Jazz weekend with Chucho Valdes

orang kata kiter patut gunakan peluang yang ada sepenuhnya ....grab all the opportunities we can get ..worry not about the things we cannot change, but focus on the things that we have ...cewahhh takleh blah punya mukadimah....bukan apa, lately i was reminded of how different my life  is now ...and how i actually plan my life a couple of years back ...my intention was not to settle back home, sebaliknya balik Malaysia masa tu just to be with my family for a year or two before taking off to Canada ...but somehow my plan was changed ...i ended up getting a permanent job, buying a house ...all things that indicate settling permanently in Kuching ...when I was more of less settling down, I am uprooted again ....this time to NZ to do my phd ...and this made me realised that i have opportunities again to live in different parts of the world ...did not plan to live in NZ pun while I was making decision to leave the UK 7 years ago ...canada was the only place that I want at the time ....my aim was a year or two in Malaysia, before heading to Canada ...the 1-2 years tu adalah time-frame that I give myself to pujuk my mom to let me go hahahaha...rupanya it turned out to be 7 years in Kuching - with a job that I love ..and now the next 3 years in NZ ...was reminded that peluang datang sekali ..it may not be available again ..and ayah angkat kat UK dok kata ...grab all the opportunities ...live life to the fullest ...for you only live once ..hahaha  he is trying to get me to go back and settle down in the UK tapi tak nak nampak persuasive lol ...and aku buat2 tak faham ajer ..i dont think I can live in UK again ...after the peace and tranquaility of Wellington, and how cool people here are :p

so, back to the posting ...biler my friend Tia ajak gi tengok concert by this great jazz legend Chucho Valdes ..aku kata yes ajer ...i mean you only live once kan ....mamat tu pun dah menang 8 grammy awards ok ...so bukan calang2 ...aku bukan tau who he is ...but since he is world acclaimed punya jazz artis ...why not give it a try ....so last thurs was the concert ...at the Opera House ...and his show actually the first show to kick off Wellington Jazz Festival weekend .....

went with Tia and her friends ....aku kenal yang lain tu gitu2 ajer ....but ok lah ..dorang ok sebenarnya hehe tapi akak kan pemalu ....anyway, kat dalam opera house tu tertampal notis besar2 ...sepanjang concert tu tak dibenarkan ambik gambar or video sepanjang performances ....so gambar yang aku ada semula blurry ....coz gambar curi2 hahaha ...Emi yang kena tegur sebab tak reti nak sembunyi2 ambi gambar malam tu hehehe ...

stage kosong lagi masa nie ..anyway we got good seats ...centre and very clear stage view ....at the cheapest price of $38 ...nasib bukan dapat seat (same price) kat tepi or even worse yang on a flat plafform ....must thank Pablo for that sebab dia yang belikan tiket tu on behalf of kami semua

pakcik botak tu lah the star of the show ....he is in his 70s tapi when he started on the piano ...oooo sangat awesome!!! and with him is a group called the Afro-Cuban Messenger ...sangat2 awesome talents ...the boogie beats of various musical instruments and their energy on stage sangat2 entertaining ....and the musical instruments tu kan, macam2 ada ...

masa intermission kitorang makan ice-cream ...sebab malas nak kuar hall ...and barisan org nak beli drinks an nibles sangat panjang ....

and sambil tu posing2 ....ni aku ambik from FB Tia ...nie le muka2 yang gi ngan aku

verdict: I love it ...absolute loving it ....mula2 tu macam nak tak nak jugak le pergi ..but biler dengar grammy award pun mamat tu dah byk dapat, so giving it a try ....but biler dekat time macam banyak kerja, tapi sebab fikir dah bayar mahal kan ...so gagahkan jugak pergi ...and tak menyesal pun pergi sebab sangat best ..it is like one in a lifetime kind of thing i suppose ..the hall was packed!!! and abis tu aku siap terserempak ngan a few of my friends from school ...dorang tak tau aku pi...and aku tak tau dorang pi .....and some of them memang minat mamat nie ...like dorang kan from south america kan ....they know who he is ...and dorang kata bukan senang nak gi his live concert macam nie ...sebab (i) mahal; and (ii) he seldom ada concert sebab dah tua ....so, yes, glad that I went .....

so, i can tick it off dalam my bucket list ;-)