Cheer 2008

Sunday 13th of July was Cheer 2008. It marks my attendance for the 5th (and probably last) time at the national competition in a row to support DJ's beloved red, white & black crew; Dynamitez.

I had initially abandoned my plan to go support them but at 1am 13th July 2008, I was inundated with messages from my old friends asking if I was going. And suddenly it just hit me: Was I really going to miss one of the biggest events on the school calendar? Was I really giving up the chance to scream "Boom Dynamitez!" one last time before we got too old to go anymore? And miss seeing most of my old friends?

The answer at 1.15 am was yes..probably.

But then, I had a dream at night...about Cheer, and somehow I was reminded of all the past Cheers I had attended..the brilliant blazes of colour, the deafening shouts from the supporters, the elation felt whenever we won a placing..and somehow, I just knew I had to go.

Enter Hui Fen, my saviour; who kindly agreed to provide my means of transportation there. Cheers to the girl for not being annoyed at my 11th hour decision!

Well, luckily for me, my mum wasn't too annoyed at my last minute plans.

We left about 12.15 pm and arrived there in the middle of lunch break at 1.20 pm. A sense of deja vu overwhelmed us (Hui Fen, Pei Chen and me) as we entered the stadium, feeling admittedly a little self conscious, almost as if we had *graduated already* and *pre-u students* tags slapped on our foreheads. But when I finally managed to locate the Dynamitez supporters area, we had stopped feeling so out of place. As we hadn't dyed our hair or got any wacky body piercings, we could still pass as Form 4 or 5 students. Luckily, Ming-See, May Wern, and Pei Fang had saved us a couple of seats. When we sat down, everything just seemed so familiar, surreal almost. The usual colours of dark green (Xavier), blue and yellow (Blitzerz), black and gold (Shirtliff) and red (Vulcanz) were still everpresent. Back at our own *territory*, the Dynamite mascot was still walking around and the usual banners and *dynamites* were still being held. While the other two were still inclined to feel a little pai se, I immediately settled into the familiarity of yelling the same old chants along with everyone else again. :) The stadium was ablaze with colour and the stadium almost vibrated with all the screaming and shouting that was going on. It seemed like loads of seniors had turned up: we spotted Grace, Wei Jing, Yong Meng, Ethan, Wei Kit, Seng Tuck, Cassandra, Wen Jo and May Suen as well.

The competition resumed at 2pm with Xavier of Convent Bukit Nanas opening the 2nd half of the show. They were pretty solid, and relatively better than their sister team, Adele. The few teams after them passed in a blur, but then it was time for the Dynamitez to perform. The screaming and cheering from our side of the stadium suddenly intensified, and we yelled ourselves hoarse as they ran out into the centre. At that moment, I swear I could feel everyone's heart beating rapidly in nervousness and anticipation. As defending champions, the pressure was on us to perform well.

My fears were allayed when they started their routine: Their movements were sharp, synchronised and it soon became clear that we were miles above most of the competition. As one, the DJ supporters cheered wildly whenever they executed a stunt perfectly; and the relief was great when they struck that last pose: It was perfect. At least, in our eyes.

After the euphoria had died down, the boredom started to sink in. Somehow, I just didn't have the patience to sit and watch until the results. Been there, done that already. So, along with Wen Jo; the four of us hatched a *daring* plan to ditch Cheer and jack off to KLCC to lepak.

After a weary hour involving LRTs moving in the wrong direction, *jakun-ness* on our part for not really knowing how to use public transport and being hassled and squashed in crowded trains, we finally reached our destination. Nothing too interesting really; just headed to the food court to get a bite. Wen Jo ordered spaghetti bologanaise and waffle, Hui Fen had orange juice, Pei Chen (who had a cough!) had some longan thingy with ice-cream while I satiated my hunger with half a banana waffle. After that, we displayed even more *jakun-ness* by cam-hogging (at my insistence, I must admit!) outside at the park; happily posing in front of the Twin Towers like a bunch of tourists until *disaster* struck and my accursed cam ran out of battery.

As the hour hand was nearing 6 pm, we paid a little trip to TopShop to ogle the clothes and Dunkin Donuts before taking the long, tiring trip back to the Kelana Jaya station. Walking back to the train station in KLCC, we received the bad news that we had obtained second place while Shirtliff had finally dethroned us. It was dissapointing, but it does give us an excuse to go back and see our team wrest back the title from the SBU bumblebees next year. However, it had been a great day out; catching up with my friends and being able to be totally comfortable with people you know quite well already.

If any of you are reading this, remember the next trip is Sunway Pyramid!

Tuesday, 15th July:-
1. I'm running a slight fever
2. I played computer games at Orange Shark and Mind Clip for 1and a 1/2 hours with Jia Ern in the library today instead of reading The Novice (her) and doing homework (me)
3. WHY DID MR. AWANG WANT TO SPLIT OUR ACCOUNTS CLASS??? Mr. Francis is DECENT at best, but not a PATCH on Mr. Awang!!!