The finals for the line dance individual junior, open, crystal and diamond, as well as the belly dance intermediate individuals of the Malaysian Open Dance Fest were held tonight at Shangri-la Hotel. Today’s competition is the 7th Crystal Dancesport Championships, with various events in Ballroom Standard & Latin ranging from junior under-12 to senior over 55, from beginner all the way through professionals; scheduled to run the whole day from 7am to midnight. The abovementioned finals were to be held for about half an hour at 7pm, at the start of the evening session of the championship.

Initially I was supposed to go over and spend the day there, helping out my coach Bronya (who is the emcee) and basically, to kepoh because I wanted to watch a few people I know compete in the events. Unfortunately – or actually, FORTUNATELY, because I made it into the Line Dance Individual Crystal finals, I knew I could not do so because I had to conserve my energy for the finals. I wasted a whole day today just to get onto the dance floor for two minutes tonight. I wasn’t going to run around doing unnecessary things especially when I wasn’t needed, and tire myself out and blow my chances for a good placing in the finals. The initial plan was made, because honestly… I had not been expecting to get into the finals.

At any rate, personally, I would have preferred it if they just completed all the line dance finals yesterday; but the organisers had their own reasons to put the finals at Shangri-la tonight.

Anyway, so I wasted the whole day today by waking up late, and taking a mid-morning nap, before finally making myself get ready for the competition. I-Vee came to pick me up, and we went to pick Pei Ru up, and then we headed to Shangri-la.

I-Vee herself had also made it into the Crystal finals (same as me), and Pei Ru was coming along to support and help us. Pei Ru helped me with my hair, and also helped I-Vee out with her make-up.

I admit that I was extremely nervous about the finals. I tried to keep moving before going onto the floor, but I was still feeling so cold, especially since I was wearing a short skirt, and I was showing off my midriff.  (Sorry no photos yet, I didn’t bring my camera – have to wait for photos from Pei Ru!) Amanda Leou (the official photographer’s daughter, who is also one of the photographers for the night) told me I looked so moody. It must have been nerves.

Well I gave it my all on the floor, and all I could do was hope it was enough. I did kind of miss my wall for 2 counts, but I caught it back very quickly. Thank goodness there were no variations!!

After that, I was hanging around outside waiting for the results. I thought that the prize presentation was going to be quite early, but we were kept waiting for a while. Our event started about 7.30pm, but by 9.30pm we were still waiting (and dying of hunger). We line dancers did enjoy ourselves for a very brief period, when we went onto the floor during the country march past and did little dance steps instead of just walking around the floor.

In fact, the prize presentation was supposed to be held outside in the foyer so that the ballroom competition would not be interrupted, but for some reason they suddenly changed their minds, and decided to interrupt the competition after all, and have the prize presentation in the hall. When I heard that, I began to fret a little… I didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of everyone if I got last.

Actually, to tell you the truth, I really wanted to get into the top six (6 is usually the cut-off for the number of finalists, but this time there were 10). But somehow I wasn’t very confident with the way I danced, so all I kept thinking while waiting for the prize presentation was, “I DON’T WANT TO GET LAST.”

Well, I didn’t get last. Or second last. Actually, I kept trying to keep count while the results were announced. Since all ten finalists would be placed, Bronya did announce the placings (“in tenth place… in ninth place…” etc) but I’d keep counting the people who have already been called and were standing by the podium for the photo, just to be sure. I kept losing count because I was so nervous, even while just waiting for the results. I was always expecting my number to be called anytime; I was kind of holding my breath every time a number was announced.

By the time the seventh placed dancer was announced, I was relieved, because that means I did manage to get into top six.

By the time the fourth placed dancer was announced, I was in disbelief.

I could not believe that I got into the top three!!! In fact, by then I knew I got 3rd place – and I was already very happy! I was skipping to get my trophy when my number was finally called. I was not foolish enough to expect any higher because the dancers who got top 2 were very good. I’ve known them for a few years now, and they’re very good dancers, and they have very strong ballroom technique.

It’s been so long since I’ve managed to a podium finish in events with more than 3 contestants… I probably had a bigger smile than the top 2 winners combined!

I know that I’m still not that good, and still have so much to work on… but it’s so great to be top 3 for a change, and to beat so many people!

In related good news, I-Vee got 8th place! So proud of her. She’s come such a long way. She has shown remarkable improvement even from the competition last month, where she had been extremely disappointed in herself for not doing well at all. This time, she managed not only to get into the finals, but to even beat 2 other people. Congrats, I-Vee!

Thanks, everyone for your good luck wishes – I’m sure they really helped me during the competition yesterday as well as tonight! Also, thanks to Pei Ru for helping me out with my hair and my number tags and stuff. And to I-Vee for the effort in fixing up the bling on our shoes and costumes. And to those who came to support us yesterday. But most of all, thank you, Bronya for your patience and for the yelling and for the drilling. There’s no way I could have gotten this far without your constant support and forthright criticism.

Thank you to the organisers of the Malaysian Open Dance Fest for successfully organising a great competition! Looking forward to next year!

Today was the Malaysia Open Dance Fest, organised by Teresa Liu, Emily Mah and Lane Lee under the World Dance Academy umbrella. The competition received overwhelming response, I guess partly because we haven’t had a neutral competition for quite a while.

I myself took part in quite a number of events – 3 team events (line dance team open, line dance team crystal, modern jazz team open) and 2 individual events (line dance individual crystal, modern jazz individual open).

The team had been training hard for the past month or so, trying our best to get our routine right and to be synchronised. Unfortunately, today, we didn’t do as well as we would like to – we came out only 3rd in all our events. I know that sounds pretty good, but not when you hear how many teams actually took part in the respective events. I shall let you guess.

We were disappointed not in the results, but in ourselves. Still, it was a learning experience for us all. I’m glad to say that every individual in this team did put in a lot of effort, and we haven’t been working together long enough as a team; so hopefully in the future, with enough consistent practices, we’ll make ourselves a better team.

As for the individual events… well, to tell the truth individual events have always been frustrating for me because I can’t seem to get into the finals, even when my friends say I deserve to get in. Either that, or something will go severely wrong (not my fault) and I’d get booted to last place. I’ve practically forgotten what it’s like to be able to stand on the podium, with more than 3 people competing in the event.

So anyway, I MADE IT INTO THE INDIVIDUAL CRYSTAL FINALS!!! Yeahhh!!!

The finals are tomorrow night. I hope I’ll have some rather good news to report tomorrow.

As for the modern jazz individual open… I GOT SECOND!

OK, so there’s only 4 people competing. I know that doesn’t sound tough, but it is – you try it and see!

I was actually worried that I was going to get last, because the judges weren’t looking at me. I was quite sad, you know. There I was, smiling and pumping out all I had, but none of the judges seemed to be looking at me. In fact, one of them even walked around me to take a look at another contestant. :’(

After I got off the floor, Pei Ru said that I’m definitely in top two. Another friend, Joanne Ng, said that I should win (1st), and coming from her, it means a lot because she’s got a very critical eye.

But I was already convinced that I was going to get 4th (how’d you like it if judges walked around you to look at others???), so I tried not to get my hopes up.

And when we were waiting on the floor for the prize presentation… I had a few false starts. OK, they’re not really false starts. But you see, my tag number is 17. And when the emcee (who is Bronya, by the way) announced 4th place: “seven–” I was going to step forward, until she completed her number: “-ty-five”.

And then it would register in my head: “Oh! That’s not me!”

And then in 3rd place, it was “seven–” and I was going to step forward again, until it came out as “-ty-one”.

For the first time, I was actually able to hug the other remaining contestant as we wait for the results. (The other times I got high placings in line dance competitions, finalists weren’t placed on the floor like in latin competitions, we usually just run in from the audience back then).

I’m happy with second place. First place would have been nice, but it’s too much pressure to try to defend it in the future. I honestly know that I still have so much to work on in my dancing, so having the gold elude me is great motivation.  I know to some people, this may sound somewhat like sour grapes, but it truly isn’t. Besides, I don’t want people to start expecting me to dance like a superstar, and then see my dancing and go, “Haaa?? Like that also can win first place ahh?”

Anyway, I felt the first placed winner did deserve the win. I didn’t see her dance, but I saw her practising during her warmup, and she was super-flexible and rhythmic. And she’s really friendly and nice too

Tomorrow night will be tougher though. There are 10 finalists for the individual crystal. *sweat* I just hope I won’t get last.

Oh, by the way, there are no photos because… Pei Ru tried to take photos of me on the podium with my Olympus BUT SOMEHOW THEY ALL CAME OUT BLUR. Dammittttt!!!!!

I got this in another email. While I cannot guarantee that it is 100% accurate, I’m sure that the doctor knows what he is talking about. Better to be safe than sorry!!!

How to prevent H1N1 –  An eMail forward is reproduced below:
Friends,
Thanks to media hype about H1N1, several people who trust me have either approached or called me to advice. The hype in media about the utility of face masks and N95 respirators as a tool for general protection against H1N1 can’t be deplored enough.
Yesterday, a friend who listened wanted me to write down briefly what I advised so that he could tell others in similar words. Hence this short email to friends whom I have advised recently (and others whom I haven’t yet).

Please realize that this is not an official advice, especially the one about face masks or N95. Most N95 respirators are designed to filter 95% particulates of 0.3µ, while the size of H1N1 virus is about 0.1µ. Hence, dependence on N95 to protect against H1N1 is like protecting against rain with an umbrella made of mosquito net.

Tamiflu does not kill but prevents H1N1 from further proliferation till the virus limits itself in about 1-2 weeks (its natural cycle). H1N1, like other Influenza A viruses, only infects the upper respiratory tract and proliferates (only) there. The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/ throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it’s almost impossible not coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions.

Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

Got this via email. Very useful to know in this current pandemic. However, don’t rely on this table completely – if in doubt, go and get a test done to see if you have the A(H1N1) flu. Better to be safe than sorry!

OKOK. I’d better write this down before I forget to, and the news becomes so old that it’s not interesting anymore. It’s just that I had no time, what with the class tests and the dance competition and falling sick.

My birthday was last month, on the 8th of July. I had shamelessly been announcing my impending birthday in vain hopes that I would, for once, be able to get something from my birthday wishlist, and I mean my birthday wishlist. Nothing of the sort happened, of course. Except for the dark chocolates. Oh, but at least I didn’t get any plumbing accessories this time

Anyway my birthday was off to a good start with dinner with close friends at The Ship.  It was fun and enjoyable, but if I thought I could escape the “Happy Birthday” singing, there was no such luck. While other places like TGIF merely get all their staff to sing very loudly, The Ship blasts the birthday song over their speakers so that everyone in the restaurant knows it’s someone’s birthday.

Birthday fun at The Ship! (Kodie not in the photo because he's taking the pic)

We took a lot of photos… Take a look!!!

Sunday saw a brief celebratory lunch with some of my dance teammates. Tracy made me beautiful cupcakes, every single one personally handpiped by herself. The cupcakes were absolutely delicious! She bought us lunch at Starbucks before making everyone embarrass me with a “Happy Birthday”  song…

Tracy's beautiful cupcake. She says her sifu told her it takes 600 tries before she'd get a perfect rose, but it already looks beautiful to me

Me with Tracy and her cupcakes

More photos of the beautiful cupcakes here!! Must-see!!!

My family then took me out fo a nice quiet dinner at Sri Siam. Erm, there’s no photo because it was a really simple dinner.

Tuesday night, on my birthday eve, I went for dance class which is usually followed by dance practice. One of the ladies who attends the social dance class, Eloise, usually brings her 6-year-old daughter Jye Yi to the class, but because the little girl usually can’t cope with the adult-level class, I spend time with the little girl, teaching her the basics and dancing with her so that she doesn’t lose interest in the dance. Because I spend so much time with her, she became quite attached to me; and she found out my birthdate… through the expedient method of asking me.

She made her father take her out to buy a cake, and insisted on coming to class to give me the cake. Fortunately it wasn’t a class celebration, because everyone left quite quickly when the class was over (phew!) but for the little girl’s sake, her mother and her aunt (both of them attend the social dance class) sang a quick round of Happy Birthday, and I cut the cake to give the little one a slice. She had bought a delicious coffee cake… yummm :)

Jye Yi and I

Wednesday… my actual birthday. I have to say that it was simply the best birthday I’ve celebrated at Sri KDU, ever. The day got progressively better

I had ordered mini-cupcakes from a friend, with the intention of giving each of my students one, and some of my colleagues (can’t give EVERYONE… there’s too many). I ordered the cupcakes because I knew that I couldn’t expect people to celebrate my birthday with me, so the only way to make sure I’m not alone in my celebration is to MAKE THEM CELEBRATE IT WITH ME.

The mini-cupcakes I distributed to my students and friends

The first class of the day was 4 Newton who, instead of the customary “Good morning, Miss Hoo” sang “Happy Birthday”. That was a nice greeting

"Everyone do the Japanese pose!!"

And… surprise, surprise. Some of my tuition students actually got me a cake!!! I was quite touched; it was the first time I ever received a cake from students not in my class. Muaxes to all of you With Lydia’s help, they got me a very pretty chocolate cake.

With the 5A kids who bought me the cake

Shaun attempting to stab Kareem with the superlong knife

The second class was 4 Aristotle, who used to drive me nuts the whole year by always singing “Happy Birthday”. But when I walked into class, they refused to sing it to me, and gave me the customary “Good morning” greeting instead. And when they did sing, they sang it to one of their classmates Gary instead. After a bit of hemming and hawing, Juno finally came forward with a papercard which everyone signed. And they said they didn’t know how old I was, so they wrote every number they could think of – “Happy 16th birthday”… “Happy 32nd birthday”… “Happy 48th birthday”… But of all the numbers everyone wrote, no one got the right number.

Me with 4 Aristotle

The class immediately after that was 4 Mozart, and they sent people outside to stop me from going in. I guess it would have been obvious to anyone as to what they were planning, especially since the lights were off and so many of them were holding cameras, but I had long taught myself not to expect anything. And… so when I went in, they had a cake with candles lit and everyone burst into song, I actually started crying. And unfortunately, a few of them caught my tears on camera. =.=”

But I don’t mind admitting it. I was truly overwhelmed, especially since this class isn’t even my homeroom, yet they were thoughtful enough to throw me a surprise party. If I could, I’d take them in as my homeroom, too.

"Everyone look at Miss Hoo!"

I don’t have photos of the cake 4M prepared for me though. I didn’t have my camera ready, I was too busy wiping the tears away.

The best surprise was yet to come though. 4M had done something great, and it would be right to expect my homeroom to do something better, but like I said, I had taught myself not to expect anything. But during lunchtime, it was obvious that they were planning something, because from my seat in the staffroom, I saw quite a few of my students walking by the doors, and the moment they spotted me through the glass, they quickly doubled back. Then Darryl was sent in to ask me to step out. He pretended to want to ask me a Chemistry question, but it was so obviously a lie, that I handed him my camera. What was waiting outside for me was beyond anything I had expected…

I GOT A HUMAN GREETING CARD!!! IT’S THE BEST CARD I’VE EVER RECEIVED!!!

My human greeting card is so big, I get to stand inside it!

And on top of that, they got me a cake! And embarrassed me in front of everyone by singing “Happy Birthday” very loudly at the cafeteria.

The cake 4 Dickens bought. I'm at the cafeteria where they embarrassed me by singing "Happy Birthday" very loudly.

I had no more tears left, but I was still very touched. It trumps 4M’s surprise party, hehe.

I was surprised at how quickly everyone disappeared back to class when the bell rang, leaving me and a few others to clean up the mess. And when we got back to class, someone kept saying, “The party isn’t over yet” but it didn’t register until Johann walked in with a second cake…

My second cake from 4 Dickens!!

The day ended with my receiving a beautiful bouquet from Bronya, which she had sent to the school. They were late; it was supposed to be sent in the morning. But nevertheless, it was a great end to a great day.

The lovely bouquet Bronya sent to me at school

Thank you everyone for your wishes, presents, and cakes! I love you all!

Photos of my birthday at school can be viewed here.