Sunday, March 29, 2009

All Kinds Of Huge

Some time ago, The D and I were having a conversation about music in general, and how, post bands like U2 and Radiohead, there hadn't really been any bands that came out that had been epic. I mean, over time, there were bands like The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Queen, Rush, all the other metal bands, and later, bands like U2, Oasis and so on.

"Except maybe one exception," he'd demurred, "Coldplay."

And I absolutely agreed because in my head, I'd been thinking the same thing.

Well, on Monday, it turned out that we were absolutely right because the Coldplay concert was... well, there's no better word to describe it... epic. I went with Diana and thank god, because there's really no one I would have rather been with that night. We'd had to fight tooth and nail to get the tickets which sold out in one day, and by the time we arrived at the Indoor Stadium, Mercury Rev was already into their opening act which though slightly strange, was compelling and solid.

THE band finally came on at nine fifteen and not a minute too soon, prancing like luminous faeries with sparklers and like faeries they played for nigh two hours after. The fantastic thing about the concert was that Coldplay is already, arguably, the biggest band in the world among the new arrivals. Their music is fantastic, the sound is unique and inspired and the appeal far reaching. They didn't need anything to pad up the concert; they could have just gone on stage and rocked out, and it would still have been awesome.

But it was a wonderful, strangely intimate, no bullshit affair. At the risk of being stoned, while I've always enjoyed Coldplay on my iPod, I thought the music always felt a little... safe. So I was prepared for a slightly staid, even boring, evening. Instead, I was completely blown away. Live and with the beautiful, cold precision of the light show, the songs seem to punch through my chest and fill the world with brightness, magic and unearthly sound. On shimmering, golden tracks like Fix You and Yellow, I felt tears fill my eyes.

Special mention to Chris Martin for having the audience eating out of his hand. He was handsome, funny, charming and a consumate show man. His voice was faultless for near two hours, soaring like a blade and cutting right through the wall of sound the other band members were creating. That unique falsetto-tipped clarity, at times seemed to weep or sigh. And of course, the rest of the band was literally perfect, one of the tightest acts I've ever seen.

On top of that, practically everyone we knew was there, and sending fleeting text messages to people like Sook, Joe and Kim amid the music made it feel like we were among friends.

The show went from must-see to life-changing when the four actually took up on a little platform in the middle of the audience and proceeded with an intimate, acoustic rendition of Speed of Sound and Then I Saw Her Face which seemed to pull the whole room together into a warm, laughing pub-like atmosphere. Diana and I hugged, laughed, sort-of cried and danced throughout... and, look Ma, no tinnitus!



Photo stolen from Sook.

Japan on the other hand, was a whole 'nother kind of epic. I was only there for four days but have seen enough of the place to know that I will probably love going back there forever.
It's a beautiful mix of old and new, manicured and wild, and the people, like I realised on Air Nippon so long ago, have a wonderful sense of decorum, order and grace that is beautiful to behold.

Mainly, I spent lots of time meeting people and sitting in on business lunches and dinners, but in between, we actually got to hang out in the snow-covered mountains and soak in sulphurous hot springs. Up there, in a ski resort above the whole world, the snow piled thick and deep in drifts that hung like whipped cream. Winter-gaunt trees leaned, their branches a Tim Burton fairytale. We floated upwards slowly on a ski resort in thickly falling snowflakes and the silence, and peace were absolute. I'd never seen such a rangy, sweeping snowscape in my whole life. The snowflakes landed on our faces and hair, cold first, then wet, and my heart filled to bursting with joy.

The hot springs were a totally different experience. Traipsing down in patterned robes with two other girls I'd made friends with was made awkward by the fact that we knew we were going to disrobe eventually. When we entered the all girls section of the spring, we were treated to a preview of an old, naked woman towelling herself vigorously. Tittering nervously, we stood in a line, counted to three, and dropped our clothes.

Well. Let's just say I never knew there were so many kinds of breasts in the world. And down in the basement in the springs, it was so crowded that it felt like the whole of Japan was there.

At first, as we showered before going in, I used the tiny square facecloth to cover my bell-end, but when I realised that the Japanese women didn't mind and bore a full um... pelt to boot, I relaxed and really began to enjoy myself. In five minutes, we were floating around in the steaming water, chatting with wrinkled Japanese grannies, admiring nubile young mothers and even scrambling up on the rocks like nymphs to cool off.

We even went out into the cold night air, literally below zero, shivering and chattering on the freezing flagstones only to sigh with hot pleasure went we sank into the rocky pools. There is something wonderful about lying there in hot water with your face and head upturned into the frigid night.

Apart from the strangeness of the hot water creeping up your labia when you first sink in, I quickly grew to enjoy the experience, so much so that we went back the next night. And finally, I confirmed what I'd always believed, I have no problem with public nudity.

Anyroad, photos, though as usual, these crapola ones taken by me barely do the place justice at all.


A scenic but random shopping area - the outlet mall is behind me.

The view of the beautiful ski slopes from my room. We were right up there at the top of those peaks, but no photos from up there because the Japanese people took one look at me, realised I would drop my camera down the mountain and whisked it away to safety.


A hotspring with both in and outdoor facilities.
Something pretty, almost like Memoirs of a Geisha.



The wilderness of the mountains.
And finally, I had the distinct pleasure and priveledge tonight of interviewing the first lady minister to be appointed ever in this country. She will only be a minister next week and consequently, was still able to sit down with us for a full fifteen minutes and chat about anything we had to ask. I found her warm, intelligent, down-to-earth and motherly, though I qualify this by saying that I know next to nothing about her as a person.

As we talked, I felt a strange elation creep over me. Here was a woman with a historic appointment and here the three of us were, alone in a room, listening firsthand to her hopes and plans and thoughts on the situation. It was literally like having a piece of history to myself. And of all the girls in Singapore, JJ and I were the only ones who shared that quiet moment before her life becomes a hectic whirlwind, where she told us about what it meant to her as a woman, and what she hoped it would do for women nationwide.

There are few things in this job that fill me with contentment, but I enjoyed that fifteen minutes and for some reason, more than all the running around in the sun and frantic searching and lengthy, detailed features, it made me feel a sense of peace and usefulness. I couldn't believe that I was witnessing, quietly and without fanfare, a slow sort of transition come over this largely male-dominated nation. Of course, nowhere on the gargantuan scale or significance of a black man being elected to the White House, but still, a small and steady metamorphosis.

Like Darlin' Dylan says, slowly but surely, the times, they are a-changing.

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