Here they are, in a new, but familiar, place – on the windscreen, driver’s side.

My Janis Ian “Truth is not the enemy” and FONZ stickies.

Thanks to Kong, Sales Advisor at Toyota Subang Jaya, for keeping them safe until I went by to collect them last Saturday.

I have a ticket to a Janis Ian show in Cerritos, CA, on 26 March 2008 which I’d bought online late last year. The added attraction is that I can go and see Mama Bai Yun’s latest cub, Zhen Zhen, at the San Diego Zoo. Cerritos is on the outskirts of LA, 3 hours from San Diego, so of course, I won’t pass up the chance if I get to go.

If I get to go. Yup, that’s the issue at hand.

I don’t have an air ticket to LA yet. I’m waiting for a MATTA Travel Fair to get a suitable cheap fare. From the MATTA website, I see the next Travel Fair is scheduled the weekend of 16 March. Will I be able to get a ticket there to fly on such short notice? Or are the tickets sold at that Travel Fair only for travel further in the future?

Meanwhile, I checked a few airlines to see what are the regular not-yet-discounted fares they offer. And I nearly fell off my chair when I found out. Below are the various fares I found, in ascending order:

Malaysia Airlines – RM4,029
EvaAir – RM4,636
Singapore Air – RM6,091
Cathay Pacific – RM9,046

All the above are economy fares, with tax and fuel surcharge already factored in. And that’s really why the fares are so expensive – airport tax and especially fuel surcharge. There have always been airport taxes, but fuel surcharges are a recent (and unwelcome) addition.

I remember, the last time I flew to LA in November 2006, the fare was around, maybe RM3,000/-, which I bought through the MATTA Travel Fair. It’s just a little over a year later, and the price difference is big. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get a suitably cheap fare again this time. If not, no worries – I’m sure there’ll be another JI fan who’ll be happy to take my ticket in return for a donation to The Pearl Foundation.

I can do what I want, choose where to haunt
I live like a ghost in this town
See a movie at one, go to sleep with the sun

…

I can stay out all night, leave on every light
throw all the coupon books away …

“House without a Heart”
Copyright © Janis Ian

Also in Paula’s hands is a signed copy of the Night Rains CD that has the song “Here comes the night” that Paula recorded in Cantonese as “人似浪花” (“Life is like the ocean wave” ). If you look closely, the same CD is also in the picture within the picture. Yes, that’s one special CD that travelled around the world – from Nashville, TN to Lewes, England before going to Malaysia and finally to the Hong Kong Coliseum to be presented to Paula on the night of 16 December 2006.

For me, this is trully an instant where words are not necessary, and a picture – or in this case, two pictures – paint a thousand words.

Note – in the second picture is the music director for Paula’s concerts

Related Posts:
Another Concert
Janis Ian in Cantonese!

This is where I went:

That’s the inside of the Panda House at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, on Thursday, 16 November 2006. Thanks to panda.monia for putting the three of us – catbelly and hubby, and I (me?) – on camera, and to alAl for the animation.

Yes, I’ve been away visiting the National Zoo pandas (Tai Shan and his parents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian), and before that, the San Diego Zoo pandas (Bai Yun, Gao Gao, Mei Sheng and Su Lin). It was the trip of a lifetime to celebrate my birthday.

I also surprised Janis Ian at her show in San Diego, which turned out to be the last show of her FINB 2006 tour.

And now I’m back, and horrendously behind on my 2006 NaNovel. I thought I would have the time to write each evening after returning from my day at the Zoo, but I thought wrong.