Mr. Kowasuru should be given a plaque of appreciation for having an almost perfect attendance of being a guest of Waves Restaurant of Palau Pacific Resort. Everybody at PRR calls him "Daddy". I call him "PA" for Perfect Attendance. (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)
PERFECT ATTENDANCE
FOR13 years working at Image Restaurant (July 1992-May 2005), I had a perfect attendance within those 13 years. I don’t call it ‘absent’ because my boss Margarita Borja Dalton took me to Airai View Hotel in 1993 to play the white Yamaha grand piano there.
Orly Matias, the bus driver there, is very curious when I’m playing “Song For Anna”because he knows that the grand piano is also a player piano. A player piano is a piano that plays by itself when you plug-in a machine with music selection to play using a ‘cassette’ type of component.
The keys of the piano get down when those notes are ‘played’ by the player piano. It can be used to scare someone—that a ghost is playing the piano!
Orly was sure that “Song For Anna” was not in the list of selected songs. He goes behind me and when he saw that the machine is not plugged-in, he said, “So, it’s really you playing. I thought you’re just ‘following’ the plugged-in machine.
It’s like ‘lipsing’ when singing karaoke. You just pretend that you’re singing but actually you’re just singing it by ‘lipsing’.
Even when I’m sick, I still play music because my job is not manual labor but I call it ‘art’ labor.
Music is art whether classical or contemporary, in which anyone can express himself/herself through playing a musical instrument.
When I was just learning to play guitar and bamboo flute, I had wished that someday I can play with expression playing the tenor saxophone.
It didn’t happen. But when I worked as keyboard player at Khayam Taverna (Greek Restaurant) in Bahrain, the technology in producing a real-like tenor sax on keyboard somehow ‘fulfill’ my wish of playing tenor sax with expression.
With modern technology, I can now play “Careless Whisper” by Wham like I’m playing a real sax by using a keyboard. Decades ago, the flute sound on keyboard is so real that even the ‘blowing’ sound from the player can be heard.
WHY HAVE I GONE SO FAR WITH THESE WHEN THE TITLE OF THIS ISSUE IS PERFECT ATTENDANCE?
Even when I’m studying in Elementary School, I still go to school even when I’m sick. I remember my father picked me up from the school because I still attend the class though I’m sick.
He had a bamboo stick in his hand to be used to spank my ass for disobeying his order not to go to school because I’m sick.
I PUT A CARDBOARD TO MY ASS TO PROTECT IT! The spanking from my father is‘controlled’ as he knows I’m sick. It still elicits a smile from me remembering that “ass protection”.
My wife Flor, who works at Dragon Tei since 2006, had a perfect attendance there in the year 2008.
Mr. Kowasuru, the chief engineer of Palau Pacific Resort, had an almost perfect attendance as guest at Palau Royal Resort in 2012.
I’M SURE THAT NO OTHER PLACE/HOTEL IN THE WORLD CAN HAVE A REALLY REGULAR GUEST THAN MR. KOWASURU!
CONTINUATION OF “MY REPERTOIRE OF INTERNATIONAL SONGS”
Last 27 songs of “C”
1970 CLOSE TO YOU (They Long To Be) (Carpenters) DB 74 COLD, COLD HEART (Hank Williams) G 30
1970 COLOUR MY WORLD (Chicago) DB 72
COME IN FROM THE RAIN (Diana Ross) R 145
C L O U D S (David Gates) R 143
COME PRIMA (Italian Song)
COME AWAY WITH ME (Norah Jones) B 53
1969 COME TOGETHER (Beatles) R 231
1978 COME WHAT MAY (Air Supply) V 5
COME WHAT MAY (Lani Hall) DB 91
1967 COMO ESTA AKASAKA (Japanese Song) J 7
CONSTANT CHANGE (Jose Mari Chan) (Filipino Song) OPM 177
1964 CONSTANTLY (Cliff Richard) B 177
1978 COPACABANA (Barry Manilow) G 98
COULDN’T WE BE FRIENDS
COTTON FIELDS (Highway Men) G 12
COWARD OF THE COUNTY (Kenny Rogers) V 32
C R A Z Y (Patsy Cline) G 86
1985 CRAZY FOR YOU (Madonna) B 257
CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE (Queen) DB 56
C R E O L A (Jimmy Buffett) G 38
1972 CROCODILE ROCK (Elton John) G 33
1945 CRUISING DOWN THE RIVER
1961 C R Y I N G (Don McLean) R 12
CRYING IN THE RAIN (Everly Brothers) B 167
CU-CURU CU-CU PALOMA (Spanish Song)
CZARDAS (Instrumental)
Source: Music and Me by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Pages 9-10
Volume 22
Issue 13
February 14, 2013
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