Asia Music Festival Food

The food stalls at Asia Music Festival greeted guests as soon as they entered by the main entrance. They lined the side neatly, in a row.

Each stall sold representative food from an Asian country. 

1) MALAYSIA

Fishballs and cocktail sausages and chicken wings 

What's so Malaysian about these? I suppose it helped that Nasi Lemak, Laksa Sarawak, Satay and Penang Fried Kuay Teow were sold too.

Penang Fried Kuay Teow, and Chicken or Beef Satay

2) VIETNAM

Vegetable Rolls

They looked sorry, didn't they? And they were sitting on a piece of Good Morning towel too. How presentable.

Pho Bo

Yeah right. The Malaysian version. I would be embarassed to call this Pho Bo. 

3) THE PHILIPPINES

The stall sold Stir-fried Rice Noodles. I did not take a picture. But just refer to No. 1) Penang Fried Kuay Teow. They looked the same. 

4) JAPAN

There were sushi and teriyaki chicken rice here.

 No raw fish here ...

5) THAILAND

Pandan Chicken

Mango Salad

6) INDONESIA

These were the deep-fried chicken wings for the Chicken Lalapan, and deep-fried Spanish Mackerel for Fish Lalapan. Not even a single garnishing on the tray? Looked no different than those sold in coffee shops. Could have just bought this from any economic food stall counter. Again, refer to No. 1) Deep-fried Chicken Wings. The same thing. 

7) SINGAPORE

Singapore Chicken Rice

8) BRUNEI
There was Nasi Kandar and Ambuyat.

Ambuyat

9) INDIA

Chicken Briyani.

There was also Lamb Briyani.

10) HONG KONG

 

Dim Sum

 

Roasted Duck Rice

Ok. I am not happy with the food sold. There was no excitement, no sophistication, and no effort made in showcasing the best and the authentic. And get rid of that Good Morning towel, for goodness sake!

Asia Music Festival Food : The Real Opinion

There were stalls, all neatly lined up at one side of the venue. Each stall sold a representative food from a certain Asian country. If I was not mistaken, only Malaysian food occupied 2 stalls. It was alright. We were the host. It would only be right to showcase our food. :))

The stalls

The concept was good, I thought. Great idea to provide lots of food and of different kinds too. I was sure the crowd would love to sample exotic cuisines from various Asian countries. However, I was to be disappointed. That was after I toured the stalls from one to another, and finding the food lacking in terms of variety and presentation.

1) MALAYSIA

The Malaysian stall sold snacks - there were deep-fried chicken wings, deep-fried skewers of fishballs and cocktail sausages. All items were at RM4.00. My honest opinion? Hmn .... I could think of some other snacks which were more MALAYSIAN, compared to than those mentioned above.

Fishball skewers, cocktail sausage skewers and chicken wings

The mains were sold at the next stall. They had Nasi Lemak (RM8.00), Laksa Sarawak (RM6.00), Chicken or beef Satay (RM6.00 per half dozen), Penang Fried Kuay Teow (RM6.00). 

2) VIETNAM

Vegetable Roll (RM6.00) and Pho Bo (RM6.00) represented Vietnam. I thought the vegetable roll looked so sorry .... and the Pho Bo? Well ... it was not Pho Bo. At all.  

An attempt at Vietnamese Vegetable roll

Well, as far as I know, Vietnamese rolls use rice paper. These ones here were wrapped with our local popiah pastry. Then, the filling was wrapped in a very loose manner. Worst of all, the popiahs-pretending-to-be-vietnamese-vegetable-rolls were lying on "Good Morning" towel? Eeew .... I would assume that they had something more tasteful than "Good Morning" towel. Of course, I understood that it was to prevent the rolls from drying up ... but surely there was a more presentable way to do that? 

Meanwhile, the Pho Bo really infuriated me. Why? Because it tasted like our local version of beef noodles, one I could eat at any Malay coffee shop or restaurant in town. I could even have it at my canteen, for goodness sake! 

Pho Bo? Hmn ..... where's the signature rice noodle?

In the bowl were yellow egg noodles and rice vermicelli, in clear beef bone soup; the garnishes were shredded egg omelette, beansprouts, lots of deep-fried shallots, spring onions, 2 miserable pieces of basil, and half a local lime. 

It would not want to dispute this, if ONLY the food had been marketed as "Popiah" or "Mee Sup Tulang" or something. But no, it was meant to represent Vietnam. Heck, there was even a flag flying above the stall. So if that was the case, then it was only right to expect something close to the real thing. If I were a Vietnamese, I would really feel insulted for the injustice done to my food. But since I was not, I only suffered a major let down. It was not a good feeling. 

3) PHILIPPINES

It was Stir-fried Rice Noodle (RM6.00)  for the Philippines. I think they attempted Pancit. But frankly speaking, I was not able to differentiate between that and the Penang Fried Kuay Teow. They both looked suspiciously the same, could pass off as the same thing. Just sold under two different names. 

4) JAPAN

Sushi (RM6.00) and Teriyaki Chicken (10.00) were sold at the the Japan stall.

 

No raw fish here 

5) THAILAND
Mango Salad (RM6.00) and Deep-fried Pandan Chicken (RM6.00 for 4 pieces) for Thailand;

Mango Salad 

Pandan Chicken

6) INDONESIA
Nasi Lalapan Ayam (RM12.00) and Nasi Lalapan Tenggiri (RM14.00) for Indonesia;

The chicken and fish used for lalapan

Kenapa ayam itu nampak sama dengan sana punya? I asked the man behind the stall, pointing to the Malaysian stall where deep-fried chicken wings were sold.

Sama punya, he replied.

Duh, how convenient.

7) SINGAPORE

Singapore Chicken Rice (RM8.00)

8) BRUNEI
It was Nasi Kandar (RM8.00) and Ambuyat (RM8.00) for Brunei.

Ambuyat

9) INDIA
Chicken Briyani (RM10.00) and Lamb Briyani (RM14.00) were for India.

10) HONG KONG
Dim Sum (RM6.00) and Roasted Duck Chicken Rice (RM8.00) were sold at the Hong Kong stall.

Dim Sum

Roasted duck rice

You know, I was so disappointed with the food on Night 1 that I contemplated to bring my own food to the venue on Night 2. Either that, or I had wanted to eat first before I attended the event. 

How to improve the event, I was asked? 

Perhaps one way is to improve the food scene to draw in the crowd. Not everyone loves music after all. But most people love food. Look how the Kuching Food Fest attracted people? The crowd was amazing! And talking about the food too, I think it is only right to be as authentic as possible. Don't play pretend!!! People are not fools, you know. Wouldn't they be knowledgeable or even well-travelled? I mean, people do not need to be an authority in Vietnamese food to tell the difference between Sup Tulang and Pho Bo for example.

What to eat, I asked my friend, AT. He was accompanying me on Night 2.

"Let's go and see," he said. 

"Nah, I've seen last night. You go and see. I'll wait here," I plopped into a chair to rest my legs and to fiddle with the camera, while he went to browse at the stalls. I had already decided what to eat anyway. 

"There's only one stall selling something decent," he came back to report to me.

"Which one?" I asked.

"Briyani," he said.

Coincidentally, that was what I wanted too. 

Chicken Briyani

Fortunately, the Chicken Briyani was rather palatable. Both the rice and the chicken were nicely flavoured, not too overpowering. Unlike the night before, I finished my food this time.

The Stout was cooling and quenched my thirst. It also did much to quell my disappointment. ;P 

So much for the food, eh? I had anticipated it much .... but then it did not turn out great. Was it I who had been expecting too much? It was a music festival. Not a food festival, after all. But then, would it harm to provide great food? In my opinion, to take the event to greater heights, the food scene needed a major revamp. I would demand a certain level of excitement and sophistication in my food for the next edition of Asia Music Festival.

Asia Music Festival Night 2

I never knew that Eastwood Valley Golf and Country Club was so huge! Sure I had been there countless of times all these years. But I merely went to the function halls. And I was no golfer. So I never ventured beyond the grounds of the main building.

When I reached the golf course that day, the parking lots were barricaded .... and I was directed where there was more parking. The tiny road wound along the golf course, and before I knew it, I had reached the back entrance of the musical corridor! Geez, never knew this area existed!!

Hence that night, I entered the venue through the back. At a makeshift canopy, there were 2 booths selling tickets. Tonight's wrist tag was pink in colour.

The wrist tags 

There was a line up of 7 bands performing on Night 2. The event was about to kick off with the first band, The Mountain Wind Band from Bario! This is a country band, playing country songs. 

 The Mountain Wind Band, made up of 5 members

Lian Ballang is the lead vocalist. I loved his deep voice.

This group sang popular country songs, and at one point they had the crowd line-dancing in front of the stage with the song Achy Breaky Heart. Lol. How can any country band miss singing that song, right? They also performed a Kelabit number .... sigh ... and it reminded me of beautiful and serene Bario. 

Next was Melissa Francis, who sang in Iban. This petite and very pretty lady had taken the Dayak music industry by storm, wining numerous awards such in the state.  Though I did not understand the lyrics, I did enjoy the melody of most of her songs, and of course her beautiful voice. 

Melissa Francis
She struck me as a very confident lady.

Starlets came on stage after that ... I loved the deep colours of their costumes this time around, and it was great that they sang all my favourite songs that evening ..... including Beyonce's Listen, Mercy by Duffy and Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N' Roses.

Starlets 

Fakhrul Razi  or FR was invited all the way from neighbouring Brunei. I must say that this young man was so talented! He wowed the crowd with his version of Bruno Mars' Treasures. He was casual and fun, and his performance reflected his incorrigible personality. The crowd loved interacting with him! 

Fakhrul Razi and his band, Camouflage

The next performance was my favourite of the night. It was also the crowd favourite. There were five boys in the Boy Thai Band. They were all young and dressed very smartly for the performance.  At least 2 were very good-looking, and the girls naturally swooned over them. Physical appearance aside, there was no doubt that these boys were very, very talented.

For me ... and judging at crowd response, this group was HIGHLY entertaining. They electrified the whole venue with their brand of music - a fusion of classical Thai and upbeat western rhythms. Of course, that would mean a combination of instruments .... from the Thai Xylophone or Ranad, Thai percussion and flute. Tell you what, you can't help but sway to their music! I LOVE THIS BAND!! 

Boy Thai Band doing their thing to create a hysteria in the crowd!! 

L - R : Arnon Suttjaridjun (Thai Drums & Flute); Ekkapong Saelim (Drums); Weerasak Hambubpaka (Keyboard); Saranyu Suwannasoonthon (Saxophone); Paron Yuenyong (Ranad–Thai Xylophone), and Pakee Navee (Bass)

Saranyu Suwannasoontho serenaded the crowd on the saxaphone and clarinet. I wondered how many people melted at his performance ... lol.

Great performance by these young talents! For me, it was the climax of the evening before things wound down towards the event's closing ..

The next band was from Tamil Nadu, India. Antoney Dassan Yen Party means Antoney Dassan My Party. They incorporate folk music in their performances. For me it created a festive mood .... I closed my eyes and felt like I was transported to a rural village in India, where there were lots of happy people in colourful clothes and accessories singing and dancing around me. What a vibrant performance indeed!

Antoney Dassan in action

The finale was a group of Indonesia ... Foxy Girls who were former models. 

Foxy Girls

L - R : Jeje, Jessie and Moza

Pretty no doubt the girls were, but I did not really enjoy their singing ... which sometimes sounded like karaoke to me. They had the crowd singing together with them, however, especially with the song Aku Yang Tersakiti by Judika. Even young kids were singing along! What was fun about their performance was the drama on stage .... especially when they invited a few audiences on stage to dance and sing together with them. 

And with that, the festival closed its doors. What really made this event worthwhile was the great performances from many bands. That, and perhaps an opportunity for a relaxing weekend with friends. I did enjoy myself a lot. Thanks to STB for its great effort to bring another event to Miri!  

Asia Music Festival Night 1

I reached the venue at 4 p.m., the place was already rocking with the rhythmic sounds of music. The first band had started its performance. 

Eastwood Valley Golf and Country Club

I collected my wrist tag and proceeded into the musical corridor. 

Blue wrist tag for Night 1

Stalls were already set up, and were right by the entrance. On the left were handicraft stalls, followed by the tattoo artistes, and then the photography exhibition. On the left were the bar and the food stalls. 

Stalls on the right

Food Stalls on the left

A tattoo artist at work ... 

Big Bike Charity Show

The bikes would arrive at about 7.00 p.m. later. We were told that there were about 151 bikes which arrive in a convoy. How exciting. 

As of 4.00 p.m., there weren't many people as yet. It was still early, and I took my time familiarising myself with the set up. Actually, I quite liked the venue. It was really spacious, and I liked the fact that there was water and grass in verdant shades of green .... what a beautiful site which exuded a relaxing atmosphere. 

The large stage was set up at one end of the musical corridor, and members of Starlets were strutting their stuff on stage. The booming music liven up the atmosphere and gave me a sense of excitement. Starlets is a local Miri band. 

The Starlets

This six-member band entertained the crowd with renditions of popular songs old and new; I found myself singing along with them at times. Two songs I remembered them sing were Joan Jett's I Hate Myself For Loving You and Adele's Set Fire To The Rain. They will perform again on Night 2 at 6.30 p.m. Be sure to catch them then.  

Each band performed for about an hour. After the Startlets, came another Sarawakian band from Bintulu. This group is called Hevance - pronounced as /hee-vens/. Hevance came to the stage playing a traditional Iban tune before rocking the venue with its powerful beat. I loved it. This band sang in Iban and English

Hevance, featuring a rapper from Seventh Tribe

Next was Bob Yusof. Bob was from Limbang, Sarawak's very own son. On stage sometimes spoke in local dialect, thus making the audience relate to him and his roots. Bob started his career on Akademi Fantasia, and he has never looked back since! And before we realise it, Bob has already been in the local music industry for 9 years! 

Unlike the previous two perfomances, Bob was alone on stage. He looked lonely on stage, but his voice was sure NOT  small. In fact, his rich and powerful voice filled the entire venue. 

Bob Yusof

Bob is indeed a versatile singer, capable of a range of repertoire. He sang his popular songs like Cinta Terhalang and also a new song entitled, Yang Bertakhta, a romantic ballad. Then he had the crowd dancing with Sway and Can't Take My Eyes Off You. And he ended his performance with a Zapin. 

Soesah Tidoer

The fourth performance of the night came from Indonesia, a band called Soesah Tidoer or Insomnia in English. What an interesting name. This group is made up of 8 musicians, all men and all of different backgrounds. Amongst them, one was a sculptor and another an interior designer. They played blend dangdut, keroncong and rock, creating their own unique style in music. 

For me, I liked the variety of instruments they used, like the saxophone, flute, tambourine, ukulele and cello. For this group, a compulsory song to sing at every gig was Soesah Tidoer. It was like their theme song. Then, they have another song called Baju Manusia or Human Clothes. I thought the lyrics were quite meaningful - no matter what colour we are, we are all a human race. 

Right about this time, we heard the loud vroom of engines, signalling the arrival of the big bikes.

 One row of big bikes ... in all shapes, sizes and colours

Another row of big bikes to wow the crowd

At about 7.30 p.m., the crowd started to pour in. More people, more fun! It felt more festive. The fourth performance was my favourite of the night. From India, came Tritha and her 3-member band. They landed in Miri, dropped their bags, did a sound check and performed immediately. 

Tritha

Well, first up, I loved her costume. She was wearing a patterned red sari, with black tank top and black pants. I thought it was ethnic, yet so stylish. I also loved the chunky belt she wore. Now, Tritha had a sultry and soulful voice which was just enchanting. Sitting cross-legged on the floor and listening to her, it felt close to meditating. I felt my spirits lift up as I enjoyed the hypnotic quality of her voice. 

Now, it is true that music transcends all barriers. She sang in Hindi ... and though I did not understand a single word, I was moved by her music. It felt spiritual. Tritha also interacted very well with the crowd. We loved her and sang along with her when she asked. In the end, we asked for an encore .... but alas it was not to be as she had to give way to the next band. 

With the Bembol Rockers from the Philippienes, the atmosphere then turned to rock and roll. The crowd then got up to twirl to the music. 

The dancing crowd, and Bembol Rockers on stage

They sang their original numbers like Christine, Boogie Mo and also popular songs like Blue Suede Shoes. This band was quite entertaining! 

Finally, came the highly-anticipated girl band from Korea, V-Star. 

V-Star and Kamal Musallam

Firstly, all of the four were pretty. They had fine features, were fair and skinny. What made them special was the use of traditional Korean musical instruments to create modern music. The instruments used were the zithers or gayageum, the double-headed drum or janggu, and the flute or daegeum. This group played tunes like Let It Be, Obladi Oblada, Turkish March, and popular Korean pop songs like Nobody and Gee. A more traditional number was Arirang and the finale? Well ... of course it has got to be Gangnam Style. It was a Korean song which had taken over the world. Everyone sang it. The crowd could sing it. 

Listening to live music was different from listening to CDs. I could feel the booming rhythm in my heart, see the stage light up in colours, and enjoy the showmanship of the performers, coupled with the happy and dancing crowd ... I must say that I had a great time at the inaugural Asia Music Festival. Looking forward to Night 2. See you there! Event starts in an hour ....