One final entry to say goodbye to Boracay, even in its semi-developed state one of the most beautiful tropical islands I have ever set my pasty white feet on to, and about as close as that stereotypical definition of paradise has taken me so far. I am sure there are other more likely candidates out there yet to be explored, but for now, Boracay holds the trophy.
Honolulu and North Shore were fun, but they still reeked of that western aesthetic, you were still aware you were in the United States. The endless tall hotel towers and apartment blocks didn’t help much either. Sadly, while one feels that this fate is inevitable for Boracay, at the moment, it remains mostly undiscovered. Even the larger hotels are no more than three floors tall, and remain hidden away behind palm trees, bushes, and the natural contours of the island. The distance between the main street and the beach is in fact so small that it destroys the chances of any major developments, which is a good thing. Most of the hotels are small inns, they look like family run affairs, with tables and chairs on the beach itself, with no concrete path to break up the sand from the establishment. The sand is just one continuous animal, so you are never truly ‘off’ the beach.
So our final night in paradise, and what better way to end a fantastic period of my trip than to dance the night away, with dancing lessons from our DJ of the wedding on the nights before! We fox-trotted, meringue’d, salsa’d and waltzed our way towards a lovely blue cake celebrating Mark’s (the Groom) birthday, as the sun set for the last time on our trip to the island.
A last minute morning dash to the banana-boats (massive six-seater monsters that tried to destroy my boyfriend) was a final farewell to the gorgeous waves, and even the weather seemed to mourn our departure with us, as rain-clouds funnelled in and the brisk breeze was a little too cold for comfort. Maybe the sense of sadness was fuelled in part by the fact that I knew the next destination would by my boyfriend Jaspers hometown, where I would finally get to…
…meet the parents.
Groom and boyfriend (mine... not the grooms!) get a brief dancing lesson...
Marigen already knows what she is doing!
aaaaaand they're off!
White men can't do this...
Uhm... patchy anyone?
It was the last time any of them were ever seen again...
The Malaysian film industry isn’t really well known for ambitious cinematic efforts. In fact it might be reasonable to state that outside of its home territories, the Malaysian film industry isn’t well known at all. Considering that the majority of local content is just that – local, imagine my surprise when I come across a Kuala Lumpur home-grown, independent, low-budget feature that not only translates across cultural borders with great success, but in fact revels in it.
First-time director Mark Tan has crafted a modern day adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Othello, not an easy task, but the poetic spirit of the bard is kept integral and intact. The lyrical homage is reflected even in the film’s title, which is derived from a Malay idiom meaning web of deceit or conspiracy. Mixing the Western story with Eastern values is a theme inherent in the film, where Muslim calls for prayer are played out against the backdrop of the dramatic capitalist world of corporate KL, the twin peaks of the once-tallest-buildings-in-the-world ‘The Petronas Towers’ making their presence known in many of the stunning exposition shots prevalent in the movie. The dialogue, a canny mixture of Bahasa Malaysia and English further stress the point, that this is a local production breaking out from the stagnant local mainstream.
For those uncultured swine unfamiliar with the story of Othello, the breakdown goes as thus: Corporate-climber Daniel Oh (Christien New) is a Chinese man among a Malay-majority business. Eloping with the Malay daughter of one of the board members (Juliana Ibrahim as Mona) causes potential tensions, but these are waylaid by the calm handling of the situation by the board chairman Datuk Kalel (played by legendary local actor Dato’ Rahim Razali). Dato is unable to provide the same calming situation for his son Iskandar (Razif Hashim), who is jealous of Daniel’s corporate success, the approval his father bestows upon him, and his marriage to the beautiful Mona. Using a web of deceit, he lies, manipulate, and encourages those around him to perform his nefarious scheme to destroy his best friends relationship, career, and ultimately life as his jealousy consumes and those who get in the way, even his estranged wife (Farah Putri), become mere collateral damage.
Othello isn’t the most breeziest of the Shakespearean plays, and this is reflected in the film. Long, considered takes segue the more dialogue heavy of the scenes, peppered with poetry and occasionally beautiful analogies, which perform the amazing task of both remaining faithful to the source material, and providing true cinematic ingenuity. Take for example the important plot point regarding the handkerchief (you’ll know which one). In the original play, it was a plot device to help further the insidious scheme. Here, it is both that, and the source of one of the most memorable segments of poetry in the script.
Another aspect that makes the film stand out from its peers is it’s subject matter. When based on a tragedy, it is inevitably going to be dark, but Jarum Halus is downright macabre, morbid, sometimes suffocating so. The director of photography somehow manages to make bright red lighting seem dim and stifling, fitting then that the same scene shows our protagonist Daniel lying underwater in the bath, literally and metaphorically unable to breathe. There are moments when the piece feels like a horror film, with slow burning arcs towards tense confrontations becoming the entire final act. Even the few moments of humour are veering towards the gloomier end of the spectrum, with one laugh out loud moment referencing Chinese actress Anita Mui, herself deceased, while several of the main characters are about to join her.
When adapting Shakespeare problems are inevitable. Here, one is Tan’s adherence to the source material. There are several melodramatic aspects to Shakespearian plays that have a difficult time translating to the modern world. Suit everyone up in leotards and you can just about get away with it. One can only applaud the majority of the film for how it both manages to be it’s own animal and stay faithful, but like one if its main characters, this unwavering faith is the cue to several problems. The final dramatic act, while harrowing and brilliantly directed, just doesn’t ring true when compared with preceding events, which were calm and downplayed. The dire acting of Christien New and Juliana Ibrahim don’t help things much either, and only the gloriously subdued yet sizzling performance of bad guy Razif Hashim keeps the momentum going until the final bitter end.
At 133 minutes this is a long slog, but a rewarding one. And considering this is a debut feature of a twenty-two year old director, it is nothing if not a staggering achievement. Word on the cinematic grapevine is that Mark Tan is planning a trilogy of classical adaptations, next a reworking of Dickens ‘Great Expectations’, finishing with Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos. If the quality on display in Jarum Halus is anything to go by, these will be ones to watch!
So now that the wedding was done, and I had finished my date where nothing had happened whatsoever – we were free to continue to do whatever it is crazy tourists do when they are holidaying on a tropical island – we got wet.
For a highly bartered-down price, we boarded a local boat that took us out to the rocks and corals in the ocean that was so clear that not only could you see the bottom but you could make out your crisp shadow from the boat waving back at you on the sandy surface below. At least you could when it wasn’t obscured by the entire friggin cast of Finding Nemo, which wasn’t a bad thing really.
Jumping in was a must, and considering by the caterwauling screams emanating from the girls as they slowly descended into the water toe by mind-numbingly-inevitable toe, I realised that jumping in from the side of the boat was the only way I was going to guarantee a decent amount of swim-time.
The water felt as good as it looked, cool but not cold, no wayward currents to throw you off-track, you could just don a pair of goggles, a snorkel, go under, and just float, just lay there and stay still, and marvel at how curious the small fish were as they cautiously floundered around this new large visitor to their realm. I wish I had an underwater camera to capture all this but my descriptions would have to do. Just read that whole paragraph again while listening to any song by Enya and that should just about do it.
Of course, just because the boat ride was over and we were back on dry land didn’t mean that we couldn’t continue our exploits in the water, after all, our rather lovely hotel had an equally lovely pool, one that the girls screamed considerably less this time jumping into…
Is that Wings hair or a sea-urchin?
All just wanna be rockstars!!!
I wonder whose house?
Ralen about to be attcked by a giant blue missile...
Jasper, strangely adept at snorkeling for someone who doesn't like the water...
Yummy?
I look lost. And pasty...
"This is the right boat yes?"
Jasper sneaking in another shot of me, this time at the pool...
Most of the pics you can see here have already been documented and described in the previous entry, the bridal arrival, the tortured butterflies and so on. What is depicted further as the sun descended into Poseidon’s domain isthe ceremony continued, becoming a zoo in the process as further animals are introduced, namely a pair of doves released at the conclusion of the vows. The agitated avians were obviously not fond of their temporary incarceration, as they legged it (or should I say ‘winged’ it) so vivaciously that my camera could hardly keep up. What you see below is the best I could capture of the fleeting creatures.
Dinner was a wonderful affair of unique combinations (coconut-sushi anyone?) and huge helpings of champagne, which resulted in further photography in the evening become rather more blurred than I would have liked, but still, wouldn’t be a wedding without an open bar!
The traditional wedding etiquette was adhered to, with the tossing of the bouquet, the speeches (cue a cringe when the very very English brother of the groom - the type of Englishman that didn’t know the Philippines existed until he meets someone from there - gives his best man speech, peppered with sex, drugs, rock’n’roll and all manner of blue metaphors, in front of a mostly catholic middle-aged Filipino audience).
What did take me be surprise over the course of the evening was the undeniable cuteness and handsome face of the lead singer of the band, an energetic Filipino guy around my age (that’s 24, for those who were wondering). His smooth voice and rhythm was distracting enough, but when he finished his song, bee lined straight towards me, stuck out his hand, and introduced himself, I was more than slightly flabbergasted.
“What are you doing after the wedding?” he asked, a purposeful grin on his face.
“I don’t know, when you go to a wedding that’s pretty much it, you don’t make after-party plans!” I laughed in reply, wondering where this was going.
“Well I’m going to a club, nice big loud club afterwards, do you want to come with me?”
“Yeah, sounds good, I’d love to!”
“Nice. I’ll pick you up from your hotel, say 1am?”
And that was that. Somehow, I had managed to get myself a date. My boyfriend was going to kill me.
Surprisingly enough Jasper was laughing when I explained the turn of events. “Go and have fun” was all he said, “opportunities like this don’t come along everyday.” I was afraid to ask what he meant by that comment, but I disregarded the worst of my thoughts, and took up the offer of the handsome singer. Like clockwork there he was, 1am, and off we went dancing. A friendly jovial fellow, who through the course of the evening explained to me that he was singing up on stage because he enjoyed it, and not for employment, and in fact his dad actually owned the resort (score!). After the great cardio that was the dancing, we moved over to the nearby beach, stars brilliant, no sound but the waves, the warm tropical breeze gently cooling our sweating bodies.
He looked into my eyes, and I looked into his.
And then…
Nothing happened.
What – you think I’m some kind of slut?
Sunset! Can only mean the brides arrival!
The programme. All westerners got a complimentary fan...
Here she comes!
There she is!
Uhm... what was the next part?
The most important moment of their lives. Do not fart...
The smile says "next year a bigger diamond!"
The butterfly mentioned in the previous entry...
There they go!
This one didn't want to leave...
Smile!!!
More animals - this a wedding or a zoo?
Parental units...
Lay-deehs!
Grub time!
So many single girls!
Uhm, practising for later on tonight are we?
And that's a wrap folks! After this pic I was off to eat and dance and chat up cute boys!
