More random thoughts ..

Still nothing to blog about, when i'm not sleeping i'm stoning at home.. -.-"

Bought a pair of hiking shoes for the KK trip today, took me almost an hour to decide which one to buy. Sigh. An hour just for one pair of shoes. I'm THAT indecisive. Can't change that habit of mine.. have to look at every pair of shoes (or shirt, jeans, etc) within a kilometre radius before i can make my decision ^^". To the extent that my parents gave up accompanying me to buy my new year clothes since years ago. Haha.. not a bad thing.. i get to take my time =P

Btw saw the adidas Hellbender W Water Shoes at al-Ikhsan.. swear i'd be drooling all over it if i had my hands on it a second longer haha. Man, if only i own a pair sigh..

I'd be satisfied with this pair of adidas Tangent XCR Hiking Shoes too.. =P

Man.. if only i had money to burn haha. If you haven't realise by now.. both of these are outdoors shoes ;). Yup, i'm an outdoors person (yes, although i love to sleep but that doesn't make me an indoors person k..).

Enough daydreaming.. hmm did you know today is International Mother Language Day? (just read that in NST). Didn't know such a day even exist .. but then we have a day for everything, don't we? -.-" . Mother tounge means the language that a child first learns.. for me it's Mandarin then. Damn.. my plans to learn to read Mandarin had failed miserably.. spent too much time sleeping -.-" . Better start reading again tomorrow.. next semester gonna start in a month sigh..

You guys surely know that a Chinese who can't speak Chinese is called a banana. So what do you call a Malay who can't speak Malay then? A coconut -.-" . How bout an Indian who can't speak Tamil? An Oreo -__-". Haha that's what i learned from reading the newspaper..
*The term banana, coconut, and Oreo are not intended to be racially discriminate or be offensive.

PS - just read Prasad's latest post (more info over on Lainie's blog) about a poll on whether we agree with the ethical segregation of people living with HIV/AIDS or not. Putting that poll up in the first place already make me sick.. but the fact that's there's more votes who agree with it than not.. makes me wonder how selfish some people can be. If only they think bout what's it like to have HIV/AIDS and be 'segregated'.. geez i've nothing more to say.

Go over here and do what you're supposed to do.

Random thoughts .. and my dream electives

Nothing much to blog about actually, just wanted to put down some random thoughts i had in mind ^^.

Wanna buy a digital camera, but Dad says to wait first. Needed the camera when i go to KK next week. He said he's gonna borrow my cousin's one first. -.-". I have my sights on the new Sony DSC-W30 or W50.. so if anyone wanna buy me an early birthday present.. you know what to do. Haha =P

Forgotten to take my third jab of Hep B immunisation which was due last November ^^". Must have forgotten bout it due to exams. Sigh. Wonder if i had to take all 3 doses again.

After seeing all the lion and dragon dancers during Chingay who were way younger than me.. i felt like i wasted a really good opportunity. If only i joined a troupe when i was small.. i'd be so good right now =P. Sometimes i felt like i wasted my childhood not doing things i really wanna do. Sigh. Life is full of regrets, no?

Went to the Kite Festival at Bukit Layang-layang yesterday evening. Had been to the festival, like 3 times already, at least. Almost the same every year, just kites -.-". Just followed my parents because it's Sunday, family day! Hehe.. my younger brother was the one who wanted to go at first. It's been a yearly thing now.. well, almost. Wonder if i'll be home this time next year.. =/

Saw the latest price for a Proton Gen2.. around RM55k O.o. Even if i get 5k a month after i get out of uni it'll still take me more than a year to buy one. Decided that i'll just buy a Proton instead of all those Mercedes or BMW. Not gonna be so wasteful with money.

Might have to go back a day earlier than planned. Apparently there's a meeting on the KK trip next monday. Sigh. Still, i can't wait to get there ^^

A few days ago i read an article bout what might just be my dream electives ^^. I didn't know what to do for this electives actually, which is why i just followed the others to Mount KK (which is nice, and i wanted to go there too). Very few people knows that i wanted to be a veterinarian initially, not a doctor. Well, not a doctor that treats human anyway - humans are too troublesome =P

But now i'm on this long perilous path towards becoming a doctor, i'll have to put that dream of dreams of mine where it's supposed to be. In my dreams. Not that i regretted choosing to come to IMU, wouldn't have met all this great people and get the chance to do all this stuff otherwise. Not that i regretted choosing to be a doctor too, just that.. i had a dream ^^.

Well, maybe that's what electives are for i guess? To live our dreams before we dedicate the rest of our lives to listening to patients' complaints and getting our sleep interrupted by on-call duties. And i just found out my way of living my dreams ^^.

I wanna be a SEATRU volunteer! Which stands for Sea Turtle Research Unit, which is under the Faculty of Science and Technology of Kolej Universiti Sains dan Teknologi Malaysia. But i might not get to make it my next electives though.. due to the mistiming =/. Still, i think i'll sign up for it one day, even if it's not for my electives. Anyone interested? (not that i mind signing up for it alone ^^)

Me gonna go save turtles! Well.. some day, but not today..

Chingay in JB .. (warning : long post ahead)

So i decided to go watch this year's Chingay after all =). Partly because i haven't been there for the past few years, partly because i was rotting at home and needed some 'fresh' air, partly because my cousin was apparently going to be one of the deities (they all looked the same, i couldn't figure out which one was her ^^") and partly because i wanted to check out the lion and dragon dances. But most of all it's because i found company to go with me to check it out ^^

At first, Chia Huan and her friends wanted to go, so i decided to 'follow' them. Then i heard Eric and Irwin wanna go too, which sort of made up my mind. Wasn't until the last minute that Chia Huan ffk me.. i was already in JB by then ^^". Thankfully Eric and Irwin aren't bad friends like Chia Huan =P. Haha kidding..

Anyway, me, Irwin, Eric, and Eric's 'friend' met up at CS at 5.30pm. Had dinner at our usual haunt, Pikachu restaurant haha (we didn't know where else to eat.. -.-"). Then walked all the way to Yahya Awal to intercept the procession, and finally 'met' them at around 7.30pm.

The usual stuff.. floats, guys on stilts, oversized puppets, lions, dragons, getting choked by the smoke from all the incense, raining confetti, exploding balloons, taiwanese sausages, you know. Still can remember the times my parents brought me to watch Chingay long long ago.. nothing much has changed, though i felt this year's procession is getting shorter =/

So we stood there while half the procession went past, then Eric and his 'friend' disappeared. *shrugs* haha that's not unexpected anyway =P. So me and Irwin stood there for a while more before deciding to walk with the procession. Walked till Wisma, then waited there for Eric and his 'friend' to catch up. Stood for a while more, walked till the post office, then i parted ways with the rest coz i'm waiting for my parents there. Only got home around 12.30am due to the traffic jam and stuff ^^"

Hmm.. bout what did i see.. there's the northern and southern lion dances. The dancers are way younger than me.. some of the 'heads' were just primary school students O.o. But then the lions didn't do much also.. most just walked along with the procession only -.-". Some did some jumping, but that's all. Sigh, but what else should i expect, right? There's more dragon troupes i think.. and at least the dragons showed off some moves.. really got me impressed. Had been a long time since i last saw dragon dance ^^. Could learn something from watching them.. and haha, they got me itching to go train dragon dance again ^^".

There's some floats too.. but they looked like recycled CNY floats to me -.-". And a few groups of aunties dancing to music ^^", a large group of 'deities' walking together, some cymbals and gongs performances by youngsters younger than me (haha i felt so old). There's the customary big big flags too.. they make it looked like it's so light haha. A dragon made up of helium-filled balloons (-.-"), some oversized puppets rotating like mad (wonder what is that for?), guys on stilts.. that's all i guess.

There must be like thousands of people there at the sides, most of them families with small children. Hehe.. me used to be like them too, standing at the side, waiting for the guys and gals in the procession to pass sweets to us. Years had gone by, amazing there's still people who came to check Chingay out. I mean, why would anyone had bothered, right? It's the same every single year, isn't it? Even my family had stopped going to watch Chingay already years ago..

And yet i found myself among the sea of people this year. I dunno what really drives me to watch Chingay.. i just like the atmosphere i guess. It's our tradition after all, and you don't get to see Chingay in KL, do you? (which is why so many KLites asked me what Chingay is.. -.-"). The past few months.. i think i finally became a 'Chinese' haha. I guess i'll be the only one among my brothers who'll still hold our chinese tradition in years ahead. Might be one of the few among my friends too. Sad, yeah.. as generations passed we gradually lose touch with our roots. Damn i sound like an old man lol..

PS - hey thanks ya Irwin and Eric.. if not for you guys, i would've been watching Chingay alone this year ^^

Note on Chingay:
-i will update this after i dig out the newspaper article on Chingay-

back home.. for 2 weeks

Back in Senai since Monday.. really can't remember the last time i was back home. It seems so long ago.. yet not long enough for me to miss coming back home. Don't really feel like going home actually.. but since i got nothing to do in Bukit Jalil already i can't find a reason to stay there either. And besides, i didn't even come home for the 15 days of chinese new year. Grandma didn't seem angry at me for that.. i just hope she really isn't.

Sigh.. life seems so empty when you have absolutely nothing to do. Only us IMU students are still having holidays.. the rest are mostly back to studying already. Yih Seong wanted to play futsal this Friday. I haven't decided whether i'll be going or not, but right now i don't have the motivation to go. Maybe it's because only a few friends i know are going.. or maybe i'm just too lazy to go. Most probably i won't be going.. coz if i were there but no heart to play, what's the point? Sigh. Sorry la Yih Seong.. i know you really want to play. But i have to ffk this time la.. futsal is at the bottom of my to-do list currently..

This Saturday would be Chingay again. Hehe.. miss those times we used to 'duty' during Chingay as St John members. Had to spent so many hours following those people flooding the streets.. from evening till midnight ^^. Fortunately i never encountered any 'big' injuries hehe. My first aid knowledge was almost non-existent.. and still is haha. Come to think of it, that was the only time of the year i'd see lion and dragon dances.. which is why i was thinking whether to go check it out this year. I've never really paid much attention to the lion and dragon dances.. coz i'll be busy yawning and taking a nap standing while on duty =P. Hmm.. should i waste my time there or rot at home.. tough choice ^^"

Btw.. Valentine's day just passed. Wasn't any special day for me, but still i wanna wish all the couples out there happy Valentine's day.. and good luck to those still 'available' ^^.

PS - wanted to spend my 2 weeks here learning how to read Mandarin.. if i didn't spent it all on sleeping =P

the end of the dance ..

Today's the last day of CNY, chu shi wu (er.. day 15 of the first month of lunar calendar? haha), also called Chap Goh Meh. Had only 3 performances from 9am till around 4pm, and for the first time we weren't rushing from one place to another ^^. Sort of got a bit lazy edi actually.. maybe that's because all of us slept late the day before and were dead tired from all the travelling to and from Bahau. So tired that ALL of us were late for the gathering which was supposed to be at 8.30am this morning haha. Me only woke up at 8.11am ^^". But then the others woke up late oso haha ..

So.. this is it. Around a month of my life is gone, dedicated to 'learning' dragon and lion dance. It's been more than 3 weeks since our holidays started, and i'm still in Bukit Jalil ^^". Because i chose to ride at the back of a lorry under the scorching sun instead of lying on my bed back home enjoying blissful sleep. Spent hours and hours training dragon and lion dance when i could have used up all those time playing thru all the PC and PS2 games left untouched for months now. Went to countless shops and houses and even warehouses around Cheras, Petaling Jaya, Kepong, Sungai Buloh, Bangsar, and some other towns.. and not back to my home in Senai. Sigh. Still, i never regretted the decision i made so long ago.. not even for a moment ^^. Learned something new, acquired memorable experiences, and got to know some really great people ^^. Won't see them for a long time.. those not from IMU are already working. Sigh ..

A year ago i whined that CNY wasn't memorable at all. Maybe that's why i chose to stay back here the whole 15 days of CNY, because i know that if i went back home i'll just be wasting my life away. Literally. Man.. i'm gonna miss all this lion and dragon dance.. gonna take a bus back home tomorrow. Wonder what i should do with all these free time i have now.. sigh. One month to bum around.. need to rest my body before the KK trip in 3 weeks time ^^.

Oh btw, anyone interested in joining the newly formed Wushu Club in IMU just leave me a message k? The committee posts haven't been filled up yet.. so, grab a post while they last! =P

Oh and i wanna wish.. a happy Chap Goh Meh to all my friends! =)

Dragon dance in Bahau ^^

So our BIG BIG performance (as coach always put it.. ^^") was finally over. It's like reaching the climax or something.. the one performance we look forward to and dread at the same time. We trained for 2 hours everyday since Tuesday just for that. Mapped out all the moves in the routines and memorise it until we're even doing the dragon dance in our dreams. Practised each and every move to perfection. Nothing was left out, no mistake will be made.

If only everything always go according to plans, eh? Haha. As it turned out, we trained for 2 hours on Tuesday all right.. only that we barely had enough members to practice properly. It rained on Wednesday, Thursday AND Friday night, cancelling all the training we planned. Yeah, how lucky we were. So we had to train on the day of performance itself, just before we leave for Bahau at 4pm (it's not really in Seremban, but Bahau as it turns out). And as if everything just had to make us screw up the dragon dance, there was an appointment for lion dance at 2.30pm (confirmed at the last minute). By the time we finished the lion dance it's already 3.30pm. O.o

And all the training we planned, all the dragon dance routine we're supposed to memorise, all the practising every move to perfection, all that were crammed into an hour of training, just hours before the actual performance ^^". Haha. We're almost used to this already.. everytime there's dragon dance we always plan and practise everything at the last minute. *sweats*

So after the intensive crash course in dragon dance, we're off to Bahau in a 14-seater Mercedes. I've never seen a van with that many seats before haha. Took us 2.5 hours to reach there from Cheras, even had to go through a mountain road (which was just like the road to Cameron.. endless bends ^^"). It was already 7.30pm by the time we reached.

The dragon dance was for some 'Pesta Tionghua' organised by MCA Daerah Jempol, and there were Wushu performance and lion dance too. Our dragon dance were split into two performances, the first and last. First was the tian guang (daylight) performance, which were done under bright lights. Scrapped a few moves due to the probability we might screw up (one was the mei2 hua1, where the dragon was made to look like a 'blooming flower', the other was where half of the dancers jump onto the other half - dunno why we scrapped this.. we tried it a lot of times during the intensive crash course. This time i was the bottom fellar who's jumped on ^^". Thankfully Chua was lighter than he looked hehe). No major mistakes, the audience even gave an applause haha. But it was just ok la.. not really impressive or anything..

After that was some Wushu performance by the Selangor team (if i heard Coach right). Then it's the yue guang (night light) lion dance performance, done under UV lights. And that's when it became obvious to us how noobish our lion dance was haha ^^". They had 3 lions jumping onto stilts at the same time.. it was just damn impressive la. Wonder how long it'll take for us to reach that level hehe..

After lion dance it was our dragon's turn again, this time was yue guang dragon dance. As it was dark, funny things tend to happen. Even just as we were coming in haha ^^". The 'head' was short-sighted (which he admitted later) and nearly knocked down a UV light pole on the way in because he's mesmerised by the glowing dragon head lol. As each of us were following the head's every step, you can imagine each of us getting surprised to see the pole there, nearly knocking it down, pulling away just inches from it, one by one (though some didn't even realise the pole was there ^^"). The tail even knocked the pole a little bit, but thank god it didn't fall haha (the UV light pole was the lion dance team's.. we borrowed it coz we don't have enough UV lights).

And just before we end the performance, the head made a mistake coz he couldn't see clearly ^^". He was supposed to go under between me and Chua (who's behind me), but went under behind Chua instead (he even had time to say 'die..' just before he passed Chua haha. That totally caught us by surprise.. coz it was different from the move we practised. Some twists and turns later, we got the dragon back straight.. thankfully it was dark and the mistake ain't that obvious hehe. Heard our performance was ok.. Coach and the MCA reps were happy with it. Heck, it was good considering we only had an hour of training.. lol.

And thus end our BIG BIG performance, watched by hundreds of ppl ^^. It was really damn fun.. though my hands were damn tired after that. And even better coz i was doing it with a great team.. had lots of laughter with them around ^^. Supper in Sri Petaling after we finished, and then i'm back here. With less than 7 hours to our lion dance performance next morning. *sweats*. Some more last-minute appointments, according to Coach.

PS - Didn't get to take pictures coz i was doing the dragon dance, and they don't want us to take pictures of the lion dance (as it might affect their concentration.. and falling down from the stilts ain't gonna be pretty). So nope, no pictures.. =(

P.PS - i was wrong bout no more lion dance .. there's always last-minute appointments, as usual ^^"

Self note (for remembrance purpose)
Members present: Steven (Coach), Steven's brother, Steven's brother's friend, Wan Chieh, Sor Eng, Esther, Janice, Chua, Darren, Tong-ge, Rajah, Zhi Yong (MCA), Wen Chien (MCA), Rahman (lorry driver) and the Mercedes driver.
Dragon dancers (from head to tail): Steven's brother, Esther, Tong-ge, me, Chua, Wan Chieh, Janice, Sor Eng, Steven's brother's friend.
Mercedes seating (left to right, from front): Zhi Yong, driver, Steven, Wen Chien, Wan Chieh, Sor Eng, Janice, Esther, Steven's brother's friend, Steven's brother, Tong-ge, Chua, Darren, me.

ROTFL .. why white girls don't date asian guys

LOL.. you gotta check this short film out.. one of the few rare gems on the internet haha. Thanks Leong for the link! ^^

In case you wanna check the 'producers' out.. this is their site.

Last day of lion dance ..

Today was the last day we leave before the sun rises and go home after the sun sets. Yup, our lions gonna go 'on leave' after today, and replaced with dragon dance training until our big BIG performance in Seremban on Saturday.

Though this might be the last day, it's the worst of all the days we've worked. Worst not in terms of performance.. i'd say we've improved somewhat since our first day (maybe not a lot.. but still..). Worst as in we can hardly move a muscle at the end of the day.. everyone was on the brink of exhaustion. We had the bare minimum of six people.. four for the two lions, one drums, and one cymbals. Any less and we won't be able to perform ^^". And because we had the bare minimum, i had to be the head for the first half of the day.. until i can't lift my hands already - after which i took over the cymbals until the last job. Even now my whole body's still aching..

To make things worse, today was the busiest day too. We had so many appointments we're running late before we even finish the previous job. Had to rush from one location to the next without stop. It was dance, travel, dance, travel, dance all the way from 9am to 7pm. Don't even have time to have a proper lunch ^^". But then from the 11 odd jobs we had today, we earned the most in a day too.. 3100+ bucks! O.o . Haha.. the MCA Cheras head treated us to a really nice seafood dinner, complete with red wine and all =D (the restaurant is called Jembo or something like that O.o lol)

And with the end of today, thus ends our job as lion dancers (there might be a performance on Friday, but that ain't confirmed yet) and it's time to take out our dragon now. Can't afford to screw things up in Seremban.. though till now i still don't know what event we're performing for ^^"

Self-thought: No more lion dance for some time after this.. wonder if i should continue training after CNY? My dad is not keen on me joining after CNY.. but then i really wanted to learn lion dance and dragon dance 'properly' (the jumping and all ^^). I'll see how it goes before i decide la..

PS - didn't see any other lion dance troupe in Cheras beside us today.. heard that lion dance is getting less popular these days. Hope not.. this is our culture after all ^^. Esther said in Miri there's like more than 10 groups from a single chinese school alone O.o .. here, i'd be surprised if there's more than 10 troupes in total over here. Is modernization killing tradition? =/

my hands are red O.o

Damn.. i'm beginning to ache all over. Had to be the lion head again yesterday.. the whole day. Now my neck feels sore.. hope tomorrow there's not many 'jobs'. And i'm not getting enough sleep too.. =/

Yesterday had to do lion dance from the morning till 4pm, then i had to rush back to Bukit Jalil. My parents were already waiting there before we go Klang for my brother's last dinner here in Malaysia in at least a year. Didn't really made it in time, but then i'm already rushing. And it had been a really long time since i got really irritated after my Dad called my so many times to ask me to hurry up. Wonder why i got so easily angry then.. maybe i was just too tired.

So my bro flew to Melbourne yesterday. Sent him off at 8pm+. Sigh.. i'm gonna miss him. My room in Bukit Jalil is going to be real quiet. Too quiet. Sigh.

On a lighter note, we did dragon dance just 3 hours ago at a Datuk's place. The job was only confirmed 2 days ago, and we only trained for 2 hours before the performance, so yeah, it was crap =P. Haha.. but we're noob mah, to quote Chow, give chance la! And the space was really small.. i knocked Chua (who's behind me) with the dragon twice ^^". Oh and the small boy from the performance at UE3 (the one who can play drums really well.. and he taught that himself) came to join us too. Couldn't sit still for 5 minutes. Damn hyperactive haha. He's 11-year-old i think.. so small. I feel so old now haha.

Speaking of old, i finally got to see my first ever niece today. She's my cousin's newborn, 3 months already. Haha so cute. Really funny when i looked at my mom and aunts surrounding her =P. She only cries, drinks milk, and sleeps. Nothing else ^^". Finally an 'uncle' now. Guess i really am old ^^".

I'm burned ..

As in sun-burned >.< . Just found out all the sitting on the lorry without cover for the last two days have made my face, hands and the back of my neck charred. And i do mean charred ^^". Anyway i've been posting a lot on our days as lion dancers, and i will until the end of CNY. So if you don't like it, too bad =P. Go read someone else's blog.

Third 'working' day .. (2nd February)
The more performances we had, the more i felt like i'm working or something. Only thing is that i don't know how much we're getting paid, but that's not of my concern at all. I'll still do it even if i had to fork out my own money for travel expenses and such. Yeah i'm in love with lion dance haha.

Anyway, on our third day .. our lions are out of job ^^". Only had one shop to perform at in the morning, then no more. Spent the rest of the morning going around tamans looking for work. Lol. Yeah, a MCA representative was going around the shops and houses asking whether they want a lion dance performance or not (while the rest of us played the drums and cymbals on the lorry haha). Until afternoon our lions are still unemployed. I was kinda hoping for that anyway =P. Haven't even recovered from the previous day's fatigue. And we're running a skeleton crew.. only six of us (4 for the two lions, one drum and one cymbal). Pathetic. Lol..

Fourth 'working' day .. (3rd February - today)
Had much better luck today. There was supposed to be only 2 performances, but we added 3 more on-the-spot. The indian boy who spoke much much better Cantonese than me came today, making our numbers one more than yesterday - seven. Oh btw he can play the drums too.. heard he's from another lion dance troupe which broke up already (Esther told me that Coach told her the better a lion dance troupe is, the more likely they'll break up O.o).

First was a grocery shop, then the salon next door hired us on-the-spot as well after the first performance. I was appointed the lion head for both (our 'best' lion head's holiday ended.. and had to return to work as of yesterday).. and i was supposed to cai qing as well. As in, they placed a pomelo+oranges on a plate on the floor, the lion's supposed to 'peel' them open and hand the plate to the owner (or boss). Never did it before.. so my lion was erm, a bit awkward ^^"

Then did a little dance at a car repair shop nearby (another on-the-spot job) before lunch. Next was a tuition centre somewhere in PJ, which was the most 'troublesome' job today. We had to go upstairs, enter every 'class' (8 in the first shoplot), go back down, go over to its 'branch' nearby, go upstairs, enter 3 more classes, cai some qing, go back down and back to the first shoplot, upstairs and cai some more qing. Geez.. but it was really fun haha. Lots of children there. So easily amused. If only we never grow up, eh? =P

Last job was a brief one at a newly-opened minimarket in PJ too (on-the-spot too). Nothing much la.. it's almost the same as the others. So we ended some time before 4pm. Had to be the lion head in all the performances, and Wan Chieh had to be my ass for all too haha. Think his back broke already ^^". Btw had lots more to improve on my lion dance though.. have to make it more 'alive'. Mine looked more like a sleepy lion =P

Leaving on an airplane ..
Sigh.. tomorrow i'll see my elder bro for the last time for a long time. He's flying off to Melbourne, and looking at our current financial situation, he won't be coming back unless he had a really good reason to (not even during holidays i guess). Have lion dance tomorrow too.. but it'll only be until afternoon last i heard. Hope we don't get too many on-the-spot jobs again ^^". Wonder how much he'll change when i next see him tho..

Oh btw.. i'm honoured.. to be on the MMR's Medical Blogroll (added along with Prasad, Yih Seong and Lishun! ^^). Thanks to whoever did that =P .. though i don't think anyone would be interested to read my non-medical related posts ^^"

the dance so far ..

Today is chu si (fourth day of CNY), and also the second 'working day' for our noobish lion dance troupe =P. Have been very tired since... since i can't even remember when i'm not tired. I even forgot what day it is sometimes ^^"

First day.. (29th January)
Started out our very first kai gong day last Sunday, 1st day of CNY. I woke up like 4am O.o . Haha.. not that i'm very excited bout it or anything.. maybe because i slept too much before that =P. Met up at Maluri LRT station at 7.30am (blog-surfed until it's time to leave ^^"), and went on to perform at one shop and four houses for the rest of the day. Just 5 locations.. but we only went back at 5pm. Don't ask me how.. time just seems to fly so damn fast.

It was our first day after all, and we're still noobs, so needless to say we're far far from what you can expect from a 'real' lion dance troupe. As in, we barely learned for a week in total! What else do you expect? O.o Still we just went ahead la.. crap performance also crap performance la haha =P. But it was fun.. especially those little kids who seem just so damn amused by lion dances. Damn fun to play with them haha..

Shit happens though. At the shop we performed at, they want us to cai gao qing (err.. pluck high greens? haha). Which means we're supposed to do the front-guy-stand-on-back-guy's-shoulders thingy (tie luo han i think? forgot what it's called). Shit. Coach said we're not supposed to do that until Wednesday (today) but what to do.. they want us to do it. So firstly it's me who's jumping. Even though i couldn't do it the previous day, but then nobody else tried to do it before (we're severely lacking practice). Maybe it was because i jumped too much the previous few days.. or that i'm subconsciously afraid of heights, but my legs went soft after i climbed onto the shoulders. Tried to stand up, but lost my balance and jumped back down. Couldn't go on coz my legs are really hurting from the training, so Chua took over. Tough luck, he couldn't do it also, even fell down and dented the lion O.o . So in the end we didn't do the tie luo han la.. >.<

Second day.. (1st February)
Today.. our second day. 4 more houses, and two warehouses (for the same boss though). No mishaps this time, even managed to do the tie luo han.. but not me la, it was the deaf/mute guy the other day. He's bout 5kg lighter than me.. looks like i too fat liao lol ^^". He's taller than me so Coach didn't expect him to be lighter lor. Most of the performances were just us (as the lions) going around peeling every single damn mandarin orange that they placed around the house/warehouse. ^^"

The warehouses were our second job.. and we're supposed to perform at the new and old warehouses (took us 2 whole hours for that ^^"). I was one of the lions for the old warehouse, and i've never ever cai qing before (er.. it's just peel oranges), i was told to peel and EAT the mandarin oranges. Like, if there were one or two nvm la.. but SIX. Bloody six oranges i had to peel and EAT O.o . I 'danced' to the first orange, peeled and stuffed it into my mouth, move on to the second one, stuff half and kept half in my pocket (i didn't know where else to put ^^"), and the next few oranges i gave to my ass to eat. Wen Chieh (my ass =P) swallowed a total of three oranges.. with the seeds and all O.o . It's only after i cai all the qing already that i was told to just peel the oranges only and leave them there. Damn.. now they tell me.. after i developed mandarinorangophobia already >.<

After the warehouses we went on to the 3 houses left for the evening (the other one was done in the morning - there's a mini lion dance by the owner's kid at the apartment ^^ so cute..). Nothing much, just the usual routine. Go around peeling every single damn mandarin oranges they placed. There'll be an ang pau under each orange, which we're supposed to take after we cai those qings. I was one of the lion heads for the last house, and either they bought too many oranges for the new year, or they thought the lions love to eat oranges so damn much. I wasn't counting how many oranges was i peeling.. it just seems endless. There's an orange on top of the TV, an orange on every table in their house, oranges all the way up the stairs, oranges on every single bed, they even placed an orange on a really big egg-shaped ceramic thingy O.o . At the last count by Wen Chieh (my ass, again =P), i peeled SIXTEEN oranges. And we had two lions going around peeling them (which makes the total more than 30! and this is just one house!). Thank god i wasn't supposed to eat them.. O.o

PS - Tomorrow Wong and Chua start working edi.. and they won't be joining us for the lion dance (they were the 'best' we had =/). Looks like us IMU noobies (me, Esther and Wen Chieh) have to make use of whatever little stuff we know.. ^^". Hope we can survive tomorrow.. i'm already dead tired after today's performances.. back still aching from bending over too long (the consequences of being the ass)

P.PS - funny thing.. someone ended up on my blog searching for 'lion dance' haha ^^. The name's don, and he intro-ed himself as a lion-gila fella lol. Damn lot of pictures at his blog, and there's videos of how 'real' lion dance looks like too (when i say damn lot of pics, i really mean damn lot). A new member of 'Khuan Loke' in PJ, who got 2nd at the national level last year ^^ (when only can we reach that standard..). Funny how you can meet new people on the internet hehe..