Puteri Gunung Ledang The Musical

And so it was that the 12 of us - Bik As, Cik Eton, Mak, Jihan, Aqila, Nabilah, Kak Ain, Kak Tini, Boboy, Shahrul, Mars & myself - descended upon the Esplanade to catch the much hyped Puteri Gunung Ledang the Musical.

Watching the production - with its elaborate costumes, simple but effective props, beautiful music and gorgeous dance numbers - was an unforgettable experience!

Although none of the cast members are singers by profession - except for Gusti Adipati (played by Mizal) - the words were clear and the songs well sung. The scene stealer for the night has to be when Sultan Melaka, played by Adlin Aman Ramlie, effortlessly broke into an MTV-style number! Hang Tuah definitely can sing well and even launched into an almost 20 secs non-stop high note at the end of one of the songs! Although he speaks Malay funny I guess that must be taken in the light that he did not know a single word of Malay before being involved in the production. And kudos must go to Tiara Jacquelina for her poise and grace in capturing the essence of Puteri Gunung Ledang although the Javanese in my family complained that she wasn't "jawa" enough! The thunderous applause and standing ovation at the end capped off the audience's approval of a truly magical and unforgettable experience...

Well, aside from the show itself, a few of us were lucky in that our seats were 'upgraded' as the original ones were taken out for some audio-vido equipment. I also met my long lost cadetmate, Mas S...haven't met him for 15 over years. But we instantly recognised each other when we met! He was just sitting two seats to my right! Interestingly, his partner was Rila Melati (yes, her!) and while my BH chatted with her, I caught up on old-times with him. And after the break, I realised that Khairudin Sharom (yes, him!) was in front of me. And I said hi and caught up on 'old' times with him as I had taken him twice for in-camp training back when I was in ITI. Aqila became excited when she saw me talking to him and after the whole thing, I linked them up for a photo op!

The queue that formed for the autograph session snaked all the way to the entrance and those poor sods at the end had no chance to get the autographs of the main cast. Oh but my makciks got it! It was crazy...people rushing forward...breaking thru the security line...aiyo...I came forward to take pictures only because Jihan said 'I'm too shortlah Bomi, I can't see anything to take pictures!'...

I am sure those who were there will remember the entire experience for a long time... Well, as for those of us who are trekking up the actual Gunung Ledang in a month's time, may we not meet her up there (or do we?!?!?)...jeng, jeng, jeng...

Oh, enjoy the slide show...