Friday, Saturday, Sunday. The world heritage celebration kicks off on Friday with the tour of the historical sites of Georgetown with Lim Guan Eng while Natasha and u-jean led batches of students through the streets of Georgetown. My heart was already leaping with joy in school, anxiously waiting for the bell to ring, for me to be released, for me to rush home, take my bath have my lunch and out I go to the bus stop. Nevertheless, mum returned unexpectedly and so no more bus ride and I wont be late. After 3 rehearsals, today would be our tech rehearsal with all the lightings and all. One of the rooms in the Town Hall acted as our rest area and preparation area. Gosh bangganya kita, imagine the honour of being the opening scene of this grand event for Penangites- right after the governor's and CM's speech!!!! Haha!
At the air-conditioned backstage, we were amused by Chin Eng's amazing magic tricks where he pulled white canvas from his teh tarik cup placed on against his lips. I was like really nervous as I was quite afraid I would hit someone (especially natasha whom I have hit for quite a number of times) or something ( the gigantic speakers) with my bendera merah. Sorry natasha if you're reading this....... Not only that, we also set the record-breaking longest, most number of repeated singing of a boria verse together with the copper coil turning effect hand movement:
Kisah Pulau Pinang tajuk dan tema,
tempat persinggahan berbilang agama,
pelbagai bangsa bercampur bersama,
boria anak kota dendang seirama.
and saturday finally came, but wait, I had to go to school. Damn it! But it was rather pointless to do so. The BM teacher wouldnt be coming but no, I had to come, for Mrs Goh's never-to-be-missed CHemistry lesson and also Pn Wong's History lesson. Hence, right after Mrs Goh's class, I requested permission to return home early due to the reason that I was sick( with Mr Chng's full cooperation and help) from bilik Disiplin 1. Thank you Mr Chng, you're the lao hero! I contracted a real bad cold actually due to the fact that I washed my hair and bathed with freezing cold water on Friday night at 12.30am.............
Took a nap and went straight for AAK. Well, since I had the time, I decided to do T-shirt printing with the help of Pei Shan , Mun HOe and AUnt Lyndie. That shirt was real nice! The one and only t-shirt u can ever find coz it has my large handprint on it. Then, we realized we were so late and we had to rush over to Esplanade from Cannon Street on foot.
We arrived and Janet was already doing the War chant part with us. Last minute changes on performing night- typical Janet. But that's what gives that LIFE to our shows which other shows dont possess. The weather wasnt on ur side this time, it was so clear yesterday but today, there were strong winds, little rain- the 2 chillies placed on top of the two supporting structures of the stage wasnt working. Reinforcement(a plastic bag of onions, garlic and chilli) was sent in by Hun Meng and miraculously, it worked, the rain stopped and the wind calmed down. Initially, the wind was so strong it kinda destabilized the tall background photos depicting Francis Light and it was like gonna fall onto us on the front stage. Darn, that was a scary sight! WOrst, nthe spotlights above us were so gigantic and heavy-looking that if it fell onto me, I would be no more than an apom gone wrong.
THen I met my old friend, Yu Ming who was from PCGHS and was also performing tonight together with Syafinaz under the Penang Symphony Orchestra and Choir. They were the last show of the night singing Tanah Pusaka. We rehearsed again and finally it came, we were just before the stairs up the stage when the fireworks display went on. Truly mesmerizing though not as much as what we were gonna be(LOL).
Mahathir Lokman was the MC for the night and he was basically saying that Penang is a special place for him as he was taken to Penang by his dad every time he scoredAs in his exams. Finally, were on stage and I am like " I can believe it. I cant believe this is my last show for the year or maybe the last Kisah Pulau Pinang ever for all of us". It went on with everyone so bersemangat and it was a good show according to Prof Tan ( ah bangganya kita).
It was supposedly a happy night for us but then Selven slipped and fell on a pool of water where apparently 5 people nearly slipped earlier that evening(davina, sabrena were one of them). We were all shocked and really praying hard for Selven. I was hoping he did not injure his back and spine(thankfully he didnt) as he was carried out in a stretcher. Mun Hoe nearly cried. I dont usually feel the sensation of the urge to cry but this time I did. Most of us felt that too when we saw Selven being carried out on a stretcher with his eyes closed but we were much relieved when bansiang told us hewas conscious. Thankgoodness he had strong bones. And now everythings ok and he's kicking again...Alrite!!
Well we also took the opportunity to take a few photographs with the local artistes present that night. Alleycat, Syafinaz, "P.Ramlee" and Zaibo..... We werent allowed to leave town hall after our performance but chin eng and I kinda sneaked out just in time to see David Arumugam sing "andai kamu pergi dulu" and another song. the end finally came at around11.45 pm where we came out again for the finale where we stood side by side with all the other performers, singing Negaraku and the state Anthem with total semangat dan passion which I have never ever experienced in school assemblies. The event ended with TYT and GUan Eng leaving.
After.....
Mixed feelings. Sad yet happy. It's a goodbye once again to this bunch of great and best friends. Now it's all the way to SPM which is (3 months away)
Mari kita bersama-sama berjuang!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love,
tengshin
