Finally, I forced to go one last time after quarrelling with my partner. He wanted to join, I didn't. But he flew all the way from Vietnam to Kuala Lumpur so that he could bring the achievement "I've made it to compete in overseas" home. I admired him for that. So even I was really not into it, I knew this would be the last time I'd compete with him.
Competition started.
I have never joined any competition as tiring as this one. We competed in Novice (2 dances) and Pre Am latin (3 dances). Each category has 2 heats in the 1st round then semi-final and final round. It was supposed to add another category in between so that the competitors could rest more for the next events. For instance, Novice Latin (1st round) then Standard Novice, Pre Am (1st round). Unfortunately, our both events, Novice and Pre- Am were arranged back to back. So after competing Novice 1st round, we were called for Pre am 1st round shortly. Because the result was released so fast, therefore just finishing Pre Am 1st round, we had to compete in Novice (semi final), Pre Am (semi final), Novice final then Pre Am final as well. Overall, within 20 minutes, we had to dance 15 times repeatedly.
We almost ran out of energy, but we still had to smile in front of so many people and of course the judges. I think some of them must be bored of seeing us so many times. The last dance, I still remember was Jive with quick tempo and a lot of actions. My partner and I couldn't even raise our legs to kick and flick, I couldn't breath as well and was having a cramp cause I was dancing so hard without warming up. The adjudicators were looking at us and I tried to motivate my partner "C'mon, this is the last minutes. We almost done". And finally, we really did it well. Nothing could express my happiness at that time. I felt like i was just escaped from dancing punishment after all. But I knew that, I made it and regardless the result good or bad, I already tried my best. I thought, we would be at 6th place for both events but surprisingly, we got 2nd runner up in Latin novice and 6th place in Pre Am. It was a WOW!...
10pm. I had to rush myself one more time to get train to go back Kuala Lumpur as my partner wanted to watch the competition till the end. So he agreed to let me to go back alone. Trying to hide my disappointment, I left quickly as i didn't want to force him to follow me. I took a cab to railway station. My watch pointed 10.30pm. "The last train just left 10mins" said the station staff. "Damn it!" I said to myself and started thinking what should I do now: staying at station whole night or coming back to find my partner? I decided to return to the competition venue to look for my partner because staying at station seemed not safe for the girl. At that time, we started to search for accommodation. Luckily I could find a hostel to stay around there after 2 hours searching. I was really exhausted, just wanted to sleep but still had to check in and helped him check in too. My partner doesn't know how to speak English. Lastly, we got a place to stay.
Removing make up, arranging stuffs, etc, everything was done, it was 2.30am. I only had 4 hours left to sleep. Worst thing, I still couldn't sleep because a strange house and i felt missing something, I felt insecure. When my phone had no credit, no service, I couldn't contact someone that I need, and they couldn't be in touch with me. Nothing I could do, I was lying down to wait for sunrise and started counting time....
6.30am. We stared packing our luggages and going to the railway station. The train departed at 8.20am, we still had plenty of time to have breakfast and relax. I thought I could be happy and relax after that. But everything was not in a way that I wanted. Problem kept sticking us. My partner was so careless, he left his wallet in the cab with all his money and the suitcase key. Luckily, his passport and train ticket were still with him. I had to look for a key shop to help him open his suitcase but i couldn't help him to find his wallet back as the train departed in time. His face looked so down and hopeless.
The train from Kuala Lumpur departed at 9.30pm on 28th Oct and arrived in Singapore at 7am on 29th. I couldn't sleep on the train because of the uncomfortable seat and noise. 10hours sitting on the train made me really physically and mentally exhausted. Taking a cab to competition venue after arriving Singapore, we only had 2 hours left to register and prepare for the competition. It seemed not enough time for me to prepare everything as my make up already took at least 1 hour. I had to rush myself but I was still late. When the organiser called out our number, I was busy doing my make up and only could change my costume without any accessories to get ready to compete.
Competition started.
I have never joined any competition as tiring as this one. We competed in Novice (2 dances) and Pre Am latin (3 dances). Each category has 2 heats in the 1st round then semi-final and final round. It was supposed to add another category in between so that the competitors could rest more for the next events. For instance, Novice Latin (1st round) then Standard Novice, Pre Am (1st round). Unfortunately, our both events, Novice and Pre- Am were arranged back to back. So after competing Novice 1st round, we were called for Pre am 1st round shortly. Because the result was released so fast, therefore just finishing Pre Am 1st round, we had to compete in Novice (semi final), Pre Am (semi final), Novice final then Pre Am final as well. Overall, within 20 minutes, we had to dance 15 times repeatedly.
We almost ran out of energy, but we still had to smile in front of so many people and of course the judges. I think some of them must be bored of seeing us so many times. The last dance, I still remember was Jive with quick tempo and a lot of actions. My partner and I couldn't even raise our legs to kick and flick, I couldn't breath as well and was having a cramp cause I was dancing so hard without warming up. The adjudicators were looking at us and I tried to motivate my partner "C'mon, this is the last minutes. We almost done". And finally, we really did it well. Nothing could express my happiness at that time. I felt like i was just escaped from dancing punishment after all. But I knew that, I made it and regardless the result good or bad, I already tried my best. I thought, we would be at 6th place for both events but surprisingly, we got 2nd runner up in Latin novice and 6th place in Pre Am. It was a WOW!...
10pm. I had to rush myself one more time to get train to go back Kuala Lumpur as my partner wanted to watch the competition till the end. So he agreed to let me to go back alone. Trying to hide my disappointment, I left quickly as i didn't want to force him to follow me. I took a cab to railway station. My watch pointed 10.30pm. "The last train just left 10mins" said the station staff. "Damn it!" I said to myself and started thinking what should I do now: staying at station whole night or coming back to find my partner? I decided to return to the competition venue to look for my partner because staying at station seemed not safe for the girl. At that time, we started to search for accommodation. Luckily I could find a hostel to stay around there after 2 hours searching. I was really exhausted, just wanted to sleep but still had to check in and helped him check in too. My partner doesn't know how to speak English. Lastly, we got a place to stay.
Removing make up, arranging stuffs, etc, everything was done, it was 2.30am. I only had 4 hours left to sleep. Worst thing, I still couldn't sleep because a strange house and i felt missing something, I felt insecure. When my phone had no credit, no service, I couldn't contact someone that I need, and they couldn't be in touch with me. Nothing I could do, I was lying down to wait for sunrise and started counting time....
6.30am. We stared packing our luggages and going to the railway station. The train departed at 8.20am, we still had plenty of time to have breakfast and relax. I thought I could be happy and relax after that. But everything was not in a way that I wanted. Problem kept sticking us. My partner was so careless, he left his wallet in the cab with all his money and the suitcase key. Luckily, his passport and train ticket were still with him. I had to look for a key shop to help him open his suitcase but i couldn't help him to find his wallet back as the train departed in time. His face looked so down and hopeless.
We left the wallet in Singapore as a memory. On the train back to K.L, we couldn't say any word, I also couldn't talk anything to him or blame him. Just kept quiet. The atmosphere became so tense and my mood was heavier and heavier. There was nothing to do, I tried to close my eyes for the time being. Only this time, i really could sleep because too tired.
K.L was nearer and nearer....
