WAWAS! - KLCC and the New Year Fireworks

--14 of 19--

Soon all of us arrived at KLCC Station without much mishap, except perhaps for the temporary loss of Arif and Zalinah, which was quickly settled.

It rained a bit, but it was okay for us; it lightened to a drizzle once we reached the plaza at KLCC's entrance. The Petronas Twin Towers looked very inspiring, standing regally against the night sky, illuminated by a great many spotlights.

Only a few more minutes to the New Year! A digital clock atop KLCC Mall served as an extremely useful master timer, so that we did not have to refer to our own watches, preventing false alarms.

The rain did not dampen our spirits the slightest bit. Haddad, Aidil, Aizat, etc. whipped out their camera phones, digital cameras, etc. and started documenting the moment. We were jumping here and there trying to be in every camera's shot and every video frame. Mai did her trademark "Hi... Hi.. Hi...", looping indefinitely till the cameraman got tired of her. It sparked off (some days ago) the game of Glance-Avoiding between her and Aidil. Once you have caught the other person's glance, whoever says "Hi" first is the winner!

The people around us were getting restless. Occasionally there would float above the crowd some cheering, which we gathered were just morale boosters to warm up the crowd. Those were clearly not New Year Cheers--a quick glance at the digital clock would attest to that. All eyes were glued to the clock. 23:58. Would we catch the changing of numbers from 23:59 to 00:00?

As the Hour drew near, we simply couldn't take our eyes off the clock. I wondered where the fireworks would come from.

Then the clock struck 12! A moment's silence, then a huge chorus of cheers filled the vast space! 2008 is Here!

Fireworks exploded in the night sky! We turned and feasted our eyes on various-shaped explosions. Roses, lotuses, violets, missiles and galaxies! There were even fireworks whose particles seemed to follow their own patterns, instead of exploding straight out. By far the most beautiful were the cascading showers of golden stars.

We were treated to a full 20 minute display of what the fireworks industry could offer us in 2008. Shamil was yelling himself hoarse in enjoyment (well, he was already hoarse to begin with, so it sounded much like an old man.) Everything died down, a large column of smoke from the fireworks rose into the air, and people began clearing the area. We had seen what we came here to see! (At least *this* went on schedule!)

WAWAS! - Hainanese Chicken Rice, and a Journey on the LRT

--13 of 19--

After clearing Stor Teater of all our stuff, we headed back to our rooms. Sash reassured me that we would organise an SSP ice skating outing once we got back to Singapore, which made me feel quite hopeful. She said the last time *we* had one was back when she was in Year 1! (!) I wasn't part of SSP then, but I'm sure it was fun.

An hour's rest in our rooms; then promptly at 8pm we got out again for dinner. We went straight to a Chicken Rice Shop near the cafe where Cikgu and Encik Harun were left the other day. (Actually it wasn't *the* Chicken Rice Shop but a Hainanese chicken rice restaurant.)

Our seats on the second floor commanded an admirable view of the crowds below, through large, full-length glass windows covering the entire stretch of the restaurant facing the street. The food there was sumptuous and well seasoned. We gobbled down our chicken rice in record time, and those who couldn't finish it donated their portions to those who could.

After dinner we had a spot of people-watching through the full-length windows built for that purpose. There was a lot of fun to be had playing "Spot the Person/Sign/Colour". Totally picturesque, the scene was. I even spotted a person wearing the same beanie as the Black Cat in Kucing! We played for quite some time, gazing boldly into the street as if no one could see us.

On the contrary; everyone did. Once downstairs, we looked up and there it was, our seating area! Every person on the street could see us, as clear as day.

Next stop: the Petronas Twin Towers! (A.k.a. KLCC.) Pushing through the masses of People, we reached an LRT station. Up we went, and waited in a corner for Haddad and Jihad to purchase tickets. It was no less crowded up there. Downstairs, a great hoo-ha was occurring. We looked down and saw groups of people amusing themselves with aerosol cans of confetti and foam. Clearly, the Spraying had begun!

Feeling inwardly relieved that we weren't down there as well (it was New Year's Eve, by the way), we got our tickets and went through the fare gates into the station. No Adventure for us tonight!

The experience of entering the station and going up the steps was like riding a rollercoaster--for some reason, it was quite exciting and novel to us. (Of course, there was the customary snapping of pictures and capturing of videos.) It felt like some theme park monorail.


Everything was going smoothly until we reached Dang Wangi, an interchange station, where we had to switch trains. But every train that came was full to the brim! You couldn't even put a finger in there, and fitting all 21 of us in the same train was out of the question. We decided to split up into our 5 groups (S,I,N,G and A) and meet up at KLCC later. I was part of Group A, consisting of Efin, Aidil and Suhaila. We managed to squeeze into one train, clinging to each other for safety.

WAWAS! - The Excursion to Sunway Lagoon

--12 of 19--

True enough, we woke up at 9am. The transport that was supposed to take us out comes at--9am.

Great Rush! Never had we dressed up so quickly before! "Cikgu is already at DBP, waiting for us!" Haddad agitatedly announces. People come in and out of the toilet. A waiting list quickly forms. "Whoever's ready go down first!"

In due course we left for the old DBP, in disjointed groups. A van passed us at the gate, containing those who had come down earlier than us. A second van was waiting inside. We packed into it and off we went--to Sunway Lagoon!


At Sunway we took care of our breakfast. I spent a great deal of money on a Tuna Foccacia Sandwich at Starbucks which I thought cost RM2.90. I didn't notice the 1 in front of the 2.


The rest had found an A&W restaurant, a fact which those of us at Starbucks found out too late (it was a rare but delicious and cheaper restaurant!)

We didn't do much at Sunway Lagoon, I regret to say. Yes, it had a theme park, and most of us planned to go to it, but the dry rides were extremely exorbitant and the wet rides about so. Some of us couldn't afford the ticket price, rumoured to be around RM45 or so. One by one we backed off, and the rest who could afford decided it was not worth it going in such small groups (for there were only a few left). We turned to other recreational pursuits.

There was ice skating! We rushed eagerly to the rink but alas!--it was undergoing resurfacing. It won't open for another half hour. We resolved to go bowling to pass the time. The rest who didn't fancy either skating or bowling had gone off shopping (I didn't come all the way here to bowl!) so I simply sat and watched the rest play bowling. And waited. Tried to enlighten the pages of this Book, but inspiration didn't come, so I stood up and had a walk around the mall, buying a cup of Root Beer from A&W.

Time passed. 1 o'clock. We started at 12. We had purchased two games. The ice skating rink was already available from 12.30. We had to be back by 3. The first bowling game had just concluded. At this rate, we would finish at 2! How to go ice skating like this?!

I voiced my concerns to the rest of the group. They understood, and the second game was played, but with a sense of urgency and not as energetic as before. I sat restless, wondering if we'd ever go ice-skating.

At 1.45 the game finished and we hurried to the ice skating rink but alas again!--it was going through yet another resurfacing! It would only finish at 2.30, and by then there'd be insufficient time for skating. We went away gloomily, with me feeling it the most.

With whatever time we had left, we went shopping. Not a very productive activity, I thought.


After some time we got tired of shopping and waited at Starbucks near the main entrance. The rest gathered, some laden with shopping bags full of purchases. The vans came; we piled into them and started back to Stor Teater, where we'd do some cleaning up.

We lamented about the lack of fun we had at Sunway Lagoon. It was supposed to be a great time. Jihad fully agreed. We should have played just one game of bowling earlier. But then, 3pm was quite an early time to leave; we should have been given more time--the whole day, even! I was feeling particularly dejected. I went to Sunway Lagoon and didn't enjoy myself...

WAWAS! - A Night of Celebration!

--11 of 19--

It is unanimously agreed among us that tonight's show was the best out of the three shows. There are improvements to be made, of course, but that would be for later. Now, we must hurry and get out of our costumes, for tonight is a night of celebration!

There were two choices available to us. We could either go watch a movie, or we could go to a karaoke lounge. Most of us were tired of singing any further after Wawas, so a decision is made: we go to the movies.

Then the question arose as to whether we should all eat before or after the movies. A light dinner had already been consumed earlier, before the performance (provided by Cikgu), so we decided to eat afterwards.

And off to Times Square we go! Cikgu, Encik Harun and Zalinah, on the other hand, chose to go to the karaoke lounge.

Once there, half of us went off in search of toilets, and the other half waited for us at the cinema. Zana delights in irritating Efin with the harsh squeaking of her shoes.

Jihad settles the purchase of movie tickets. We buy enough refreshments to last us the whole movie and march through the ticket gates to Hall 9.

Aliens vs. Predator 2! That is the movie we are watching. It starts off rather promisingly at first, and ends with a big bang, but in the middle are some parts which are rather tiresome (and gruesome) to watch. There are lots of conveniences here and there, and at times I thought I was watching a pirated movie (because usually the pirated movies I watch look like this). We were left in a daze at the end of the film, wondering "What the heck happened?"

The Final Verdict?

No.

It wasn't very satisfactory, to say the least of the ending. The first one was far better, and at the very least it made *sense*.

Nevertheless the ticket price still had to be paid back to Jihad. He was slightly peeved upon hearing us joke that for that sort of movie, it was not worth paying the ticket price. But it was all in good nature, and soon most of the accounts are settled.

Back to the issue of nourishment. It is already very late, and we are too tired to sit down at a restaurant and eat. It is decided that we order from McDonald's and have it sent back to our bunks.

The McDonald's arrives very late, nearly two hours after we place our order. I stagger out of bed and we eat the meal in silence, too exhausted to actually taste the food. Well, at least it was not as silent as the other day during rehearsal when we were ravenously attacking our lunch. SSP had never eaten so quietly before!

We crawled back into bed after that. It was nearly 4am. At this rate, how were we going to make it early tomorrow for the day's activities?

WAWAS! - The Last Show

--10 of 19--

Tonight is the night of our last performance. We are prepared to give it our best. There is the usual bustle of applying make-up and getting into costumes. I took some time to actually find out the meaning of my lines. The rest occupied themselves with their final preparations.




Jihad thought of using the two toilet bowls reposing in the lift lobby for SHIT but Haddad thought it was wiser not to do so.

Sarah came to us with the sobering news that there was no one outside. Well, at any rate, we had to put on a good show! We gathered in a circle and had a final mood-capturing session. Then we wished everyone good luck and took our places.

The third and final show went well, except perhaps for a few shortcomings here and there, as would inevitably occur in any production. But there were highlights as well; Haddad's shrill cackling in the middle of Pelita never fails to make the hairs stand on the backs of our necks, and the Prostitute's seduction of the Old Man in Kucing goes on without a hitch (but still the audience is very cold). At the Ending, Didi dances with vigour!

And then the crux of the whole event--*the* Highlight of the Night, if you could call it that--"Wawasan Anak Singa, menyala..."--and at the last word, which means "burns brightly" in Malay, we all raise our hands and produce a flame!


Finally, a use for all those Cricket lighters! We stumbled upon this idea earlier, and we had enough lighters to go around--so why not? A classic Eureka moment. Ingenious!

WAWAS! - Concerning Afro Hair and Purple Corsets

--9 of 19--

The next day we woke up at 11am. We had intended to awake at 8am for a visit to Central Market (suggested by Cikgu) but none of us could wake up at that early hour so the visit to Central Market did not materialise. Instead we washed up, had brunch at Kancil Restaurant (where I was again mistaken for Hadis in my shades), and made our way to Stor Teater. Cikgu had already declared yesterday that there would be no rehearsal today, so hooray!--we lounged about and had little run-throughs of the Opening and Ending.




I remember one completely nonsensical occurrence some days before when we were making props. I was cutting some designs in styrofoam when suddenly a hideous mass of afro hair and purple corsets which turned out to be Nizal paraded onto the stage. It was a complete turn-off. He disappeared backstage and reappeared some moments later, a scarf wound around his huge afro in a feeble attempt as a tudung.

By then we were rolling about in laughter! It was an inside joke; it is rumoured that under Mai's tudung lies a full head of afro hair. If it were to be loosened--whoosh!--hair would burst out of every seam!

Needless to say, Mai was not amused.

WAWAS! - End of the Second Performance, and Our Toilets

--8 of 19--


After the performance, we had the special opportunity of hearing some inspiring words from the famous Yusnor Ef himself! Many photos were snapped with the renowned people within our audience, and we closed the performance that night feeling very elated, in high spirits. My friends kept pestering me for my father's comments on the performance, of which there were none yet, because my father is not a man of many words! (He *did* give his comments a week later during the day of the post mortem, a rightful time for such things.)


Efin and Arif joined us during dinner, looking a bit weary. But all that disappeared later when we played a birthday prank on Shamil by drenching him with gallons of water! A load of fun, it was.


We returned to our bunks, Jihad turning on the music on his self-brought speakers. It was a brilliant idea to bring them--it made our room the more happening one! Everyone was free to contribute their mp3 playlist for our listening pleasure.

Already I can see a clear preference for toilets. The boys' room has two toilets, which are singularly different in design. We preferred to go to the one on the right. I don't know why. After some time, we tended to go to the one on the left. I, personally, preferred the one on the left. I can tell you why.


The arrangement of the components of the toilet on the right were thus: the mirror faced the door, and between the mirror and the door was the shower pipe. Now, showering in front of a mirror is quite distracting, so I moved out of direct sight of the mirror. But then I saw in the mirror the reflection of the towel hanging behind the door, which, out of the corner of my eye proved even more distracting. So I didn't use that toilet anymore after that.

The left toilet is better; it has plenty of space around the sink to put your toiletries. It also has a ventilation window at the top; the other toilet has absolutely None. That toilet feels like a cubicle--it has two walls of blue plastic like most toilet cubicles do, and sometimes we use it to startle the person inside with a great bang! And yes, the mirror of the left toilet doesn't face the door; the toilet bowl does.

And so, after a quick shower, we fell asleep.

WAWAS! - The Second Performance

--7 of 19--

The schedule for today was a full dress rehearsal, plus the curtain call. Nothing much happened, except that Cikgu suggested changing the character of Ray & Do in SHIT to a blind man and a half-blind man. Jeff and I played these roles, and so we were the most affected. We went through the full dress as these disabled people, and decided at the end that they were not suitable.

The idea was scrapped.

That night's performance seemed very prestigious! Even though there were lesser people than the first night, those that came were more renowned. (My parents and grandparents came too!)


A small LED light was set up backstage. It was used as illumination during the show because backstage lights switched on would spill out onto the stage. Sash (our lighting woman) said it did not matter because no light could be seen, but I disagreed with her view. Thus the lights remained turned off and the LED light plus an electric lamp provided sufficient illumination for the backstage area. All makeup and costumes were done outside, and during the show the backstage served as a waiting area for the actors.

The highlight of the night (of every night, come to think of it) was the part in Kucing where the prostitute seduces the old man. Nizal was the prostitute, and Jihad was the old man. On the first night Nizal did not sing his song! He simply forgot, and said out the lyrics as dialogue. Dressing up for him was a hasty affair: he only had about a minute from Pelita to Kucing to get into costume, and even then it was without his purple corset. *That* went on just before his seduction part. Very flustered, the costume people were.

The audience there was very cold. They didn't laugh much, and on the rare occasions when they found something funny, most simply smiled. So the jokes prevalent in our plays carried on in silence.

Jihad's sarong was quite loose. It came off twice in two nights. He managed to hide behind some boxes and correct his sarong, we were relieved to see.

I had the Bright Eyes Syndrome, an anomaly which happens when only one eye is exposed to bright light, and the other left in darkness. Peeping through the curtains led me to suffer this, and I walked for some minutes slightly disoriented.

Didi looked at the box.

3 seconds passed.

Why didn't he kick it?

Then he continued.

All the Kucings were left wondering why he didn't remember his actions. Mai was left to carry the box into its rightful position.

And in SHIT, Jeff mixed up his lines. Luckily I recovered in time with the tempo. "#@!x*& memang hebat..."

WAWAS! - Room Reshuffling, Mama Indias and Cricket Lighters

--6 of 19--

On the morning after the Atrocious Snorings, all of us changed rooms. There were various reasons for this, some of which I shall not disclose, but the general agreement was that it would aid in synchronisation (for want of a better word). These new rooms, 3 and 4, were extremely spacious, 10 beds each and two bathrooms, so all boys took room 3 and the girls went into 4. Any communication between us would pass through faster this way, rather than having to relay messages between four rooms previously.

I also saw for the first time the Mama Indias! Not one, but three of them! They looked exactly like what I imagined: bright floral blouses and dresses, and a sarong around their waists. The Mama Indias were engaged in animated conversation, seated on a bench outside room 10 waiting for us to clear our rooms so they could do housekeeping.

The Malay lady in charge of the rooms was chattering away, reprimanding some of us for sleeping in the corridor. Well, we were guarding the corridor, in case anything untoward happened. She mentioned that she had not heard of any unusual event in all her years working there.

(At that point I remembered the other man's warning about not being too happy at night and wondered if she was wrong.)

In any case, after moving away from the inauspicious rooms (and corridor), we hoped for the better. We got dressed and went down for brunch at Kancil Restaurant.

The first thing I saw there was a sign proclaiming the sale of Roti Prata (or Canai):

"Attantion! Roti Canai ada dijual di sini!"

It led us to wonder about the sort of food sold there, whether it was as bad as the spelling.

Then there was the absurd impossibility of having "no plain pratas but got egg pratas". 17 egg pratas left, to be exact. Some of us chose to eat pratas, whilst the rest went to the rice buffet table.

Brief uproar over Cricket lighters. These are the ones that come in many different bright and solid colours, with exchangeable heads in also as many colours. Hadis had gone off in search of them, and returned with 10 or 15 lighters! Jihad saw one that he liked and a heated exchange of words ensued as to where they were found and whether he could buy one from Hadis instead, with the others joining in.

Our pratas came. They were Very Good! We ate to our hearts' content.


Brunch finished, and we headed to Stor Teater. Someone remarked that I looked very much like Hadis in my sunglasses, which led the others to agree. Photos were snapped for comparison, and yes, we looked quite alike in shades! It looked as if we were brothers! We all delighted in this amusing fact.

WAWAS! - Mama Asmida, and our First Performance

--5 of 19--

The past few days were not without adventure. Many events have occurred, some which are humourous to the extreme, some which are singularly unusual, and some which I am not at liberty to disclose. I shall describe them as they come to me and as I remember them.

There are two kinds of Mama. One is Mama India. Another is Mama Asmida. Well, Mama Asmida sent a message to Sarah Atiqa on Wednesday afternoon, enquiring about our general health and well-being, also mentioning that we appeared in the newspaper yesterday! It was an interview about Wawas, conducted about 10 days prior to our departure. How thoughtful of her!

Back to the plates of chicken wings laid before us on the table. It is an appetizer before our dinner on the night of our first performance. This dinner is also a post-mortem for the performance (the fastest one I can remember; usually by the time it is held, we would have already forgotten everything.)

Earlier on, there were lots of mistakes and shortcomings (the most fun part of any post-mortem, in any case!) Jihad related how he rushed into position during Kucing.

"5...4...3...2...1.......Vroom!" he darted to his spot. It was Very Dark. And there was a box in his way.

(Crash!)

Nizal's error was a more appalling one. This was what he was supposed to say:

"...menjadi angin, menghembuskan bara..."

And this is what he actually said:

"...menghembus gembra..."

Even worse, he could not help but chuckle to himself! (In full view of everyone!)

During SHIT, Didi startled a makcik in the front row. Twice. Once with Asmida when they screamed at each other and another time during his "Gol!" solo. The makcik nearly fell off her chair!

Kucing had mistakes of the Late, Forgotten and Untuned categories. There were forgotten tails, tails that came off, dropped cat's ears, and tails that lengthened themselves in an alarming way as the show progressed! It was Didi's tail that had this defect. By the middle of Kucing his tail was encircling him haphazardly.

WAWAS! - Dinner at Jalan Kenanga, and the Atrocious Snorings

--4 of 19--

The Highly Entertaining movie ends. We clear the theatre. Outside, all the shops are closed, and it is quite warm in the mall. I have the faint impression that it is 3pm in the afternoon. Must be the overly bright display of one of the shops coupled with the warmth (it is 3am in the morning, by the way!) We make our way back to our bunks, having ridiculous as well as learned conversations about the movie on the way.

We reached our rooms. It was now 3.30am in the morning! The aircon was set to 23 degrees. My iPod was set up, playing soothing melodies. We slept.

Day 2 began quite late. Due to our very late sleeping time last night, everyone (nearly everyone) arose late. Breakfast consisted of two plain pratas.

Very uneventful. Rehearsals were done, and lunch was eaten outside. It was delicious. Nothing much after that. We rehearsed again till 6, then went out for dinner at a Roadside Stall along Jalan Kenanga.

Now--we are at this very same Roadside Stall waiting for our Dinner! Our first performance has just ended at 9.46pm earlier, and currently four plates of savoury barbecued chicken wings have been placed on the table before us, awaiting consumption. We are only permitted to consume one wing and one drumstick per person, following Cikgu's Tips for Preserving Your Voice.

I catch drifts of various conversations around the dinner table. One topic in particular stands out--the atrocious snoring of some of our members!

"I even saw AJ stuff tissues in his ears!" exclaims Aidil. (AJ is the name I am known by in SSP, to differentiate between another Afiq who is a senior. It stands for Afiq Junior.)

Indeed! Of the 3 or so snorers whose snorings were powerful enough to be heard in the next room, Aizat's ones were particularly melodious. Some of them even sounded like a conversation! Stuffing the aforementioned tissues in my ears proved ineffective, so I rose and fetched my in-ear headphones, the closest thing to earplugs that I had.

Not 100% effective--because what is a pair of earphones without music? I got up again and took my mp3 player. It was better.

The others who were forced to listen to the rousing chorus of grunts, sighs and groans sat wide awake, unable to sleep.

Suffice to say, we did not have a peaceful night.

WAWAS! - The Adventure on Christmas Eve

--3 of 19--


It is now 8.38pm, and we are sitting comfortably on the steps of the modern Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka building waiting for Cikgu Hasnah. The older building was the one we rehearsed in. It is quite decrepit. The toilets are currently being renovated, and there are packets of toilet seats and wide-open cisterns everywhere. The urinals have non-existent flushing systems (I pressed and pressed but water only trickled.)

It is 12.31am, and our movie is delayed! Seventeen of us are seated in the movie theatre of Times Square. We are supposed to watch National Treasure: Book of Secrets, but the aforementioned delay has dampened our spirits somewhat (and the rest of the theatre too).

"Sepuluh minit lagi!" the usher announces. There has been a problem with the brightness of the screen. In ten minutes the show would start!

In due course it begins. It was quite exciting, except for some of us who had already watched the movie. They dozed off halfway.

What, you may ask, are we doing here at 12.31am, of all times? Well, earlier we had an Adventure!

We were travelling to Bukit Bintang on foot when we saw a group of people spraying each other with party streamers and foam. "Nothing to be afraid of," we thought, "just get through this and all will be fine." We continued with some apprehension, constantly wondering whether we would get hit next. Then we turned a corner. The next street was a complete mass of People!

Sheer cacophony! A great din of blaring horns and enthusiastic sprayers! Even the cars were not spared. Abstract designs were sprayed onto them, and for the more unfortunate ones, a free foam wash! There was a huge traffic jam as well (what do you expect?) and human traffic fought against vehicular traffic. We made a beeline through the crowds, always ensuring that everyone kept together. It was supposed to exciting, but how to exciting when people are spraying at you from all sides?

We left Cikgu and Encik Harun (our guide) at a cafe and continued our journey.

The hordes had become more unruly! At one time we walked right through the line of fire of another group. No one was seriously sprayed, and only residual spray got onto some of us. Half of us were held up by the offending group.
(Hadis, didi & Shamil was here! =) *winks.)

After waiting for those caught up behind, we were called together. Then the half of us that were "held up" let loose a spray of foam on us! (Of the names stated above, Hadis and Shamil were among the Sprayers.)

What else--we fled the place! I strode briskly to the other side of the road.

Then the Sprayers caught up with me! I was ambushed from behind at a carpark near the end of the road.

Nadiah looked quite perturbed. She said she wasn't into these kinds of things.

The girls noticed Nadiah's plight and gathered around her, offering words of comfort.

We stopped at a hotel to use the toilet, then made our way back to Cikgu. All of us decided to watch a movie, and we carried on to Times Square, leaving Cikgu and Encik Harun at the cafe.

Pushing through the ever restless crowds, we emerged into Times Square, gathered everyone, and took the lift up to the second floor where the cinema was.

*That* is how we got to be here. End of Adventure! Merry Christmas!

WAWAS! - The First Day

--2 of 19--

The Nasi Goreng, Telor and Teh Tarik from the train's Dining Cabin was delicious! Thus was the testimony awarded them by Nizal and Nadiah, among those of us who went there at the unearthly hour of 4am. (They refer to Fried Rice, Eggs and "Pulled" Tea respectively.)

Aizat was all enthusiasm the next morning. "We ate MacD!!!" he exclaimed.

Well! It is now 9am, and we are seated at McDonald's KL Sentral Station. We have just finished breakfast, and some of us have gone for a smoke.

Then, hailing five taxis, we depart for Wisma Puspanita, our accommodation during our stay.

Wisma Puspanita is actually a sort of hostel. Goodness knows where its students study, for I don't remember any educational institution nearby. It is currently empty, save for one "Mama India" residing in Room 2, who was kind enough to mop our rehearsal space for us, in the South Wing of the building so that we may walk around barefoot.

Girls go into Rooms 9 & 10, boys in Room 12 & 13. (I'm in Room 12.) Each boys' room had 6 beds and a toilet, plus a little balcony full of mosquitoes. Jihad promptly produced a mosquito coil, and it was lit. Everything had to be set up properly on the first day, according to him.

The man who led us up to our rooms told us not to be too frivolous during the night hours. "You guys don't be too happy at night," he warned.

And with this sinister pronunciation, he left us.

After a short nap and a bath, we proceeded to our rehearsal space and had a run through of the plays we were to perform.

Lunch was a tasty affair. The stalls we ate at reminded Nizal of Geylang, back in Singapore!

Enough of that. Now it is rehearsal time again at Stor Teater.

I might as well describe the reasons for us being here in Kuala Lumpur.

We have been invited here to perform our award-winning plays from Singapore. Cikgu Hasnah, our teacher and advisor, had arranged for us to perform in Stor Teater, within the prestigious Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka. All 19 of us were to go to KL, props, costumes, music and all, and perform Dot.Dot.Dot, Pelita Wawasan, Wawasan Anak Geylang Serai Roboh (better known as Kucing), and S.H.I.T, which stands for Selampit Hari Ini Tiada. There was supposed to be 20 people but Efin, our missing person, is to join us later.

This is what Suzana has to say (pardon the informal language):

"They've been rehearsing ALLLL day & I'v been sitting on È steps aLLLL day and I'm sooooo hungry...:("

And this is what Nadiah has to say:

"Not enough sleep!! even afta a "long" rest while the others train for kuching. At least something lar har. It's freaking cold in here!"

The rehearsals continue.