So many things happened the past few days! Graduation night, the Incomparable to Jay concert...

So many.

Too many.

Prepare yourself; it’s going to be longer than the last one about the chalet.

- Graduation Night -

Krishanth and Joseph came on Thursday as I packed my stuff for our stay at Carlton, the place where we were to have our graduation night held.

We went out, and we met Nikki at the station. We got up, and went to City Hall MRT station. When we arrived, we went through Raffles City, crossed the road at CHIJMES, and got to our destination.

We paid our deposit, got our key cards, and went up to our room. It was your basic room for two: two single beds, a TV, bathroom, and a view of the SMU campus construction site. We unpacked our stuff and called for an iron to straighten our shirts, and I couldn’t stand the wait and went out for lunch myself.

When I came back the iron was still not here yet, so I went down with Krishanth and we walked along the perimeter of the hotel. We talked mostly about what we saw, and then when we went back the iron was here so we started ironing our shirts.

When we were done and had hung up our clothes, we sat down and watched TV in the room. I got my father to bring stuff that I had forgotten to bring, and then bought film for Catherine when I went down to get the CD with our class photos from Mr. Wong and the stuff from my father.

It was already nearly ten minutes past six, and I hurried back to the room to change into my clothes, put on my contact lenses, and went down with the guys to the Empress Room on Level 2.

Quite a lot of people were there already, and I went around looking for familiar people. Soon, everyone was here and it started. First, the MC got Mrs. Song to make a speech, and then splitting the room into two teams. We were supposed to name our teams, but nobody had any ideas so it was A and B. I sat with BARN, Joseph, Jeremy, Alex, Siying and Swee Ming. We started eating first, and it was buffet. The MC gave the teachers and the ladies the go first, while the guys stayed back until the queues got shorter.

When we were done eating we started the games. The first one was “Guess the Advertisement”, and it was only slightly fun. We had to listen to a song and guess which advertisement it was in. For the next game, the team leaders have to pick two guys from their teams and ours, Eliza, picked Jeremy and me. So we got onto stage, and the other team got two guys too. First task? Choose a female partner. All of us got the MC to choose for us, and I got Kelly as my partner after everyone at her table shouted her name.The name of the game was “Make a Music Video”. There was supposed to a Chinese one, an English song, a Malay one, and a Hindi ‘video’. I did the Chinese one first, then the Malay and the English one, and then Jeremy had to do the Hindi one, which was the most tiring. So everybody agreed his was the best and all of us got our prizes and we went off.

Next game involved less people, with a pair from each team. One of them would control the other’s actions like a puppet, and their team would have to guess what it was. Then the next one had two guys and a girl from each team and then doing this dance routine. He was supposed to say which one and then the person would have to do it.

Hidayah’s group sang a song, and Abu sang “When You Say Nothing At All” while Adrian plays the guitar. It was really nice.

The last game was called “Kung-Fu Fighting”, and as the name suggests, the song was played and when he pointed to one side it would have to shout “Hah!” or “Hiah!”
When the games were over we had to choose Mr. and Miss Downtown Coolsville. In the end Mahes was Mr. Cool with his full-length coat that reminded me of The Matrix, and Miss Cool was a girl I don’t know wearing retro stuff.

So in the end went around hugging each other, and Ruo Ying cried. I told her not to, but she went on anyway. Joseph and me sandwiched Mr. Junus, and us three group hugged Mr. Wong. When the hugging was done, everyone took photos outside, and some left, while some stayed for the dancing later.

I joined the others there, mostly Malays, and danced. I stopped a few times, and went out a few times to catch my breath and to do other stuff. I went out to Raffles City to meet some girls, and went down to CHIJMES to look around. I took a picture of the Christmas tree displayed there with my phone, and we decided to move back to the hotel because we had nothing to do.
I resumed dancing with the guys, and more girls this time. The songs got slower as time passed, and I played the role of the lone dancer. I sat at the side, as I looked at all the couples, dancing slowly to the music... Jealousy creeps into you sometimes. Unfortunately, I could do nothing about it, but maybe because I chose that. It doesn’t matter now. When the final song had been played at 1 AM, all of us left, and said our final goodbyes.

- Intermission -
This is what happened in between the two events, but I’m writing it down anyway.

We watched the last of the girls leave, and then went up to our room. I only took off my shirt, and slept in my pants. I only tried to sleep, when seven guys came looking for us in our room. They offered to share the room for a price, and we accepted, because we would pay less in the end.

They left only after a while, and came back later with food. We watched soccer as a few of them tried to sleep, and when it finished, they left for the first train home except Kok Siang and Roy, who were already asleep. When they left, I slept.

I woke up later at about 10, and all of them were up already. We took turns for a shower, packed our stuff, and checked out. We had brunch at the hawker center behind the hotel, and took the bus back to Woodlands. I was sleeping on the way there, so I don’t remember much.

We split when we got to Woodlands, and the three of us took another bus to my place. We dropped our stuff, and decided on our last movie this year, so we looked for more people to join us. In the end, we got Ruo Ying and Hui Xin, and watched Shark Tale together. The movie was good, but The Incredibles was better.

We came back together again, and Krishanth left. I registered for the CI first, and then I went for a shower, and then Joseph did. My tickets for Incomparable to Jay were still untaken, and we were frantically searching for people to join us.

Joseph got Joanna and Caryn, and we went out, feeling that our job is done. Then they told him they couldn’t come, so we went in search again. We gave our last tries on the train there, and I got Jing Wei, and Joseph got Priscilla, and whew, we got all the tickets taken.

We met at City Hall MRT Station, a rather odd group. Joseph, Jing Wei, Priscilla, my mom, my sister and me. We had dinner at Burger King, and went to take a bus to the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The bus took a long time to arrive, and almost everyone at the stop was waiting for it. And guess what? It was packed. We took the next bus that could also take us there, but further, and alighted with some people at a stop.

We were certain we were lost and a long way from the stadium, so we took a cab there anyway. We met a couple, and offered to share a cab. So Jing Wei and me shared a cab with them, and the other four took another one. We met at the entrance, and arranged to meet there after the show.

So my sis and me went in from the North Entrance, where our tickets said we should go, and went in. We saw a stand selling Incomparable to Jay merchandise, and since we were quite short on cash we bought a handphone strap each. We went in and looked for our seats, and found it after a little difficulty. And after some waiting, the show finally started.

- The Incomparable to Jay World Tour 2004 -
(Some Song Title Translations are from http://multistars.com/jaychoustudio/translations.html)

After introductions and credits, the stadium broke into screams when the opening of “In The Name Of The Father” played. As the singing started, it showed Jay Chou standing on a cross-shaped platform that’s slowly lowered onto the stage, and he danced as he sang with the other dancers. Then, he went on to another fast song, “War Stopping Casualties”.

He sang a slower song next, titled “Her Eyelashes”, followed by “You Can Hear It”. The next song was older, titled “Snail”. Originally it wasn’t his, but he added it into his Fantasy Plus album from a concert at that time.

He continued with the chorus of “Terraced Field”, with some parts of “Dad I Have Come Back” and new lyrics added in its tune. Next was “Garden Party”, followed by “General” and then “Chaotic Dance Of The Spring And Autumn” with added parts of the “Her Her Ha Hee” from “Nunchuks”.

The next item was from a DJ and a drummer, and mixed disc scratching and fast beats from the drums in a very nice performance.

Jay reappeared with two guitarists, and performed “Go Back To The Past” and “The Final Battle”. Then, Ju Pao (translated as Giant Cannon) and Gary of Jay’s pals Nan Quan Mama took over the guitars, and sang “Clear Stars” and “Don’t Leave Me If You Love Me” (not one of Jay’s songs), with Jay.

The duo left, and Jay started on the best-ranked song currently here, “Excuse”.

Jay left momentarily to give way to Nan Quan Mama as they sang “Vanilla Ice Cream”, and reappeared when they sang “When We Were Young”.

Jay left the stage again, and rose on a platform with a piano that was going to be around for a long time, and sang “Fine Day”, “Tornado” and “Run Aground” as he played. When he finished, he invited yet another member of Nan Quan Mama, Yu Hao, for a special piano performance. They broke into fast pieces, and finally, sat and played together in the fastest thing played on a piano I’ve ever heard. After all, it was played with four hands.

Jay resumed singing, starting with “Silence”, as Yu Hao played the tune, and then his version of Faye Wong’s “Red Bean”. Yu Hao left the stage with the piano, and Jay sang Landy Wen’s “Happy Birthday”. Mid-song, he left the stage on a descending platform and Landy appeared, and continued the song. She then danced to one of her high tempo songs.

After Landy had left and a long wait, Jay came out and performed “Double Blade” with some of the “He He Ha Hee” of “Nunchuks” added in it, and then another rapping song, “Dragon Fist”.

The last remaining member of Nan Quan Mama, Dan Tou or “Bullet Head” appeared again, and sang Jay’s “Black Humour” with him. When it was done, Dan Tou left and Jay went on to one his most popular songs of all time, “Simple Love”.

When that was done, we were made to wait for a very long time, and after several rounds of shouting “Jie Lun” (his Chinese name), he appeared with a flute, and performed a Jacky Cheung song.

When he was done, he performed yet another popular song here, “East Wind Breaks”. Then he continued to an upbeat song, “Grandpa’s Tea”, and disappeared into an even longer wait. This time, though, the drummer led us to a chant of “Zhou, Jie, Lun”, and got faster each time, until we heard the introduction of “Cannot Speak”, a song from his second album.

The concert ended with “Common Orange Jasmine”, a song from his newest album of the same name.

- End -

We left the stadium after we bought wristbands, and left for a bus. When to got our destination, we got onto Priscilla’s car, and got a lift back home.

***

Statistics:

3 songs from Jay: Black Humour, Clear Stars, and Tornado.
4 songs from Fantasy: Dad I Have Come Back, Simple Love, Cannot Speak, and Silence.
4 songs from Eight Dimensions: Dragon Fist, Grandpa’s Tea, Go Back To The Past, and The Final Battle.
7 songs from Ye Hui Mei: In The Name Of The Father, Fine Day, East Wind Breaks, You Can Hear It, Her Eyelashes, Terraced Field and Double Blade.
7 songs from Common Orange Jasmine: Common Orange Jasmine, Excuse, General, Run Aground, Chaotic Dance Of The Spring And Autumn, Garden Party and War Stopping Casualties.
4 songs from others: Snail, Don’t Leave If You Love Me and Red Bean.
2 songs from Nan Quan Mama: Vanilla Ice Cream and When We Were Young.
2 songs from Landy Wen: Happy Birthday and (unknown)

Total: 33

Time: Approx. 3 hours.

Rating: 5/5