Flashback of Ballet Concert 2008

So last Sunday I had to cover this Kesenian event at Taman Budaya.
Even as I drove up to the entrance, memories of the concert I had months ago came back to me.
As I entered the doors of Taman Budaya, it was as if a movie was being played in front of me.

This was where all of us stood, getting our last minute makeup on and waiting for more students to arrive.
Up there in the toilet was where Jovy and I put on our makeup, joined by Seow Hui, Chien Yi and the rest later on.

Then as I entered the hall, I looked around.
It looked different, yet so similar.





These were the chairs in which Lika had ordered the Hawaiian girls to sit quietly (to not much avail, of course..) while she went over who was yet to come.
Behind the VIP seats were where Lika, Chia Hern and I put on the remaining of our makeups on the 2nd day of concert.
It was also the same place and day that Chia Hern went into a hairspraying frenzy on my hair.

A lady had brought me in the hall, and said that my seat was in the front row, on the right side of the hall.
The same place where Mum, Dad and the rest sat when they watched the performance.

I looked at the stage in front.
The curtains were drawn, and just 8 months ago, it was us who were backstage, getting all fidgety and peeking behind the curtains to see how big the crowd was.



8 Months ago, that stage was ours.



It was there that we had our rehearsals, that very stage we tired ourselves out practising Mazurka De Salon.
It was because we were here that we had to go back at 11pm after the 3rd day of rehearsals.

I had to admit I felt a little overwhelmed at all these memories.
The places, it seemed like it was just yesterday that we were here, with everyone.
It seemed only days ago that I was less than 5 minutes late for the first day of rehearsals, and got repriminded by Gino.

It was 8 months ago that we took to the stage, giving our all for the 2-day performance.
8 Whole months since we were on that stage in front of me right now.
8 Months ago that I was doing the thing I had felt so passionately about all this years:

Performing.

And I had the time of my life.

10 years ago, I was rather too young, maybe, to appreciate it.
But it did, however, leave a lasting impression on me that has stuck until today.

There is no better thrill that gets my heart pumping like performing.
Or to be exact, dancing.

Of course, given the opportunity, I would love to try something other than Ballet.
Modern, perhaps. Or Lyrical.
But given the circumstances (that there are not many dance classes here in Kuantan), I'm quite contented to sticking with Ballet at the moment.

Though I admit that I hadn't had this thought until later on in my life, I am now positive that it's all I ever want to do in life.
I live to dance.
It has become part of me, a part of who I am.
And it's something that I don't think will ever change.

This Actually Happened 2 days ago..

It's nothing, really.
Just that now, even Sayaka calls me 'oba-san'.
I was sitting on the floor near the barre, facing Lika and talking to her, when Sayaka said ever so politely, "Excuse me.. Oba-san?"

=.="
We had a good laugh when I complained to Lika though.
Even Sayaka burst out laughing.
But still.
Thanks a lot, Gino.. xp

Concert! Day 2

Actual date: 30th March 2008
Taken from my ballet journal ^^

Thus arrives the final day of our concert.
I had to fetch Chia Hern (Ok, technically it was Dad who fetched her) again, and when we got there, the Haiwaiian girls were sitting on the audience chairs again like yesterday.
(Of course, the audience hadn't began to fill in yet, after all, we were told to come about 2 hours before the performance to get ready and stuff.)

Then we (Chia Hern, Lika & I) put our stuff on the chairs behind the VIP seats (for the time being).
Then we began chatting and putting on makeup (Chia Hern hadn't put on her makeup yet, and I didn't put on my lipstick).
We were later joined by Chien Yi, and then we got to taking pictures, because we hadn't managed to to take any pics the day before.
Oh, and Chia Hern went on a hairspray frenzy (literally, the can of hair spray, not the musical Hairspray).
On me. >__>
I swear that girl gets hyper at the weirdest moments. xDD

Before the hairspray incident.

I admit I sort of dreaded to handle all the girls of Premier Dance Academy by ourselves, but thankfully, they turned out to be better behaved than we give them credit for.
We were given water and bread again, this time the cream bun kind.
I didn't take one as I had something light to eat beforehand (and by that I mean 4 slices of bread. =.=), but which I am now regretting as I write.
(A/N: Remember that all these events happened on the date above, not the date I'm posting this.)

When the orchestra started off the first agenda, I literally had no mood to dance (due to certain reasons).
I felt like going home and just sleep instead.
But as our first dance Dramatique drew nearer, I found myself getting nervous.
And rightfully so.

• While dancing, my scarf got caught in my hair bun for a while when I was supposed to flip it.


• A bit of Chia Hern's skirt got hitched up as she stretched her arms to lift her scarf up.


• Jovy almost went in the opposite direction when we were 'running'.

Wow. That's a glitch for each one of us.
Maybe Lady Luck got tired of us and went on a vacation.
Yeah, that might be it.

Oh, and did I mention that today was our turn to have the air cond on on our side of the room? ^^
It was Shu Cia's side of the backstage room that had no air cond this time. xD

Just before the orchestra that was meant to be played before Krakoviak, we had this certificate presentation ceremony for all exam girls of 2007.
Nothing worth mentioning there.

All in all, although the changing rooms were not as crowded nor as sour-smelling as yesterday, I have to say that I preferred the atmosphere better yesterday.
And it also took less time for the girls to clear out of the room after everything was done.

Oh, and judging by the kind of 'cream bread' that was given today, yesterday's sandwhiches were better too. =3

So after the concert, Mum went backstage to congratulate me and inform me of what was the plan.
Then Hong Wen came too, and waited for me to pack up so he could send me home, as Dad's car had no more room to fit me and my bags.
We (Hong Wen & my family) ended up in the Cendol shop, to 'indulge' in the hot weather.
And I took 2 bowls of cendol. =3

......
....
..

Guess who's craving for cendol now?
xDDD!

Concert! Day 1

Actual date: 29th March 2008
Taken from my ballet journal ^^

Well, here it is.. Concert day #1.
I did my hair and makeup (ok, Ashley did my hair..) at home, then went to Taman Budaya.
I put my things in the room backstage, then went to go help Lika in organizing the younger students.
They were, to say the least, a big bunch of noise, but at least I can take comfort in knowing that they weren't too stubborn to begin with, and complied when we asked them to keep quiet (even if for a while), unlike that other group who sent us death glares when we told them nicely not to be so noisy.

The concert did not start at 8pm sharp (call it Malaysian time, if you will).
Instead, it started about 8.10pm.
Oh, and we got sandwhiches earlier on, too.
There were 2 boxes of sandwhiches (1 box sardine, 1 box turkey ham.. I think), 1 box of bananas and 12-3 boxes of mineral water.
I didn't eat my sandwhich until probably the 2nd half of the itenary.
Was busy helping in getting the students to follow orders.
Which was a challenge on its own. >___>

And since the younger girls were told to stay in the room backstage if it wasn't their time to go up on stage, it was pretty crowded when we went to go change for Mazurka & Valse.
And what's a concert without mishaps?
Someone spilt drinks on the floor, making most part of the room wet.
Which makes it even harder to change without getting our leotards dirty.
Thankfully, it sort of dried off when we went to change for Valse.
Stains on white would look very unpleasant, thank you very much.

I managed to exchange a few words with Ee Loe as well. (Btw did I mention that the last bit for Mazurka was played a tad too fast?)
And for Jovianne's group's chinese dance, LiXian and I had to help put the firecrackers at the front of the stage.

After the finale bow, the VIPs (who, up till now I have no idea what their names are, =3) went up to the stage and took photos with the group.
I heard that it might come out in the papers, though I didn't check.
Meh.

Anyways.. By the end of it, I was pretty much damp with sweat.
I went home, had a hurried shower, changed, then went with Lika and Gino for supper.
Gino would also be going back to KL that night, which means that Lika and I are left to take care of the kids all by ourselves the next day.
*gulp*

2008 Ballet Concert Rehearsal

Actual date: 28th March 2008
Taken from my ballet journal ^^

10 years ago, I had my first ballet concert at Taman Budaya.
I enjoyed it very much, and was anticipating the next concert to come.
I guess you could say that it was after that day that I found my passion for performing.

But 'next time' never came.
5 years passed, and still no event of any sort.
7 years came and went, still nothing.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that well, finally, the time has come.
10 years into my first ballet concert, we are finally going to do another.
And again, it would be with Khoo Academy.
*Insert silent squee here*

I was 10 years old when I participated in that concert 10 years ago, and I'm 20 now.
Wow.
I feel old. >__>

The concert will be held for 2 days, March 29th and 30th.
And I'll be doing 3 dances.
Meep.

Anyways, on to the rehearsal..

You know when you've had one of those really long days that all you wanna do when you get back is have your dinner, shower, and go straight to bed?
Well, it's one of those days for me.
And what a day it was! *phew*

It was the day before the Saturday performance, and we're having a full dress rehearsal, complete with makeup, but minus the wardrobe change.
As was usual, we practised first without the orchestra (they would be coming later).
We had to be there from 6pm-Godknowswhattime.
Seriously.
The first practise last week ended up finishing an hour late.

One thing I learnt today though, is that when you're tired, sleepy, and hungry all at the same time, God seems to have a sense of humour.

When the orchestra arrived, Mr Khoo suggested that we go through the program accordingly (not that it's bad, though).
So, we did.
Then came Mazurka De Salon.
As the lights dimmed, we went on stage and got in our positions.
Then, the pianist started playing.
And the music was probably 2 times faster.
(I don't blame her though, it's only her 2nd time playing the piece.)

As our dance finished, we went backstage, panting, only to have Mr Gino call us out to do it again again.
Only this time, he stood next to the pianist to guide her through the tempo.
Yes, we were tired the 2nd time around.
Yes, we were sweating and panting (if not more than before).
What did I tell you? God has a huge sense of humour. =3
(With all due respect, I meant that as a joke. In case you didn't get it.)

Finally, we rehearsed our finale (no pun intended, lol) and by the time everything was over, it was close to 11pm.
Wow, now where did the time go? *sarcasm*sarcasm* Lol.

I was so hungry that dinner (grandma's roasted honey chicken) tasted exceptionally good.
Of course, not that it wasn't before. Just.. Extra good. xD
After dinner, I was stuffed.
And I practically hibernated on the downstairs couch for a little over half an hour.

Beauty & The Beast Musical

Actual date: 30th June 2008
Performance date: 29th June 2008
Taken from my Livejournal.

EDIT: I added the pictures! ^^

I actually wrote the first part of this entry on the night I came back itself, but then I fell asleep on the entry. Yeah, tired much? *^-^*
So, I had to rewrite the entry which, thankfully, wasn't much because it was mostly crappily written anyway, and only a few lines which were very poorly put together.
(And no, my use of bad english is not part of my exhaustion. Blame it on Lika.)
So here's my rewritten, and hopefully better version of yesterday's escapades:

Our bus was to leave the station at 9am, and Lika was holding the bus tickets.
I arrived a little later than I normally do whenever I was going to KL, and that was around.. 8.45am or something, I think..
I smsed Lika to ask where she was, but no reply. Dad offered me his phone to call her, so I did.
Several times.
But she didn't pick up her phone.
Finally, I just decided to go wait at the platform she mentioned earlier. (Platform 5)
There, I tried calling her several times (again), and after what seemed like the umpteenth time, she finally answered with a hurried "Yeah yeah, I'm on the way..!"
So I waited.
And waited.
When did she arrive?
At least about 9:01am.
Thankfully, I had told the bus driver to wait a while for a friend.
Otherwise, I think they'd have left us. Phew.
I saw Lika running towards the bus, bus ticket in hand.
She huffed, then muttered a sheepish apology to the bus driver (who just smiled) and handed our tickets.

Lesson of the day?
Never let Lika hold the bus tickets again.

So anyways, we got on the bus and headed off to KL.
The usual happened, listening to out iPods (or in Lika's case, her PodPod), chatting, and attempting to sleep. Nothing worth mentioning, yeah.

When we arrived at KL, we made our way to the LRT station to go to KLCC, which sees us having to change LRT stations to get there.
It was also then that I found out my so-called Touch N Go card doesn't work.
Wtf. =.="
So anyways.. We made our way to KLCC and got there at about 1 something (which by then had me pretty much sweating already).
Our original plan (and thought) was to get to the main entrance of KLCC (according to the message mum sent me), get our Beauty & The Bitch (as Lika put it,) tickets and have lunch. But I later reread the message to find that it said 'Main entrance of the KLCC Convention Centre'; not KLCC main entrance, as we thought, after failing to spot the ticket booth at KLCC's entrances.
Yes, we're dumb.
So instead, we had lunch, walked around a bit in attempt to find Dona a birthday present, and then went to KLCC's Convention Centre to collect the tickets.
We asked around as to where to get it, then went to a little reception kinda booth and collected the tickets.
After that, we loitered around the foyer for a bit (seeing as it was almost time for the show anyway), looking at the souviniers on display.
A certain key chain cought my attention, as it could open up and in my opinion, double as a locket.

We told the guy there that we'd come back after the show to continue looking around.
All in all, our seat this time was fairly closer to the stage than the previous musicals that we attended (My Fair Lady & Chicago), but I still wore my glasses for a clearer view. ;)

It was, by far I think, the best musical out of the two I've seen in the past.
Although I didn't really fancy Beauty & The Beast, this musical performance amazed me.
There were several touching parts that almost brought me to tears (ALMOST!), and it was much funnier than the cartoon (Lumiere & the Beast).
One of my favourite lines:

Lumiere (to the Beast): "Say something about her dress! (reffering to Belle's dress)"
Beast (to Belle): "It's red."
xDD

After the show we went back to the foyer, and in the end I bought the program book and my favourite keychain-cum-locket. *beams*

Lika got herself the charm bracelet.
Upon entering KLCC again, I met Uncle Kenneth. We talked for a while before taking off.
Then Lika & I took off to Kinokuniya to browse books, and went our seperate ways, promising to meet at the shop entrance later.
Surrounded by books, we ended our little shopping spree a little behind schedule.
I didn't even get to see the Entertainment section of Kinokuniya! T__T *sobs*
All the while, I kept my eyes on the lookout for books/magazines on DBSK (they have a rather big section of Japanese mags & books! ), before realising (very) later on that DBSK was mainly a Korean band, although they do understand/speak and sing in Japanese.
Slow much? Wth. =.="
I ended up only buying an English Bleach manga.
So with that, we went to Genki for dinner, only to see that it's been replaced by a Sakae Sushi.
As we didn't have much time on our hands, I only ordered fresh Salmon with rice (forgot the exact name), though I wanted to try the Gyoza (*cough*Arashi*cough*).
After that we managed to make our way to and change LRT stations without hassel.
The hassel, however, came when we had to walk to Puduraya from the LRT station from Pasar Seni.
It was drizzling then, and we had to walk all the way there (about 20 mins walk), asking for directions on the way.
And let me tell you that sweat and rain don't go well together.
We weren't soaked when we reached Pudu, but we were damp.
Let's just say I was glad when we were abroad the bus.
However, I couldn't rejoice 100%, as the bus was not a very new one and I saw a baby cocroach (and 2 other little baby cocroaches I think, which I killed.) lingering on the wall near my seat.
Urgh.

Lika and I slept through most of the journey back, we were tired (and Lika exhausted).
Oh, and another teeny weeny problem?
The bus was too.friggin.cold! (the cockroach probably froze to death over this time period).
They had those air conds where you couldn't shut them, cause they had air cond coming out of both ways.
I swore everyone was silently freezing to death, until a guy went up to the bus driver during the break and must've told him to turn off the air conditioning.

Lesson 2: Bring a bigger, warmer jacket next time.

It felt good to finally be back at Kuantan again, and on the way back home I got dad to stop by at McDonalds and get me 20-piece chicken nuggets. ^-^

Aah.. That was a long day, was it not?
Nice, but a long and tiring day nonetheless.
Feels so good to be able to sleep properly (not to mention cleanly!) in my own bed.
Oh, and another thing DBSK-related..-

Because I've been seeing DBSK lookalikes throughout my time in KL.
Wtf.
First, when we were at Sakae Sushi, I swore I saw a guy looking like the younger version of Yunho.
He must've been working at KLCC, since he wore a black long-sleeved shirt with a tie and black pants to match.
He was cute, but sadly, he hardly noticed me.
*sigh*

Then, as we were making our way to Pudu, we passed this phone shop and there was another boy who I swore resembled Yunho in the slightest. And I swore he looked at me as we walked past.

And then there was that one guy in Pudu who looked like Changmin. I didn't really get a good look as we were passing through, but from a glance/from the expression he was making, he definitely reminded me of Changmin.

Oh yes, there is one more.. This one just walked past us, but I was so sure he reminded me a teeny bit of Jaejoong. I never got a second glance.

*sigh*
Someone needs a life..

Advanced Foundation in KL

Actual date: 22nd April 2007
Taken from my ballet journal ^^

Ok, so this time, the 3 of us are going.
And again, we would be going by bus (only this time, to KL. Yeah. =3 ).

The journey there was uneventful, though more eventful than when I went to Terengganu.
(Shu Cia resumed her hibernation process, but at least I had Lika to talk to this time. ^^)
I didn't exactly sleep much in the bus. Maybe a few winks.
Maybe it was due to excitement or something. (I'm going to KL! With my friends! ^^ It's been a while since I last went, the last time being when I went on a school trip in std 6. =p )
I didn't eat anything when we stopped at the rest house in Temerloh too.
(Saving for the proper lunch at KL perhaps? xD)

When we finally arrived at the bus stop in KL, we took a monorail to Sentral, where we were supposed to call Gino.
He came shortly after and took us to Ms Tam a.k.a Sue Yin's place.
The dance studio turns out to be Dance Plaza, only at a different venue.
Dance Plaza was the place where I had my grade 8 exam rehearsal (or was it exam too? Ah well..) almost 3 (now 4,) years ago.
Back then it was at the old location.

Ms Tam's place was decent (ok, screw decent, it was nice).
She even had a maid to clean the studio (I'm guessing everyday, or at least on working days), and then there was the studio's chubby pet cat.
Back at the stairway (at the bulletin board alongside it), there was a flyer stating that a 'friend' was missing.
And that 'friend' happened to be a dog.
When we saw the chubby cat, Shu Cia grinned saying, "Guess where the dog went?"
LOL. xD

We had wanted to go for a light luch before class (seeing as none of us really ate much during the bus break), but we were told to wait for another lady, as we were supposed to go for luch together.
But by 1pm, the lady was still nowhere to be found (class started at 2pm), so we decided we'd better get a move on or we might not get to have luch at all.
We went to the nearest stall, which happened to be a Mamak shop.

A guy came to take our order, and for drinks I asked for blackcurrant.
The guy pointed at Coke.
I told him no, and I repeated that I wanted blackcurrant.
Then he pointed at Vanilla Coke. =.="
By now, both Lika and Shu Cia were sniggering.
I got up from my chair, went to the fridge and pointed at the one I wanted.
Blackcurrant.
I sat back down as the guy took the drinks and gave me... F&N Orange.
What.The.Fish.
How blur can you get?? =.="
*sighs*.

Then came time to order the food.
There were no menus, so Lika asked him (the same guy that took the order for our drinks, btw.)what they had.
Shu Cia ordered roti canai, and Lika and I ended up ordering Maggi Goreng Pattaya.
Obviously, Shu Cia's came first, then Lika and mine.
As he served one dish first, Lika told me to have it.
I tore the layer of egg open to find rice staring back at me.
Rice. Nasi.
I swore I almost headdesked in frustration.
Lika got the same. Rice.

Not bothering to complain, we finished, paid for our luch, and left for Dance Plaza.
Then we changed in the 'changing rooms' upstairs.

The teachers entered late, so to fill up the time where we spent waiting for them, we joked about.
And laughed. Hard.
Until my tears came out.

Ms Tam was a kind lady, as we soon found out.
But like all other ballet teachers (probably excluding Mr Gino.. Heh), her performance expectations were high.
Her students could do triple pirouettes like a walk in the park.
And to think, I was having trouble doing double. =.=
Oh, and she allowed us to have short breaks and drink some water in between, when she was discussing with Mr Gino and that other lady teacher.
(Ms Chua had not approved of us drinking water, when we asked if we could drink back at Terengganu, she replied with a "Huh? So little while want to drink already? If class is 5-6 hours then I'll let you have one break la.." I swear that woman is loco. =.=)

After class, I was hot and sweaty, yes, but not too tired.
Heck, after surviving 3 straight hours at Ms Chua's, 2 hours seemed.. tolerable. xD
Lika, however, was exhausted.
Don't blame her though. At Gino's, we do talking most of the time. xDD

We changed our sweatily-clad ballet leotards to regular clothes, and Mr Gino sent us to KLCC, where we had Genki for dinner. xDD
The salmon was heavenly, btw. ^^

After dinner and browsing about KLCC, we made our way to Pudu.
It was crowded with people and trust me, being a girl and all, you wouldn't want to find yourself alone there.
I sat myself and my bag down on one of the benches.
Not-so-good move.
Because I've been carrying that knapsack around since after class, the moment I slipped the shoulder straps off, a layer of wetness had formed where the strap used to be.
*__*

Once in the bus, both Lika and I were tired, sweaty and exhausted.
THANK GOD the bus had air conditioning, or we would have died.
Literally.
At least I know I would.

Going To Terengganu for Advanced Foundation

Actual date: 3rd December 2006
(Yes, you read right.. 2006. It was that long ago.)
Taken from my ballet journal. ^^

Shu Cia, Lika & I would be going, with me taking notes of the counting/steps etc, and taping the lesson, if I can get dad to lend me his camcorder.
We would be going there by bus, and the fees divided, both Lika & Shu Cia would have to pay RM75 each for the class that day.
I, on the other hand, didn't have to pay since I wasn't gonna be dancing.
Or, as Gino put it, "You watch them suffer." xD
Indeed, as class would be 3 hours straight! O.o
No doubt they're gonna suffer.
Well, Lika at least. =3

But as fate would have it, Lika texted me the day before out little 'field trip' to say that she had a fever, and that if it didn't subside come nightfall, she would not be coming and I might have to dance in her place.
(That is, if Ms Chua still collected the RM75 despite Lika not dancing.)

So on the day of departure (did I mention that this would be a one-day affair? Because it is. our class starts at 4pm and ends at 7pm, then we'd be taking the 8.30pm bus back), I brought along my leotards, tights and shoes, just in case I'll be needing them later.

I arrived at the bus stop at about a quarter to 11am.
Shu Cia was already there, so I joined her.
Shortly after that, her husband came with vegetarian food for her for the journey.
(Shu Cia is a vegetarian, if you haven't figured that out already. =) )
Terengganu had only 1 vegetarian store, she said.

The bus came not long after, and after checking the tickets, the bus left at 11am sharp.
The journey wasn't very eventful, considering Shu Cia took out her inflatable pillow, blew it up, and was out cold even before the bus left the station.
=.= Okayy...

So I spent the journey looking at the scenery and sleeping.
I decided agianst listening to the mp3s on my phone, just in case the battery died on me along the way, leaving me unable to contact mum and Hong Wen until I reached Kuantan safely.

We arrived at Terengganu at around 3.30pm, leaving not much time for us to find a taxi to take us to our destination.
That, and one wrong turn/wrong information, and we're screwed.
Literally.
Luckily though, we managed to get a taxi, went through the correct roadways and arrived at Dance Dimentions on time.
When we turned up at the studio, however, we learned that Ms Chua had not arrived yet.
But there were grade 7 girls practising in the studio by themselves.
And joking around, of course. Still, they at least were much more hardworking than Gino's students ever were, me included. =3
Shu Cia then rather dashed to the toilet, having been bursting to go since in the bus not too long before we arrived. xD

I contemplated if I should change to my leotards or not, just in case I had to dance also later.
I asked Shu Cia, and she said why not, might as well.
Plus, I'd be having the benefit of the doubt.
About 10-20 minutes later, Ms Chua arrived, and we started class not long after that.
And yes, I had to dance too.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~A gruelling 3 hours later~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

My feet would've been shaking had I not controlled it.
My toes felt as if they were gonna drop off (though we hadn't done pointe work, THANK GOODNESS for that), my left leg felt as if they would have a major cramp up with one wrong foot move, and I was so hot and tired that I could barely jump an inch off the floor anymore.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, earlier before we stepped out of the taxi, Shu Cia managed to get the taxi driver's phone number, so we could call him to get us once we were done.
So Ms Chua then suggested we call the taxi service, which we had trouble with, resulting Ms Chua volunteering to send us to the bus station in the end.
The next trouble was that there were 2 bus stations, and we hadn't known which one we would be taking off from.

After we found out and Ms Chua dropped us off at the respected station, Shu Cia and I had our so-called dinner, consisting of pastries (A/N: Dammit, now I'm craving for pastries.. xp), and waited for the bus back home.

Then, another problem arose.
(We seemed to attracting a lot of problems today ne?)
Our tickets stated that the bus is at 8.30pm, but when we found the respective bus, the bus driver told us that it wasn't that/his bus.
It couldn't have been the other one, as it leaves at 9pm.
And from whatever little experience I've had with busses (only one, actually.. This was my first time =3 ), the busses leave quite punctually.
We searched the station, and there were no other busses to Kuantan that would be leaving at 8.30pm.
To be honest, I was rather nervous that we'd miss the bus or take the wrong one.
If that was the case (God forbid), we had to buy another return ticket and find a budget hotel to stay in for the night.
And it was my 'time of the month' too, and I don't think I'd have enough pads (or money to buy the pads for that matter,) to last me till tomorrow.
Ew. Not nice.

Anyways, to cut the story short, turns out that our bus to Kuantan was actually the one leaving at 9pm.
Yippee.
Oh, and the bus was freezing too.
The air cond was the two-way kind, thus literally freezing me to death.
Even though I had my jacket on, the air cond was blowing at my nose. *__*.
Major brrr.
I managed to sleep a few winks though, and that was saying something, seeing as I probably looked like Rudolph, what with my nose freezing despite my attempts to cover it up with my jacket (it kept slipping off!).

Having said that, I guess you could say that it felt good to be in Kuantan again.
Home sweet home.
With warm toasty blankets. ^^

Mamma Mia

Mamma Mia indeed.

I thought I could go to see Mamma Mia The Musical with my ballet crew, but dang..
It's sold out!
There's only one ticket left, and it's the RM 500 something ticket.

Wtf.

And the show is in December.
DECEMBER, people.
Whoa.
Didn't know it was that popular.
Oh well, I'll see if I can manage to drag some little 'uns to stay overnight with me and just go KL for shopping and stuff on the supposed date..

Inter Found Girls Go For Rehearsal

So yeah, this is basically my review of that day (9th August 2008), taken from my Livejournal. Read on.. If you dare. xD

WARNING: It's reeeeeaaaaallllyyyy long. And I mean really long. You have been warned.

Ok, truth is, I'm feeling really lazy to write the entire events of yesterday, but it'd be a shame not to, since I've been looking forward to this trip for about a week. Besides, it was fun. ^^And when I do write, I like to be as detailed as possible (only for trips and such people, minds out of the gutter!), so I'll be able to remember most of it (if not all) when I read it in the future. Yeah, I like to remember memorable memories, thank you. (Whoa! Tongue twister! xD)
When I arrived at the bus stop a little over 7.45am, Lika, Seow Hui, Chien Yi & Tze Ping were already there. Chein Yi's parents were there too, and waiting till she got on the bus, I supposed. So we were left to wait for Li Xian, and she arrived with her mother about 10 minutes later. (Lydia is going with her parents there.) In the bus, our seating went like so:

I) Seow Hui & Chien Yi
II) Li Xian & Tze Ping
III) Lika & me

I'll cut the bus ride short, because nothing much happened anyway. But there were a few things worth mentioning.

1) Not long after we were in the bus, Seow Hui took out her powder bottle and squeezed some (though vertically & indirectly,) at the air cond, complaining that there was something that was smelly.

2) At the rest area, in the toilet, Tze Ping & Chien Yi asked if they could keep their shirt/pants on, because Tze Ping had period and well, Chien Yi was being Chien Yi. xD

3) Eating snacks in the bus, which really looked like we were having a mini picnic or something, judging by the amount of junk food Lika bought, which, incidentally, were more than half gone in a matter of minutes.

When we finally arrived at KL, we took the LRT from the station at Pekeliling (the one where me & Lika almost missed the bus one time because our class finished later than we had estimated).
And it was also there that I tried out my Touch 'n Go card again, only to have it error-ed again.

I placed it on the sensor in whichever way I could think of that was sensible: horizontal, vertical, backwards, sideways, you name it.

Unfortunately, ALL didn't work.
So I had to use my money instead, and I didn't have much change with me. (Insert profanity of choice here.)
Lucky for us, the LRT was rather empty when we boarded it, so we all managed to find seats, though Li Xian had to sit opposite us.
Seow Hui, we found out, was rather nervous to be sitting this LRT, because as she said, you could see it running on one long track alone; nothing to support it whatsoever. She grabbed hold of the rod particularly hard when the LRT made a rather sharp turn.

We got out at Sentral; where if we were going to Ms Tam's, Gino would be fetching us from there, and had to walk across the street, past a bus-station-like thingy and up the escalator to this place that looked like an airport, only the LRT version.
There were quite a number of stalls there, ranging from typical booths to the likes of Secret Receipe (which I hadn't seen until we were on the LRT, because it was hidden well away from the path we had to take to the LRT) & Famous Amos.There, you had to buy the tickets from a machine, so I had to buy something for loose change. And I bought some Famous Amous cookies.
(Ok, so I had already wanted to buy the cookies the moment I had a whiff of them as we passed the little shop, but let's just stick with that excuse, mmkay?)
I was beginning to sweat during this time, and me no likey.
So anyways, Chien Yi ended up wanting to buy something at Famous Amos too, and ended up getting gummies. We each took one.

We rode the LRT (or monorail, can't tell the difference for the life of me) to Asia Jaya, where we were supposed to wait for Gino. He was already there when we went down the stairway. We were looking out for his battered old van that he said he was going to fetch us with, but instead what greeted us was Micha's MyVi. Seeing as the MyVi couldn't fit all 6 of us at one go, it was decided that we split and Mr Gino would have to make 2 rounds. First off were Lika, Chien Yi & Seow Hui. Me, Tze Ping & Li Xian stayed back and waited for the 2nd round, and we whiled the time away by chatting (some stuff about throwing our used tissues & wrappers to potential kidnappers/robbers) & snacking; me on my Famous Amos cookies. =3

Tze Ping at the bus stop in Asia Jaya. Li Xian refused to let me take her pic. =.="

When Mr Gino finally arrived for us, we took off to FAB. Lika had already messaged me earlier saying they were at the 3rd floor. Gino dropped us off at this foodcourt-like place, and at first things weren't very clear; if we were supposed to walk to FAB, where FAB was, etc. Finally the misunderstanding was settled. Turns out Mr Gino had asked Lika & the rest to go to the foodcourt and meet us to have lunch before class, but Chien Yi & Seow Hui said they were not hungry and wanted to eat later. So Gino had to drive us to the FAB building, which actually wasn't very far. It was a rather old building, and as we found out when we went to the 3rd floor, it was nothing like Ms Tam's place or any other ballet studios in KL that we've been to. It reminded me of the place of a rather small old apartment and somewhat like our studio back in Kuantan, only this one had a Changing Room and about 2 studios on each floor of about 5. Oh, and the 'main studio' on that floor was bigger than ours. We waited for our 'time of rental' of the studio by reading magazines and (in Seow Hui's case,) eating the unfinished junk food. Not much activity was done.
Lydia arrived minutes before everyone had to go in the studio (TOR lol). We all went in the studio first while Lydia changed (don't understand why she didn't come to the studio in her leotards, since she came with her parents & all..) and prepared everything. Gino came in not long after, but Lydia & Li Xian (who was with Lydia) were still MIA. We started not long after Lydia & Li Xian's arrival, doing some barre work on both sides. I took some photos & the occasional videos throughout, giving the excuse (to the IF girls) that so they could see how they danced/did. (I wasn't exactly lying... =p )

F.A.B.

P/S: Li Xian is the one on the far right in the last picture. xD

Mr Gino ran through most of the centre work because we were lacking time (we supposed to be done by 3.30pm [2.00-3.30]) . But he did ask them to repeat centre pointe work a few times. Everyone (except Tze Ping I think) couldn't go en pointe properly anymore by the time they repeated Echappe Releve to 2nd. xD Though, having said that, their pointe work has gotten much better since I first saw them doing pointe. After they finally did Reverance, we rushed them and asked them to hurry and get changed. And, no surprises, they took quite a while to do so. Li Xian was the first in the changing room and the first one to come out. Next was Lydia. The five of us (Gino, Lika, Lydia, me & Li Xian) decided to go down first, and hoped they'd be ready by the time Gino drives his car in front of FAB. Alas, they weren't. So Lika asked me & Li Xian to go first, and she'll stay at FAB and wait till the rest were done, because if we make Gino wait long for the rest, he'd lose his temper. (Gino has an uncannily shorter temper whenever he has to go places in KL.) So Li Xian & I got in Gino's car when he drove up in front of FAB, leaving Lika to wait for the rest & Lydia. When we reached Asia Jaya's LRT, Li Xian & I sat in the same bus stop we had sat in earlier while waiting for Gino to come get us for the second round. There, we chatted while waiting for the rest, and I could've sworn that we surely had to wait longer for their arrival, had they not had Mr Gino to rush them. I saw Lika walking with the rest opposite the bus station about 20 minutes after we (Li Xian & I) got there, and went up to join them. We then made our way to KLCC. (SUSHI! *grins*)

We agreed that we would go and eat first, then see if we have time left to do some shopping. Li Xian was so excited to go to Kinokuniya that she told us she wanted to go straight to Kinokuniya after we arrive at KLCC. We agreed after we made her promise that she'd eat something as well, and not forget about her dinner. Lika, Seow Hui, Chien Yi, Tze Ping & I dug in at Sakae Sushi . =D I ordered Salmon Don as usual, and while waiting for the main dish, I took 4 plates of sushi off of the train. I had thought of taking one more plate before my main dish came, but I'm glad I refrained. I was literally stuffed by the time I finished it all. After 'dinner', Chien Yi, Seow Hui & Tze Ping took off in thier own direction, and me & Lika headed to Kinokuniya. We spent the rest of the time there, me debating weather or not to get Japanese & Korean dictionaries, and weather to get Ashley anything. While browsing at the Japanese section, I found, much to my heart's glee, DBSK's Shine photobook. And it costs about RM 171. WHAT. Anyways I took it to the counter and asked if I could have a look at the contents, only to find that it had mostly their concert pictures, and most of them either weren't too impressive or the picture not clear. And so I thought, if I did went and buy this using my ang pow money, I'd have RM 171 less, and what could I do with the photobook? Probably just stare at the pictures from time to time. And besides, the interview was in Japanese. So very reluctantly, I decided not to buy the photobook, pushing the idea aside that I might finally be able to actually own something of DBSK's, and not just some GIFs, pictures or mp3s in my computer. Let's put it this way: in the end, my purse was happy, but I was rather dissapointed.

Anyways, before we knew it, it was time to go. Chien Yi & I managed to quickly buy smoothies while waiting for Li Xian to come out of Kinokuniya (I swore I drank like a camel that day). We took the LRT (where I bought a bottle of water for both Li Xian & I) to Pasar Seni, and walked to Petaling Street, occasionally asking which direction Pudu was. When we found out that Pudu wasn't far from Petaling Street, we decided to browse for a bit. Chien Yi & Tze Ping immediately took off to a shop in which a bag they were selling had caught thier eyes. After buying about 2 sets of shirts for her & her boyfriend each, Lika wanted to go get Air Mata Kucing. I got a cup too after I drank a bit from Li Xian.

Then we had to rush make our way to Puduraya, stopping at a flower shop to make sure we were heading in the right direction. Occasionally, Chien Yi would ask if we were getting near, and whine with a "Haaaaa?! Very tired le.." everytime we tell her that there was still a distance left. Li Xian was the only one not complaining. We finally made it to Pudu, all sweaty and slightly bothered (at least I knew I was sweaty). The first place we checked out was the Transnational board. And found out that our bus leaves at 8.30pm, not 8pm. So we had about 40 minutes to kill at Pudu. (By which, I had already finished the bottle of water that I bought at the LRT station. See? Camel here. xD) Chien Yi, at the very least, looked as if her legs were killing her. ;p She practically dashed to an empty seat the moment someone left it. The rest of us were tired as well, though probably not nearly as tired as Chien Yi.

At about 8.15, we finally went down to the bus boarding area and boarded the bus. I swore all of us rejoiced the moment our butts touched the chair. This time, our seatings were as follows:

I) Seow Hui & Chien Yi

II) Me & Lika

III) Li Xian & Tze Ping.

This time, Seow hui took out her bottle of lotion & aired it at the air cond. And Tze Ping was practically out cold before the bus completely left the station, the poor girl. (But it was funny though, Seow Hui calling out to Tze Ping and not getting even a twitch from her. xD)

I would tell you that our bus ride home was smooth and hassel-less, but then I'd be lying. At least for Seow Hui. A malay guy in front of Seow Hui lowered his chair, and Seow Hui told him that she had no place, which was understandable, since she had a few bags with her, what with ballet stuff and all. She muttered a sorry, and he lifted his back up. Unfortunately, that was not the end. Somewhere along the journey, Seow Hui & Chien Yi napped. And it was then that the guy took his opportunity to lower his seat again, this time lower than before.

When Seow Hui woke up to the sight, she said she had repeated to the guy that she didn't have space. When she said that, she was sitting sideways and facing Chien Yi. So that bastard of a guy said that if she could sit and still move freely that way, it meant that she still had space. And he left it at that & refused to bring his chair up, even a little. Worse thing is, the bitch beside him said nothing. So when we reached the rest area, Seow Hui complained to us (that's how we knew about it, Lika was too preoccupied with playing Diner Dash in her phone, & I was too busy dozing off). By this time she was sitting on the arm rest of the bus seat, since her bags took up quite a lot of space and Lika decided against putting thier bags overhead, for fear of loss. By this time also, the malay guy had gone down the bus to do God knows what. Their (Lika & Seow Hui) conversation went something like this, in chinese (broken English and all):

Lika: Ei, you got any Aaalleluya song anot? Put on loud loud! Just now they put on the sembahyang song so loud.. Don't have Aaleluya, put on Amitabha song.

Seow Hui: *laughs & checks her phone* Don't have wor..

Lika: Nevermind la, put on any song loud loud la..

Me: After people will be thinking, 'what la this group of 6 people.. in the bus amitabha..'

*everyone laughs*

*Seow Hui puts on random song loud*

Enter the malay guy, who just came up the bus.

Malay Guy: *Looks at Seow Hui's sitting position and sits back on his chair*

Seow Hui: O.O He didn't even do anything!

Lika: That bloody !@#!$!.. Ah, what to do.. Some people are inconsiderate..

Me: If can, I'd reach for his chair lever and smash his chair in front!

*sighs*

Seow Hui: Next time I have to bring 'tong tong chang' dy. When I cannot sleep, hit the thing 'tongtongtongtong I cannot sleep ahh!! tongtongtongtong'

Lika & I: *burst out laughing*

Seow Hui: Ah, I bring the tong tong chang, someone bring the bowl kokkokkok, and someone bring the tingtingting.. And Li Xian say 'amitabha'

We laughed harder at this, and hearing that, Li Xian asked why (it's the 2nd time she asked, 1st was when we were talking about the Hallelujah & Amitabha thing). She laughed too after I told her, which made me laugh some more. When I turned back to face the front, I burst out laughing again. Li Xian's laughter could also be heard behind me. Seow Hui looked at Lika, eyebrows raised though smiling, pointing at me and asked, "What's wrong with her oo? So 'song' laughing.."

I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep after that, from laughing so much, but after a while, drowsiness started to take over again (what with the darkness and the air cond emitting). I was nodding off to sleep again soon after. By the time we reached around Taman Tas, I still felt sleepy, but made myself stay awake, as it wouldn't take that long to reach the station and besides, nearly everyone was awake already. When we finally arrived at the bus stop and went down the bus, my brain was still asleep.

Almost everyone's parent were already there, except Li Xian. So me & Lika waited for her parent to come, after which we all left to our respective cars together.

Phew! That was a long one!Feels like the longest I've written, actually.. But there you have it, our 'adventures' in KL. This entry is also the first one in which I had to take 2 days to finish writing, because sleep loomed over me as I wrote, on both occasions. Word has it that Lika & I might have to 'babysit' them again come exam day, and this time, we'll have to stay overnight. Nothing's confirmed yet, though.

See, told you it was long. =3

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