Anticipated Serendipity

Chronicles of Narnia…

December13

I liked the movie… more than I did Harry Potter. I especially liked how Aslan was portrayed, both visually and character-wise. They did a pretty good job in making him to be the magnificent and wise creature that he was in the books. I can’t remember how the kids were in the book… but I wished they’d made Peter more of a man in the movie… he seemed rather wuss-y. And Lucy is quite adorable, liked the huge eyes… hehe…

All in all, it was better than I’d expected… and I quite enjoyed it :o ) Must go dig out the books and read them again…

It’s over!!!!!! Next????

December12

THANK GAWD IT’S FINALLY OVER!!! Phew! The nite of the Conlay Salsa Championship finals was one of the longest freakin nites of my life! My dear lucky pardner managed to pick the last number for us i.e. #12. Hehe, before D-Day, I was telling him ‘eh, try ur lucky hand at getting us the last spot again, k’… and he really did!! But boy did I regret it when we had to wait so dumb freakin long for our turn to arrive!!

As there were 12 couples that nite, how the organizers arranged it was for the first 6 couples to do their General Dance and routines… then the next 6 couples in the same format. So we waited and waited… and waited some more till our turn finally came for our General Dance. And let’s just say, this was one of my worst nites coz (1) I couldn’t follow for nuts! I think I must’ve gone onto the dancefloor with my brains left behind or sumthin coz I just couldn’t get the leads (2) Had a wardrobe malfunction where my shoe heel got stuck to my skirt and it pulled the blurdy thing down! ARGH! The horror!! I was just soooooo glad that we were at the back at this time so the judges (hopefully!) didn’t see it. Gawd, one of my worst nightmares! It was so freakin embarrassing!!!! ARGH!

Done with the General Dance… waited and waited and waited some more till it was our turn for our showcase. By this time, I was almost ready to collapse from exhaustion. According to some, we looked really tired during our showcase. And I stumbled a lil’ at one of our new moves. But managed to hang on till the very end. Gosh, the sheer relief when we were in our final pose and the song ended!

Anyway, more waiting coz the judges were apparently calculating the scores. But from wat I’ve been told, they needn’t have bothered anyway since the majority of the judges were apparently from the same ‘camp’ and would’ve probably already have pre-determined the winning couples and obviously, our HE couples did not score very high.

The Results?
The champions were students of the organizer and the 1st runner-up is the brother of one of the judges. Kenneth + Wendy only managed 2nd runner-up… WTF?! I’ve seen most of these ppl perform and their standard of salsa is nowhere near as smooth and groovy as Kenneth + Wendy!!! And the other HE couples, for that matter! I knew we probably didn’t stand a chance of winning top 3 after I’d screwed up the General Dance and I didn’t really care abt winning coz of the stupid T&C that came with winning (i.e. winning couples are bound to represent Conlay for a year or sumthin). Of course, it would’ve been nice to win but me + partner had already set our expectations before the finals so we weren’t too disappointed. But honestly! The results are such an insult to the salsa community! How the hell do they expect to raise the standards of salsa in KL/M’sia if this is how they judge competitions?! And guess wat? We managed to win Best Costume and this was apparently coz the judge remembered that I winked at him during the routine *rolling eyes* sheeessshhh… Read my sis’ review of the results. Anyway, to all HE couples, regardless of the results, u guys are ALL WINNERS!!! Great job! *BIG HUG* :o )

Anyway, am just glad it’s over. Overall, we had a lot of fun learning the new moves and me + partner managed to not kill each other throughout the process. I still maintain that he has the patience of a saint! lol! The entire process was a great learning experience for me and I’d like to think that it’s made me a lil’ wiser.

Now, on to the next event….. The Night of Elegance i.e. HE-organized salsa NY party!!!! Woo hooo!!!! :o ) We’re performing for this event and we’re planning to put in at least one lift into our routine (we’d wanted to do this for the competition but the Amateur R&R prohibited us from doing this as we had to keep one foot on the ground at all times). We’d already picked out a couple of lifts to try out… hehe… so let’s see how it goes… ;o)

Common goal, partnership & teamwork…

December8

Am decidedly happy and satisfied with our preparation and attitude for the salsa finals tonite. Me and partner have established a common goal and we have a mutual agreement on wat we wanna achieve from the competition… something which is neither too high nor too low, something achievable, and most importantly, enable us to have fun! :o )

Seeing that it’s usually difficult for 2 ppl or more to agree on something as ‘big’ (depends on how u see it) as a competition, I think we’re doing pretty fine in the partnership and teamwork area. And I’m not as cranky as I was previously! Haha! This could be due to the massage I treated myself to yesterday… hehe… ;o)

So… it’s on to the finals for us… watever the outcome may be, we’re just gonna kick ass and have the time of our lives! :D

Coolness factor???

December7

Haha… just got a testimonial from Andy this morning on my Friendster. Apparently my ‘cool’ factor is dropping coz I listed Hanson and Yanni under my fave music… hehe. First of all, I wasn’t even aware that i had the ‘coolness’ factor, haha!

This brings to mind, for the umpteeth time, the ‘coolness factor’ topic. Have always wondered:

  1. Wat is defined as cool;
  2. More importantly, WHO defines wat is cool

U know how when we were in school, there was always the ‘cool’ group where the girls (i say girls coz I came from an all-girls school) are usually regarded on a higher plane coz of:

  1. Wat they wear/carry on their being (usually funky, branded stuff… or distasteful but attention-grabbing garb);
  2. How they behave (loud, rebellious, i-dun-give-a-fuck-abt-respect-and-authority);
  3. How they look (the pretty ones, the ‘macho’ ones) ;
  4. And interestingly, their race (the ‘lain-lain‘ category seem to attract more attention)

And though I hung out with the so-called ‘cool’ group towards the final yrs of my high school, I’d never felt particularly cool coz I:

  1. Never subscribed to the entire ‘cool’ concept coz it never made sense to me;
  2. Was neither exceptionally pretty nor macho (haha!) nor loud nor rebellious… just ur average prefect and good-girl-next-door who just happened to have great friends who were in the ‘cool’ group (i must say that my friends never intentionally did anything that promoted their ‘coolness’. They are how they are and the other girls just seemed to think it’s cool, haha);
  3. Preferred to be in the background, observing interesting and weird patterns in human behavior… hehe…

Even now, in our adult world (or at least, some of us are trying to act like adults, hehe), I’ve noticed this ‘cool’ factor come into play, though perhaps it may not be as apparent as it was when we were in our schooling days. Some of us have this perpetual need for approval from our peers and would constantly strive to maintain our ‘coolness’ factor, be it in terms of material things or intangible, behavior-like areas. And the extent to which some ppl would go to to obtain this ‘approval’, astounds me sometimes.

This sort of pack behavior, so to speak (coz the ‘cool’ ppl usually travel in packs/groups), never fails to intrigue me, especially in uni… where certain race/nationality/social groups would sport similar hairdo/dressing that u’d be able to tell wat/who they are or to which group they belong to from a mile off. And u can tell that they think they’re cool coz of the way they carry themselves (speaking, walking, etc.). I know some sort of uniformity is supposed to portray and enhance unity and all that but heck, do they all have to have the same hairstyles?! lol!

Anyway, I’m a firm believer in NOT conforming to certain societal norms and to watever the mainstream definition of ‘cool’ is. Not that I openly flaunt my different-ness… I just choose to stay away from/ignore things that I dun fancy, including those that are considered cool. So yeah, I enjoy Hanson and Yanni… and if this makes me uncool, who cares?! If I enjoy their music, I’ll listen to ‘em. Like i’ve always believed, ‘coolness’ is one of the MANY things that are man-defined… and I have an aversion towards most things defined by man… haha!

Big hair and psychedelic clothes…

December6

The co. had our IPO dinner last Friday at the Equatorial in KL. The theme was Retro. I’d initially planned to rent a poodle skirt from the same costume store that I’d rented my salsa outfit but when I checked it out, their selection sucked big time! Can u believe that they dun even have a proper poodle skirt?! Geez…

So anyway, had to change my plans… so decided on my white mini, sleeveless turtleneck top (which I’d bought from Express in the States but never worn), leopard print headband (thanks, Brian! ;o) ), and funky earrings. And the result –>

That’s me and Celine. Got a few comments that I looked really good (hah! obviously it’s a tremendous diff from my regular work clothes!). But wat really took the prize was our IT boys! They took the effort to dress up! Was quite impressed, hehe. They went to the very same costume store and rented some really funky outfits! Kelvin came as Austin Powers, complete with wig and big glasses while Nizam came in another funky flourescent green outfit and afro wig. Me and the boys <--

The Big People (i.e. management) came in more subtle outfits. Datuk was there as well, with a few other VIP guests. All in all, it was a pretty informal affair. Dinner, karaoke contest (MNC Idol), games…

Pic 1 : MNC Management

Pic 2 : Me and Jas (CEO and my boss!)

Pic 3 : Jo, Me, Lionel, Tony, Chris (ED)

Pic 4: Me & Charmayne

Pic 5 : Charmayne, Jo, Me

The Year That Was…

December2

Thread inspired by Chin Lai’s entry in his blog.

Can’t believe that 2005 is almost over… gawd, time does indeed fly by when u aren’t looking or when u’re too busy to notice.

Wat have I done this year and wat events that have been encountered that added to my book of experiences??? Hhhmmm… and the list goes…

  1. Performed in the annual Alarippu to Moksha series for Odissi and Bharatanatyam for the very first time this year. Our very first paying audience! :o )
  2. Got a promotion (sorta) and a 15% increment.
  3. Visited India… the most amazing and memorable travel experience EVER thus far!
  4. Got to know an amazing bunch of friends from salsa.
  5. My birthdate was 05/05/05… a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence which will never again happen… until yr 3005… ;o) by which I’d be long gone, unless I get reincarnated in some other form and if the Earth hasn’t disintegrated/combusted by then…haha…
  6. For the very first time, been told that I look arrogant and stuck-up! (Fyi, I just LOOK it… am actually very very down-to-earth, hehe)
  7. My entire dept (CSI) team members left and I was a lone-ranger for about 4 months. Have now been transferred to Sales & Marketing (yeecckkss… thank gawd I’m still Project Manager and not responsible for selling).
  8. Moved seating location at work, 3 times in less than 1 year… I HATE moving!
  9. Busted my ankle at a client’s place and had to lay off dancing for 3 weeks and was in agonizing pain each time I went for my massage therapy (torn ligament, apparently).
  10. Co. got listed and I stepped into Bursa Malaysia for the first time in my life (it wasn’t as I’d expected… I’d imagined it to be like the NYSE but it was nowhere near!)
  11. The entire work experience this year has been mostly positive. Though I complain abt it a lot, I will give credit where it’s due… it’s taught me to be more independent and confident of myself and I’m much more assertive now, thanks to all that I’ve been thru with my work.
  12. Turned down an attractive job offer coz it wasn’t wat I’d wanted to do…
  13. Entered a salsa competition and managed to make it to the finals!!!!! Woo hooooo!!! Never ever imagined that I’d be entering any sort of competition, let alone a salsa competition… hehe…
  14. Had 2 crushes/infatuations after 1.5-yr drought… 1 was a lost cause (thank gawd!)… the other was given up as a lost cause but there may be a slight hint of light at the end of the tunnel… but this remains to be seen :o ) Perhaps I shouldn’t call it as an infatuation, am rather old to have infatuations, no? haha! In conclusion, no concrete prospects in sight…
  15. Discovered Joe Satriani, guitarist extraordinaire… great music…

List to be expanded as and when more events come back to my mind…

Dose acting up but… WE MADE IT!!!

December2

oooeeerrr… I think I’m getting too old to stay out late… haha (i know some ppl who’d strangle me if I use the ‘old’ word… lol!)… Was at Conlay last nite to watch the final 2 HE couples compete (they were awesome, btw) and only got to bed at 3am. And am paying for it today coz (1) the dose is running (2) the head is clouded (3) the eyes can barely keep open… all from the lack of sleep… ugh… and wat’s more, have got my co’s annual dinner to attend tonite! ARGH! Am gonna look like a freakin zombie!! Oh wait….. i ALREADY look like a freakin zombie!!! *WAAIIILLLLLL!!* :o (

But anyway, WE MADE IT TO THE FINALS!!! All 4 HE couples made it to the finals! How cool is that?! But this means back to intensive practice sessions again coz the finals are next Thu! ARGH! Couldn’t they give us more time to work on our routine?? Sheeesshhh… We gotta go get a red shirt for my pardner, who’d borrowed one from Martin during our heats but as Martin’s gonna be in the finals as well, and he’s wearing the red shirt too, my pardner’ll have to get one for himself. Loads of things to do, so little time!!! *running around in circles*

shucks… sumthin tells me my head’s gonna start pounding by midday. I had better go get some Panadol on standby… ugh… :o (

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