"Visions of you....."
It's tiring, being a groupie! I am totally amazed at how Cliff does it; 20 shows in the UK, 8 shows in Asia, and another 10 in Europe after this. We kicked off on Thursday morning with the 7 am bus which was very comfortable, with leg rests and all; it took us 6 hours, considered a good time from Beach Road right up to Genting. And my back behaved itself. Beti knew her way around the disorganised, noisy underground labyrinth that is the huge Genting complex. We were dehydrated from not drinking much on the bus and on show days, to prevent us from having to go to the loo during the 'koncerts'. After discovering that there very few photo opportunities for vistas, and sadly hardly any flora, I hit the casinos [there are 2], lost Adrian's 200 ringgit and then my own 100 ringgit on the slot machines, but I had so much fun; I hit the major jackpot of 118 ringgit, (the bells go off, the panel above flashes and a recording goes "JACKPOT P-A-R-T-YYYY", the minor jackpot of 29 ringgit, then lost it all again. I was amidst aunties and uncles, the wheelchair bound, half blind and what-not. A motley crew, indeed.
The photos show the garishness of Genting, which has a theme park indoor and outdoor. There are hundreds of restaurants, game stations, and indoor carousels, and the noise is terrible. I hope that our own IRs will have more taste. We had no choice but to walk underground as everything is connected that way.
What I loved about our trip up was the weather - it was 18-20 during the day, and the wind chill factor was not to be underestimated. It was 12-15 at night. It was misty almost all of the time, especially at night when the mist turned into fog, and it was damp, damp, damp. The wind was strong, [note the "lost mahjong hair"and it was bloody cold. The hotels leave their doors open, so this cold draught blows right in but the staff are used to it. The rooms are chilly. The first night, Beti was at the tables, and Lisa (from HK) and I tried to find the bloody aircon, to turn up the temperature. Stupid us. Genting hotels have no aircons. We discovered that our window was open 3 inches. So after sliding it shut, we piled on the clothes and socks and finally became comfortable. All the windows in Genting are not "openable" due to suicide watch. We learnt this from Mr Chow, VP of Marketing, Genting Intl, who took us for a lovely lunch, to appease us 0ver the 2003 debacle. He encouraged me to try the wagyu beef steak, (wow) and we shared fois gras. Ooh la la. He mentioned how people die at the tables. I can totally see how people can get addicted after my "surely I will make it all back" attempts at my favourite, the Zorro machine!
And then there was Cliff ... Despite our best efforts, we never bumped into him, though Beti did catch him on Saturday night around 1 am, surrounded by police, on his way back from dinner I guess. She had gone to 'work' as she liked to call her casino moments, and was just returning. She and I spent some many, many happy moments soaking in the atmosphere before the show, with some fans from Hong Kong, Canada, Japan, Australia and the UK, and this group had been to all 20 UK shows, and then followed him to Asia. Nice people, totally devoted; mothers, grandmothers and the younger set. It was so fun to join the this group of fans, and scream each time he pivoted his hips in those jeans. Then we'd all burst out laughing at our antics. We knew the script, we knew his actions, we knew the words to all the songs, and he knew we knew. At 66, his tiredness is showing, and his voice got hoarse on some songs. Why does he do songs like Wired for Sound ?? He strains his voice in this song, and i think he should stop it. BUT - when he sang his slow songs - Constantly, The 12th of Never, It's All in the Game, When the Girl in Your Arms, well, words fail me. I just wished they would never end. He performed at the Arena of the Stars [the fan-shaped colourful building in one of the photos]. The crowd loved him, and sang along with gusto. There was the Deputy Prime Minister there the first night and on the second night, the VIPs came in 15 minutes into the show. How embarrassing. The funny thing is that in the front row with us was the Minister for Communications, who is one of my ministerial forum attendees. He's the same age as Cliff, and looked all of 90. We had this Indian guy and his wife, whose son got them free tickets for the front row, and after the show, said to us that he could see why we followed him.
Cliff is doing Manila tomorrow [we originally planned to go...] and Yokohama on Valentine's Day. I can imagine the Japanese fans and all those flowers. Good for him; the fans made him, and he is always nice to us.
Here in Singapore, we sent our flowers and gifts last week via Mr Tony Cousens, GM of Marina Mandarin, and thanked him personally last night at the show. He said Cliff was appreciative of them. We hoped that we would get another chance to meet Cliff here, but his having arrived in Singapore only at 4.30 pm put paid to that. Constance and her HK group were at the airport and said that they behaved themselves, "as always", but when he drove off, he rolled the screen down and blew them a kiss. Then all hell broke loose and they screamed like schoolgirls. Ha Ha.
Beti and I decided that it will be a bonus if we got to meet him again yesterday, but were fine if we didn't because 3 times meeting him is more than we can ask for. We look forward to his next tour, hopefully with the Shadows, and hopefully with the Hit List routine, where he will sing "The Minute You're Gone" and they'll have to pick me up from the floor. Thanks, Cliff, for giving me a lovely weekend to add to my life's memories.
The grandpuppies spend time with us
Well, it was a busy few days, with us bringing Dolce back from our visit to Tuff and Jamie on Wednesday evening, (well, I was lying down waiting for the stomach to stop heaving from my ill-gotten gains of char kwey teow with kerang, while Mish and Edward drove off first with her.) She is one spoilt and pampered little thing, and as can be seen from the photos, absolutely must climb up on the bed to cuddle. When she heard Grandpa come upstairs, out from under the covers she emerged, to perch on my legs to wait for him. The first 2 photos were taken by my camera phone so please excuse the lessened quality. And if I'm on the computer, she'd just stretech out and catch 40 winks. There was one time we could not find her because she had burrowed her way under the quilt and did not make a sound. I tried sleeping with her on the bed because I wanted to just fall asleep right there after some good TV, but I was driven to distraction because I was afraid of kicking her as I turned. True to form, she became peyloose because I was breaking her sleep and crawled out to sleepily look wonderingly at me - Stop it, woman! So I caved in and stumbled off in the early hours of the morning, leaving her the entire bed and quilt!
Pepper came by today to stay, and is currently downstairs gazing adoringly at Atun. The suspicion that bits of food have "fallen" from the table when Atun eats is being held very strongly among us. That suspicion is vehemently denied. Pepper and Dolce love her to bits. Pepper had to be carried upstairs to sit with me in the room as I am working on this post, as she is terrified of the stairs, after a fall she took many months ago. While it was a slip down only two steps, she never forgot it. So she had to be carried down again. She is so intelligent, and the second photo shows her cocking her head to "want a biscuit?" Pepper went around just now sniffing every corner for evidence that her cousin had been recently in habitation. Pepper loves to sit at the top of the steps leading to the courtyard, and observes all the goings-on. She is photographed here among our two other "dogs", and near the ducks. Pepper will stay for two nights and will go back before I leave for Genting.
It's a totally delightful feeling to have the dogs greet you so rapturously; Pepper will bark, and jump up and down, and up and down, while Dolce sprints around and around the house and comes back to you with her leopard crawl, sometimes leaving a big of a 'souvenir'. She's a bit of a bims, and even seeing you after 5 minutes, she is in rapture, having forgotten that she just saw you. Unconditional love from dogs, and this is what I miss without my beloved Dix and Pepe; but with the two of them coming by, or we going over to see them, provides us with this pleasure.
"In a Matter of Moments" - Cliff Richard
I turned on the Internet at home and here is my second post of the day! The back is now killing me....
Yup, in a matter of days, I will be enveloped in an atmosphere of fan adoration, once again to be so near to my idol, to hear that voice that has captivated me for 42 years. Beti and I will take a bus up directly to Genting, as we considered the time taken for airport waits and still have to take a cab up to to the highlands. Armed with my music, my book and an array of pain killers and back medication, I am so looking forward to it. We get there on Thursday, when I will take off with my camera while Beti hits the tables. Thanks to Mr Chow, the Marketing Manager, we are now staying in the same hotel as the Sir, and time might find us riding the lifts up and down! Mr Chow invited us to dinner on Friday night before the show. We are in Row 6 on Friday because of the VIPs/Royalty and on Saturday we are in Row 1. It's really not what you know... Having said that, I hope the 2003 seating debacle does not repeat itself. We fly back on Sunday in time for the evening show. I'm not sure if we are able to meet him again as his manager has partially retired, but then again, we have both met him 3 times, and that' s more that the thousands of other fans have. I will focus on the few familiar ballads that he will be doing which will strike me deep - The Twelfth of Never, Miss You Nights" and "A Matter of Moments". Seeing him sing it live 3 times will make it worth the money spent. To think that ONJ is performing here 3 weeks after Cliff! She should have been here doing "Suddenly" with him, man. I saw them perform this 2 nights in a row in Perth. I will never forget it.
When will he come by again ? No one knows, but if he does, I certainly hope his plans of reuniting with the Shads materialises. He turns 67 this year. Imagine that, and he is still doing world tours. Amazing. The photos are from the Wembley concert in November. I like the longish hair and the way he can still fit into those jeans and so nicely too.
In a matter of moments .....
Finally; a chance to do our thing
We're already into February, and apart from a quick stroll at Pasir Ris Park a couple of weeks ago, we have been hindered by tons of things since before Christmas, including the seemingly incessant deluge, to fill our own space, get some photography done, and more importantly, be with Nature, to admire the trees, to see the birds, and be near the sea. Last Saturday night we took our gear to do night photography, but once again, the drizzle foiled us. We took a drive to Sembawang Park yesterday; where the beautiful trees made for a lovely getaway from the madding crowd and the daily boring routines. The American school's little children were having a picnic, a Malay family had their kids blowing bubbles instead of sitting at home, two strangers were sitting side by side, fishing, and two workmen were taking a post-lunch nap in the grounds of Beaulieu House, in a garden I'd gladly call my own if I could. Beaulieu House is a beautiful single-storey black and white, which has been turned into a restaurant. It should fittingly have had white clad waiters serving hainanese-style western cuisine. While they did have the obligatory lamb chops, it was cusine chinois that prevailed. Driving there, we were fascinated by the trees along Admiralty Road - they had the strangest trunks. Unfortunately, we could not stop to photograph. Next time.
It's tiring, being a groupie! I am totally amazed at how Cliff does it; 20 shows in the UK, 8 shows in Asia, and another 10 in Europe after this. We kicked off on Thursday morning with the 7 am bus which was very comfortable, with leg rests and all; it took us 6 hours, considered a good time from Beach Road right up to Genting. And my back behaved itself. Beti knew her way around the disorganised, noisy underground labyrinth that is the huge Genting complex. We were dehydrated from not drinking much on the bus and on show days, to prevent us from having to go to the loo during the 'koncerts'. After discovering that there very few photo opportunities for vistas, and sadly hardly any flora, I hit the casinos [there are 2], lost Adrian's 200 ringgit and then my own 100 ringgit on the slot machines, but I had so much fun; I hit the major jackpot of 118 ringgit, (the bells go off, the panel above flashes and a recording goes "JACKPOT P-A-R-T-YYYY", the minor jackpot of 29 ringgit, then lost it all again. I was amidst aunties and uncles, the wheelchair bound, half blind and what-not. A motley crew, indeed.
