Pangkor to Teluk Intan

Yesterday we very reluctantly left the palm lined beaches of Pangkor Island to catch the ferry back to the main land. Once again, the kids have been wonderful with loading and unloading the gear - they are real troupers, particularly given the heat and humidity.

We headed straight to Teluk Intan (70kms from the ferry port) and checked into our rooms to refresh and get organised for the Town Hall gig.

This show was amazing. There were many dignitaries as well as the public due to our concert being advertised on local radio. We were very, very well received and the concert is haled as a huge success.

We had very little sleep and were up again this morning at 6.15am to prepare for Bethany Home. Words are not going to do justice to the experience we had there. It was such a blessing to have met all the kids, staff and administration at this incredible place. Our kids were spectacular, joining in with Bethany's kids straight away and then performing so beautifully. The director of Bethany was so grateful, but it's us who should be grateful for being able to experience what we did. I can only let your kids explain it to you when we get home. Whilst some found things a bit hard going, I am certain that we all grew a lot today, and hopefully have a greater appreciation for what we have. We had lunch with the kids before we waved and high fived our way back onto the bus to Sekolah, Men. Convent - our last gig of the tour!

Again, our kids were true professionals and put on a spectacular show. Many of the kids are now rock stars (for now at least) and again, many autographs were signed and photos taken by adoring fans. After gifts were exchanged, we loaded the truck and bus for the last time ready to make our way back to Adelaide.

Tomorrow we will travel by bus to KL airport, chack in and fly home to you. As this will be my last entry on tour, just a reminder that whilst our plane gets in at 6.15am, we'll have to clear customs, etc, so there's no need for you to get there before 7am.

On behalf of Jill, Mike, Lizzy and myself, we've had an incredible experience with your kids. You, Concordia and Australia deserve to be very proud of them.See you on Saturday.

See you on Saturday

Pangkor Delights

After a lazy morning which included an awesome breakfast, at 10am we all piled in to 4 separate (pink) taxi Vans to explore the island. Our first stop was a ship building yard in a fishing village. Just fascinating. The kids were intrigued at how the people here would live in this environment, but were very appreciative of what we have in OZ.

We then moved on to a Chinese temple before wondering the main street of Pangkor Town. After another amazing lunch we went back to the resort to rest up and refresh before our gig tonight. The kids all met us at 5.30pm to set up the show in the dining area. We then all ate together before we launched into a 1.5hr show. The kids were great again and our music is certainly feeling more settled and comfortable. This feeling is tranfering into the group as a whole, with different students hanging out together and just all getting on. The multi-national audience were extremely enthusiastic about us.

Once we packed up, we all went for a wonder along the beach before heading back to our rooms.

I'm unsure about internet access at Teluk Intan but I will do my best to chat to you tomorrow.

Penang to Pangkor Island

This morning we reluctantly left our extremely comfortable surroundings in Penang and bussed our way to the Port of Imut to catch a ferry to Pangkor Island.

The kids have got loading our 120 pieces of luggage into (and out of) a truck down to a fine art now.

After a 3.5 hour bus ride to the port, we boarded a 150 seat ferry (loaded with all our gear) and sat back to enjoy the 0.5hr journey to Pangkor. The seas were very calm so no sea sickness, much to our relief.

We then assisted to unload the ferry into trucks, followed by a very short 5 minute ride to our resort. The kids are wide eyed! This place is beautiful. Amazing beach, jungle backdrop and wildlife on our doorstep. Dinner was incredible and then an outdoor movie was viewed from the pool by many of us.

The kids were pretty tired so headed back to their rooms for an early night.

Tomorrow we will take in a tour of the island before preparing for our show in the resort which we are really looking forward to.

Chat to you after that.

Victory and Faith Lutheran Church visit

This morning we all had breakfast at 6.45am so that we could be on the road by 7.30am. We arrived at Victory Lutheran Church by 8.15am to be a part of a combined worship service. Both Faith (a Malay Lutheran Church) and Victory (a Sri Lankan Lutheran Church) welcomed us and we enjoyed a Lutheran service maily in English but also in Tamil. After communion, our "Chapel Band", made up from members of our group, played 3 songs that we sing at Concordia. Then Georgia played her beautiful song "Someone Out There" and this was followed by our entire tour group singing "You Are Good" accompanied by guitar and drums. That's right, they ALL sang! It was great and I think many of them surprised themselves at how good it can be to sing as a group.

The church then gave us a simple, but lovely lunch before we headed back to the hotel. The 2 churches were in awe of the kids talents and we were again invited back for a future visit asap.

For the rest of today we will enjoy our beautiful surroundings at the hotel (post card quality!) until we hit the night markets for the last time tonight.

I didn't manage to get any photos from the church but will have some emailed to me which I will distribute on the tour DVD - these are from yesterday.

Will talk to you tomorrow from Pangkor Island.

Penang Day 2

Firstly apologies for the delay. Yesterday we had some misplaced luggage and it took many phone calls and the 4 teachers 2.5 hours to check through 120 peices of Concordia luggage ID numbers (cross referenced with receipts) to work out which number matched the lost one (unfortunately as a group we don't get individual names and numbers on tags when checking in at the airport). However on tour, these hurdles sometimes occur.

The kids had a wonderful time this morning on our 1/2 day tour visiting temples, George Town and a 400 year old British fort. We then had an incredible lunch at a Chinese cafe before coming back to the hotel to refresh before heading to the Butterworth RMAF base.

The performance here was another amazing event. Concordia was so welcome and the audience absolutely loved us!

This is the All Ranks Club for those Aust. Air Force members based in Penang. It's a club/recreation facility for service men and women and their families. They had never had such a performance as they were dancing in the aisles and had the largest attendance to an event since the AFL Grand Final. The kids again felt like rock stars and the CEO has already asked us back!

Talk to you soon.

Leaving KL - Arriving in Penang

The following web site conatins a video about our visit to the school yesterday
http://www.eduwebtv.com/index7.php?pageSelId=21&idmod=41&vidgrp=1&vidid=1277981268393773&fileid=1277980854041478
it is Modern school India focussed, but it has us too! If the above address doesn't work, go to www.eduwebtv.com and we are on the 3rd video at the top.
Last night we let the kids loose on a large shopping mall called "Time Square" - this is the equivalent of our Myer Centre, only about 20 times bigger and with an amusement park on the 7th floor (the biggest indoor amusement park in Malaysia). While some of the students were intent on spending your hard earned in the hundreds of shops, others of us went straight to level 7! There is a roller coaster and other crazy but fun rides in there and so once we were all feeling sufficiently unwell, we headed back to our hotel to get some much needed rest. All in all, a great way to spend our last night in KL.

Early rise this morning - 5am - to pack the bus and hit the road to the airport ready to fly to Penang. After a short 50 minute flight, we arrived on the island of Penang and checked into the most wonderful beach front resort. The kids can't believe how beautiful this place is! Right on the water, 2 pools, an amazing foyer with shops (very expensive shops), beautiful rooms and all within 20 metres of the night markets.

We all headed out to lunch once everyone was settled into their new accommodation and then met back at the pool for stories, catch up and pool volleyball.

Tonight we will hit the markets with a vengance!

Talk to you tomorrow.

Sekolah Seri Puteri

Well, after another evening of fine dining and bargain hunting, the kids had an early night to get some rest before todays concert.
We got on the road just before 8am and headed to Sekolah Seri Puteri - and all girls boarding school that hand picks their students according to their academic results. This school is the show piece of Malaysian education and they are constantly visited by officials from around Malaysia and the Asian region. While we were there, there was a delegation from Modern School of India. We were their first Australian visitors though and they were extremely excited to have us.

Our kids again played extremely well and were a credit to our school. The big band was especially popular as the audience seemed to really enjoy the solos from individuals.

We then were treated to some Indian Culture (dance and song), before Seri Puteri's band played for us. They are outstanding and it was great for our students to hear them.

After the concert (all 3.5 hours of it), we had lunch in their dining hall. It was wonderful!

Following this, our students got into sectionals with the girls from Seri Puteri and shared their talents. It was an amazing sight to see this meeting of cultures sharing one music voice.

We sadly left the school after many more photos and autographs to head back to our last night in KL.

Tonight we are heading to a mall called "Time Square" for dinner and some last minute shopping before and early morning rise (5.30am to be at the airport by 7am!!).

For now, the kids are sad to leave KL and the wonderful performance experiences that we've had, but are looking forward to Penang.

I'll talk to you when we get to Penang tomorrow.

PS in addition to the photos, I just had to include Will, Lily and Tom rocking out Cyberjaya!

China Town and Sunway Lagoon

After such a successful concert yesterday, I decided that we should all catch the mono-rail to China town for dinner and to try our hand at bargaining for goods. The mono-rail is fantastic. It's a 100m walk from our hotel and it then takes you straight to China Town.

We have seen a bit of rain each afternoon, but because it's so warm we were happy to walk in the drizzle from the train station.

The kids had a ball! Seeing who could get the best bargains, food for the cheapest, and learning the ropes of haggling for what you want to buy. We had some success stories - and some not as successful stories - but it was all in fun. We then caught the mono-rail back to the hotel to get some well earned rest.

This morning was or chance to sleep in. We didn't have to get on the road till 10.30am and it was a welcome rest.

We headed to Sunway Lagoon which is a water park, wild-life park and roller coaster park. Being so warm, we all enjoyed the water rides and the huge man-made beach. Some kids braved the roller coaster and others just lazed by the beach. We also found a Krispy Kreme shop in the mall next door, so I think nearly all the kids pretty much bought the entire days donuts.

Tonight we'll head out to dinner as a group and a little bit of shopping. We'll need an early night tonight because tomorrow will be our second concert, meaning an early rise.

Talk to you soon.

Our First Concert

After setting the kids loose on a contained area around our hotel for dinner last night, the kids all came back with great stories of what they'd seen, what they'd eaten and how much money they'd either saved or blown. This is a great part of the learning taking place, as well as team work, budgeting (all the kids were given RM15 to buy dinner with), etc.. Lights out at 9.30pm.

This morning we started with breakfast at 6.45am and were on the road by 8am to our first school concert - SMK Kepong.

To sum it up, the kids now know what it's like to be a rock star! We had the most amazing welcoming ceremony and then were treated to their students performing for us some traditional Malaysian dance and songs. 2 of their bands also played for us and then it was our turn.

From that moment it turned into a rock concert with them cheering the Concordia kids every move.

The Concert Band was fantastic, Georgia and Thalia sang beautifully, the Big Band were swinging

and Will, Lily and Tom played Johnny B Good just because it seemed like the right thing to do!

We were then treated to a wonderful lunch with some of the staff.

Our kids were having photos with the SMK kids and the Concordians handed out countless autographs!! It was incredible and something our guys will always remember. From my point of veiw, the trip has already been a winner and I hope our kids continue to get the buzz that they got today.

So next is relaxing by the pool (cause that's what Rock stars would do after a great gig) and then later on we are all travelling by mono-rail to China town for dinner and shopping.

Chat to you soon.

Day 1 and 2 (so far)

It seems like only yesterday that we said our farewells at Adelaide airport - indeed it was only yesterday!

After spending 7 1/2 hours in a tube with wings, we all safely arrived in KL, collected our belongings and boarded a very colourful and airconditioned bus to our hotel.

The kids were great. Everyone has "chipped in" to help every step of the way with loading and unloading gear, leading to smooth transitions along the way.

Once in our hotel, we quickly collected our room keys and went to bed. Well most of us. Unfortunately Germany was playing England, and some soccer fans had to be persuaded to turn off the tele.

This morning we met at breakfast and enjoyed a fantastic mix of the traditional and the Malay breakfast styles.

Sun screen and repelent on, we took off on a 1/2 day tour around the city of KL (pop. 3.8 million). The bus took us to the Kings Palace, Park of rememberance, a Mosque, Chocolate factory (Malaysia is the 4th largest exporter of Cocoa!), through the winding streets and parks, the incredible Twin Towers and a gifts shop before we had lunch in a ship themed cafe.

The kids have been great ambassadors (and "rubber necks") already, but are now keen to do some shopping! we are about to head down the street that our hotels on because it's lined with great shops and things to see (great location Cathy {from LifePlan Travel}).

Tomorrow we perform at our first concert so an early rise will be necessary. In the mean time, just know that we are safe, happy and starting to really gel as a team already.

Chat to you soon.

Rehearsals are well underway

Each Wednesday after school, the Touring Concert Band (Concert Band + Big Band) has been rehearsing in the Harmony Room from 3 - 4.30pm. They are now playing their full program with flair and we are working on polishing their pieces over the next 2 weeks. This seesion is followed by an information/question time until 5pm.
We spoke about the 2 schools we will be visiting in KL and how one of our tasks whilst away is to be ambassadors for Concordia, and indeed, Australia. The way we react to circumstances will be noticed, and so we just need to be aware of how we "come across" to our hosts.
This week after rehearsal, we also looked at web sites relating to where we will be visiting, one of which was Bethany Home. We then discussed our reasons for visiting this amazing place and again, how we should and shouldn't behave when we come into contact with people less fortunate than us.
The students are responding really well to these sessions and are encouraged to ask questions to assist them in their understanding of the overall tour experience.
More to come...........