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This is a late blog post on the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) 2009 held at Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV), Santubong as well as the the first bloggers’ meet endorsed by Sarawak Tourism Board (hereafter known as "STB", the endorsement seems not so official though). Of course, I have to firstly thank Cyril for taking the efforts to initiate the bloggers’ gathering. It was a small one yet meaningful. Like they always say, "every giant leap begins with a small step" and hopefully next year, it will get bigger and better. Maybe we can invite bloggers from Sabah and Sarawak and make it a BORNEO event. Haha.

The Bloggers’ Meet

Well, the first bloggers@RWMF was held at the SCV Restaurant. Looi Chin and I were rather late as we were trapped in a traffic jam along the Samariang road. Anyway, other bloggers who attended the gathering were  Fahriee, Mike,  Amiey (Kuching), Alus, Carol, Faizal, Melbie (Sabah), and Eileen from Miri. It was a simple gathering with the ultimate aim of getting to know each other (including the short Q&A game with LIMITED EDITION gifts sponsored by Cyril). And if you’re reading this and think that  you can make next year’s Blogger@RWMF better, do contact Cyril! Cyril is already planning for next year’s meet. Haha.

(Picture by Cyril)

 

My First RWMF Experience

(Picture by Carol)

Okay back to the RWMF. I had been wanting to go to RWMF ever since I came to Sarawak for my undergaduate’s study, but never had the chance to do so mainly due to bad timing or limited budget. So RWMF 2009 was basically my first and will definitely NOT be my last. If it was not because of the bloggers’ gathering, I would have hesitated to attend the festival, not because of Influenza A H1N1 but well it just doesn’t feel good when you don’t have friends to accompany you, right? Haha. Our bloggers’ meet was on Saturday, so most of us bought the 1-day pass for that day and thank God, no rain on that day and the concert was a blast. Prior to the concert (starting at around 7.30p.m.), we attended the workshops and various booths available. Looi Chin and I attended the one at Iban Longhouse, as well as the other two workshops at the Theatre Hall. (We didn’t get ourselves airbrush tattoos, thus we manage to attend all three workshops. Hahaha.) I really like the workshops as they are educational. At least we can open our eyes to other musical instruments available in other parts of the world apart from enjoying the music.

(Picture by Fahriee)

And on the concert, one word – Brilliant!. The performers of the night were Asika – Malaysia, LAN-È TUYANG – Sarawak, Oudaden – Morocco, Jouhiorkesteri – Finland, Moana and the Tribe – New Zealand, Jeff and Vida- USA and Fahriee’s favourite Dazkarieh – Portugal. I didn’t join the "muddy dance floor" (no thanks for wearing jeans, BIG MISTAKE!  Next year, bring it on rain or shine!! Hahaha) but I still had a very good time enjoying the music and of course seeing other fellow bloggers enjoying themselves made me happy too!! You can read their comments on the event as well: Cyril, Carol, Amiey, Mike and Fahriee. Oh yeah, we also met Mr Robert Raymer and his family (author of Lovers and Strangers: Revisited, and a lecturer at UNIMAS) at the festival. They were actually right behind where we all sat when watching the concert. 🙂

 

1-day Pass to the RWMF 2009 = RM90

Getting the shuttle bus from Santubong resort to SCV = RM10 (I was not lucky enough to get First Class parking like Cyril! Hahaha)

Getting to know fellow bloggers and enjoying the music = PRICELESS!!!

 

Well, see you all next year!! And yeah, Mike uploaded a few videos on Youtube covering the event. Check it out here and MORE on his blog.