P Ramlee The Musical

When I first heard that P Ramlee the Musical was going to be restaged, I immediately thought of Alysha, my partner in crime when it comes to going to concerts and musicals. We have attended dozens of concerts as well as musicals such as P Ramlee and Cuci (I don't remember why I kept missing PGL). We first met in the Sri Inai school back in 2004 and due to our common interest in music, singing and the entertainment industry, we normally end up going to these concerts and theatres together. 

I went to her house in the evening to catch up with her since it has been so long since we last met and  started to get ready at about 5.30pm. We had early dinner at home together with her mum, Aunty Suliana and we left the house to pick up Abang Kazran and Kak Ema before heading off to Istana Budaya. Abang Kazran checked Waze beforehand to avoid any jam and we managed to arrive at Istana Budaya just in time to pick up tickets and take photos before entering the theatre. 

#OOTN photo before we left for Istana Budaya

Ready to enjoy the show

The entrance to the theatre, P Ramlee days feeling sudah mari

View from our seats. Sat behind Deborah Henry...she is so tall ! Spotted my senior from Sri Utama school, Adib who was there with his family, Erra Fazira, Umie Aida and hubby, who sat one row behind us, Dato' Sri Shabery Cheek and a few other politicians. 

We gave a standing ovation for the amazing cast, ensemble, back stage/production crew and the Enfiniti team at the curtain call. Every time I leave Istana Budaya after watching a musical, I am inspired by these passionate people who painstakingly hone their craft and present to us an entertaining piece of art.

This season, the scenes with his respective wives : Junaidah, Norizan & Saloma and his first love, Azizah has been reduced but nevertheless with the new cast, we got to see something slightly different in the characters that they portrayed.

Tony Eusoff who played the legendary P Ramlee sounded so much like P Ramlee when he sang. His acting is no doubt, superb! Lisa Surihani acted as Junaidah and I must say I have never seen her being this gedik. It's my first time hearing her sing live, it was really good! Tiara Jacquelina played Norizan, the consort to the Sultan of Perak who left the life in the Istana to be with P Ramlee. We could feel her loneliness and frustration during her big fight with her husband which eventually led to a divorce. Nadia Aqilah Baijuri who acted as Saloma, was the star of the night. When she started singing, I had goosebumps! She hit the high notes effortlessly and was so professional even when her dress sangkut at the heel after she stood up from a sitting position. I've been her fan since the Emil Emilda drama days and I was privileged enough to have a chance to sing in front of her at Alysha's birthday party a few months back. In fact, I was seated next to her at the table and we talked about music and she motivated me to keep working hard and that she liked my song 'Fly High'.

Even though P Ramlee's first love, Azizah didn't have many scenes this time round, Ruzana Ibrahim played her role really well. She stood out in the other scenes as well as part of the ensemble together with Safia Hanifah, who was my senior in Sri Utama school. There was something about them that captures your attention. P Ramlee's best friend, Sukardi was played by Iedil Putra. He was outstanding and brought a more youthful interpretation of Sukardi. Dia punya lawak memang buat hangpa ketawa. Pak Nil (Aznil Hj Nawawi) played Junainah & Junaidah's father, D Harris. He was hilarious especially the scene where he made P Ramlee choose the coffee so that he could marry him off to Junaidah. If you have watched the previous seasons, you would probably have realised that Chedd (he played Sukardi in the earlier seasons) had a cameo role as the Tok Kadi when Junaidah and P Ramlee got married. #SukarDiLupakan

The few favourite scenes would definitely be....
1) The scene where P Ramlee leaves Penang with his best friend, Sukardi. The train with TJ 1010 (which is Tiara Jacquelina's number plate btw) appears and you can hear the audience clapping away
1) The scene where the Shaw brothers throw a party to congratulate P Ramlee on his marriage to Norizan. 'Lamree ah Lamree...' and the Cantonese parts in that scene

2) P Ramlee's conversation with his second wife, Norizan
Norizan : You balik lambat, I keluar!
P Ramlee : You keluar I balik lambat!

3) P Ramlee and Saloma singing 'Gelora' and they kept going P Ramlee...Saloma...P Ramlee....Saloma until one of the guys had to say sudah mau cut ke belum?? Hahahaha

During the intermission, Alysha managed to queue up at the photo booth and 'we travelled back in time to Studio Jalan Ampas' with the help of the props that were available. It was a fun night out, ended it with a sleepover just like old times. 

Let Your Inner Beauty Shine

I've been a firm believer of 'beauty is what you feel about yourself not about what you see in the mirror'. My late mother would always remind me that it is more important to be beautiful inside, to have a heart that forgives others, to help those who are less fortunate than you, rather than having a pretty outer appearance, nice clothes on but have a bad attitude. After she passed away, I valued these principles that she taught me even more and aspire to be like her as I grow older. 

There was a time during my teenage years when my face was very oily and filled with pimples. I would be embarrassed when I meet people because they had flawless complexion and here I was with a face that 'shined bright like a diamond'. K that was lame, sorreh. Thank God by the time I was in Form 4, my pimple issue was resolved and my skin was less oily. Hip hip hooray! 

As the years passed, I slowly learned to appreciate myself including my flaws because God had created me the way I am for a reason. By doing so, I began to become a more grateful person, I stopped comparing myself to others and I started to live life one day at a time at my own pace. Trust me, it feels really good when you're comfortable in your own skin. Don't listen to what people have to say about you because you must be doing something right for them to start talking about you. 

People who have known me for a long time would know that I'm the laziest person when it comes to make up and dressing up. Most of the time, I'm in t-shirt and jeans and my friends would complain that it is so hard to see me in a dress! I can actually count the number of times that I've worn a dress in the past few years.

In April this year, I was shortlisted to be part of a reality singing contest on Astro. During the time I was part of the contest, we attended singing, dancing, make up, styling, body language and communication classes. We were advised on how we should carry ourselves in the outside world in terms of personal grooming, our daily outfit and how to present ourselves to people that we meet. It was really interesting to be able to ask questions to industry professionals and to gain knowledge from them. 

Singing classes with Bo Hwa lao shi 

Media communication classes with MY FM DJ Jeff Chin

The profile shoot for Top 18 of Astro Star Quest 2014 

Nowadays I spend a little more time to choose what to wear, put on basic make up for outings with friends but that's about it. I don't intend to change my style 180 degrees right away because that would not be me, that would be a totally different Liyana so I just pick clothes that would suit my body shape and my taste. I tend to go for light colours, white being my favourite colour for tops but there are times when I venture out of my comfort zone and buy clothes that are more colourful. I normally go for the casual chic look, a simple top paired with skinny jeans and flats and I'm ready to go. 

Yesterday's purchase, the Porefessional primer which I normally use for outings and the Gimme Brow in medium/deep (it's the Chinese side of me, I have sparse eyebrows). I only use the Gimme Brow for events. Got a sample of their new product : they're Real push up liner

Coffee and heart to heart talks...

Catching up with your best friend over a cup of coffee is the best thing to do after being away from each other for a long time. My best friend, Nadia is studying Medicine in Alexandria, Egypt and is only back in KL during her summer holidays. We're probably the only coffee drinkers amongst our friends so we normally end up going on café hopping dates when she is back. We share the dream of backpacking to many different countries, to photograph beautiful sceneries, to acquire more knowledge outside of our respective fields (Medicine for her, Accountancy for me), to come out of our comfort zones and explore the world. After all, we're still young, filled with energy and have lots of time in hand.

Today we went to Wondermama in Bangsar Village for early lunch, window shopped in BV 2 and headed to Publika after that for coffee. It's been some time since I last had a real lepak session like today's.

Ordered the Soft Shell Crab salad because I wasn't that hungry

Coffee Stain by Joseph in Publika 

Our coffee date at Pickle & Fig, TTDI a few months back

Café hopped to Grumpy Cyclist, TTDI

I cherish moments like this when it's just the two of us, updating each other on things we forgot to mention in our Whatsapp conversations while she was away, sharing problems that we face with everyday life and just staring into space when we run out of topics of conversation. Looking forward to our very first little adventure at the end of the month! 

20 Random Facts About Me

The Peak, Hong Kong. October 2013

I was tagged by my cousin and friends on Instagram so here it is...

1. My parents wanted to name me either Aleya or Liyana 

2. People normally call me Liyana except for a few who call me Liy, Ana, Yana, Kak Pah, Cik Pah, Pah Na, Leyah

3. My paternal great great grandfather (Syed Hashim bin Syed Yahya Almahdaly) came from Yemen to Johor via Aceh,Indonesia. My maternal great grandparents came from Tangshan,China to Malaya and worked as tin miners in Ipoh. 

4. I enjoy researching about my family history and I have to say it's an interesting but long and lonely process.

5. I'm an ACCA (professional accountancy) student as well as a singer/songwriter. 

6. I like to pen down my thoughts by writing hence the creation of my new blog

7. I speak English, Malay, Cantonese, Mandarin and a tiny bit of Hakka and Korean (nak jugak letak Korean tu). I do plan to take up Arabic and other languages in the future. 

8. I'm a bit of an introvert. Always the listener and observer. Only when I'm comfortable enough with people or a topic being discussed will I start talking 

9. Interested in Malaysian history, customs, traditions and culture 

10. Picking up the reading habit after a very long break

11. Some friends have said I am more Chinese than them because I hold the chopsticks the proper way, speak more Chinese than my 'banana' friends etc etc

12. Had a hard time recovering from the loss of my mother in early 2013. I am finally moving on Alhamdulilah 

13. I love to travel and plan the trips myself. 

14. My family is very rojak and they're all over the world. 

15. I was a huge fan of Harry Potter when I was young. I have reread the entire collection of books so many times ! 

16. My guitar playing skills isn't that good. I only play to accompany my singing.

17. I'm bad at memorising lyrics. 

18. The only Hindustan movie I ever watched was Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham

19. I enjoy tea, coffee and can't live without chocolates,ice cream and cakes! Ooohh sinful XD 

20. I admired Princess Diana when I was a kid and was devastated when she passed away.  I cried under the coffee table while watching the live telecast of the funeral procession. I was 5 back then

'Life is full of give and take. Give thanks and take nothing for granted.'

Grateful for all that I'm blessed with. Alhamdulilah. Hope you had a good long Merdeka weekend. 

High school best friends first trip together. Taman Mini Indonesia, Jakarta. September 2013

My Malaysian Story #merdeka57

I am a "product" of mixed marriage. My father is of Hadhrami descent (although categorised as Malay in his IC) and my mother is a Malaysian Chinese. My mother was 39 when she married my father who was 11 years her junior. I always find it amazing how my mother had the courage to marry someone way younger and of a different religion too. Growing up in this household, I was exposed to the different cultures, traditions and celebrations from a very young age. Many of my friends would be jealous when I tell them that I receive ang pao, duit raya and sometimes receive Christmas presents as well as Deepavali money packets (my paternal uncle married an Indian, my maternal aunty is married to a British). I learnt how to use the chopsticks, went to pay my respects to my deceased family members every Qing Ming (Tomb Sweeping Day), picked up the Mandarin, Cantonese and Hakka language (to my Mother's surprise!) and did many other things that a typical Chinese kid would do or even more. My Malay/Hadhrami roots were not forgotten of course. I blended in well on both sides of the family although there were times when I had an "identity crisis" but as I grew older and more mature, I appreciated the fact that I was unique. 

Little Liyana excited for Chinese New Year. That's my Poh Poh at the back

Arwah Ami Man, Ami Giant, Dad, me and Arwah Mummy

I grew up in Johor Bahru with a Chinese neighbour on the left and a Malay family on our right. In the evenings, all the kids would come out and play on the road, be it cycling, police and thief or pepsi cola. When my parents bought a desktop computer when I was 5, all the kids would come over and were thrilled by the fact that they could play computer games which they had limited access to at home. We would take turns to make our homes the Headquarters of the day, play masak masak, go to the nearby playground together or even cycle up Mount Austin (I remember how tiring that uphill battle was!). As I was growing up, I was given nicknames such as Malai kou (Malay kuih), and sometimes teased if I was adopted by my mother because I didn't look Chinese enough to them. 

Me and Ah Jhin, my cycling buddy

My family moved to KL when I was 7 as my Mum had to seek treatment for breast cancer. We lived in Ampang where our neighbours were mostly foreigners. One of my neighbours was a Korean boy whose father was the national badminton doubles coach, Park Joo Bong. We used to go swimming, play badminton, and cycle around the nearby neighbourhood. He taught me a few Korean words that I remember until today : mani mogo meaning eat a lot and yogorutu which refers to Vitagen (this was way before the Kpop invasion). The other neighbours included a French couple who were very friendly, a Japanese gentleman who stayed above our apartment, a few of my mum's colleagues : Uncle Bob and wife, Aunty Laila, Uncle Hashim and his family. My best friend from school, Jehan stayed at the other end of Persiaran Ritchie which was a 5 minute walk from us so there would be times when I would go over for a swim or just to play with her and her sister, Erra. 

Adjusted well into my new class, Primary 1B in Sekolah Sri Utama, KL thanks to my class teacher, Puan Mastura. On my right is Puteri Suraiya Afzan and on my left is Joel Christopher Beh. 

With classmates during our school trip to Bukit Jalil

Hari Raya at Tok Pah's house in JB 

I'd have to say that I had so much fun growing up back then. We had more freedom to go out with minimal supervision from our parents and we were not locked up in our homes playing iPads etc. 

Merdeka to me is a beautiful reminder of the sacrifices made by our forefathers to achieve independence for our beloved country, Malaysia. It was the coming together of the people wanting a better future for themselves and the generations to come. We should appreciate this independence that we have and work harder to bring our country to greater heights. Happy Merdeka, fellow Malaysians!