Here I am again. Still recuperating from extreme fatigue of the 6-hour journey from Penang. Wait a sec. I shall include the other 6 hours travel from Bangi to Penang. That makes it 12 hours! Ni kali la!
Some of you might be wondering. What is this journey I speak of? Well, I'm talking about my journey to USM Penang to attend the annual event called Malam Citra Bayu. It was an event organised by Perkumpulan Siswa Siswi Sabah (PERSIS) of USM. In UKM, we called it Persatuan Mahasiswa Sabah (PERMIS). The main highlight of the event was the inter-varsity dance competition in which it showcased the variety of dances of the Sabahans.
I was not part of the dancing team even though I was asked to join the male dancers for several times *wink*. I was there to support them. Yes. As a supporter.
The journey to USM commenced on the 5th March around 12 midnight. We use the UKM bus and I was told that this time around we were lucky enough to get a bus from the university. Unlike the previous years, the team had to arrange their own transportation i.e. rent a bus from outside the campus. Sad but true. Anyway, since the journey was during midnight, there was nothing much to be seen throughout the journey. Most of the time, I slept, Facebook-ing and Tweeting through my iPhone. The bus stopped for half an hour at Tapah R&R and I went down and grab myself a cup of teh tarik. Then, the journey continued again.
We finally arrived at USM around 6.30 in the morning. We could've arrived earlier but the bus driver took the wrong turn. The first thing the whole team did upon arrival was checking-in to the room. We stayed at a residential college called Desasiswa Tekun. I kinda like the concept of the residential college in USM. It looked like an apartment fully equipped with elevators. The room was also much more spacious than the ones in UKM *envy mode*.
I was extremely sleepy because I can't sleep well in the bus. I wasn't able to stretch my legs and the seat can't be reclined to my preferred position! As soon as I entered the room the first thing I did was to charge my phone's battery then I landed myself on the bed. At around 7-something, Carl went to the room and asked for a favour. I was still on sluggish mode at that time and I agreed upon the request. I forced myself to wake up at 8.30 because I was told that the team had to be at the hall for rehearsal. That was the time when I realized about the requested favour. I was asked to help the team with the technical part (i.e. lighting & sound)! Being a complete noob in that particular area, I was lucky enough to be able to collaborate with Chester.
The full rehearsal started around 11 in the morning and mind you, we just arrived approximately 4 hours ago. I was still sleepy but I had no choice than to force myself to focus on the technical aspect. Once the rehearsal session ended, the whole team went for lunch. It was not far. Just outside the campus. We opted for Nasi Kandar since we're in Penang! Then we rushed back to the room to get our stuff.
I won't describe the whole event in detail but one thing for sure, kudos should be given to the organising team as the program was truly a success! The hall was packed with people! Majority of the audience was Sabahan. Some were Sarawakians and people from the Peninsular. I saw few foreign students as well! I was amazed by how they managed to publicized the event. I wonder if UKM could some time in the future organise this kind of event...
Once the event ended and winners were announced, we hopped into the bus and left for UKM. Another 6-hour journey *sigh*. During the journey, everyone in the bus was complaining about the air-cond. Sometime in the middle of the journey, the bus' air-cond started to malfunction and loud noise was heard from the rear side of the bus. After a while, we continued the journey back to campus. This time around the loud noise was completely gone but the air-cond was still not functioning well. I was sweating like a pig! At last, at about 7.30 in the morning, we arrived at UKM. Once I arrived at the hostel, I rushed to shower room and scrub myself. Luckily, I had no class earlier today so I slept till noon.
Nevertheless, I had so much fun in Penang with the whole team! I felt like home for a while.
Oh! Here's the overall result of MCB 2011:
Best costume: UM
Consolations: UUM, UiTM, UPSI, UKM
3rd place: USM
2nd place: UM
1st place: UPM
Team UKM
*photo grabbed from FB ^_^ *
p/s: To the dancers, although UKM didn't place this year, you guys had amazingly performed well on that night. Obviously, the audience was extremely ecstatic with the choreograph. You guys owned the stage and the audience as well!!
