Final Week

I can't believe that it's the final week. Although some days seemed to drag on forever, for the most part these past three months went by so fast! This week is going to go by really fast too because we're going to be so busy, we have rehearsal to learn a couple new songs for the big New Year's Eve party, we have to get our bags all packed and ship one of them by Thursday, get our new Visa's ready for Vietnam and still perform every night. There's lots to do but it's exciting!
Now back to last Sunday. We went to that dinner that the GM of the club cooked for us. It was so fun and so delicious! We were all in this tiny little apartment, the whole band plus some of their girlfriends, the guy and his girlfriend, his mom, two sisters, one of their husbands, and their daughter. It was packed, I wish I would have remembered my camera, but I didn't so I'll just have to get some of the pictures from everyone else. Anyway they had so much food for us. There were dishes full of rice, chicken curry, something called dhall, stir fried veggies, this bean curd stuff, naan bread, spicy chicken, lamb curry, jars and jars of different kinds of home made cookies, cakes, cheesecakes, and I think that was everything. By the time we all finished eating we were so stuffed and there was so much food still left! After we ate we exchanged gifts, I got 4 new watches from Jay, our drummer. They're really cool, I got a white, green, yellow, and blue one.
Once we were finished there we went to this club called the Skybar. It was across from the Petronas Towers on top of this hotel. It was so pretty, again I wish I had brought my camera, but everyone else took tons of pictures. This place wasn't like a crazy dance bar or anything, just a nice place to chill, they had lots of couches and chairs all surrounding the pool and it was open air. It was really cool. All in all the night was a blast, even though I couldn't be home with my family, this kind of made up for it and kept my mind off of it.
Then last night the shows were pretty empty but we still had a good time. I think this week might be kind of slow in the club until New Years Eve, then it's going to be packed and I can't wait!

Christmas!

Wow, it's been almost a whole week since my last post. I better get at least a couple more posts in before I leave to the next adventure! This past week has been....eventful. I was sick all week with a cold, then to top it off on Tuesday night I got the stomach flu. I thought it was food poisoning but it lasted almost the whole week so I'm pretty sure it wasn't just that. I was miserable, during the day all week I felt so weak and dizzy so all I wanted to do was sleep, and stay next to the toilet. Then at night when we had shows it was horrible. I would do the set, run up to my room, and then hurry back for the next set and repeat all night long. Not a whole lot of fun. Luckily though by Friday night, Christmas Eve, I was feeling a little better and then by Christmas day I felt almost all the way better! So at least I got to have a nice Christmas.
At the club on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day they had a cover charge to get in the club, this was the first year they were going to try it out. So we were all kind of worried that it would be empty because they were charging 170 RM just to get in with one free drink. That's like 50 bucks, expensive right? But people either really like us or were really bored those nights because we had a great turn out on both nights! We all wore Santa hats and got to wear something red to be festive, so that made it more fun too!
Also I received a couple packages this week and it made my whole week. I was so excited to have something to open for Christmas! Thanks everyone! Even though I couldn't be home with friends and family for Christmas it was so nice to have little reminders of home.
Since we had to work Christmas the GM of the club is cooking us Christmas dinner at his house tonight. So he invited our whole band and anyone else that we wanted to bring and we're going to eat and exchange secret Santa gifts at his place. It will be so nice to have a home cooked meal, I'm sure it won't be a traditional Christmas dinner but I know it will be great no matter what it is! I still can't believe we are in our last week already! I'm so excited to get out of here, it's been a great experience and I've had a lot of good times but I'm ready for something new, and a place where I won't get sick so much! Well that's about all I've got. I hope everyone had a great Christmas, I love you all!

Sunway Lagoon

First of all I want to say thank you to everyone for watching my Youtube video and getting me those thousand views!! I definitely could not have done that without all of your help, and I will keep you up on what's happening with that!
This past week was great, the shows were fun, lots of great crowds filled with fun people and I had lots of fun going on more adventures with Jackie. Except now I'm getting sick once again, and by the last set Saturday night I had absolutely no voice at all. This place is filled with viruses! We've all gotten sick at least 2 or 3 times and we've only been here almost 3 months! It's so annoying, so for that reason especially I can't wait to get out of here!
Anyway back to the fun stuff. Saturday Jackie took me to this place called Sunway Lagoon. It's a huge resort that has a water park, amusement park, little zoo, a huge mall, and a hotel. So she came and picked me up that morning at 10 am, so early for me! When she came to get me she brought breakfast, it was some weird noodle thing, but it was pretty good. After we ate really quick we headed out. It was about a 20 minute drive and once we got close you could tell the place was coming up because there was so many cars and buses all trying to get in to park. We hurried and parked the car then headed down 5 escalators to get to the bottom where the water park is located. We had to wait in line for about a half hour to get our tickets and get in. When we finally got in we went and took a few pictures then put everything in a locker so we wouldn't have to watch it. They have two huge wave pools, one does waves every 20 minutes and the other does even bigger waves but only every hour. Then they have a place for little kids to swim, a little hot tub, and like 7 water slides. We did everything, and then hung out in one of the wave pools for like an hour.
Then we changed our clothes, and headed to the other parts of the park. We walked through the little zoo part and saw some animals, then headed toward the rides. Jackie doesn't like rides but they had a big ship ride like the Tidal Wave back home and I love that ride so I had to do it. I got on all excited but then when they strapped us in I was wondering why we had to be so secure if it just swings back and forth. Little did I know the ship does a full circle upside down. It was so scary, especially because I wasn't prepared for it, but still fun. After that we checked out the rest of the park and then headed into the mall.
Once in the mall we went and ate lunch. It was some kind of Chinese food, but not normal Chinese food. I had some pork curry thing that was super spicy but really good. Especially since we can't find pork here very often. After that we shopped around the mall for awhile and got lost. Jackie doesn't go to that mall very often so she didn't know her way around either, but we finally found our way out. On our way back to the car we went into the hotel and took pictures out the windows of the whole park. It was such a cool view from up there. Then when we were almost back to the car Jackie stopped and said, "oh, a steam boat, you have to try this." It was a food truck that had skewers of all sorts of things laying on ice in the whole back of it, and then there were pots with boiling water next to them. She told me that you just pick what you want and put it in the boiling water for a few seconds and then eat it. So she put squid, some weird oysters, and pigs blood. Yes that's right I said pigs blood. It looks like opaque red jello. None of it was good, bleh, I wanted to gag, but I held it in. The pigs blood not only looks like jello, it's the same texture, so imagine eating hot blood flavored jello. WOOF! And I thought maybe she was having me try things that she doesn't even really like but nope, she loved all of it and ate every bite. I mean how can she think Diet Dr. Pepper is gross but can eat Bloody Jello? I will never understand.
After that we left the park and she dropped me back at the hotel so I had just enough time to relax for a minute, get all ready and head to do the shows. All in all another great day.

Day Out With Jackie

It seems like the closer it gets to Christmas the more homesick I get, but I guess that makes sense. This is really the first Christmas I have been completely alone, no family, and no friends from back home. So I try not to think about it too much, but at the same time I love Christmas stuff so it's hard not to! But as long as I stay busy then it keeps my mind off of that. Monday I did absolutely nothing and got really sad thinking about Christmas time and all that, and then the shows were pretty boring so it didn't help to make me any happier. So then Tuesday came around and I decided I needed to get out and do something so I'm not just sitting in my room being a loner. So I did my usual thing, the gym, lunch, and a shower, then I called my friend Jackie to see what she was up to. It just so happened that she was on her way home from work and was passing by the hotel so she came and picked me up for a little adventure!
First we went back to her place so she could change from her work clothes and she showed me around her little apartment. She lives in these apartments about 20 minutes from the hotel in a place called Petaling Jaya. There are 5 buildings and I don't know how many apartments in each building but it has to be a ton! Each building has I think 25 floors, and there are only two elevators for every building, so we had to wait quite awhile for the elevator to reach the bottom floor. She lives on the 18Th floor and has an awesome view from her balcony. There are two bedrooms, a little tiny bathroom that's about the size of a closet, a big room in the main living room that she uses just for her clothes, and then a tiny little kitchen with a washing machine in it. It's pretty small but still pretty nice.
After we went there she took me to two different malls that I haven't been to yet. They were both even bigger than ones I've already been to! I can't believe how big the malls are here, and how many they have! It's crazy. First we went to one called The Curve, we shopped around for a bit and stopped at a grocery store. I found Diet Dr. Pepper, I couldn't believe it! I was so excited, pretty much my 2nd favorite drink! So I bought six of them and I made Jackie try it. I wish I had a camera when she tried it. She said it tastes like really bad medicine and that she was going to puke from it. Ha ha I was laughing so hard. She told me next time I ask her to try something she's going to think more carefully about it. I can't believe she didn't like it! It's so good! But I guess it's just another one of those cultural differences. After we shopped for awhile she said she had a place she wanted to take me to dinner. It's called The Gardens. It was an outdoor restaurant in the mall and the food was so good. I got both of my favorite things, the Nasi Lemak, and the Satay. They were both pretty different from the hotel, but so good!
Next we went to another mall called One Utama, it was even bigger than The Curve, I didn't think they could get any bigger. The decorations were so pretty, and they had a couple little shows going in two different places in the mall, one was a school band playing Christmas songs, and the other was this singing and dancing group. It was fun seeing stuff like that here because it kind of reminds me of home. I found a new bracelet thing while we were shopping so I got that, and that was about it. I took lots of pictures of the adventure today and tried to get some with Jackie but she wont let me take her picture! After that she dropped me back at the hotel at about 8:30 so I had just enough time to get ready for the show and head down. It was such a great day!

Birthday and Other Stuff

I posted some of the newest pictures I've taken over the last week. Pictures from my birthday dinner, and then some of a day last week when I just went around to some of the malls and took pictures of all the Christmas decorations. Then the last pictures are from when I went to dinner with my friend Jackie, we had some interesting food and I took some pictures of that!
This past weekend was pretty great, Friday night was amazing, the shows were so fun and then afterward I went to eat with my friend Jackie to this place in Bangsar. It was like a little neighborhood restaurant, they don't even have a menu, you just have to know what to order. So Jackie ordered and I just ate whatever she got. It was all pretty good, really spicy but I love spicy food. And then she told me since she missed my birthday she had to get me a special Malaysian Birthday Cake, it was called Roti Tissue. Basically it's a big crispy tortilla that they stand up like a tower and cover it with sugar and cream, it was so good! After that she drove me around to show me some other areas I haven't seen. It's kind of fun going on little tours at 4 in the morning ha ha.
Then Saturday I ended up sleeping til 4:30 p.m. then went to the gym, came back, ordered room service and then just watched TV til show time, such a nice lazy day. Also my Internet went out again so my connection to the outside world was lost once again, and it's still not fixed yet, right now I'm paying to use it, when it's supposed to be free for us, so hopefully they get it figured out soon. The shows were fun on Saturday night except Trina is getting sick again so she was pretty miserable the whole night and made sure we all knew it too. Yay.
Today I just relaxed and then went and saw the movie, My Soul To Take. It was pretty great, I think it came out back home like the day I left so more than two months ago, but I'm glad I finally got to see it! After that I came back, went to the gym, watched TV and ate room service. Just being lazy again. Only three weeks left here, I'm really excited to move on to somewhere new so I hope these weeks go by fast!

Food Cravings

Since I last wrote not much has happened. Just been doing the shows as usual, but the crowds have been pretty small. Especially Tuesday night, it was the smallest crowd we have has since we've been here. Probably about 20 people the whole night, and they definitely weren't into us, but we still tried to have fun. Then last night it was a pretty normal size crowd for a Thursday night, and they didn't really dance but at least they clapped for us.
So last night while I was eating dinner I was sitting there thinking. First I was thinking about what was really in the food I was eating and second I was thinking about how similar all the food here is starting to taste. It seems like everything I eat here, no matter what it is, from local dishes to the burger or satay it all has a similar flavor. I mean yes it is delicious, but I definitely couldn't live on this food forever. You have no idea how much I miss food from home, even just plain things like an omelet and bacon. But last night I was really having a craving for Mexican food! A big taco salad, some refried beans, or better yet the Fiesta Grande Salad from La Cocina... mmmmm it's making my mouth water just thinking about it, but I guess I can do without it for now, but only because I have to.
OK I gotta get my mind off of that! So I'm sure you've all heard that we are going to Vietnam next, we're allowed to release that "classified information" now, not really sure why we couldn't before. Earlier last week they told us we were going to be flying out of here on January 4Th at 4:00 p.m. and then arriving there at 5:30 p.m. (it's around a two and a half hour flight with an hour time change) and then doing our first shows that night at 8:00. That seemed like not very smart planning to me, it would leave no extra time for anything. But then we just found out yesterday that we will now have 5 days off once we get there before starting our shows. That's the best news ever. I feel like my voice will finally get a full rest and come all the way back before starting again so I'm quite excited about that. I think that's about all the news for now!

Local Food

It's been a few days since I posted last and I would say that I've been too busy but honestly I've just been really lazy! This past weekend was great, we had awesome audiences on Friday and Saturday and although I'm still not 100%, I can definitely tell that my voice is getting better every day. I think part of the problem is sometimes we can't hear ourselves on stage so I overcompensate and push with my voice thinking that it will make it louder. So I've been really concentrating on holding myself back anytime I realize that's happening.
Our keyboard player is almost all the way better, one of his friends here gave him some special cream that he put on skin everyday and his chicken pox went away so fast, he only has a few left that are visible. Sunday it was his birthday and we all went to dinner together just in the hotel and celebrated with him. Other than that I just relaxed the rest of the day.
Last night I got to go eat some local food. This girl named Jackie comes to the club a lot and she's one of the only nice normal girls I've met here, all the others just want me to take them to my room. But this one is just a cool lady and she told me she just wants to show me around Malaysia since there's some places I can't get to on the train. So after the shows last night she offered to take me out for supper, which is a late meal after dinner here. We took a scenic route and she showed me all these different clubbing streets, they were all full of lights and really crowded. Then she showed me the Petronas Towers, which I've seen but not at night and they were so cool! We finally stopped at this long street that was just filled with street vendors and it was packed. She took me to this little noodle place and she ordered our food in Malay so I had no idea what we were getting. Then we went and sat at this big round plastic table with a bunch of other people and waited for about two minutes. Our food came out in four bowls, two bowls each. One bowl was this soup that had lots of weird floaties in it and the other was noodles with this minced beef on top. She told me to try everything before I asked her what it was, so I did. The noodles were great, just tasted like Top Ramen with beef on it. But the soup was another story, there were these little white strip things that I found out were cow stomach, not so tasty. Then there were these round things that she just said were beef balls, but not literally, ha ha she just said they are like meat balls. Then there were just these chunks of beef that were so delicious! She ended up giving me all the chunks of beef and meat balls out of her soup and then she ate all the stomach out of mine. It was a good trade! The food was really good, but the setting was gross, there were huge rats running between all the food stands and cats everywhere chasing the rats, but you just have to ignore that stuff and enjoy the food. All in all it was a blast and I'm really glad I went out. Hopefully we'll do it again soon! That's about all the adventures for now!

New Month, New List

Alright, it's the time you've all been waiting for, another list of things I've learned while being here in Malaysia. These aren't just things about Malaysia, they're also things I've just realized while being here.....so enjoy!
1. No one obeys traffic lights here, they seem more of a suggestion than a law here
2. People will push and shove anyone to get on the train, even pregnant women
3. If someone doesn't understand you they just shake their head yes, no matter what
4. They edit movies in the theaters here
5. Everyone thinks I look like Jason Mraz and Eminem
6. Even 30 year olds act like teenagers sometimes
7. You can never escape high school drama even when you're all grown up
8. When the Internet is down I feel like my world has collapsed
9. Technology is AMAZING
10. Not everywhere here is pretty, plenty of ghetto areas all over
11. The Batu Caves are something I will never forget
12. Hard boiled or fried eggs come with almost every dish here
13. Women are oddly forward here, kinda scary
14. I still play with the matches in my room, but I forgot to mention they are called "fire sticks" here
15. I will never miss snow....Never
16. Everyone is a critic
17. The local desserts called Kuih are not good at all
18. Monkeys are just as cute in real life as they are on TV
19. Even the simplest reminders from home can make my day
20. I really miss energy drinks
21. The Asian Haircut Experience is awesome
22. Ostrich is rather delicious
23. I miss making omelettes on Saturday and Sunday mornings
24. It's really hard to get a ticket up to the bridge in the Petronas Towers
25. It's nice having someone do your laundry but not when they lose your things
26. My new Kindle is my new best friend
Well I think that's about it for now, I feel like there's so much more but then when I go to write them down I forget things!

Birthday!

So today is my birthday, of course! It's been a great day, I slept in, went to the gym and then went out to dinner with my band. I was deciding between Chilis and California Pizza Kitchen, but ended up choosing Chilis because I miss eating my favorit food ever which is chili! So I got myself a big ole bowl of chili and it was SOOOO GOOD!! I also had some chargrilled chicken thing that was quite delicious as well. Then we just looked around the mall a little bit. It's all decorated for Christmas so it was really pretty!
Also right before I left I got a package from back home and just wanted to thank everyone so much for all the cards and everything in there! There could have been anything in that package, I was just so thrilled to get something to open on my actual birthday! What a great surprise! So thank you again, I love you all! It made my day perfect!
I also just found out our keyboard player has the chicken pox, he's almost 40 years old and he hasn't had them yet so he's pretty miserable. But guess what? The show must go on. He's going to come out and play because he has to, but then he just has to go hide in the back so he doesn't spread it to anyone that hasn't had the pox yet. I feel bad for him, I was pretty young when I had it but I can remember how itchy it was!
Well I'm just about to head down to do the shows, should be a pretty good night! Also keep watching that youtube video, I have 100 something views now so only 900 more to go! Thanks everyone!

Watch this!

Alright, so you know I'm always looking for my next opportunity. So here's a video of me singing this song called Army of Kings. It's for an audition but my video need 1000 views by January 1st. So I need everyone to go watch it, lots and lots of times! Thanks, love you all!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l1V3wdPhQk

Asian Haircut

The past couple nights have been great! The crowds have been awesome and really into the show. They were so into it that I think we could have done anything and they would have cheered, so either they really liked us, or they were all just really wasted. I'm thinking it was the second one. But I'll take it! Especially since my voice is still not back, it just keeps getting worse so I just have to fake it til I get it back. I don't know what the deal is, everyone in the band got sick all at the same time but now I'm the only one still with it. I think Gabriella still has it a little bit too. I don't think it's just being sick though, I think my voice is just gone. All the smoke in the club and singing so hard every night, I mean I'm used to singing a lot, but never in such a smokey environment. I'm just hoping that somehow it gets better, keeping my fingers crossed.
Now as the title says today I had my first Asian haircut! It was AMAZING! I was nervous about getting a haircut here because I didn't know if they would understand what I wanted. But I finally bit the bullet and went for it. I went to this place called Jantzen Salon in the Mid Valley Megamall. I looked at about 3 places and this one was the cheapest so of course I chose it, only RM 48 which is about 16 US, just about the same as back home. But what you get for your money makes it totally worth it. They walked me in and sat me right down, gave me a choice of tea or coffee, and handed me like 20 magazines to choose from! Then while I was reading my magazine a girl came over and started shampooing my hair right in the chair, she gave me like a 5 minute head massage, it was so nice! After that another girl came and took me back to rinse my hair out. Next another girl came and blow dried my hair to get it ready for the cut. Then finally the lady came that was going to cut my hair. She was really nice and understood me perfectly. So she proceeded to cut my hair then asked me how I liked it and then left. Then the hair washing lady came back and took me back to rinse all the loose hairs out of my hair. Then she put out about 7 different styling products and asked which one I wanted her to use, so I chose and she styled my hair then I was done! It was a great experience and I'm kind of hoping my hair grows fast so I can go back one more time before I leave here. That's about all the excitement for now.

Thanksgiving!

Well by the time all of you read this at home you will probably have already had Thanksgiving dinner, and hopefully you all thought of me while you ate all that delicious food! I am missing out big time. Ok, ok, I know I have amazing food here and I'm in an amazing place and all that but seriously I LOVE Thanksgiving and I hate that I am missing it! But I hope it's great for all of you and that you get so stuffed you feel like you're going to burst!
The last couple days have been good. The shows have been fun and the crowds have been pretty responsive. Last night no one really came out onto the dance floor but it didn't matter because everyone was so into it, they all cheered and clapped after every song so it was still a blast. It's weird how much we feed off the audience's energy. I can't remember who told me this but I remember someone saying how we have the best job in the world, who else gets to go to work everyday and have people clap and cheer for them just for showing up and doing their job? It seems so simple but it's so true. I am very thankful to be doing what I love and getting paid for it!
We had rehearsal yesterday and added a new song in for me, With or Without You by U2. It's kind of old but so good! It's one of those songs that just makes you feel good even when I'm singing it I feel this awesome feeling inside. The audience last night loved it, when it came to the "Oh oh oh oh" part, everyone was singing along. I felt powerful!
Last night was the first time I ever got a compliment on my voice since being here. I forgot how nice that feels. People always tell us that we are a great band, that we are awesome, or that we put on a great show. But no one has complimented me on my own personal vocal abilities, but a girl told me last night that I have a beautiful voice. It made me feel so good. I know that I don't need compliments like that but when I get them it just feels great. It makes me feel like someone is actually listening and not just watching how crazy we are on stage!
Well I think that about sums it up for now, no new adventures yet, but there will be some soon!

Rainy Day

Today is the first completely stormy day we have had since I've been here. It usually rains for like 15-20 minutes every day but today it has been raining since I got up. And it's not just a little rain, it's coming down hard with lightning and thunder. At some points the thunder has been so loud that it shakes my window, kind of scary but kind of cool too.
My weekend was pretty normal. Other than this stupid sickness that seems to not want to go away. The shows were great, our audiences were amazing, really responsive and fun. One of the nights we had this older guy keep coming up to the stage and pretending to be a gorilla, he would put his fists on the stage and puff up his cheeks. He did it like 5 times and every time we all had to hold our laughs in so we didn't screw up the song we were on. It was hilarious. Then on Saturday there was this really drunk guy that handed me a drink on stage and kept telling me to drink it during the set. I kept telling him I had to wait til we were finished, but he wouldn't stop pestering me. So I just stopped looking over in his direction. Once we finished he ran up to the stage and told me I had to down the drink so I pretended to drink it, and he was so drunk he didn't even know what was going on, then he just walked away and it was over. That was the only bad part about the weekend.
On Sunday I went and saw the movie Skyline. I thought it was pretty good, not what I expected but still good. Then I came back to my room and started watching True Blood online and then just went to bed early.
Monday I skyped with the fam, always one of my favorite parts of the week. Then the shows that night were alright. There was a big birthday party in the club so it was pretty crowded. During the first two sets people were really into it, dancing and having fun. But by the 3rd and 4Th sets it was like everyone lost all their energy and no one was watching us or anything, so that kinda ruined it, but it happens.
Someone posted a video of me singing I'm Yours, on facebook it's on my profile page, but I think only those of you with facebook accounts will be able to view it. So you guys can check it out if you want!

New places!

What a relaxing week this has been. No rehearsals this week so I've just had plenty of time to sleep in, eat more, and watch lots of TV. It's been so nice. I mean that's not all I've done, I also went shopping yesterday and bought another white vest, it's pretty sweet! And they were already decorated for Christmas so that was fun to see!
Tuesday I received a package right before the shows, it was a surprise from my mom and dad! It had two boxes of my favorite protein bars, a big jar of nuts, some crystal light, fake snow, and a couple pens(thanks Annette). It was such a nice surprise, it made my whole day and I couldn't stop smiling. I have never been so excited over some snacks.
The shows have been alright this week. The whole band is sick right now, we must have gotten something at the club because we all feel exactly the same. We all have sore throats and stuffy noses. But the show is still going great. Last night both Trina and Gabriella had hardly any voice left by the last set so I ended up singing almost the whole set by myself, which was awesome! I wouldn't want to do it every night because it is pretty hard on the voice but once in awhile it is a blast! Also the crowd last night was great, we had people up and dancing right from the start which hardly ever happens!
During one of the breaks I started talking to this guy, I think he was from Australia, and he kept saying how great we were and stuff. Then he stopped and said, "wait, you're American?" and I said "yeah", then he goes, "oh wow, you're really awesome for an American." Ha ha I didn't really know how to take it, but I'm taking it as a compliment. It seems weird that someone would say that because to me America is where most of the best artists come from. But I guess everyone has their own opinion.
So I'm sure by now you've all heard where we are headed to next on this adventure. I'm not going to post it here just because we aren't supposed to make it public yet I guess. But today we just found out there has been a change of plans. I'm quite excited about it. I will let you all know where we are going next, or you can ask my mom because I'm sure she will have the info! Well I think that's about it for now!

Batu Caves & The Monkeys

Today I ventured into the Batu Caves! It was so awesome, way cooler than I was expecting, and I was expecting it to be pretty awesome. So it started out with me going to the train station. When I got there I had just missed a train so I had to wait about a half hour. I was kind of confused because my ticket said Sentul, even though I told them I wanted to go to the Batu Caves. When the train finally came I got on and tried to ask someone where to get off, so he looked at my ticket and told me he would tell me when. Once we got to the Sentul station he told me that was it. So I jumped off the train and it left. There was seriously no one at this station and it was in the middle of nowhere so I knew this wasn't right. I went up the stairs and asked the man at the ticket window and he told me I should have stayed on for three more stops. Oops. So I bought a new ticket, luckily they are like 30 cents US. But then the next train wasn't coming for 45 minutes so I just had to wait with nothing to do. The train finally came about 15 minutes late so all in all I waited about an hour.
When we started getting close I could already see the gigantic golden statue and I got so excited! Once we arrived I hopped off the train and tried to find my way to the entrance, and of course I took the most round about way possible, sometimes my navigation skills aren't the best. There were stray dogs everywhere, but I was kind of excited to see them because I haven't seen any dogs or cats for that matter since I've been here. Anyway it was a long walk but it was worth it. This place was amazing. So many cool buildings and statues and just everything. And I wasn't even up in the big main cave yet. I took a look at those stairs and I was instantly exhausted. I know I'm in shape but wow, that's a lot of stairs and they are so steep. So I started my way up the stairs, I only stopped once halfway up to catch my breath! But my calves were spasming from all the work. There were people sitting and some even laying down trying to find the energy to make it up the rest of the way.
Once I got inside I couldn't believe how pretty it was. There were statues placed in the walls and all sorts of other things. They had a little temple in there too where you could pay to be submersed in this bath, it was different prices depending on how much of yourself you wanted submersed, kind of weird. At the end of the cave there were more stairs heading up to another circular area that opened up to the sky, it was so cool looking. Even after seeing all this I was still feeling sad because I hadn't seen a single monkey! After I checked out everything there was to check out in the caves I headed back down the stairs. At the bottom I saw that there were more places to look at down the way a little. So I headed forward and was checking out this little waterfall when I looked to my left and notice a bunch of monkeys!!
I hurried down the walkway and bought a banana then headed towards the monkeys. At first I just stood back and watched them for a minute, there were so many of them everywhere. Finally I think they all started noticing what I had in my hand so they started getting closer. I saw the cute little monkey that I wanted to give the treat to so I walked over to him and held the banana out, he took it and sat right down to eat it! They aren't scared of people at all. Then I noticed this older looking monkey that had a whole bag of fruit in front of him. All of the other monkeys would try and take a piece out of it and he would growl at them. It was so funny, you could tell they were trying to plan a way to get a piece from him. But none of them ever succeeded. I could have sat there and watched them for hours, it's kind of weird how human-like they are.
After the monkeys I headed back to the train station to get home. What a fun day!

Weekend Update

It was a pretty easy going, relaxing weekend. The shows went great, we had huge crowds on Friday and Saturday and they were really into it so it was way fun. Saturday was also our singer Gabriella's birthday so we celebrated it Friday night and Saturday night. Friday night she got so drunk that by the last set Trina and I had to sing the whole set because Gabriella couldn't focus on anything ha ha. So that was an adventure. Then Saturday during the second set we had some crazy sound coming through the speakers and they sounded like they were going to explode so we had to stop and end the set like 15 minutes early to figure out what was wrong. I guess the little jazz band that plays in the lobby of the hotel next to ours was using the same frequency on their sound equipment so it was interfering, I can't believe it would interfere from that far away. So we got that fixed and the next set was fine but then by the last couple songs of the 4Th set it started doing it again but we just played through it and finished up. All in all a great weekend.
Then on Sunday I went and saw the movie Let Me In, it was pretty good but I just realized that they edit the movies here. Any time someone was about to get killed it like skipped ahead and just showed the aftermath, maybe that's how the movie was made but I'm pretty sure it wasn't so that kind of bugged me. Also at the mall they were having this thing called Teen Fest in one of the Expo centers on the top floor. I was wondering why the mall was so packed and that was the reason. It was like a huge carnival going on, and the line was so long to get in, it was crazy.
When I went to get on the train I ran into the same problem that I had a few weeks ago. It was so packed that I couldn't get on the first one, but the next one said it was coming in 10 minutes. So 10 minutes came and passed and still no train. Finally 45 minutes later a train shows up and I had to push and shove my way like everyone else just to get a spot to stand. I can't believe how many people can squish into one of these cars, I get a little claustrophobic in there. Once I got back I just relaxed in my room and went to bed early.

Plain Days

The last couple days have been pretty plain, not bad, just nothing too exciting. The shows were great on our part, the audiences just haven't really been into it. But we have been drawing much bigger crowds on Mondays through Wednesdays which is great. I think the word of our band is spreading and it's getting more and more people to come out and see us!
I realized something a few weeks ago, with the help of my mom, I'm used to performing for people that are just there to see the show so they always cheer and are really into it. But performing here in this club people are all there for their own reasons like visiting old friends, getting drunk, pickin' up chicks, whatever, so it is our job to draw them in and get them to watch us. Sometimes though, no matter how hard we try they just won't have it and I have to remember that as long as I'm doing my best that's all that matters!
Anyway yesterday I was supposed to have a little photo session with Trina, I guess she has to take pictures of all my outfits to put on the website just so they can keep track of what everyone has. But Trina never really plans anything, she just mentions it and then expects me to be available all day for whenever she's ready. So I did my usual thing, gym, breakfast/lunch, shower and then just watched some TV waiting for her call. Finally around 3:30 she called saying that she needed to use my computer to download photos onto her portable hard drive, but didn't mention the pictures. So I told her that's fine and waited for her to come down to my room. She came down like half an hour later, and while we were loading the pictures she mentioned something about the website not working right now or something so we weren't going to take the pictures today. I was fine with that because I didn't really want to anyway. She left my room around 4:30 and I went back to relaxing. Then when I was just about ready to head to dinner a couple hours later she calls me again. "Can we take your pictures for the website now?" Is this a joke? Why didn't we just do it when she was here before? Ahhh, that's so annoying to me. But of course being the nice accommodating guy that I am, I said sure. To top it off she didn't end up coming down to my room for like another half hour, I was about ready to call her and tell her that I was heading to dinner since she was taking so long. Finally she arrived, we took the pictures and that was that. I'm so glad to be done with that for now. But now she's going to have to come use my computer again to put the pictures on her hard drive so I'm just waiting for that next fun phone call!
Well I think that's about all the excitement for the last couple days. I have rehearsal now in about 20 minutes so we'll see how that goes. Wish me luck!

Newest Adventure

This past weekend was pretty great, the crowds were awesome, and the shows went great. Everyone was really friendly and I didn't have to avoid any drinks this weekend! But the smoke issue was still really bad. Hopefully I'll just get used to it, although I don't see that happening.
Sunday was also a great day, just completely relaxing. I woke up late, had some breakfast room service and then went to see a movie. I saw Megamind, the new animated one, I think it came out back home recently too, so I guess it just depends on the movie when it is released here. Anyway it was really funny and a good all around movie, so I highly recommend it! After the movie I just shopped around a little bit and then bought a few groceries and came back to the hotel. The rest of the night I just watched TV and lounged around, it was quite nice.
Last night, Monday, the shows went well but the audience was not responsive at all. There was a pretty good sized crowd but they just weren't into it except for like 5 people that cheered and danced a little bit. So not too exciting.
Then today I went on a new adventure! I tried to find these two shopping areas in this area called Ampang Park. I found the one shopping plaza, it was kinda scary, hardly any shops and what they did have was just crappy stuff that looked worn and used already. Then I tried to find the other shopping area but I couldn't, so basically I just wandered around the area and then ended up walking back towards the Petronas Towers and just went to the mall there. I made my first video about this adventure today and uploaded it to youtube, here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJW7z1rXTSE so you guys can check it out and see what it's like here!

Great Week

As you can see I finally got the picture of us with Adam Lambert. Just had to ask ten times before I finally got it, but there's no way I wasn't getting a copy of that. It turned out great, and now I have proof that I actually did meet him!

This week has been good, but not too many exciting things have happened. I lost my Internet connection for almost a whole day, so that wasn't too fun. You don't realize how much you rely on that until it's gone. I guess the 90 day pass we got at the beginning was really only for 30 days so we all ran out and had to wait to get a new code the next day. I was feeling so stressed about it. But now it's back and I'm calm again.

The shows this week have been pretty awesome. Every night since Wednesday has been really crowded and the crowds have been so responsive to our shows. The only bad part is that last night, Friday, the smoke was so heavy in the club that my eyes were burning. It's never been that bad before. But I guess I can handle it as long as the crowds stay as great as they have been.

This week we also had a couple rehearsals and the first one was really intense. Our band leader sat us down to have a little meeting and to just remind us of some of the rules. But of course Trina didn't like being retold the rules because apparently she felt like they were all against her. So she started arguing and it turned into a big thing when all he was doing was giving us a reminder. After that we rehearsed 3 new songs for me and then I found out that one of the girl's songs was a duet so I had to learn it before rehearsal the next day. I wasn't worrying about it too much since everyone else always brings their lyric sheets to rehearsal even though were not supposed to, but somehow I learned it and remembered all the lyrics, I was quite surprised with myself. All in all I learned 5 new songs this week, definitely a busy week in that sense. And that about sums it up for now.

Fashion Show and More

So the last couple days have been pretty great! Monday I went and returned my costumes back to the store and ended up getting even more of a discount, so in the end I paid only 100 RM for my costume which is about 30 US. Wow! What a deal right? After that I tried to go up to the bridge in the towers again but then found out that they are closed to the public on Mondays! Dang, I'm going to have to try again because I definitely want to see up there. After that I went back to the mall that's at the base of the towers and shopped for awhile and did a little more sight seeing in the park behind it. I found a little water area where kids can play, some cool statues in the water and some more cool buildings. Then it started raining so I hurried back down to the train station to head back. The shows that night were pretty good, it was pretty crowded for a Monday so that was fun.
Then Tuesday I just chilled all day and relaxed. The crowd that night was bad. It wasn't that little but no one was cheering or anything, but we made it fun and had a good time on stage so all in all it was a great night!
Today was the best so far though. I decided to go shopping back at Bukit Bintang, the place where I had the hellish shopping day with the girls. Going on my own was ten times better.
I found so many great things, I could have shopped all day and I was only in one of the malls. In Bukit Bintang there are 4 malls all on the same road, so crazy. I ended up getting two new shirts, a new tie, and a new hat for about 200RM which is like 60 bucks! So awesome, I love getting cheap clothes! After that I wanted to go check out the newest mall in that area, it's called the Pavilion. So I walked down to it and noticed that it was extremely crowded. Little did I know they were having a fashion show in the mall today. I guess it's Malaysia's International Fashion Week this week. So being the curious person that I am, I squeezed my way to the front to see what was happening. Then out of no where some lady grabbed my arm and I thought I was in trouble! But she pulled me aside and told me they had a few extra tickets left and they were giving them out for free so of course I said yes! I got a little badge and got to go down and sit on the third row right behind these famous designers from Malaysia. I was on the third row! It was so cool, I mean who just gets to go to a fashion show? So I watched the show and had a great time and then grabbed all my stuff and headed back to the hotel. What an exciting day. The shows should be pretty great for the rest of the week, I guess there is a holiday on Friday called Deepavali, it's an Indian holiday so I'm told. I took a picture of one of the sand designs that are all over everywhere right now for the holiday. Well that's about it for now.

New Month

Wow, I can't believe it's already November! Well OK some points of the month went by kind of slow, but other times the month flew by. This past weekend was great, Friday was packed, Saturday was packed, and the shows were great. Our speakers blew out during the last set on Saturday so we had to finish with only our speakers on the stage that face towards us. But other than that it was a good time. Then Sunday I went and saw the movie Buried, it was great, a nice Halloweenish movie. And then I shopped a little. All in all it was a nice couple days.
So I thought in celebration of my one monthiversary of being here I would make a list of all the things I've learned so far.
1. Malaysia is awesome
2. Mosquito's here aren't as scary as they make them seem back home
3. The toilets here are weird
4. Diet coke is hard to find here
5. Diet Mtn. Dew is still no where to be found
6. The food is great at the hotel
7. Everything is pretty cheap
8. All the malls are GIGANTIC
9. Movies take forever to be released here
10. People think if you don't drink you aren't fun(kinda already knew that)
11. Women here think you are shy if you don't hit on them
12. There are certain cars on the trains that only women are allowed in
13. You can't take pictures everywhere you want
14. It's not scary to explore on your own, as long as you're smart
15. There is a CPK and Chilis here
16. The clothes here are awesome
17. Clothing sizes are much different here, I wear an XXL now
18. There are people from everywhere that live here
19. TV stations in the hotel suck
20. I miss Food Network like you wouldn't believe
21. If I leave my air conditioner on too high when I go to sleep I wake up with a sore throat
22. The maids can be very pesky at 8 am, when you go to bed at 4 am
23. It's weird relying on the computer for most of my socializing
24. At the same time I'm very thankful for skype
25. Sometimes it's nicer to do things for yourself, like laying a napkin on your own lap
26. I miss American accents
27. I'm always way over prepared, that's just who I am
28. I don't miss the snow one bit
29. It's weirdly nice to not be attached to my cell phone
30. People being allowed to smoke everywhere is crazy
31. I miss my pillows
32. If I never opened the curtains in my room I could literally sleep the whole day
33. Movie theaters only sell caramel corn, not just regular butter popcorn
34. Wiring money is way easier than I had anticipated
35. I miss driving
36. My legs get tired from all the walking I have to do to get anywhere
37. There are lizards by the pool at the hotel, how did they get to the 8Th floor? Still pondering.
38. Fashion is so far forward here, but so many other things are behind
39. I use all the matches every time they give me a new pack in my room, they're fun to play with
40. I miss everyone!!!!
Alright I think that's about it for now. I'm sure I'll think of more things as soon as I finish typing this, but that's a pretty big list. I hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Captain America!!!

Alright, here's my costume, what do ya think? I think it's pretty awesome!

KLCC

I know I usually post about the day before but I'm going to post about yesterday and today! First of all, yesterday was a pretty plain day. We had rehearsal, I got annoyed because I feel like I'm the only one ever prepared with my songs, but I guess that's just how I am. So then after rehearsal I napped for a bit and then went down and had the buffet for dinner. I tried some oxtail tonight, it was really fatty but tasted so good! That's my favorite part of the buffet, they always have weird meats and stuff every night. This week has been awesome because it is our last week to use the rest of our monthly allowance for food so I've been ordering all the most expensive stuff just so I can use up all the money!
After dinner I just got ready for the shows, and then went and performed, it was a great night except one huge mistake. During one of the songs I was starting the second verse, but then someone played a wrong part so it threw me off and I couldn't figure out how to get back on for about 30 seconds, so it was just silent. But I just laughed it off. It happens, oh well.
Today has been a blast so far. I had to go pick up my costume from the shop so I decided I would do a little venturing while I was out. And this time I made sure I was by myself so I could go and see and do what I wanted. First I got off the train and went straight towards the Petronas Towers so I could get some actual good pictures of them. I can't believe how tall those things are! It's crazy. After I took pictures outside I wanted to go on the little tour inside and go to the little bridge between the towers. But when I went to buy a ticket they said they had sold out for the day. I guess you have to get there pretty early to get a ticket, so I'll try again Monday when I return my costume.
After the towers I went to get my costume and I just happened to mention that I am in the band at Zeta Bar and the lady gave me 50 Ringgit off the price that she originally told me! Woohoo, I knew that my status would come in handy some day! Then she told me that she was going to come Saturday night just to see me in that costume. Ha ha, it's going to be great. Once I had collected my costume I decided to go visit Suria KLCC, it's the really fancy mall at the base of the towers. They had a lot of stores from back home, Banana Republic, Aldo, Guess, Calvin Klein, all really expensive but it was still nice to see. While I was looking around I had to use the bathroom and I came across these bathrooms that said they were Premiere Bathrooms or something and it cost 2 RM to use them. I almost paid it just to see what they look like, but I'm too cheap so I went and found a free one.
Next I found the most amazing thing ever, a California Pizza Kitchen! I couldn't believe my eyes! That's one of my favorite restaurants from back home, I would never have thought there would be one here! It felt like I was home for a minute just seeing it. Then I also found a Chilis, this mall is awesome. I'm definitely going to organize the band to go to dinner at California Pizza for my birthday. I took some pictures of all these things for you guys to see, and while I was taking them I also got in trouble from security because I guess in this fancy mall no pictures are allowed, but at least I got all the ones I wanted before I got caught!
So all in all it has been a great day!

A Week In The Life

Here's the latest pictures. Our guitar player's girlfriend just got home and posted all of these, so I thought I would post them here for you all to see. They are just pictures from a bunch of nights last week at the club.
Not much to report from the last couple of days. The shows have been pretty good. The audiences have been kind of small, but tonight should be great since it's Ladies Night! Other than that I haven't gone on any adventures lately, just been rehearsing and relaxing. I think I'll go on a new adventure on Saturday if I have time! That's about it for now.

Around Town

Newest pics

Costume Shopping

Last night the shows went well but we had no audience. Probably about 15 - 20 people the whole entire night. Sucks, but we made it through it.
Then today was another adventure. I had to go shopping for a Halloween costume for our shows on Saturday night. And who did I get to go with again? Yeah that's right, the two girls, but surprisingly it wasn't quite as bad, still bad, but not as extreme.
First we went on a new train that none of us have been on yet, but that was the easy part. Then once we got down to KLCC by the Petronas Towers I wanted to stop and take a couple pictures, so I had to hurry before they took off without me. Only then did I realize that they had no idea where we were supposed to be going anyway. So annoying to me! But we finally found the place after like a half hour and it was tiny. It was called the Costume Empire but it was just this little shop with maybe a hundred costumes. I found mine right away, pictures to come soon. But the girls took about two hours. Trina kept trying on all these costumes and found something to complain about for each one. Tinkerbell didn't have a tiara or wand, the witch costume wasn't unique enough, Little Bo Peep wasn't sexy enough, she needs boots to go with the pirate costume. Oh my gosh I have never heard so many complaints. We're in another country so we're just lucky they have a costume shop at all! I don't know if the people in this band are just used to being waited upon and spoiled but they sure don't treat everyone all that great.
Finally the two girls settled on their costumes, Tinkerbell for Trina and the Sexy Witch for Gabriella, and mine is a secret!! This place only rents costumes so we had to put down a deposit and then we have to go back and get them on Friday. So what should have taken maybe an hour took about three. I should just get used to it I guess. But when I go pick mine up I am going alone!! So that was my day today, I also took some pictures along the way so I will put those up too!

Fun Times

This weekend was a blast! First off, Saturday night was the most fun night we've had here. It was packed and the crowd was so into it. We could have done anything and they would have cheered loud and loved it. It was great!

Then Sunday was awesome. I went and saw the movie, Life As We Know It. It came out back home probably like a month ago, but it just came out here so I was excited. It was really good. The movie theaters here are pretty much the same as back home except if you aren't in your seat 15 minutes before the movie then they can sell your ticket to someone else. And then there's also the subtitles at the bottom which bugged me at first but then I forgot about them. Also it only cost 12 Ringgit which is about 4 US dollars, so cheap!

After that I shopped for awhile but didn't find anything worth buying. Once I got back to the hotel I had like an hour before we were all getting together to go to dinner for our guitarist's girlfriend's birthday. So we all went back to Midvalley Megamall and we ate at this nice Japanese place. There weren't many options that looked too tasty to me though. The whole place smelled like fish and that was basically the only thing on the menu. But I did find some weird egg thing to eat and some beef wrapped asparagus, it was so good!

I found out that our keyboardist in the band is really into palm reading and stuff like that. So I had him read my palm last night. It was crazy, I don't know if any of it really means anything or not, but it was weird that he could know so much about me just by looking at the lines. Anyway after dinner we all came back and I watched some TV then went to bed pretty early. Perfect end to a great weekend.

Raw Salmon

Yesterday was great. Well OK, not great, but way better than the last few days. First off I just did the usual, gym, lunch, shower and then I decided I should try to go and wire my money home. I went to Western Union first. They are right across the street in the three different banks so I just chose one, filled out all the paperwork and then they told me their computers were down or something so I had to go to another bank. After that I went to two more banks and they told me the exact same thing....great! Then I found another place that does transfers called MoneyGram, so I filled out all the papers there, got everything done and went back to my hotel just in time for rehearsal. But once I got back I looked closely at my receipt and noticed it said sending to: Salt Lake City, California. Ugh!! So I had to run down to rehearsal and tell my band leader that I was going to be a little late then run back across the street and get it all fixed. But in the end it was fine and I'm glad I know how to do it now and I like how easy it is.
Then rehearsal was another story. I did my new song the day before so yesterday it was the girls' turns. I've always heard stories about people who are big diva's and things but I've never really experienced it until now. Trina(the girl from Trinidad) couldn't complain enough. "This part of the song was wrong, this part's too loud, I don't have any place to breathe, there's too many backup vocals in the track," everything she could say she said. It was kind of fun to watch but I would hate to be in the line of fire.
Once rehearsal was over I went down to the restaurant by the pool for dinner(they still haven't closed it yet). I noticed on the menu something that I hadn't seen before, a salmon caesar salad. One of my favorite things ever. So I ordered that for the first course and then some chicken thing with salsa...yeah I know, I eat a lot! Well when it came out it was a plain caesar salad in the bowl and then I got a second bowl with the salmon in it. No where on the menu did it say it was raw salmon. Ahhh!! It looked like gross pink mush. I guess it's salmon sashimi so I just said what the heck, try everything once and went for it. The taste wasn't bad at all, quite good, but the texture almost made me puke. So squishy and wet. Yuck. So basically I choked down as much as I could and now I know never to order that again.
After dinner I just relaxed for a bit before the shows. The club was packed. Ladies Night is always packed. Everything went great, even the new songs. Then I came right up to my room and got ready for bed. What a good day.

Alright

Well the last couple days have been just that....alright. I've made it through them and that's all that matters right now. There's always going to be hard times in any job and right now it's just one of those times. But enough with the bad stuff.
Last night the shows were great, especially the last two sets, the crowd really got into it and were up dancing and everything. It was great for a Wednesday! There were also a lot of nice people there tonight. I met some guy named Hans from Singapore and he kept saying how great we were. He told me he is here for a conference and he's going to try to bring 50-60 people down to the club tonight because he wants them all to see us! That's pretty awesome!
I'm hoping I get to go do some more exploring soon, we've had rehearsals and stuff so I haven't had time, but I really want to go see the Petronas Towers! Hopefully I will have time in the next couple days. But if not, I will find time soon.
Oh I also have some good news, one of my band mates has his girlfriend visiting him right now and she's been filming our shows so I think I'm going to have some videos to put up here soon! Then you guys can all see what it's like. Well I think that's about all I've got for now.

Ugh

Last night and today so far have not been good. Starting with the shows yesterday we were all off our game and it just didn't go well. After our first set our bandleader had a little meeting with us telling us to pull it together but it didn't really happen, I don't know what the deal was. I even forgot words to one of my songs which hasn't happened since the first day. And on top of that there were only like 20 people in the club. It was so lame! I know that we have to give the best performance no matter how many people are there but it's just so much harder.
Yesterday was also pay day which should have been awesome but when my band leader gave me my pay he told me I had to go shopping the next morning with the girls to have them help me pick out some more clothes. I was so annoyed, for one, I just bought four new things last week and we're only supposed to have to purchase two new things a month. And for two I feel like I have enough fashion sense that I don't need the girls to help me.
Anyway I got up early to go shopping and it just plain sucked. We went to this new "mall" in a place called Bukit Bintang. I used the quotations because this place was weird and ghetto. We started out looking around but all they had on the first few levels were girl clothes. So of course the girls were going crazy and I just followed along being bored. I couldn't go off on my own to look at guy clothes because I don't have a cell phone here to find them later and this place was confusing. We planned to shop for 2 hours and then head back. We ended up shopping for about 3 and a half hours. Did I come home with anything? Nope. Did they even try to help me look around? Nope. Such a waste of time. But I guess at least I got to see a new place! That's the bright side!
So that's the excitement for now. Tune in for more!

Great Weekend

I didn't post the last couple days because not too much has happened. The shows have been great, Friday and Saturday nights are my favorite now. They are always so packed and people actually get out on the dance floor and have a blast so it definitely makes it more fun for us.

I have a big fan now, his name is Nicky Yee. He came to the club on Friday night for the first time with his sister and friend and they couldn't say enough nice things to me. Then they all loved it so much that they came back again on Saturday night. It's kinda nice having someone there that I know no matter what I do they'll think it's awesome! This is a picture he took on Saturday night, so I thought I'd post it for everyone to see.

Anyway Sunday was a great day off! I went shopping at the Megamall for hours and bought a couple books. They have a Borders book store there and it's huge. So I bought a couple Dean Koontz books that I haven't read, I was excited to find some! Also I met a family from Nevada at the mall. They are just here on vacation. I heard them talking and noticed that they didn't have any accent so I asked them where they were from. It's kind of nice meeting people from back in the homeland, makes me feel closer to home for a minute.

The rest of the night I just watched Finding Nemo on the Disney Channel and ordered room service. What could make a better end to the night?

Cool cool!

No new post today but I just got the link to the article about our band so you guys can all check it out! The thing they quoted me on I didn't really say, kinda funny but I'll take it. So here it is : http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/WEEKENDWATCH_TransitBanddoesitwithstyle/Article/index_html


Enjoy!

Latest Adventure

Mr. Lambert

Yesterday was great! The title kinda says it, yes I got to meet and hang out with Adam Lambert, picture to come soon!
But first I went on another adventure yesterday. I went to this place called Berjaya Times Square. I got up early so I would have plenty of time to find my way and have time to spend there. Usually I can take the subway, I don't know why I call it that, it's more of a train but I'll just stick with subway. Anyway instead of the subway I had to take the monorail to this place. And finding out where the monorail station was located was an adventure in itself. But once I found it I only had to take it for three stops and I was there.
I was kind of expecting this to be a copy of New York Times Square but it wasn't anything like it. No big flashing lights or anything, just a gigantic building. When I first entered I thought it was just another big mall, but boy was I wrong. This wasn't just a big mall, it was HUGE! I think it was somewhere between 13-15 levels of shopping and there's also an indoor amusement park inside! Holy cow! So I started at one end and just went as long as I could. I only made it to four levels before I had to leave. But that's good because then there will be more for me to come back to. Plus I never got to see the full amusement park levels, I could only see some of the rides from where I was. So I'm definitely going back!
Now back to the Adam Lambert business. As if my day wasn't already enough of an adventure, I got to meet him! He and his crew came and watched our last two sets and in between we got to go sit with them and hang out in their little VIP section. Just us, no one else was allowed, they had it blocked with bodyguards! How cool is that? So we all met him, got a picture with him and then just chilled. I talked to his dancers and make-up artist mostly and they were all so nice. It was just like hanging with a bunch of friends, and they couldn't say enough good things about our band, they loved it! I don't know how often celebrities come here, but if this is any sign of things to come I could definitely get used to that. I'm pretty sure the band Paramore is doing a concert here this month, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that they come to our hotel too! I can't wait to see what's next!

Craziness

The last couple days have been pretty busy, we've been rehearsing and putting the rest of my songs into our show. Other than that I haven't had much time for anything else. So nothing too eventful happened until last night.
First things first, I did see Adam Lambert for about 2.2 seconds, he was walking through the lobby but he had his huge entourage of people all around him so I couldn't really get a good look at him, nor could I get a picture. But that's OK. Then later that night I was in the elevator with two of his bodyguards and I was just trying to make conversation but no matter what I said they just replied with "I can't disclose any information." So I'm thinking I won't be getting any autographs any time soon. Dang!
Then during one of our breaks in between sets I went out to mingle like always, but the girls were a little crazy last night. It wasn't even ladies night yet! So I saw one of my other band mates talking with this girl so I walked up just to say hi. As soon as I walked up he took off, so I know that's a bad sign, he was pawning her off on me. She introduced herself then told me, "You so cute, so cute," then grabbed my face and planted one on me. Now this wasn't just a little peck, this was a big dramatic kiss. Yikes! I was so shocked, if I hadn't stepped back who knows how long that would have lasted! The rest of the night she was dancing right in front of the stage blowing me kisses and waving at me. Oh boy, luckily she's just here on vacation, but unfortunately it's for a couple weeks. I'll just have to do my best to keep her at a distance.
Lastly we had this really nice guy from the UK in the audience last night and he loved us. He bought us all drinks so I poured some of mine into everybody's glasses but then as soon as he noticed mine was low he bought me two more. So I had three drinks that I had to get rid of. And this guy was so nice I even told him I don't drink but he just said, "everybody drinks," and kept dishing them out. I thanked him for the drinks, then as soon as he went back to the bar to buy everyone more, I took off up to my room. I had to get out of there!
So even after a couple chill days I had enough excitement in one night to more than make up for it. Now tonight is Ladies Night, so wish me luck!

I'm Back

So it's been two days since I've posted, but I didn't want to just post something short so I had to wait til more happened that I could write about. The title says it all! I have my voice back and feel 98% better, there's still that 2% cause I have a stuffy nose, but that will be gone soon enough!
Where to begin? Sunday I didn't really have any major plans so I decided I was going to go exploring. I ended up in lots of places that I didn't intend to(meaning I got lost) quite a few times so in the end I went back to the mall that I've already been to. I guess Sunday is the big shopping day here so the place was packed. I was thinking maybe I could catch a movie but every movie they have at the theater came out months ago back home, so I've seen every one. Plus the line to get tickets was ridiculous! I shopped around for about four hours and even found a grocery store in the mall, how weird is that? It was fun just to look through and see what kind of different things they sell there. I ended up stocking up on some diet cokes, or coca-cola light as they call it here, and some snacks for my room. Then came the journey home. I had to wait at the sub station for an hour and a half because it was so packed. I watched four trains pass me by before I could finally get close enough to get on! The rest of the night I just watched some Disney movies in my room and ordered room service, what a great day.
Then yesterday I pretty much just did the usual then relaxed in my room. Then it came time to go meet my band for dinner and it was taking forever to get an elevator. When I finally got down to the lobby I saw that they had stopped some of the elevators on that floor and had red carpets leading up to them and all the way out into the street. No wonder it was taking so long. I guess they had some kind of royalty there yesterday and that's just the usual procedure. What a life that would be huh? Oh and I can't forget to mention that Adam Lambert from American Idol will be staying in the hotel this week. He's doing a concert somewhere downtown but he's staying here. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I get to meet him! Not that I'm a huge fan or anything but hey, he's famous and it would be cool to get a picture with him. And they said that some of his band and tour crew might even come to the club and see us play. Wouldn't that be awesome? Yeah it would.
Well I think that's about it for now. I gotta get out there and take some more pictures soon so you guys have more to look at!

Great Night

Yesterday was awesome! Little by very little I'm getting my voice back so things are going great in that department. It really helps to be able to just relax all day. Our band got offered free tickets to go watch some Motocross race or something. Some kind of bike race, you know me with the sports, but the guy that offered us the tickets ended up not showing up to give them to us so we just had another chill day.
Last night the club was the most packed it's been all week. I truly felt a little famous. People were crowded all up in front of the stage and were going crazy! We were feeding off their energy and the show was awesome! Every set got more and more fun. It was the first time I really felt like I fit in, rather than being the new guy. Everyone loved us and wanted to talk to us but we couldn't even walk through people to talk to anyone. And I finally got a little confidence boost from a lady that said she wasn't going to leave until she got to talk to me. She told me I was the best one on stage! I couldn't believe it and it came at a time when I really needed to hear that. She was so nice. After the shows we all stuck around and partied til the club closed. Some of them went out, but I went back to my room for some good sleep. It was a great night.

I See The Light!

Ok, good news, I'm feeling a little better! Not a ton better but at least I can feel it moving in the right direction! Yes!!! I'm so happy!
Yesterday was a great day, nothing too exciting but we finally all went and used the pool. It was really hot out, but after we were in the pool for a few minutes it started raining of course. So we all went over to the little restaurant by the pool and got some food. It was SO good! I'm going to have to eat there more often, even though they are closing it in a couple weeks for construction(I swear that's always my luck). I had this thing called a Mixed Satay, it was chicken, lamb and beef on skewers and you get 12 of them, yes 12. Then it comes with some cucumber and onion that you can add on your skewers and this peanut dipping sauce. Mmmmm....I'd say it's probably the best thing I've eaten since I've been here! Luckily I think it's on the room service menu too.
After we ate we all went back to our rooms and we had like three hours til our show since we don't start til 10:15 on Friday and Saturdays. I tried to take a nap but I couldn't sleep so I just relaxed and watched TV. Oh and I also found out that hulu doesn't work here so I can't watch my shows from home but I did find a website I can use to watch Glee at least cause that's the most important!
The shows were great, our band leader picks the easiest songs for me to sing since my voice is a little scary right now but for some reason during the last set he chose Billy Jean. Ahh! It was a mess, it's already a hard song when I have my full voice, but when I'm sick, lets just say it was a disaster. But I made it through it, or tried to and was so relieved when it was over.
Last night I also had my first run in with a pushy customer. This lady and her husband insisted on getting a few of us drinks so I tried to sneak away but she grabbed me and told me not to leave. So she poured us all some and then we did a cheers and I pretended to drink it, she looked right at me and said, "you are not leaving here til that's gone." So I put it in my mouth then when she turned away I spit it into my water bottle. I'm always going to make sure I have that water bottle with me when I'm out in the crowd now. Oh how fun that was. I think that's about all that happened yesterday, we'll see what today has in store.

Ladies Night....Oh Boy What A Night

This sickness is killing me! I mean, I've been way more sick than this before but never has it affected my voice like this. Tonight was Ladies Night and it was pretty packed so of course we were all hyped for the show. But no matter how hyped I was, my voice was not going to cooperate.
In the first set I sang Maria Maria, I'm Yours, and Masterblaster, I couldn't get through one song without my voice cracking and I couldn't even reach some of the notes. Even when I've been horrendously ill in the past I have still been able to use my voice, but not this time. I have never been more embarrassed. I could see the looks on people's faces as they watched me struggle. As the night went on I got more and more panicked with each set, just hoping that I could get through my songs. And that's all I did, got through them. Now here's the weird part, everyone was so nice last night! Not one rude comment after I sucked it up so bad! So at least that part was good!
All I did during the day yesterday was rest, trying to get better. I've taken Ibuprofen, Guaifenisen, sore throat lozenges, cough drops, and some weird tea stuff that one of the other singers gave me. Nothing has helped. I'm just praying it will start getting better soon, but who knows. Anyway that's enough for now.

Pink Party

Last night was awesome! It was our official band launch and it was packed! You could feel the energy from everyone in the room the second we walked in. So cool. Usually we start out with some calmer songs because no one is drunk yet and it kinda just gets people ready for the louder stuff later. But last night we started right out with the high energy dancing music and it was great. People came just to see us, so they were really into it. There were newspaper people, magazines, people with video cameras, it was crazy. After our first set we all had to go meet out in front of the club for interviews and photos, I truly felt a little famous. Everyone wanted to talk to us and ask us questions. We even signed autographs!
The whole night was great, but then of course there's always a few people that are just a little too honest, or blunt I guess. I was talkin with this man from the UK and he was saying how much he liked the show and how great it was, but then out of no where he said, "No offense but there's really no reason for there to be another singer with a black girl up there, she's the only one to watch, she's really the most talented." I was quite shocked that he would say that to my face. And that wasn't the end of it either. I then talked with a local lady and she was being so nice then came the, "No offense you're really cute, my daughter would love you, but I thought you were really boring. But now talking to you, you are so nice." I know I'm in the business where I'm being judged all the time but seriously, who just says that to someone's face? And do people really think if they start with "No offense" that it's ok to say whatever?
Anyway enough with that business. All in all the night was great, and it's getting easier and easier to hear when my songs are coming up so I'm not really nervous anymore. Tonight is ladies night so we'll see how that goes!

Across the globe

I started a photo album, just click on the picture and it will take ya to it!

Mall Excursion

Yesterday was a great day! It all started with the usual gym, room service, shower, then a little TV watchin. Then I was supposed to meet with the other two singers to go shopping because we all have to have something pink to wear for tonight, it's our official launch at the club. Supposedly there's going to be reporters, news channels, magazines and all sorts of people there to watch us, talk about pressure! But anyway, I missed their call so I ended up going to the mall myself, yeah yeah, I know that sounds all scary, but it really wasn't, it's only one stop down on the subway thing and it's just like being at home in the mall just with different people.
So I get to the mall, the one I talked about before, it's called the Midvalley Megamall, it's HUGE! I went through the whole mall then found a little passageway that lead to another mall called the Garden Mall, and that one was huge too! I ended up finding just a plain pink shirt, nothing special after all those stores, but it was still a blast.
Now for the bad part, somehow I'm already sick. One of the girl singers was sick when she got here and I caught it of course because I catch every illness around me. It's pretty much just a sore throat but it's definitely affecting my voice. In the show last night there were quite a few notes I had to strain to get through but I remembered all my words!!!! Yes!!!
Everyone I talked to after each set last night said how much they love our band already, way more than the band that was here before us. So that is great news. I talked to one man last night who told me that I need to get back to the U.S. to try out for X-Factor. He told me that he knows things about Simon Cowell and if I use it in my interviews I would get on the show for sure....hmmm...I might have to think about that.
I've discovered one of the biggest challenges with this job is going to be avoiding all the drinks. Everyone wants to buy us drinks because we are the band, and it's very impolite to say no, so I just have to take them and pretend to drink. I don't know how all the others do it, even if I liked to drink I wouldn't be able to do it and then go up and sing, it totally effects your voice. But to each their own!
One last thing, I felt my first little touch of homesickness today. I woke up at 6ish this morning(courtesy of jetlag) and just felt sad, but I got up, drank some water and went back to bed, then when I woke up at 1 I felt better! So hopefully that stays away, of course I'm going to miss things about home but that sad feeling is no fun. That's about it for now.

Whew!!

So opening night is finally behind me! Ah what a relief! I wasn't really stressed about it but it just feels good to have started and have that first part over with.
Let me back track a little bit now. Yesterday we went and saw that other band at another hotel downtown, they were pretty good, they had one singer, a little phillipino girl and she was Amazing! She pretty much stole the show. Once she sang that's all I wanted to listen to the rest of the time. The other guy and girl were good too, but nowhere near the amazingness of this girl. Then on the way back to the hotel we took a taxi and it had these nasty little cockroach-like things crawling along the back seat! It was so sick! I had to lean forward the whole ride and still ended up with one in my hair!!!
Now forward to today, did just the usual, went to the gym, came back and showered, and talked to my mom and dad on Skype. Then I had a quick lunch and we all met for rehearsal. We rehearsed from 2 ish til about 6. I felt really ready after that. Then a few of us went to dinner. I had this weird steak dish, not my favorite thing I've had here. It was too red! Woof. After that I went back to my room to relax for a couple hours before opening.
At 9:15 we all met outside the club and got ready for our first set. It went great, I mean I messed up quite a bit, forgot words in almost every song, but all in all I'd say for my first day it was good! It's so different not knowing what song is coming next and a couple times I didn't realize it was my song, but they all helped me out and got me through it! Every night it will get better and better I'm sure of it! Well tomorrow's another day, I'll write again soon.

Good Times

Wow, I just reread that last post, it was long! But I had a lot to tell, so I guess it's ok. Today there wasn't quite as much excitement, but still a great day. I slept til noon, then got up and decided to find the gym. Of course they are remodeling it right now til October 18th but they have a little miniature gym set up right now until it's done. So I went and ran on the treadmill, but they measure things in Kilometers here so I wasn't really sure how far to go so I did a nice little 10k, I think thats around 6 miles....hmmm.
Anyway then I went back to my room and ordered room service, I had a caesar salad with salmon, and it was SOOO good! I could get used to this business. Then I took a shower and got ready for the day.
We were supposed to do a sound check around 5, and it was 3 so I decided to take a look around the hotel and pool. It was a nice little excursion, I checked out some of the restaurants, then walked around the whole pool and took a few pictures, I'll post some soon! When I got back to my room it was 4, so I decided to lay down to watch some TV and fell back asleep. I woke up to the sound of my doorbell ringing(did I mention our hotel rooms have doorbells?) and it was our drummer telling me that we were gonna meet down there around 7:30. So I went back to watching TV, but I couldn't fall back asleep. It's weird feeling exhausted because my body is still on Utah time, but it already got it's fill of sleep so I couldn't take anymore!
At 7:30 we met down at the club, and watched the instrumentalists all sound check, then all left for dinner really quick. After that we went back to the club and ran through all of my songs for opening day, it went GREAT! Much better than I was expecting. And now we're all heading out to see another band at another club downtown.
So that's it for now, still loving it here so far, and can't wait for opening night!