Performance @Youth Olympic Village

23rd Aug, 2010 ~ Woke up very early, 4.30am on Monday morning. After a hasty breakfast, went to Pasir Ris to board a bus bound for Youth Olympic Village located at NTU(Nanyang Technological University) campus. The journey took nearly an hour & I slept all the way. Am not a morning person. It's a miracle that I can wake up that early. Arrived at YOV at about 8am.

Half-awake Hamster @YOV

Booths @YOV


Why am I up so early & excited to be at YOV? Coz I am to be the new mascot for the Youth Olympic Games replacing the current ones!

New cute mascot for YOG? =P


Hahahahahaaa... nonono, I'm just joking. LOL! =P
The actual fact was, me & my team mates of stilt-walkers were engaged for a big performance at YOV.

Me & Stilt-walkers Team with Troupe Manager @YOV


Rehearsal for the upcoming performance started at about 10am under a hot baking morning sun. Fortunately for me, I don't have to put on the costume for rehearsal or I will be well cooked inside out! The heat was intolerable! Even in my causal clothes, rivers of sweat were pouring off me! I pitied those who had to rehearsed in full costume.

Rehearsal under a hot sun

Lions, Dragon & Stilts Rehearsing


The whole rehearsal dragged on for about 4 torturous hours & ended at 2pm with a final briefing by the choreographer. With a sigh of relief, we all went for a late lunch. I felt like melted cheese.

Choreographer Briefing


We were told to be back by 6pm & prepared for the actual performance which will start at 7pm. So after lunch, with nothing to do as YOV is quite isolated & with too much time on hand, I went around the place taking pics. Cam-hogging Hamster is loose @YOV! LOL! xD

Hello! I Can Fly to a Fairy Land!

Colorful Youthful Me! xD


Then at around 5.30pm, dark clouds gathered. The sky opened up. It started to drizzle. Hoping the light rain might stop, the organizers told us to go ahead with our preparations.

Hamster dressed-up & ready to go!


The rain got heavier at 6.30pm without any sign of letting up. By 8pm, without hope of the rain slacking, the show went on with only a few teams allowed to perform. The rest of the performance were cancelled. It was too dangerous for us stilt-walkers & to those teams that had to do stunts. The ground & stage were thoroughly wet, very slippery. The audience consisted of a few brave & supporting people, watching the show in their poncho or under their umbrella.

Performance In The Rain


Percussion Drummers with Lion Dance


It was such a disappointment, a complete waste of effort. I felt sad that I didn't get to perform at YOV. What a let-down it was.

On a side note: Called it superstition or whatever. The Youth Olympic Games 2010 was plagued by a series of mishaps. Poor food for volunteers, roof of sport venue torn, mass food poisoning, concert without audience, YOG bus collision, black out, etc & my very own experience of a rain-out performance at Youth Olympic Village itself. Incidentally, YOG was held during the month of the Hungry Ghosts Festival. Viewed by many Chinese as a very inauspicious month, the Ghost Month falls on the 7th month of the lunar calendar, from Aug 10 to Sept 7 in 2010. Those mishaps seem to coincide with this belief. I do not want to elaborate as those mishaps were reported in the news & many had already voiced their opinions. Coincidence or what? Poor management might explained away some of those mishaps. Personally, I felt that YOG Singapore 2010 seems to be jinxed. It's up to you to believe what you want.

Big Carnival @Marina Bay

Backdate - Sunday, 18th July, 2010 ~ Movie Mania members were engaged for a stage appearance at Big Carnival @Marina Bay. It was a rainy day, pouring from morning & was still drizzling when I arrived at the Movie Mania booth at about 4.30 pm. The carnival area was almost deserted. The event was a rainout. Despaired by the continual rain, many of the stalls were packing up.

Big Carnival RainOut


I was told that minutes before my arrival, the organizer had given up hope & cancelled our show which was supposed to start at 6 pm. Initially, Reno, founder of Movie Mania, started calling members informing them of the cancellation. At that time, quite a few of us had already arrived & more were on the way. Some turned up later coz they didn't get the latest news. Those who were already there decided to suit up & do our own show, just for the heck of it. We ain't letting some rain spoil our fun & we do not believe in disappointment! Encouraged by our spirit, Reno stopped the calls & suit up too, despite his earlier objection of wearing his expensive costume in the rain.

Out with the rain dance & on with the show!


We braved the light rain & muddy field to stand on a narrow metal stripe putting up a costume display near the stage. My boots were nearly ruined walking on the muddy ground! Grrr...!!!

Costume Display

Cos-players/Costumers Line-up

She Predator Machiko(me) & Night Elf Sorceress(Joey)


When more cos-players/costumers showed up, we moved to the concrete walkway at the edge of the carnival area. It was a dryer & firmer place for a group pic.

The Brave Few

The Show Must Goes On!


The rain stop at 6 pm & gradually, as a sideshow, we pulled in more crowd than the audience at the stage area.

Sideshow Crowd

Red Magic vs Raw Power

Machiko's cute little fanboy xD


While we were posing for the crowd, some security people showed up & told us to line up at the edge of the pathway. Some VIP are coming through they said. And what do you know... seem like Mentor Minister Lee Kuan Yew was on a low-profile tour of the Marina Bay area.

MM Lee(in 1st buggy) coming through


If it was not for our unpremeditated sideshow, MM Lee's tour in the rain would be like a visit to a ghost town. As we greeted MM Lee, I was thinking that our show brighten the day for him & our impromptu decision to suit up saved the event for the organizer of the carnival on that day as we & the crowd we pulled in was the biggest & most cheerful group of people in that area. I might be right coz soon after MM Lee left, we were called by the organizer for a stage appearance.

On Stage


A total of 29 cos-players/costumers turned up for the event. Those brave cos-players/costumers who faced the rain/mud to pull on a show saved the day for the pride & spirit of cos-playing.
Quote "Never in the history of cos-playing was so much owed by so many to so few with so little." Unquote ~ Winston SiaoMouse Churchill. LOL! xD