I just arrived home from one adsolutely wonderful chingay rehearsal! Today was a full dress rehearsal, so we have the whole Chingay crew down. All the make-up aunties and also all the props group. One group of people besides the trainers, that I really admire are really the props group. I really salute them. They made such ingenious and intricate devices for us all the floats, costumes, masks, shoes, T-shirts, etc. Everything was just so wonderful. When I saw how small the team is, I suddenly feel so proud of our organisation, that there are people sacrificing their time, everything, just to sit down and do up the props. I heard that some of them even stayed to the wee hours for the props and left for work in the mornings. This is the really life's unsung heros, nope, not an overstatement, and also what the gakkai spirit is all about.

Anyway, the whole day was great, except for the make up part, which was really funny. I went once for the foundations for the make up, then another aunty thought it was too faint, so second layer. And then a third aunty came along and I have the foundations applied on me three times and also the lipstick, thrice. Chingay training was really fun once the entire project gets moving, and the bits and pieces start coming together.

At the PA, there are tons of people there, waiting, preparing themselves for the rehearsal. There wasn't just our group, but some other groups as well. One from some christian society and the one before them was something with lots of erhus playing. Even further front was some energetic dancing, screaming, cheerings. The first rehearsal was something short of a total disaster. The entire performing area was narrower by 1 or 2 metres, which may seem negligible but actually make the whole world of difference. The banner in front also advanced too slowly for the mobile cheerioz to move freely. However, despite all the difficulty, everyone managed to stay calm and continue with all the dancing and stuffs. I was really touched by everyone, putting up their best for the performance. And then it ended. Some of us were devastated by the performace, while others take more lighthearted, it does not matter which.

And then we rested, I thought the rest was rather timely. Everyone was exhausted but still managed to keep their spirits high, especially so when the group before us was doing quite fine. The rest rest was quite a long while, so I chatted with Zee, Audrey, leonard and Benny. One of greatest thing about chingay or rather about the entire organisation is that there are always lots of opportunities to meet great people from all walks of life. Benny was one, he suddenly turned all quiet. Its really quite frightening, how such a cheerful and talkative person all of a sudden becomes quiet. I looked at his eyes and I saw his eyes getting slightly red. So this is the other Ben, the emotional and serious one (pls cheer up :-). Anyway, Zee was talking about how she wanted to be a doctor, about entering some Moscow International Medical School and specialising in treating children, cause she likes children alot. Its funny, someone beside me, with the same age, same school, have such strong convictions in her own future, and here I am thinking of a backup plan to the career I am going to plunge in. From her I could always draw some inspirations or motivations. On the surface, she may seem like any other girl, innocent and naive, but inside her lies this determination or this belief in herself, that she will succeed.

So anyway, the chit-chattings aside, its time for the showdown! Or maybe not just yet, its only the second rehearsal! From where I was I could already hear all the music and drums that were beating away on the other side of the building... We made our way to the starting point. For those who have watched chingay, they would know. As one group was performing, the next group would already be there waiting for their turn. Its really scary, kind of like the suspense of receiving your SYF results, you would really scream your guts out, the taste of victory. The next thing you know, you are already in the spotlight. Just a few seconds before moving, I wasn't thinking of anything, no homework, no school, no family, no girls, no nothing... I was just being alert and thats enough. And the music starts.. Bom Bom Bom.. we are in and all of a sudden we were crazy, wonder if its healthy at all, these adrenalin rushes. I don't think you could understand me enough. Just hearing the start of the music would simply make me have all those goosebumps, I get all the weird quivers and some stuffs... I guess its because the time spent on training etc... And so we danced our best... and the feeling was great. As we were part of the finale or something, we were lucky enough to be the group welcoming or seeing President Nathan off (not sure which). After the "president" left, the music never stop... and everyone jus kept cheering and dancing in estasy. It was totally unrehearsed... Sad Benny was again happyBenny.

After the entire thing, I felt really relieved (of what? I really don't know) like some burden was taken off me and left me free to go. Through this process, I have made lots of new friends and also gain new experiences. I guess I have really Kian Chye to thanks for signing me up for this event.

Shiok!

And in case you don't know what chingay is, its a road show. Below are some pictures of a road show when I went Japan Universal Studio with my high school band. Of course chingay is a much larger scale project, with groups from all over the world.