Up down, up down.

I'm home!! With much to report. ;p It was Good and Bad. Literally.

Alright. So, Chris and I arrived at Santubong hotel at around 4. Yes, Santubong not Damai. Guess why. Idiotic system. We weren't allowed to drive up to Damai for fear that we were not really residents there and may take up residents' space. Pfft. They had police block the way up. Only cars with the special pass car sticker were allowed to pass. Sheesh. After what seemed like a long time Chris and I took a shuttle up to SCV where we met up with Deborah who brought us to our room. Grace and Esme had already been in SCV. Felt like an absolutely idiot really; not knowing this from that or where from what.

After leaving our stuff in the room, we headed back for SCV. This was at around 4.30pm so the strings workshop was already over when we got there. To be perfectly honest, it felt really weird being around everyone. I was beggining to regret it a little and was slightly relieved that I was only staying one night. But I figured that things would gradually lighten up after a day or so. Unfortunately, I wasn't going to be around that long. ;p

So, we met up at the hall and headed over to catch the Percussion Unit Workshop and a glimpse at hottie hot hottie Justin Lim a.k.a. Funky China Man. LoL. (Noo, I did not give him that name. It's his nickname. -.-). He plays the Chinese drums. XD (Yes, those are dreadlocks. Not big enough a turn off to turn me off. ;p)

The workshop was, in one word, superb.

Made things feel a little lighter, I suppose. They taught us this really cute dance. Unfortunately, they only come on on Sunday so none of us will get a chance to watch them do their thang on stage.

After that we headed back to our room. Some of the others decided they wanted to go to the beach so we did. After a round of tag for the others, while Grace and I kicked the waves, took in the smell of salt water in the evening and talked about RWMF, Deb decided we should all go to the pool.

Beach ;)

Wawa and Grace.

Deb.

We had to walk up flight after flight after flight up the ultra steep steps of hell to get to the pool. It was a near death experience. Chris and I exchanged cheesy, 'I give up, go on without me' lines. Someone even shouted 'Malaysia Boleh!' on the way. LoL.
Was feeling a tiny bit strange, like somehow the Jessica inside of me who loves cracking the most idiotic jokes couldn't even crack one. It all seemed too unfunny.

When we arrived at the pool, however, things started to get better.
Deb tried to drag me into the pool and after several attempts succeeded. And a breakthrough was made. I CAN CARRY DEB! Haha.

At around 6, we headed back to our room. We took turns to bathe. Alot of dibs calling was done on this trip. For the shower esp. After everyone had showered and we were waiting in the room for Michelle to arrive, it got kind of awkward again. That's because that was around the time more people began to arrive (friends of ween and wawa).
While waiting, we cam-whored to 'drown out the sorrow', quote Deb 'cos she was beggining to get impatient from all the waiting.

Grace and Deb even started teaching me their 'OMG lang'.

mfeo - made for each other
ibtd - i beg to differ


After a while, Michelle arrived with McD (a burger and a pack of fries). Chris, Grace, Deb, Esme and I 'gathered' around her bag, snatched the McD paper bag out and passed around the sisterhood of the fillet burger around.


Finally, after everyone was ready, we headed over to SCV; which was at about 7.30 or so. We walked around the place and bought our dinner. (There was even a Coffee Bean and Wine House stall! Like, wth?!). After that we headed into the huge crowd and joined the show. It all started feeling weird again. Felt a little outta place, boring and planned out next to these bunch of spontaneous, regular party-goers (referring to the lot I went there with btw). No spontaneity.

When it came to one of the less interesting acts, we left to get drinks which was at about 9 plus. We had only just begun and already our feet were aching like crazy. So, we sat around of a dayak-ish hall-like structure as we chugged down on water.



And of course, we cam-whored. ;p

(they seemed to have found a new fascination with my phone camera; because you can see yourself in it. -.-'')





Felt alot looser and really fun after that. We headed back into the crowd to catch Mas Y Mas. Brilliant. That was when it started getting interesting. We danced so hard. Ugh. It was insane. Our feet were on the brink of breaking. Seriously. But we couldn't stop. I mean, helllooo, in the middle of a music festival here. It'd just seem weird to stand there while everyone was breaking out.


Tip #1 When feet are aching beyond all reason and you're stuck in the middle of a music festival, surrounded in a mosh pit of dancing monkeys, move hips from left to right alternately. Helps regulate circulation in legs. LoL. And less tiring. (Also applies to those who can't dance i.e. yours truly).


After 4 hours of non-stop dancing (OMG!!), we headed back to the hall-like structure to get more water. We each got a bottle of Mulu, the ciplak Evian (twice as good and half the price ;p yeah, okay not really) and sat around to rest our feet before our long walk back to Damai from SCV.


Tip #2 When resting feet after a tiring work out, it helps to stretch your legs out on an even surface. Feels more rested.


We ended up stopping outside Holiday Inn, which is nearer to SCV than Damai but felt far enough thank you very much, and waited with the two guards on duty at the gate at like 2 plus am. We sat on a rock which was outside the gate. XD
One of the guards even disgustingly flirted with Michelle. LoL. Amusing, really. Hair-raising, definitely. After a while, the shuttle arrived in the form of a 4-wheel drive.


We finally arrived back in our room (thank God!). It was around 3. We once again waited for our respective turns to shower. Next thing I knew, I dozed off on the duvan that Grace and I had shared and woke up at 5am to realise that I had fallen asleep without bathing. LoL. So I got up and slipped into something more comfortable and plopped back into bed. Yeah, I'm a dirty girl. Blahblahblah. ;p

The next morning, Esme tried to shake me awake. Apparently I had been the last to wake up and Deb said that I was 'like dead like that'. Esme even attempted a very sad 'Fire!! Fire!!' to get me to wake up. -.-'' That line's been used one too many times on me. LoL. They told me it was already 12 so I'd get up. They lied. It was only 9.30. -.- !#$%

So, after getting up, we once again headed for the beach then walked back up the hell stairs to get to the pool.

Sat on the sidelines as Deb, Esme, Chris and Grace traded around in the pool. Had a deep, engaging conversation about diets and BMIs/ideal weights. LoL.

At about 11, we headed back to the room. Kim and Melina arrived while Deb left to meet up with her family for her Dad's birthday lunch. Michelle and I were the only two heading back to Kuching early, after taking a bath we walked down to SCV, where we took a shuttle down to Santubong.

Parents picked me up at around 1, after which I slept the whole way down with the exception of the lunch-stop we made at some seafood place. Reached home and slept some more til 5.45pm. LoL. Remembered there was church. We rushed down to St. Joe and made it just in time.


All and all, it was a great experience. I mean, not one I'd go rushing back into but hey, if my friends ask me to why not, right?
Even church seemed more magical today. Felt absolutely connected with God. It was awesome. =)).

I suppose I may go back next year. It's just, thinking about all that dancing is really scaring me. LoL. Probably 'cos I wouldn't consider what I did, dancing. I'd prefer to call it ang kau tiok belacan (monkey kena belacan). LoL. No, I didn't make it up. Old Chinese proverb.

I hope everyone notices a pattern in the bold italic words and the title. ;p