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This week’s roundup

zyenhoo — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:50:32 +0000

I feel like a deflated balloon.

I’ve always enjoyed training for dance competitions. Even if the outcome isn’t fantastic, even if I don’t make the break rounds, even if I flop, I still enjoy the training nevertheless. That has always been the best part of the competitions for me. The medals and trophies attained are just an added bonus. For the MODF, we had practice 3 times a week. Now my nights are free and I get to sleep early, but I’m feeling lost instead…

Well, on the bright side, I met up with three different friends for breakfast/dinner/lunch over 2 days. My social life seems to be on the rise. Hahaha.

Just to fill up space, here’s my bragging rights:

My trophies from the Malaysian Open Dance Fest 2009

That’s my trophy for modern jazz individual (2nd), trophy for line dance individual (3rd), and medals for team events (3rd). I’m short of a medal for one team event, because there was a mix-up during the prize presentation, which the organisers haven’t fixed to date.

Here are the photos Pei Ru took during the night of the finals at Shangri-la.

In other news, I dropped my watch! My favourite watch!!! *sobsob* This watch was given to me by my website clients – a very sweet couple who thought of me when they saw this watch. Notice the brand of the watch in the photo below?? Best watch I’ve ever had! No one has ever had a watch with a brand in their name… mind you it’s not custom-made!

I dropped it as I was taking it out of my bag to put it on, and it fell straight onto the floor with a resounding crack. The impact not only caused cracks to appear on the glass front, but some of the diamantes were severely broken too :(:(:( Fortunately it’s still running though.

I dropped my watch! Notice the cracks on the glass front??

So I had to dig out one of my other watches to get the battery changed at a watch shop in One Utama. While the battery was being changed, I showed this watch to the sales assistant and asked if the glass face could be replaced. Admittedly, this isn’t a famous brand and obviously the shop I went to doesn’t carry the brand. The lady just handed it back to me and said, “It’s not worth it to change. Some of the ‘diamonds’ have already dropped off.”

I couldn’t believe how snooty she was. I mean, this watch is important to me for personal reasons, and it’s not some RM20-piece-of-junk picked up from some night market. So I just paid for the battery change and went off. I was actually contemplating buying a new good watch from the shop since they were having a sale, but her attitude completely put me off.

I’ll just have to go look for another watch shop to get it fixed then; probably a family-owned watch shop, if they still exist. Going to watch shop chains are of no use; some shops are so snooty, they won’t change the battery of a watch if they don’t carry the brand. At least if a shop is run by a family, they’re nicer and more willing to do what the customer asks.

Anyway, while I was in Midvalley today, I saw a Swatch roadshow and went to poke around. I asked a sales assistant to show me their waterproof watches (almost all of them are) because I have always wanted to get one for a long time, especially one that I can go swimming with. (Sometimes when I swim at the pool in school, I lose track of time. It would be good to have a watch so that I can check on the time.) She helped me pick out a really pretty and trendy white watch.

My brand new Swatch watch!

Yeeha!!! I haven’t had a watch with a rubber strap for a long time. Come to think of it, I haven’t bought myself a watch for a long time. Some of my watches were either free gifts with items bought, or given to me by friends. My watches in the past few years have all been either metal straps or leather straps. So yay!!! Now I’ve got one I can wear even when I’m exercising or dancing.

And… this is my first Swatch in my entire life!!! Hahaha!!! When I was in school, I’ve always wanted a Swatch because all my friends seemed to have them, but they were pretty expensive and I never worked up the courage to ask my parents to get me one. And I didn’t save for one either, because I felt that it was really too expensive, and I could easily get a working watch for less than half the lowest price of a Swatch. So this is like a childhood wish that’s been finally fulfilled. The only thing missing now is the rubber watchface guard that was the rage back in school.

I consider this my belated birthday present to myself, and my reward for my achievements at the MODF

Actually I spotted another Swatch watch that I also really liked; it has a metal strap with crystals in the them. But I can’t afford to buy too many watches And I’ve still got to fix the glass on my Zyenn watch.

Pretty good week so far, in spite of the cracked watch. And to top it off, it’s the second three-day weekend in a row! WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!

Lucky me

zyenhoo — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:52:44 +0000

I went to Malacca for the weekend, to accompany Bronya on a dance workshop she was conducting. I was also supposed to perform with her, but I hadn’t gotten the music ready yet as we were both so busy the past few weeks – she gave me the list of songs to use last week, but I had no time to fix the medleys, so on the drive down, I worked on it on my laptop.

I’m pretty sure that the workshop attendees must have thought me unsociable, because I sat in one corner fiddling with my laptop instead of mingling with the crowd. But then, the 2-hour drive was only enough for me to cut one medley, and I was supposed to do three! So I worked on the other two as the workshop was in progress. Fortunately I-Vee was with us, and she helped me take a video of the entire workshop. From time to time, I managed to take a few shots of Chief Guru with my DSLR though.

…. which goes to show how last-minute our performances were planned. We did have a rehearsal between the workshop and dinner, but that was obviously not enough

I performed with Bronya in two of the medleys (a funky mix, and a cuban mix) while she performed solo for one (smooth). Erm. We did pretty well in spite of the last-minute cuts, if I do say so ourselves. OK, maybe she won’t agree with me, because I messed up some of the beats. But the crowd did respond to me, and to her, when we played with the crowd. So I guess they enjoyed our performances in spite of our mistakes. Hahaha!!!

No, I’m not putting up the videos. The performance was probably only fun to watch live. If you want to watch it, well… you should have been there!

The next morning Bron had 2 private classes, so we had breakfast together before she went off. My right wrist felt stiff, and I thought I slept on it wrong. It was only much later that I realised it was a slight injury from last night. What happened was this: we didn’t have a changing room so we were given the stage (with curtains drawn) to change behind. The actual performance was on the floor in front of the stage, where the dinner tables were arranged around. As I was walking down the short flight of stairs from the stage, I slipped and grabbed the railing to stop myself from falling. I hit my thumb, so there’s a small bruise on it, but I thought that was it. I didn’t realise then that I’d probably sprained my wrist as well.

Anyway, so when we left the hotel, we were in a bit of a hurry to leave as we supposed to meet some ladies for lunch. Bron had come back to the hotel to shower after her private classes. I had like, 3 million things to carry… as usual. I had all my videocamera/camera gear, my make-up, my clothes bag, etc etc etc…

AND I LEFT MY CAMERA BAG BEHIND. WHICH HAD MY VIDEOCAMERA, MY DSLR CAMERA, 2 LENSES, FLASH AND MY WATERPROOF CAMERA.

Trust me, I screamed louder than you did.

I couldn’t believe it. I only realised it when I had reached home, unpacked everything, and switched on my computer to convert the videos, and suddenly went, “Eh? Where’s my camera bag?”

I was in total shock. I thought that I left it in I-Vee’s car initially, but my memory was very clear on that one. I could picture her car boot in my mind’s eye – what it looked like after unloading all my many, many things, and I knew it wasn’t there. And then it hit me. I knew exactly where it was in the hotel room, and I remembered that I was carrying many bags, but I had not carried it out of the room when we checked out.

I had never left anything before in a hotel room, and it’s horrifying to leave something so expensive and precious behind!

And here, I was lucky. I normally wouldn’t have the phone number of the hotel we stay in that has arranged by someone else, but today I did. I-Vee had gone downstairs first to check out, while Bronya and I had struggled out with our many bags (she herself had many bags too). I pocketed the hotel keycard which was left in the room slot (to trigger the electricity) and didn’t return it to the reception because I was carrying too many bags. And it had the hotel’s address and phone number on it.

So I quickly dialed the number and spoke to a hotel staff (who seemed to be rather *blur*) and made him check with the cleaning staff for me. And yes, it was there.

THANK GOD!!!

(Which brings another issue to mind as to why they didn’t call me to tell me about my bag. You see, I’ve labeled my bag AND cameras with my name and phone number. But that’s another issue altogether)

I called the workshop organiser, Helen Fan, who was the one who also arranged the hotel for us, and asked her to pick it up for me. Fortunately she’s coming to KL tomorrow, and I can meet her then to take my bag from her.

Actually, if Helen wasn’t able to pick it up, I was prepared to drive all the way back there myself just to get it!!

Yes, I know I’m lucky. And I’m every bit grateful for that. I had once also left a cheque book behind at a cheque deposit machine in a bank on a Sunday. And when I went back, it was GONE… but someone saw me looking for it, and his friend was the one who kept the cheque book with the honest intention of giving it to the bank. I cannot say how lucky I was. It was perfect timing as well… that the guy happened to be at the machines when I returned to look for the cheque book. If he wasn’t there, he wouldn’t have seen me hunting, and wouldn’t have told his friend to pass the book back to me.

I know I was such a fool to have made such a horrible mistake, and I cannot say enough how lucky I am. Oh, and because I don’t have the photos, I can’t put anything up with this post yet…

So now I’m waiting for the bag, and I hope everything’s still inside. My wrist is stiff, but it will recover. And I’ve just had a cup of Milo, which, to quote I-Vee, has made me “warm, comfortable, and contented”.

I never thought I could get tired of dancing, but…

zyenhoo — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 17:14:51 +0000

I’ve been dancing almost every night since Tuesday. Come Sunday, I’d have danced for 6 days straight. If I danced on Monday, it’d be a full week.

Tuesday : I went for Bronya’s Freestyle-in-Line CD1 class (yes, I’m starting from beginner again!!!) after school from 5 to 6.30pm. We’ve finished learning her choreography to Lady Marmalade. Then I went for the swing dance session at Aliyaa from 8pm-11+pm.

Erm. Nearly died on Wednesday. By Wednesday evening, I could barely concentrate on teaching my class. Hahaha.

Wednesday: Was supposed to go for salsa at Aliyaa with my sister, but at the last minute she decided against it because she said she had work the next day. Sigh! I already made Adam promise to go there, so I went alone. But first I joined Bronya’s line dance class until 10pm, before going over to Aliyaa to check out the salsa scene. Was there till just before midnight.

Thursday: Had dance classes in the morning with Bronya again. Joined her Freestyle-in-line CD3 and CD4. Good God, having slept late the night before, I had to force myself to wake up early. Actually when I woke up early, I felt fine. But as the morning wore on, I got sleepier and sleepier

Thursday night saw me at Shall We Dance studio for a swing dance workshop and practice session, again until 11+pm!

Friday: Salsa night! Was at the Salsa Cruise Asia event at Salsa Havana, Federal Hotel with my sister and Adam. I must say that the bartenders were terrible. We ordered 3 drinks, and were supposed to get 3 drinks free. Adam ordered a lime juice, I ordered a virgin lemonade, and my sister ordered a Mojito. Our free drinks could only be alcoholic, but Adam couldn’t take alcohol, so we ordered 2 more Mojitos (for my sister) and I ordered a rum and coke.

The bartender took forever to prepare our drinks, and although I kept going there to ask for our drinks, he kept telling me to wait. I finally got so fed up and a waitress saw me, and she kinda scolded the bartender. And it turns out he ONLY prepared the Mojitos, because it was the common drink of the night. He took a while to prepare the rum and coke, and the virgin lemonade, and promised to send the last drink over later.

Well when we finished all the other 5 drinks, the drink still wasn’t ready. I went over at least 3 times, and each time he asks for “2 minutes”… “5 minutes”… in the end i just stood there and waited because otherwise I’d be a year older and it still wouldn’t arrive. And when he mixed up the drink, it wasn’t even what I ordered. I don’t know what it was (I’m not a fan of alcohol or cocktails) but it was definitely an alcoholic cocktail.

We were so disappointed about the whole thing that we decided to go to Little Havana. Sorry, Tim. Would have liked to stay but we were there for the dancing which didn’t start even though it was already 11pm. (Everyone was initially just standing around even though there was music, and then there were games)

Little Havana had a bit more dancing which was good.

Saturday: I slept the whole day and yet I was still tired by night. Saturday night was Havana Estudio’s studio party. And when I got there, I am shocked to say this, but… I was tired of dancing. I did enjoy the few rounds of salsa I had. But I can’t believe I’m already getting tired of salsa.

OK, I’m not a very good salsa dancer. Largely because I never took lessons. This salsa party is only my 4th salsa night (in two weeks!), and so far I’ve just been picking up steps on the floor, mostly by Adam who goes for lessons. Good thing is I’m able to follow most of the leads, and whatever I don’t know, I… bluff my way through. Convincingly. Some people don’t even believe that I never took classes. Hahahahahahaha!!! But after a while I guess I’m tired of doing the same steps again and again, even though I’m dancing with different male leads. I think this is largely due to (1) my being a level zero (not even beginner!!!) so they don’t try steps that are too advanced with me, and (2) they all learn from the same teachers (Sam & Aisha at Havana Estudio) so they all know the same steps.

Perhaps I ought to take lessons. That might challenge me and make me improve and maybe make me like salsa a bit more.

On the other hand, I’m kinda picking up salsa on the floor so rather reluctant to pay for classes. Yes yes I’m a cheapskate but can’t afford that many dance classes on my poor pitiful teacher’s salary, OK.

And one thing I observed. In open social parties like at Little Havana, guys are more willing to dance with girls that they don’t know, whether or not the girls are good dancers. But at the studio party, well, the guys tend to just ask the girls they do know, especially their classmates. Me being an outsider meant that I didn’t get to dance much. Which was fine because I was “a bit sick of salsa” anyway. But the studio party showed me how clique-ish people could get. I guess it’s because they only want to dance with good dancers or people who know the steps. I don’t know why. To show off to their other classmates? To show off to their teachers?

Ooh one thing to add. During the dance, when we were supposed to do “shines”, I don’t know any of the shines that everyone else learnt, so I usually make up my own stuff. Hahaha. Interestingly a few people said, “I noticed your hiphop moves!” Erm. I never thought they were hiphop moves. I don’t even hiphop. I’d call them “freestyling attempt at salsa to cover up the fact I don’t know how to do shines”. Hahahahahaha!!!

If I’m gonna continue salsa, I’d probably just stick to the open socials for now.

I must say. I’m looking forward to my morning freestyle class on Sunday. At least it’s different from swing or salsa!!!