28/09/2025
No post last night? Fear not, it was a calculated decision. I was pretty sure just how exhausted I would be by the end of the day so I decided early on to collect the pictures & not stress about posting. I was right, dead on my feet by the end of the day.
But let's go back a bit, unpack the events of an epic day.
As tired as we were from Friday, it was still up & about reasonably early. It's not every day the Premier comes to town. The Right Honourable Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari bin Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg (Abang Jo to his friends) visited Siniawan to officiate the opening of our new waterfront project. 5 years in the making & officially opened yesterday. We are so proud for our brother YB Miro who instigated all this; to see it comes to fruition, & opened by the Premier, is a fantastic achievement. Miro opened the show followed by Abang Jo who spoke eloquently about the history & the spirit of Siniawan. A truly unique place of which I am proud to be a part.
Home, take rest & recharge, away we go again. It was brutally hot, pushing 40° as we restocked our outside bar, sweltering! The bands were busy sound checking & our good friends On Strings were doing their thing. The first song was something different, I was surprised when Boy started with the Sarawakian Nation Anthem! Grace always tells me how proud she is to hear it, every day at school starts with it. I know the song well & when I heard it I immediately jumped up, hand across my chest & felt the moment. As an adopted son of the soil, it's my song now too.
Meanwhile, the inevitable byproduct of the heat is the rain, & at 4 30pm, the heavens opened! All we can do is hope it's quick. By this time The Bikalan was full with friends old & new, tables outside front & back, all soaked. 3 times the rain almost stopped & I was busy mopping furniture, only for it to start again. Thankfully by around 6 the skies cleared & we're back on!
We have the street performers in front of our place tonight, opening with the legend Raggy, followed by the even more legendary Matthew Ngau. It's a great concept, instead of focusing everything on the main stage, start early where the crowds are with some street busking! Pete Engkassan was next up, followed by Mark Ashley. Great response from The Bikalan crowd.
On the main stage it was all killer, no filler. Some of our favourite local bands tonight. Mountain Wind from Miri opened proceedings, they play fast & hard, Country with some real edge to it. Fantastic set. Next up, the original Siniawan buskers, On Strings. They've changed a bit since those days, a very polished act that got all the crowd dancing. After them our other local favourites & Bikalan regulars, Hi Breed, outstanding as always. I convinced YB Miro to join me on stage & we gave a rousing rendition of 'have you ever seen the rain', I was happy, my moment done! KL favourites Os Pombos closed the show & a fantastic Saturday night.
This was really a special evening, huge crowds dancing the night away, chasing away the clouds with energy & excitement.
But all this comes at a price, by the end Grace, me, & all our wonderful team were completely exhausted. Along with Chap Goh Mei, this was easily the busiest night of the year at the Bik.
As tiring as it is, it's the most wonderful feeling to see this little bar we built packed to the rafters with happy people, our team running here & there, great music playing, everything going well. Warms your heart.
Huge thanks to our big team again tonight, a massive effort. One more round to go......
See you there yeeeeehaaaaaw & ooooooh haaaaa 😎🐂🎸🍻💃🕺🥃🏇🤠
