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! - 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!