What A Countdown

31^st Dec 2006 (Sun)

For the first time in my life, I participated in a countdown event in Kuala Lumpur. Many and many people were expected to turn up. Hence, something has to be sacrificed in order to get a strategic place during the countdown celebration. That something is nothing other than TIME. My sis, her friend, Sevvy, and I reached Sg. Wang eight and a half hours before the celebration was scheduled to start.

“Walau..reach there so early do what?” That was the first question I posted to my sis.

“Stand there and wait lah. But you can always go jalan-jalan along and then join us back later. Sevvy and I will be here.” That was her answer.

Go kai kai (walk walk) alone in Sg. Wang. Uh… so pitiful =( Anyway, that was what I did. I couldn’t bear the thought of standing and the venue for hours doing nothing. Thankfully, my kai kai session in Sg. Wang and Low Yat brought me some surprises when I bumped into Pui Ting (in Sg. Wang) and Yew Sheng (In Low Yat). Pui Ting was with her boyfriend, Jack Cheong who turned out to be quite big sized and good looking. I was looking at some dvds when I heard someone calling “Yeam”. I turned around and eventually, that someone was Pui Ting. We chatted for about two minutes before heading separate ways.

I thought that dvds in Sg. Wang wouldn’t be as cheap as Taiping’s (RM 6) and one of the shopkeeper proved me right by coldly answering me, “Sap man yat kau” (RM10 per piece). Uh, that menyampah face of his. It made me didn’t even want to have a look at his dvds. Bluek!!!

Of course, not all the shopkeepers in Sg. Wang have such third class behavior. There was this owner of a cell phone shop who kindly explained to me the directions to McD (My sis asked me to ta pau McD). Really very nice of him =) I found Sg. Wang’s structure pretty confusing, erm, like 1U. I am just not good with directions.

Next, I went to Low Yat to check out the latest price of cdr. Now it was my turn to call someone. “Yew Sheng,” I called. She turned around and looked at me with her mouth opened widely. Haha, she was there with her family. I asked her whether she met Pui Ting and she answered no because she hasn’t head to Sg. Wang and just arrived at Low Yat.

In Low Yat, I learnt something pretty frightening from an IT shop. According to one of the workers there, cdr can only last for about five years, which means that we will have to back up all our data again into new cdr after that period of time. So time consuming. Uh… Hence, readers, I strongly advise all of you to develop those memorable pictures that you have. Storing them in your laptop/computer /cdr is a bit risky as technology won’t last forever.

After strolling in Low Yat, I headed back to Sg. Wang to check on what was happening at the venue. To my surprise, I saw many artists rehearsing for the event. For instance, Danny Wen Li Ming, Jing Sha, John & Des, Suki, Chen Wei Chuen, A-Do, and Lam Yeik Pong. Under broad day light and within such near distance, I could watch them nicely and laugh at the jokes they made on stage. I applaud Danny Wen for turning up despite the fact that he was sick. Actually, he didn’t look sick at all. He covered it really well and was super funny, cracking jokes all the time. Due to their tight schedule (I assume), some of them didn’t have ample time to memorize lyrics and ended up forgetting them during rehearsal and even during the real performance itself. Nonetheless, since everyone was super high and happy during the performances, they were forgiven. I was thankful that I somehow dropped my plan of watching Night At The Museum alone in Times Square or I wouldn’t be able to watch the rehearsal session. I did miss some artists’ rehearsal like Daniel Lee and Lim Yu Zhong (when I was in Sg. Wang and Low Yat). But it was no big deal since I could still catch them later that night.

From left to right: John, Des, Danny Wen, and Chen Wei Chuen doing some discussion during the rehearsal

One of the crews changing the position of the lightings. This job ain't for the faint hearted. With no safety aids, a slight mistake will land you into the hospital.

I felt that time passed dreadfully slowly. Imagine standing for five to six hours, not forgetting the fact that we still have to keep on standing till after 12am which summed up to about 12 hours of standing! How I wish I could transfer all this time to my Economics or Spec Math exam. It would be nice if there is a remote which enables us to transfer time. Dear Scientists/Engineers around the world, I hope you can hear me =)

The actual event was fun and happening. Another plus point was that most of the artists were on key =D ; surely, something which was not easy to do during life performances. The ugly part was the crowded, stuffy, and hot situation, something that I had expected. But some of the crowds were simply too uncivilized and kept pushing the people in front of them to the extent that some fainted (or nearly fainted). There was also this little gal beside me was ‘pancaked’ and chocked. She really resembles Wyne and I suspect that she is Wyne’s younger sister. But of course, I didn’t ask her about that. Haha…Twice I asked the crowed behind her to stop pushing. I expected someone to say, “Shut up lah u! Who are you to order us!” But thankfully, that didn’t happen.

Also, there was this stupid RELA member who smoked in front of us in his uniform. Gosh, seriously seriously something to be ashamed about. And he did it twice!!! I would be one of happiest person in the world if Malaysia bans smoking. There was also this RELA member who stood on a pavement (which made her taller) and blocked our view. She even brought some of her friends into the inner area. We were fine with it until they started smoking and blocking our view. Of course, we asked them to step down and they obeyed. I was hoping that someone will be courageous enough to shout “Stop smoking lah u!” Haha, sadly/thankfully that didn’t happen. I wonder what will follow if someone were to do so.

Throughout the whole event, my sis kept reminding me to check my purse, cell phones, and camera to make sure they were still with me. In events like that, pickpockets will bermaharajarela. I was even more afraid when I remembered what Amanda wrote in her blog regarding her Merdeka celebration in which Jessica lost her cell phone. Thankfully, the New Year countdown ended safely; at least for my sis, her friends and I =D

We stayed in Federal Hotel that night as planned, to avoid the congestion. We had supper till 3am before heading back to the hotel to shower and sleep. All in all, I enjoyed this countdown and it is undeniably a special way to mark the beginning of my 2007. Thanks to my sis for inviting me and Sevvy for driving my sis and I to Sg Wang. =D

My sis with her friends

Sevvy and I. Oh ya, I was wearing Yee Hong's T-shirt. He gave this cool dark green shirt to me. Thanks a lot Yee Hong =) I like it a lot! Hm, I forget why he didn't want it anymore. Was it because it is too small for him?

My sis and I. She cut her hair and looks more tomboyish now. Haha, reminds me of her during her secondary school times. Nonetheless, she still looks nice this way. =)

An eyesore after the countdown. I don't know how else to educate the public. Civic-mindedness just doesn't mean anything to these 'unfortune' group of people.

Wow, this entry turned out to be so long, beyond my expectation. So sorry if your eyes are tired and thanks for staying with me till now. Hope it is still not too late to wish you all, Happy New Year!!!