Dance Diary Part 14 - Merlion International Ballroom Dancing Championships & Johor Stars of Tomorrow International Dancesport Championships

I'm sorry to have put off this long to write about my S'pore/Johor championships. Truth is, Sem 5 had already started and boy it's TOUGH!!! I'm working around the clock even when it's only a few weeks into the semester! It's crazy, with all the IMS presentations to prepare, the community medicine project, household surveys and SPSS stuff which I had totally no idea how to operate... No wonder people say that sem 5 is the busiest semester ever! And EOS 5!!! OMG i dun even wanna think about it yet. I totally should've started studying earlier.

Nope I'm not gonna elaborate further about my semester, this is my DANCE diary, so imma get back to my competitions instead. So as I mentioned earlier, these 2 back-to-back competitions gonna most probably be my last competition for the year, so I had to make the BEST out of every single moment... and guess what, I think I DID! I did have a great time; dancing, competing, watching people dance and bonding with my studio mates... It was just as awesome as I wished it could be, and I can say that at the end of the day, I'm indeed a very contented girl. =)

For starters, OMG!!!!!!! I FINALLY WON SOME MEDALS!!!!!!!!!! *squealing in delight*

My 1st ever dance MEDALS!!! 2 bronze, 1 silver. (not the ones on the left, those are for running and table tennis.. lolx...) 

Opps, sorry, it's pretty hard to contain the excitement, but I'm gonna back up a little...


THE DAY BEFORE (5/8/2011) 

Had brief lunch in JB before heading off to Singapore. Good old wanton mee! =)

The magnificent Singapore with it's many skyscrapers!

So we set out the day before to Singapore, which believe it or not, was my FIRST time there, and my FIRST experience of visiting another country aside from our faithful Malaysia! O.o Singapore was just as I expected; strict custom, tall buildings, everything was like neat and tidy as if living in a box. And our little hotel was situated somewhere called V Lavender or something I wasn't really sure. It was a pretty nice hotel though, especially love the big screen window in our room! We girls ended up camwhoring by the window, with the magnificent Singapore skyline behind us.

Our hotel

Me and my roomies in our oh-so-sexy poses

You gotta love the wonderful big screen window behind me with the amazing city view!

In the evening, we went by the insanely-crowded MRT to City Hall 2 stations away to have our dinner. The food was like pretty exy especially if you do the conversion, and silly me only brought 20 dollars cuz I was expecting hawker food, so I ended up just having Burger King. Fast food rules!!! haha... It was pretty late when we got back, and after fussing around preparing the stuff we needed for the big day, we called it a night, sharing a king-sized bed between the four of us. Was quite a cram, but we were too tired and fell asleep with no problem at all!

With the WLD group at the MRT station heading to City Hall for dinner. (spot me? =P)

THE SINGAPORE COMPETITION (6/8/2011)
Waking up at 5am was a torture. But I wasn't going to grumble about it, for this was THE LONG-AWAITED DAY. And so we were all up early, preparing ourselves for our 'battle', as Aunty Merle always put it. That word kinda worked up my nerves, to be honest, but guess competitions are indeed, like a battle; and the dancefloor, a warzone. Anyway, up side of it, it kinda got my spirits boiling too, to go all out for a battle! But make-up was quite an ordeal, for I do really suck at it. The only few times I really put on make-up were for my previous competitions and also performances. Normal days? Nah. imma just let my face go au naturel! =P So with that little practice I've had, it was quite a struggle. Took me 5 hours to get ready!!! *gosh! but at least I was pretty much the same speed as the other gals too... lolx!* Thank God though it wasn't anything people would call a great artwork, my completed competition make-up was still fairly presentable. =P

The competition was held in this country club ballroom which was pretty magnificent too. And the dance scene was just as much of a 'battlefield' as I had in mind, with armies of competitors from all around the world. Unfortunate for us, when we arrived, the first few competitions had already started, which meant the warm-up session was over, and we missed the chance to test the floor. The dancefloor was HUGE, with brightly-polished wooden flooring, quite the best floor I've ever seen. Thank god it was good too, not too slippery or rough, really great to dance on!

Rumba in action!

Now to the Cha Cha

Samba  

The competition went pretty well I have to say. Although I was kinda nervous in the beginning, I became more and more confident as the events pass. And I managed to enter finals for all the 3 dances that I joined! Rumba and Cha Cha finals were night events, while Samba finals was finished off by afternoon. I kinda lost my timing halfway during Samba finals, idk was I nervous or what, but somehow it just happened. And hence the 6th placing for Samba. =( *damn me and my bad timing!*

Samba 6th placing

For the night events I gathered up my nerves and managed to give a better performance than my Samba. I got 3rd placing for both Cha Cha and Rumba, which means, my first few medals!!! Weeeeeeeee!!!!!!!! =) =) =) Although I wasn't champion yet, but it was really an improvement to me, considering the lack of practice I had beforehand and how much a black sheep I was. @.@ And it was an International Open event, whereby there are even quite a number of competitors from the 'notorious' China!!!  Lolx...

On stage as 2nd Runner up for Cha Cha

2nd Runner up for Rumba as well (still pwned by the china gals...sigh...)

Taking a break with Shi Teng

Anyway, after that, we bathed and washed up in the club's washroom, and then chilled around, waiting for Uncle William and the rest of our teachers to be done judging the competition so that we can all take our bus to our hotel in Johor. It was around 11plus when we were finally set to go, and many of us were already exhausted. We reached Johor at about 1am, and after checking-in and preparing ourselves for bed, it was already over 2 pm. I fell asleep dreading the thought of waking up at 6am the next day...

My Singapore comp certs! 

WLD competitors' group photo with our beloved teachers!

THE JOHOR COMPETITION (7/8/2011)
So I woke up an hour later than my alarm. *damn my bad habit of resuming sleep after switching off the alarm!* And so I had to bathe and gobble down my cup noodle at supersonic speed to make up for time loss. And then I went to join the girls to make-up. Again. Seriously I was kinda sick of the process. But good thing was that I actually improved from yesterday's practice, and so I manage to add a more dramatic touch to my eyes compared to yesterday. Kinda satisfied with my results, and less time spent too! =)

The bring-it-on-i'm-ready-for-battle stance!!! 

With the other home team gals in the 16 and above solo open category (Note how colourful our costumes are! teehee)

I reckon I'm doing the Cuban break

The venue for Johor comp was much smaller, in some restaurant where they had this temporary dancefloor set up. Managed to make it to test the floor this time, and boy was it slippery! But thank God somehow into the competition, it became less slippery, probably because the ballroom dancers who had their comps first danced away most of the wax on the top layer? haha!

One of my favourite Cha Cha pose. Just lurve how tanned I look for this comp!

Anyway, the competition went really great, and I had a really good time. Was kinda nervous at times, but when the music comes on, I just went all out for it, danced like there was no one watching. There was only one thing on my mind, and it was "I am doing the thing that I love, and this might be my last competition of the year, so I am gonna make the best out of it!" And so I did. Although in the end, I still couldn't manage to get champion for any of the dances, but I got into finals again for all the categories! 4th placing for both Samba and ChaCha, and first runner up for Rumba!!! (obviously Rumba is still my best dance =P)

1st Runner up in Rumba! What a pleasant surprise! =)

My Johor comp certs!

It was pretty late when we were done with the comp. We did not even have much time to remove our make up or bathe, as we were all packing and rushing to take our late night bus back to KL. Chinese medicine selectives classes waiting for me at 8am! It was crazy, really crazy. We left Johor at 1am, only to reach KL at about 6am. I was pretty exhausted by then, but I managed to haul my luggage and all back to Vista, remove my make-up, bathe, and get ready for classes, while other competitors get to stay home and sleep in... Hmm, price to pay for being a med-student I guess! We never really get much chance to rest! But it was all worth it, I would say. =)

One good thing about Johor comp is that dinner was provided! Yummm don't you just love an 8-course meal after a tiring day? Haha!

Table mates! =P

Epilogue
(credits to Stephen and all the other photographers whom I took the photos from! You know who you are!)
I think I'm gonna miss the competition scenes. Joining competitions under WLD is awesome, the great company, the fun we had together, the unity and cheering for each other, the learning and growing together... it's all parts and parcel of what makes the competition experiences great. And the DANCE, the smooth polished floors, the ballrooms, the lights, the photo-takings, the audience, the shimmering costumes... all these memories will be etched into my mind forever and always. I know that I will always love dancing, no matter where I go and what I do. I remember every word Uncle William told me after the prize-giving ceremony of Johor comp. He told me:" Whatever you do, please promise me not to give up dancing!" He said I was improving and getting better, and it would be a waste to stop dancing. I'll surely take these words to my heart, and yes, I will continue to dance. I certainly will! =)

I promise this will not be my last competition!

Till then!!! I'll leave you with,

Life is just so wonderful when there is DANCE!!!!!!!!! 

Dance Diary Part 13 - Of abs and tan... and being the black sheep... =(

Singapore/Johor comp is looming ahead. Only 4 more days to go. Think I am pretty doomed this time... =(
For one, I only just learnt my steps for the 3 dances that I joined (Rumba, Cha Cha and Samba) about a week ago. And I only attended 1 lesson plus 3 drillings before I MIA-ed back to Ipoh again. And now that I am back in KL, there are only 2 more drilling sessions to go before the BIG DAY.

*Gotta buck up supersonic speed, gal!!! These are international competitions, battle's gonna be TOUGH out there! Somemore it's Open category this time, no longer Beginners! 

Even in my studio alone, among the other competitors of my category, I am pretty much... the black sheep. The lousier oldest one. =( Especially my Samba, in the previous few drillings, I even had a hard time remembering the steps for the pretty-complicated routine. Teacher Merle was telling me, gal your Samba is below standard, gotta work it up!!! *opps =( =( =(*

Anyway gonna practice REAL HARD this week. One good thing is that it is still sem break and rotations are over, so minus the academic burden to worry about, I can focus more on my dance I hope. This might gonna be my last competition this year, since sem 5's gonna be darn hectic and all... and then it's those visa and PMS and flying overseas to continue my phase 2... I can't see any time in near future where I could slot in another competition, much as I wanted to. =( Sigh... guess I just gotta make the BEST out of this coming Johor/Singapore comp. It's gonna mean a lot to me. Gonna last me through the remaining of this year, at least. I gotta practice hard, and dance my best for the judges, teachers and audience. I hope I ain't gonna let anyone down, even though by the rate I am going now, I might already had. Sorry dear teachers, I will work hard even though time is sparse... gonna try my best and have no regrets! =)

On a side note, I had actually become pretty tanned lately; due to all the swimming and occasional runs walks. Kinda a good thing, at least my face will not look so obviously blackened by the caramel foundation like it did last time during my first competition! (I still remember my tanned-made-up face contrasting with my fair skin on my body... it was TERRIBLE! ishhh) I've come to learn to pre-tan myself after that. teehee... And am trying to build some abs too, by dancing and swimming. Gotta keep a real good bod to pull off my a-little-too-revealing costume. Any flabs or fat is gonna be very much visible as there is not much cloth to hide behind. Sigh... bad choice of costume. (next costume I make, it's certainly gonna have MORE CLOTH, and possibly some drapes... I love flowy ones... =P)


Signing off to bed... long week ahead!!! I'll leave you with,

Riccardo Cocci and Yulia Zagoruychenko Jive @ WSSDF 2010

Yulia, my inspiration, forever and always. *heart* She never fails to remind me the reason that I dance; and if ever I were on the verge of giving up on dancing when times were difficult, it is her who could always reignite my passion.

Know what does my heart secretly wish?

One day, I wanna be a great dancer like Yulia Zagoruychenko... =)

Dance Diary Part 12 - 8th National Ballroom Dancing Championship 2011

Status: Completed. 

My FIRST SOLO competition. It felt sooooo different, being out on the dancefloor alone. It was as if all eyes were on you, judging you, noticing every little move (and mistake) that you made... Especially when dancing in the finals, it was only down to 6 people on the floor, and THAT was downright scary. No kidding. 

Okay, let me back up a little. The competition was held on the 12th of June at Penang Bayview Beach Resort, the very same place that I went for my first competition last November. Very nostalgic, if you would ask me. But then again, it was a good thing to be familiar with the place, at least I know my way around, and I kinda could imagine how the competition would look like, the dancefloor and all... 

But then again, it was still a whole new experience in a whole new way. For one, the people going with me this time were pretty different. There were many new people, new friends and all.
And then it was the category that I joined, Solo Beginner. SOLO & PARTNERLESS. T___T
And then it was the dance that I were to do this time. Cha Cha and Jive. The 2 dances I am not really familiar with. Even during drilling, I had a pretty hard time improving my Jive. Somemore kena scolded many times by Uncle William and Aunty Merle! =( I remember 2 weeks before the competition, Uncle William was so frustrated when teaching me the Jive techniques that he fumed at me :" I don't even know why you want to join competition lar, dancing like this!!!"... =( =( =(

But somehow criticism pushed me to work even harder in my dance. I did practice really hard, allocating at least 2 hours per day dancing at IMU dance room, and that did not include the everyday drilling sessions at WLD. And I was glad I did that. I'm glad I didn't give up on myself even when everyone else seems to have no high hopes in me. For hard work did pay off as I managed to make my way through to the finals! As they recalled dancers from Heats to Semi-Finals and then Finals... it was almost exhilarating to see my number on the board each time. 

And there was even some problem in our category that made us had to re-dance the finals. According to the organizers  our Jive routine consists of some out-of-syllabus steps, and so Aunty Merle had to pull us aside and re-choreograph our routine on the spot, and then we went for the re-dance... >.<

And after all the hassle and mess, we got the results, and I got 6th placing!!! =) I kinda expected that, since my techniques were seriously lacking and I am so nervous till I might even be out-timing at times. But still, at least I got a placing!!! And it was already kinda what I expected! Especially when there were many other studio mates of mine who joined my category, and during drillings, they seems to be much better than me. I thought I'd maybe survived till semi-finals and get eliminated by my own studio-mates... it will be as far as I go and I'll be satisfied already. =P

Guess I'm pretty lucky this time. But then this gave me more motivation to try and do better for the next competition. And I was happy when Uncle William said to me after the competition that I actually improved a little, and Aunty Luisa also told me this is a good start and encouraged me to work harder and get better placing next time. Dear teachers, I will surely try to improve! Thanks for all your teaching and guidance this long, I love you all!   

My cert... No medals though... T__T Next time I'll try to get medals... that's my dream!

Some of my studio-mates who joined the same category as me 

My beloved teacher , Uncle William and I

My AWESOME technique class teacher, Aunty Luisa and I

Choon Wei the joker who graduated from IMU

Onn Rei gor gor... =)

Young Nisha with her charming-enough-to-kill eyes...O.O

And I met my sifu from Ipoh too!!! She was also one of the judges for the competition... It had been awhile since I had seen her. I'm glad to be able to catch her during a competition break and talked to her awhile and take photos! =) She brought along a few of my friends too for this competition, and I managed to catch up with them too after my event ended... =)

My former Sifu from Ipoh, Alice Hor

Sifu's husband, we call him JJ sifu =P

Somehow I ended up being in a group photo with my former teacher and my present teacher... AWESOME. =)

Till the next time!!! Sure wish there will be a next time! =)

Dance Diary Part 10 --- My First Competition!!!

It was A.W.E.S.O.M.E. in capital letters! That was how I felt every single moment of it... ^___^

It was indescribable, unbelievable, almost a miracle. It was A DREAM COME TRUE! How wonderful. 

And still, now long after, my heart still flips in excitement when I think of it. Seriously.

Well, to say that I was not nervous at all, that'll be a lie. I had never been to a competition before, only exception was the KLDA one where I was working as a floor-runner. But even that time, I didn't really get to watch the dances because I had to arrange prizes and collect score-sheets ever so often. Hence, I had NO IDEA about many things. Even from the make-up & hair-styling, to how am I going to enter the dancefloor. And not-knowing did make me a little nervous. But I was blessed to have made many wonderful friends there, my 'danceworld family' as we all call it. They were lovely people, and I just have to thank them one by one for all their help and guidances throughout. Not only that, but also for all the fun we had together, and for making my Penang competition trip such a memorable one!!! Cheerio amigos! =)

And did I tell you? I met my beloved Sifu there! On that day as a judge, judging my category somemore. Ishh... somemore just at the moment I was off timing during Rumba semi-finals, my partner told me that she was practically STARING AT ME... OMIGOSH...!!! *cries*
Anyway, on the 1st night before the comp too I met her, at the lobby. And she was pretty as ever. Talked to her awhile, promised her to catch up with her when I am back in Ipoh, and gave her a big hug before saying goodbye. Truth is, I do miss her a lot. Glad that she seems fine! =)

1st day by the beach. Me and my roommates + Shi Teng who was staying with her family.

Me and Kathy

The abundant supply of food our whole room brought to Penang! =)

2nd day-- during competition day event... after our beginners' category was over

I seem to look tanned here, and I love it! =)

Cam-whoring in our room after the competition was over

All the pretty babes of Room 235 in sizzling hot latin costumes!!! ^______^

Here goes my acknowledgements: (lolx)

I would like to thank my wonderful roommates Kathy and Wai Ling for giving me a make-up tutorial the night before the competition. And also to Kathy for borrowing me her blue nail-polish.

I would like to thank Pui Yan for helping me with my lipstick and my hair.

I would like to thank Shi Teng for helping me apply my fake eyelashes and blusher.

I would like to thank Dana for borrowing me her brush.

Wouldn't have done it all without them. I'm a TOTAL NOOB at make-up and hair-styling. Argh... gotta learn next time!!!

And also,

I would like to thank Chloe Gan for the tips and advices for the competition.

I would like to thank Stephen for helping us take photos.  

I would like to thank Gary for providing us with food food and MORE FOOD!!! =)

And thanks to everyone else for the words of encouragement and the warm wishes!!! Love you all!!!

Not to forget my amazing instructors; Uncle William, Aunty Luisa, and Aunty Merle. Great teachers they are, taught us so much through this competition. Cherish their patience and passion. I'm just so sorry we didn't have more time to practice and be better than this, and that we must have dissapointed them... T__T 

I promise we'll work harder, and do better next time!!! 

Last but not least, ahem, my beloved dance partner, Cavin!!! (well, I am so not used to addressing him as beloved since we used to bicker most of the time, but then well yea, deep down, I do love him a lot! *as a friend lar, what you think?!! lolx...* ) Afterall, he is THE ONE WHO MADE MY DREAM COME TRUE!!! ^___^ For this reason alone, he deserves my wholehearted gratitude. He wouldn't know how much this means to me! =)

And this whole experience wouldn't have been complete without him. Brilliant guy he is. A way faster learner than me; I am amazed!!! There are so much for me that I could learn from him. I'm so blessed to have met him. Really.

Me and my partner Cavin

Nope, we didn't win. (mann, if we did, I would've slept hugging my medal for months!!! lolx...) We went through to semi -finals for Rumba (which made us really happy for we didn't expect to go any further than heats!) but for Samba we were out just after heats (from the feedback, it was due to lousy floor strategy, started too much to the corner, out timing in the beginning somemore... sorry!!!) 

Nevertheless, the entire experience itself was priceless. So many things I'd experienced throughout the competition. Everything was so new to me and my partner, that very often, we were amazed even by the smallest things; like young children exploring the world for the first time. It was indeed, an EYE-OPENER for both of us. And we enjoyed all of it, greedily and eagerly taking in every single detail, not wanting to miss even the slightest moment.

So many great dancers there were! And we can't help but to feel so lucky to be in Malaysia's biggest competition, to get to witness all of these. We watched, we cheered. For the young and for the old. For all were good. ^____^

After competition. Danceworld family photo!!!

Sadly as I do not own a camera, not many pictures were taken. But then again... every single scene and sight are already imprinted in my heart. =)

Dinner outing after competition

3rd day --- CRAZY FUN BY THE BEACH!!!
We played beach volleyball, raced each other, tried to throw each other into the water, buried PuiYan in sand, swam in the pool... it was a wonderful time! Great bonding too! =)

The danceworld hot babes hitting the beach!

Thank you, dear Father. For all these. I knew You had plans, and that You ALWAYS give me the BEST plans ever!!! Thank you, thank you so much dear Lord... You know how much this means for me. I couldn't thank you enough for all the blessings You've granted me. So I can only promise you dear Father, to try and do my very best to glorify your name. Now and forever, counting my blessings and giving you thanks... Amen, Father. I love you.   

Gotta get going, mountain-pile of notes are awaiting. EOS 3 is beckoning. I've got no time to waste if I still want to survive past sem 3. Sigh... reality, reality. I've come to learn, you always have to wake up eventually... T____T

Till the next year, 18th Penang Championships! *I do so hope I could make it there then!*

In the meantime, what is the pathogenesis of Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome?

p/s: credits to Shi Teng, Pui Yan, Kathy, Seah & Yoong Ruey for the photos! =)