required to do it.

Macdepp was an adaptation of the famous Shakespearean play, Macbeth. So, why Macbeth suddenly became Macdepp? Well, the juniors did something different this year. They added the local Sabahan and Sarawakian flavour to the drama. Really different and I must say, they staged it pretty awesome! I like the change of perspective, from the Western POV to Borneo POV.

Now, in-depth analysis of Macdepp.

First the actors and actresses.

Depp [yeah, that’s the real nickname of the protagonist] as Macdepp – I really, really like his Cockney-sounding accent [Cockney accent is the Londoners’ accent]. Yes, Macdepp was supposed to a Borneo guy, but it was okay, bah! Über performance from Deafey, and I like the fight and the way he showed his emotions. Santiana as Lady Macdepp. She was the GIRL! Super multi-talented girl – she can dance, she can sing, and NOW?! She can definitely act. Love every bit of passion and emotion that she evoked. She could be really evil, and annoying, and downright funny. For the rest of the casts, you guys did an amazing job, especially the Bobohizans. The Bobohizans, they were like, wooow, were born to be Bobohizans – scary and humorous at the same time. Not to mention, they added the Sabahan taste with some Kadazan-Dusun speeches here and there. Of course, we faced the same problem with our dialogues – low volume, and the mikes kind of disrupting the flow with those many interferences. Still, I pretty much enjoyed every single act. Booyeah!

Next for the props and costumes and publicity.

One of the important aspects of a theatre is of course the props. How did Macdepp props department fare in the play? I guess if you want to hold some kind of themed party, they are the one that should be contacted. One month of preparation is short, but what they created was grandiose. You could feel the Sabah/Sarawak influences there. Even the background, it was biiggg! The costumes, I want one of those Kadazan-Dusun dresses, like super-bad! Beautifully made and they fitted the overall taste of Macdepp. Want to say kudos to both props and costumes department. The the publicists, you did an awesome job in designing the poster, brochures, everything. Like I said, super-cool poster! Awesomesauce!

The scriptwriters.

To fit the overall Borneo theme of Macdepp, of course some or many part of the Middle English language that Shakespeare used for Macbeth must be changed. The scriptwriter did it without diminishing the Shakespearean hint of the play. The occasional Sabahan dialogues, the dash of humour here and there, and sometimes, the dialogues were in modern English… haha. To fit to Borneo atmosphere more, we had Thane of Kudat, Thane of Bandar, Labuan, Sarawak, Tawau… really local Shakespeare play. To the scriptwriters, hands down, two thumbs up to you. You guys rock!

The overall reflection of Macdepp.

I really like the way they staged Macdepp. Even from the beginning, it felt like I was watching a movie, with the Behind the Scene video and really cool trailer. Love the music, especially! The tense started even in the beginning with the battle scene. I love the pleasure of watching the craziness of the Bobohizans [Bolly dance aite? Shakespeare would be rolling in his grave wherever that may be. Terrific!], and Lady Macdepp and Macdepp together. Both of them made a good couple… that can’t be denied. One thing is that this play made use of a number of videos to tell the story, really different, and good actually. The video of the scene when the killers are chasing Fleance and Bankoh [real name: Banquo] was super funny. One of my favourite video is the Brief Candle one – it shows photos of Macdepp and his lady together. Awww… The surprise was that Macdepp was a kind of a musical theatre in some parts – the actors sang songs to show their emotions. Wowser! Oh, one more thing, were you guys paid to show the clip of Cuti-Cuti Malaysia [Sabah, Sarawak, and Labuan] as a commercial? Haha… The only thing that I was bothered about was that you guys should end it with more ‘OOMMMPPPPHHHHH!’ It’ll be nicer that way, but still… BRAVO~!!!

So guys, that’s all in my zuper-long rant about Macdepp. Granted, I may not be the best reviewer out there… haha. Anyway, I had a grand and fun and hilarious time watching [and photographing] Macdepp.

CONGRATS TO THE JUNIORS!!!

Favourite quote – Macdepp: it's better to be emo than to face the reality

[BTW, photos will be uploaded soon. Please put yourselves in the ‘waiting’ mode. Thank you.]

Time to Heal is the Time You Lose

Look around you. You have everything: family, friends, a chance to pursue your education to be a good citizen, and of course, your laptop/books/exam. Heck, you still have the ability to breathe, see, taste, listen, feel, smell, and dream.

Still, just because of one problem [maybe related to a girl or a guy? I don’t know], you want to be emotional and sad and mad for like the rest of your entire existence? I don’t want to criticise or slam others, but this is the thing that I’ve been seeing. Rant after rant of ‘my life is equal to the f-word’, ‘my life is destined to be doomed’, my life this, my life that.

Hey, realise will you? Everyone has problems, hard or easy, long or short, that depends on the fates that God has written for us. I have problem, he has one, she has one, and they have dozens. Yes, a problem can be hard, especially if it involves matters connected to the hearts, but if you are so not happy for a very long time, it seems that you have a real issue there.

You are not content with your life.

All you see in front of you are the things that are stopping you from stepping forward. Your life, it matters and it has other countless pleasures. Why bother for things not meant for you. We are not born to get anything that we want anyway. You see, a dilemma can be solved, but if that stuff can’t be solved directly, then other alternatives maybe? Try to be happy. Don’t blame yourself, don’t blame others. It’s okay to be sad in the beginning, but later, you got to move on.

People say time will heal a broken heart, but in that wait to heal, you might have lost beautiful things that never wait for you.

Graffiti Ruin

If you happen to go to KK’s Suria Sabah [a shopping mall] or at least drive by the main road in front of it, you will definitely see a ruin in front of it. We call it Graffiti Ruin since it is covered with graffiti, real cool, dope graffiti.

From the look of that building, one might think that the building is nothing important, but it is a historical building actually, a colonial building that has stand ever since the time of Jesselton. The ruin is actually the old welfare building. The building survived the WWII bombings, but it was razed by fire [alleged to be the act of arson] in 1992. Fairly recent if you think of it. Why? Any conspiracies? Hurmmm…

What's 'antu gonie'?

Yes, anyone of 900,000 people of KK district did this

Birdie!

Cool!

Bunny with a heart

A decree from the Chinese emperor [yeah, right!]

Quite scary... haha

Inspired by your favourite Kadazan-Dusun girl?

Sadness

Du guo

Anyway, most KK-ians [or Jesseltonians… ahaha] would possibly never notice that building if the graffiti were not painted. For one, the graffiti is a mixed blessing. Now, many people take photos there, but again, most of them don’t have the knowledge of that historical building. Historical buffs acknowledged this building to be one of very few colonial building in KK a.k.a. Jesselton, a city where many of its historical features were destroyed for the sake of development. It’s a pity really for a city that was built around 1890s. I just hope that the city administration will take care of the rest of the Jesselton’s heritages

[News: save Atkinson Clock Tower, one of the last vestiges of old Jesselton. It deserves a proper treatment from DBKK.]

Emotion Combustion

If you accept the apology of another person, you’re making a promise of not using that person’s past sins against him.

Problems can be solved in many ways – good or bad. The choice is up to us. Don’t use any silent treatment. Sit down, talk, and listen. Saying sorry is not a sign that one is weak, and for the other one, who receives the apology, it’s not an approval of victory. Sometimes, both parties have enlarged ego, thinking that they are right. What if both are actually wrong? There’s nothing cool about sticking up your nose to the air in the effort to prove that you are the correct one, and the other is the mistaken one.

And [don’t start a sentence with ‘and’, grammar rule… haha], there’s nothing cool about being a person who tries to flame the others. If you don’t know the real problem, it’s better to stick to your own business. If you really want to help someone else, be a person that encourages people to forgive and care for each other again, not to exaggerate on the wrongdoings and enrages the affected person even higher. Think properly. You will not get anything by doing that. Instead, you’re creating yourself another enemy, and loathing from the others. If you’re mature, you know that when we’re living in a community like this, there should not be any rumble, physically or verbally or emotionally. There’s nothing great by making friends to hate each other.

What's a Cardigan again?

Not a Belieber, but I’m so in love with this shirt after watching
JUSTIN BIEBER: NEVERSAYNEVER

When it comes to fashion, it is something that I’m so not savvy about. I have plenty of hard times on deciding the types of clothes that I want to buy. Trousers and other lower garments? There are not so many shops that sell those with the waist the size of 26. Shirts and ‘T’s? I bought lots that are way bigger than me, because I’m thin, and I thought to look bigger, than I need bigger clothes that cover almost two thirds of me.

So, I’m wrong. I’m thin, and the real thing is to embrace our body shapes. Even if you’re bulky, big, small, petite, well-built, lean, tall, short, the thing is there are ways to dress the best you can. Here in KK, I can say that I learnt numerous things about what I should really wear from my friends – small-sized shirts for thin person are better, rolled sleeves, and not to restrict the choices to chequer-patterned shirts. There are good cardigans [eyeing for one now, and yeah, I only knew what's a cardigan two months ago] and other kinds of clothing for men [and women].

If you dress good, it will bring goodness to yourselves right? I really believe in that. No need to be too expensive, at least the garments are comfortable and beautiful to you [and to the others really], it’s not like you’re going to be a model somehow. Good sense of fashion boosts your level of confidence and motivation. It’s for your own happiness, and you don’t want to be seen with the same outfit 24/7 for 365 day per year. Haha.

[Then again, I still need fashion advices, and… uh… save money to buy some clothes... haha]

From Kota Belud to Kudat

We had a very long trip yesterday. A journey that took us across the western and northern part of Sabah~! Where to? Kota Belud and Kudat!

Our group, – Jazul, Syed, Hamy, Dzul and me – began our expedition at 8am. Our first destination was Pekan Kota Belud (KB), which is a quite small and compact township, and if my mind serves me right, it’s a town of Bajau people. The reason we went there was to visit Tamu Kota Belud, the famous Sabahan outdoor market. Tamu comes from the word ‘pertemuan’ [got it from TV1] because it is where people gather together to sell and buy stuff [cows for example, not now though…]. Tamus nowadays [at least on what I’d seen from Tamu KB] sell lots of things, from toys, clothes, accessories, food and drinks, groceries, handicraft, and many other goods. During our trip there, there was a Tadau Kaamatan [Harvest Festival] celebration for Kota Belud District level. It’s not really Kaamatan yet now, but I think they did it to choose KB’s Unduk Ngadau for the state level celebration of Tadau Kaamatan.

After a few rounds there, we continued our journey towards our next destination, Kudat Division, the smallest [in both area and population] and most northern division in Sabah, the homeland of Rungus people. We used the old road, not the new one, so the condition of the road was not that good. The drive was smooth, except for some rough patches and really bumpy/winding road here and there. The panorama in the early part was really beautiful – a lot of paddy fields, and Mount Kinabalu, but the journey was quite long, around two hours, and there was no petrol station! So, WARNING: FILL YOUR TANK IN KB [OR STOP IN KOTA MARUDU FOR A WHILE] IF YOU’RE PLANNING TO GO TO KUDAT VIA THE OLD ROAD. Our main destination in Kudat was Tanjung Simpang Mengayau [In Rungus language, it’s known as Sampang Mangazou], the northern tip of the Island of Borneo! According the local folklore, this was the site of a tribal war, and Ferdinand Magellan [while navigating the earth with his fleet] was reputed to have stayed here for a while. Simpang Mengayau was a really enchanting place, though by being there in noon made it hot. Anyway, the scenery overlooking the meeting point of South China Sea and Sulu Sea was breathtaking. The beach was really white and unspoilt. I’ll take it as a fact that not so many people go there to swim since the place is about 15KM from the federal road.

From the road-trip, I could see that Sabah’s backcountry is still very much forested and underpopulated. Not so many people live in the countryside. Even the trip was quite long, and that was by using the road. Now, I pretty much respect those teachers that want/have to teach in the interior.

HAPPY TEACHER’S DAY, GUYS!

A Map of Trengganu

Finally after a number of rounds around KK's bookstores, I managed to grab my hands on the book that I had been searching/waiting/wishing for…

A Map of Trengganu.

It’s a memoir written by UK-based blogger Awang Goneng, which tells us about his life in Trengganu during the 50s/60s, and his opinions regarding to the rapid developments of Terengganu nowadays. It’s hard not to admire how life can be so lively and full of colour back then, a time when Trengganu was just a sleepy hollow and was left out from the progress of the rest of the peninsular.

Awang Goneng's English is superb [not a surprise... he lives in UK] and he throws many words [both in English and Trengganuspeak] that are new to me, and like any other Terengganuese, he is able to blend in much Trengganuspeak without difficulties. The tales can be really intriguing, and comedic, or make you smile, or perhaps have some of your own old memories come to life.

A Map of Trengganu is indeed a great read [and actually, I haven’t finished it yet! Haha].

From Kundasang to Keningau!

Two consecutive trips! One to Kundasang, and the other to Keningau! Tiring, but fun [and as expected, I spent lots of money, but… haha…]

Trip one: Kundasang/Mesilau

With my friends, Zell, Aina, and Fred, we went by car to Kundasang. The journey took us about two hours via the very hilly and zigzagging road of Crocker Range. The scenery was amazing though. This trip carried us to the factory of Susu Segar Desa [Sabahan: Susu Sagar Desa… heheh] in Mesilau. I love the place. Very New-Zealand-like, but… it was infested with the smell of the by-product from the ‘boh’s. Well, that’s what you get if you have hundreds of cows roaming the place. Haha.

Then, we visited my favourite place in Kundasang, the War Memorial. A nice place, I tell you. It’s a tranquil and peaceful place, with its panoply of flowers, and history.

Below: Kundasang War Memorial

Trip two: Keningau

The next day, we went to the hometown of one of my classmate, Keningau, a town [pekan, actually] in Interior Division! I went out from West Coast Division for the first time! The journey with Tung Ma Nui Luk Express Bus took us around two hours through [again] the hilly and foggy road of Crocker Range.

We were supposed to go to Tenom after arriving in Keningau, but seeing that the journey will take another couple of hours, we decided to go to Bunsit River. The water was really cold, and the current was quite fast, but we had fun.