Wednesday, January 09, 2008 . 9:25 PM

I played my first soccer match in 2 months plus today... I thought I was gonna suffer cos I've basically not exercised (except dancing) for that period of time, but it wasn't too bad! I quite enjoyed myself, playing with the M1 soccer team again. Let's hope we can play good enough against the M4s soon =P

Overall I was quite happy with my play, though our team failed to gel a bit. I think we relied on Jipson as our creative force too much and so once the other team shut him down we were rather lacking. I scored 2 goals (3 in total, actually... One of them was an own goal -.-) and I think those were the 2 best goals I ever scored in my life. Haha. The first was my first ever header... After 58389265874384312 soccer matches in 3831243758396 different venues I finally scored my first ever header! Hahaha. Then the second goal was after a great one-two with Girider. Nice stuff. But my stamina wore out and I was largely ineffective towards the end of the game. Oh well... Need to run more.

I just found out today that Giri is Sunder's cousin! Hahahaha. What a coincidence! My classmate of 4 years (and Med colleague for many more) is a cousin of the M4 who interviewed me, who I worked with for OT2. What a small world we live in.

Speaking of OT2, it was a great production... A fantastic culmination of all our efforts and endeavours, to produce two nights that I will always remember... If not for the performance then for the awe-inspiring efforts put in by everyone on the cast and crew. It was a truly amazing journey, and I've been blessed to know this bunch of people... My OT2 family.

Here are a few memories I have from 5th January 2008...

This is me with Shawn (William Osler) in the early morning before the start of the show, we had just gotten into the dressing room... Poor Shawn was very zonked out for the whole day, but he managed to pull himself together to give a stunning performance. Shawn is such an inspiration.

This is me with Chris Ho (Alzheimer)! Probably my best buddy from OT2... Hahaha... It's amazing that his brother was my RI Choir Junior. We're happy members of the Cui Kias Club and the Cool Club Boys (CCBs). =D

And this is another member of both clubs! Meng Chon (Cushing) the crowd-favourite! Haha. Poor Meng Chon had diarrhoea in the few days leading up to the performances... But he didn't let them get him down. He's a perfect example of one who feeds off the crowd response to serve up a masterpiece. The two pics were before we ventured to the girls' room to get our makeup done.

Here's the man himself: Chris Seet! Hahaha... With Yi Liang as well :P Chris rocks man, he's the most "family-oriented" guy on the set. With all the frustrations and nonsense boiling over, he never once lost his cool (at least not in front of us)... He always sought to make everyone happy and comfortable (most of the times at the expense of himself). He's a really funny guy, such an enthusiast when it comes to music and acting... I really admire Chris.

Lol this is a spastic pic I decided to take during a certain very long (and dreary) briefing. The big face is Sunder =P. I was not gonna put this up till I realized Eunice (Claire) actually spotted me taking the pic! Hahahaha. So unexpected. You can see Shawn and MC having their makeup done by Rachel and Moira respectively in the background. Kudos to the makeup and hair team... And most of the girls. They were great helping all us cui kia guys putting on our makeup and doing our hair.

This is me (after I put on my makeup lolz) and Si Ying, our... Dance IC? Hahaha. She took charge of all the dance stuff and basically made everything look good. In just one week we evolved from cui crap to stage-ready, and it's largely due to her :) Good stuff. We were enjoying doughnuts that our lovable Chris Seet bought for all of us! Such a great guy. In the mirror you can see Ben (Joe Average) admiring himself. Hahahaha :D

This is Zhi Yong (Prof Hippocrates) handing over a "certificate" to Muggy (Chao Ah Ben/David). Lolz... These two (incredibly tall) guys were great fun to work with on the set. I still feel injustice for those pple who laughed at Muggy and Dennis dancing on Saturday... They worked really really hard on the dance and the audience just failed to appreciate the effort.

Those were just some of the pics I took on the second day... I didn't take many more, there was simply not enough time as we ran through the full musical once (with brushing up) in the afternoon, before the actual performance... And I left soon after the performance so couldn't take more... I'm gonna miss all these great guys (mostly M4s). Thanks all you guys for making this journey such a memorable one :)

On another note, I wanna say a very very huge thank you to Beatrice, who helped me buy "Simple Things" by Zero 7 when she was in England! It's a really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really *deep breath* really really really really really really really fantastic album. I love every song on it, it's true genius at work. I really admire people who respect bass and percussion, who use it as their platform or foundation to their music, rather than just a side note, or a side effect. This ambient alternative or trip-hop genre is really enjoyable and relaxing to listen to. A true masterpiece.

Okay that's about it for now. Haha. Go read someone else's blog.

"You'll Never Walk Alone"

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