Maggie and Sasha reporting from Hong Kong August 7, a particularly sunny Sunday
We finally got out of quarantine a week ago!
Definitely still missing the Goa vibes but we are ready to adapt to our Hong Kong life again. Which basically means time to buckle down to work!
Anyway, to continue from where we left off in the previous post, Sasha and I performed at Suedlichter community centre in Hanau, a small town 25km east of Frankfurt. Our friend Stefan - an avid Fropan ambassador - hosted us while we were there and managed to get a bunch of people together from his handpan community to watch us play and what a delightful place to spend an afternoon indeed!
The lovely people from Suedlichter prepared a stage in the garden where we got a chance to play some handpan tunes in the afternoon, followed by a nice jam with the locals. Music is truly a universal language and I am glad that people from all walks of life were able to gather and share a very special day. The next day we took a train to Berlin to meet up with some old friends from London and Hong Kong.
Here we reunited over Thai food, followed by Jungle's performance in the evening!
Our European trip so far proved to be chicken soup for the soul, filled with laughter, loved ones, new friends and music. Since the pandemic started, we had only stayed in Hong Kong, patiently waiting for it to be over so that life could return to normal again. So you can imagine the relief and joy when we were able to travel again and explore Europe sans mask, walking around freely without the fear of being reprimanded by the law enforcement for not following Covid rules. Last but not least, we travelled to Greece, a quaint island called Naxos, for the highlight of our European leg of the trip - HONA Handpan Music Fest!
Sasha was in heaven.
He had died and came back a new man, having met all kinds of handpan players, makers and believers. This picture above is the definition of exaltation. We spent four days playing handpans, jamming, meeting new people, enjoying all that the Greek island life can offer. Read: amazing wine, seafood and water.
We saw Alexandre Lora play, as well as Nadishana and David Kuckerman. All the biggest names in the handpan world. We also discovered Leaf and Tiflis pans that are simply divine. A single strike on a note seems to evoke an entire universe of its own, like the low F pan we played with during one of the many jams.
Bonus point: can you spot Fropan in this picture?
Feeling utterly inspired, we left Greece still high and arrived in Warsaw to settle our Indian visas. Long story short, we got it after a few days of pierogis in town and boarded an Air India flight from London to Goa!
India was being the Queen that she is.
The moment we arrived, we were greeted by a myriad of smells, sights and sounds. Oh, how I've missed it. Sasha was super happy to see his family again after not seeing them for almost 3 years.
Pictured here is Val, Sasha's younger brother who is also a vital part of Fropan.
They had gigs around town even though it was off season. The monsoon rains poured daily, nourished the soils and plants, flooded the grounds with love. We were also surrounded by love, familial ones and platonic ones. When we have time, we are naturally attuned to tuning into others more. When we are busy working, we often neglect to treasure friendships. That's some food for thought.
Here is a snippet of the Frolov brothers' performance at Satori Wellness, a beautiful space for retreats in Goa.
A new development from Fropan:
We are now introducing our first ever Sound Retreat!
We are teaming up with a good friend Zhenya, who has years of experience organising yoga and singing bowl retreats in India to bring forward this new offering. Just imagine having 9 days to deeply tune into the instrument, getting to know other like-minded people and nourishing your soul the way we did ours in Europe and the way the monsoon rains did so that the lands are fertile again. Priced at USD480, it is affordable and good value, just like Fropan's handpans. We are now doing early bird discounts so if you buy your ticket before August 31, 2022, you only need to pay USD430. Message us now for more info or simply visit our new site: www.soundretreatgoa.com TO SUM UP OUR TRAVELS:
Malaysia is fucking awesome.
Europe is fucking awesome.
India is fucking awesome.
Sometimes all you need is a good handpan.
Until the next time,
Team Fropan