Singing for Freedom

'Don't worry, Mum. How many times did you do the same for me when I was a baby? How many times did you wash my dirty bottom? A hundred? Two hundred? Did you think it was disgusting? Did you pull faces? No. Well today it's my turn to help you.'

I believe this very deeply. If children are lucky enough to be able to help their parents and give them what they need, they should put that opportunity to good use. To those of you who still have your mother I say, make the most of it! Love her and and protect her. If you have your mother you can call her just for a chat; you can look at her the same way you breathe - without thinking - and it seems perfectly natural to hear her laugh. A mother wants the best for her children. She's glad when they're happy and it hurts her when they suffer, even more than it hurts them. People talk about God, but parents are something more.

Singing for Freedom by Ani Choying Drolma

Saltimbanco!

Gaz and I went to Cirque Du Soleil's Saltimbanco performance last Thursday. It was my first time watching Cirque du soleil after so many years' hype about the circus with a difference.

Saltimbanco is actually an old production which was revived for CDS's Australia tour. 'Saltimbanco -from the Italian "saltare in banco", which literally means "to jump on a bench". And jumping they did, besides swinging, juggling, lifting, balancing etc.

The act opened up with about 20 performers all heavily made up, wearing colourful overalls jumping up and down on the colourful stage. They went around the ring and shook hands with the audience, giving hi-five's and saying hello in gibberish. They beckoned to the first row in the audience to follow them around the other side of the ring, and then ran to the newly emptied seats and congratulated themselves on their cleverness. So cheeky!

The talented performers entertained us with a good balance of audience participation, humour and serious acrobatic skills. I particularly like the boleadoras act. A boleadora is an instrument made of a weight attached to the end of a cord. The weights bounce off the ground and make sounds. Invented in Argentina, the boleadoras were used by hunters in the pampas or plains. I just loved the flamenco influence in this one, and there were times when the duo's boleadoras twirled impossibly fast and dangerously close to each other.

There was a 20 minute intermission in between during which we ventured closer to the ring side and got better seats there. Many other people did the same too, as it was not a full house - can't blame people for not wanting to venture out on a weeknight in the rain and cold!

We got home at around 11pm and I only got to bed around 12am. I was so knackered the next day!!

Meeting Chao Kong

Have you ever dreamt in a language you usually don't speak at home? Last night must have been a pretty eventful night for me, because I woke up in the morning and remembered two dreams I dreamt during the night. One where I spoke in Malay and was escaping from one place to another. My friends and I were planning our journey from the city to the jungle where our escape 'vehicle', elephants await us. I remembered complaining about my heavy backpack which hurt my back, and woke up with an aching back courtesy of sleeping in a funny position.

In my second dream, I dreamt I forgot to pick up a colleague's son from the train station, and was an hour away. I tried frantically to call him but for some reason I could not access my mobile - the settings were all different and I was feeling quite stressed about the whole situation. I am sure it is a reflection of what I experience at work at the moment where we are quite behind on a number of things, and it is not helped by being under-resourced and pressure to achieve.

Hopefully tonight I will have some sweet dreams!