Post by MYR Admin on Sept 16, 2007 17:03:50 GMT 7
The most peculiar day of my life: Michelle in Person
Prologue
Under the motivation of Breadgirl (according to her we must pen down our feelings right now before we lose them), even though I feel like fainting onto the tempting mattress of my room, I still chose to sit before the flickering yellowish ray of my hotel desk lamp and start scribbling whatever flashes through my numb brain now¡
By this time, it is already twenty to midnight, and I¡¯ve showered, settled into my pajamas, ate my dinner (a pitiful egg sandwich) and then my medicine (probably the reason I¡¯m so groggy now). Have also smsed Breadgirl to see if she¡¯s safely reached home, but still no reply¡
Before the journey
Because of my work placement in the past few days, I¡¯ve been traveling east, north and west of Malaysia ¨C by land transport, bus to be exact ¨C the means of transport I hate most. By Thursday night while I was still in far north, Ipoh, I came down with fever and flu and cough, and my condition worsened on Friday as I was still traveling with no time to rest. On Friday evening I finally was too sick to move a muscle so I rested the rest of the day away. I thought I will no longer be able to travel south to see Michelle, but remembering the autographs I promised some fans, I pressured myself to get better but the effect rebounded. In short, I was so sick, my mum did not want to let me go until I see a doctor, so half an hour before meeting Breadgirl, she dragged me to the nearest clinic. My handphone malfunctioned at that critical moment, and I panicked because I knew I was late and was afraid Breadgirl would contact me. Luckily I exchanged handphone with my mum and immediately got Breadgirl¡¯s SMS saying she has arrived (while I was still on LRT). The erroneous LRT ticket did not help since I was stuck behind the turnstiles until the guard allowed me to pass manually after checking my ticket.
Meeting Breadgirl
This must be the first time I¡¯m meeting someone I know online, seeing how my parents have always said it is dangerous etc. etc. We promised to meet at Mc Donald, KL Sentral. Coincidentally, Breadgirl was the first person I locked my sight on when I rushed towards Mc D. It was her grim and straight face that caught my attention. I was thinking, wow, this person looks so serious, she couldn¡¯t be here to meet Michelle, could she? I looked around but no one seemed apparent so I took my handphone to call Breadgirl when I remembered that Breadgirl said she would wear Michelle¡¯s t-shirt. So I checked that serious girl again (she¡¯s the only girl wearing a causal shirt there, others were in blouses / etc) and noticed her sleeves printed with www.michelleye.cn. So I walked up to her to introduce myself. I noticed Breadgirl looking at me and away again, haha, it¡¯s so funny because I¡¯ve already recognized her and she still have no idea that I¡¯m the other fan so, she¡¯s probably wondering why I was walking towards her¡
We started conversing in English, maybe because I usually instinctively chat with someone I barely know in English because I am not sure which language they prefer. Breadgirl and I fell in pace immediately while exchanging introductions of ourselves. Later, I asked her if she prefers speaking in Mandarin, and we were soon chatting away like old friends in Mandarin. We didn¡¯t need further icebreaking, Breadgirl is a girl really sweet and easy to chat with. I got to know that she¡¯s taking Mass Communication for her college, so I thought silently to myself, I¡¯m in luck (I assume Mass Comm students more outspoken), for although I may appear quite ¡®talkative¡¯ online, but I usually have problem speaking aloud in real life, esp with strangers. With Breadgirl here, I needn¡¯t worry about leading conversations / talking to staffs of the event / Michelle later. How wrong I was, because later I was the one doing all the talking & negotiations with the staffs (she said she will only talk when she¡¯s alone, since I¡¯m with her, she is not ¡®forced¡¯ to talk) Strangely I do not feel any of these while talking to Breadgirl, maybe because we both share the same passion for Michelle.
The Journey
The hot and heaty and crowded and long train ride from KL Sentral to Seremban was not very enjoyable, especially when both of us did not get any seats initially. Gradually the passengers got down at every station (Seremban is the last station), so we found ourselves seats. We began exchanging what items we had brought for Michelle along the way. Only then did poor Breadgirl realized that her water bottle which spilt earlier on had drenched her entire album of Michelle¡¯s photos. Fortunately, most of her photos are waterproof, so little damage was done. I discovered Breadgirl is a brilliant member who have won many prizes from Michelle¡¯s websites before. She was generous enough to allow me borrow home the VCD she won from Ray Mic Nebula website. Meanwhile, she began speed reading my copy of Michelle¡¯s autobiography, because her order... had some postage problems. At the Seremban station, we took the chance to take a break. Breadgirl ate her breakfast + lunch, while I gulped down two bottles of water due to the heat, plus my fever was killing me slowly. Then we asked a guard nearby for directions to get to the destination. It was definitely out of walking distance so we took a taxi (who ate our money) there.
Arriving there, I sensed Breadgirl¡¯s facial expression distorting away. Little did I know that she had no idea that Hang Heung¡¯s Kitchen is located in a high class golf club. She began worrying a lot about her dresscode (which was sporty look, Michelle¡¯s shirt + khakis), but I assured her it¡¯s alright since people do dress like her to come play golf as well.
The Shock
We stepped into the place which was quite empty except for a staffs who were fixing the place up for the event. There was a notice there saying all the facilities will be closed from 12 noon onwards for an event none other than the one Michelle was attending. I began to worry as it sounds as though it was an exclusive private event which does not welcome outsiders¡ Furthermore, we got to know the event won¡¯t start at 5pm as we had expected, but only begin at 7 at night! After collecting our courage for a few minutes, we asked the receptionist for more details when she directed us to her manager. I thought we were sure to be ignored by the manager, but she turned out too nice to be true. She took us to see the person in charge (the organizer), who would not agree to let us in unless we pay RM50 each! Furthermore, we were only allowed to stand on the first floor, nowhere near the stage / VIP dining location. Even if my camera had super mega zoom-in function, I probably could only take ant-size pictures of Michelle. The shock came to us so suddenly, that our minds were blank. We were not willing to give up at this point, having traveled half the peninsular to meet Michelle, yet we did not think we would ever get our RM50 worth because first we had to leave early to reach back home at 10pm and secondly it was out of Breadgirl¡¯s budget. We were so blank that we SMSed TnJerry telling her our situation and asking for advise ¨C which was to sneak into the venue from backstage. If only she had the clear image of what she was speaking, I bet she would laugh at her own words as well. The stage was located before a 400m swimming pool, and around it were the dining tables. There was no way any sneaking could be done. Breadgirl kept complaining her bright red Michelle shirt was not going to make anything easier for us since it seems to be very eye-catching. (At this point, I decided it was time to surrender to retire to bed¡)
(Feeling so much better this morning after a good night¡¯s sleep¡)
I really wouldn¡¯t mind paying RM50 if it guaranteed that we could meet Michelle, but the problem was we both had to get home by 10pm. At that rate, we had to leave the golf club latest by 7pm, which is when the event just started!
Thus, we sat at the sofa nearby the reception doing the one and only thing we could do ¨C wait. The weather was hot and humid. I don¡¯t know about Breadgirl, but I definitely was feeling sicker than ever. Breadgirl however claimed that I looked quite energetic.
I must also add, that I came to meet Michelle with only my Mum¡¯s permission, my dad had no idea where I was going, while Breadgirl only told her parents that she was out for some business. During our taxi ride, she got a call from her dad asking of her whereabouts, haha it was an awkward call I can tell, because she told her father she¡¯s going to see someone, and was stuck for words when her father insisted further. Little did I know, I said the exact same words when my father called while we were waiting on the sofa.
The Very Peculiar Wait
Breadgirl continued speed reading Michelle¡¯s autobiography to pass time, while I was left with nothing to do. Breadgirl advised me to ¡®look¡¯ busy with my handphone so that we won¡¯t attract anyone¡¯s attention.
Now, sitting there from 2:30pm, to 7pm attracted quite a few people to come over asking what our business was.
If I¡¯m not mistaken, the first person who came to ask us was the wife of the club owner. She actually asked us if we were performers, we denied right away, mumbling nervously that we were just waiting for someone. She probably couldn¡¯t catch what we were saying and left us alone, looking quite confused. Breadgirl and I were so relieved that she did not kick us out! I don¡¯t know about Breadgirl, but both my legs (although we were seated) actually froze with fear when she was questioning us. I could only feel my legs again when she left. We heaved a sigh of relief and decided we should give vague answers from now on because it seemed to allow us to stay. It may be due to our attire (mine official wear, Breadgirl reporter-like wear). Then we decided that Breadgirl might just as well be Michelle¡¯s staff from HK, but Breadgirl insisted that her Cantonese was too local to deceive anyone. Instead, she settled for Mainland accent, to be China staff / reporter. I was supposedly to be a Malay to English translator¡
However, I think both of us are really truthful kids who have a problem with lying. So when the next person came asking again, I couldn¡¯t even finish my sentence. Then I gave eye signal to Breadgirl to ask her to use her Mainland accent to reply to the lady, but she obviously was too nervous and forgot. She replied in local accent saying we were waiting for Michelle ¨C so promptly and directly that I thought she would know we are fans right away. I was waiting for her to tell us to get out when she instead invited us to the bar (I guess she too thought that we were Michelle¡¯s staffs as well) ¨C probably a much more comfortable and cooler place to wait in. I was still too nervous to talk but Breadgirl told her we were alright where we were. Frankly we were afraid that pub would be full of other reporters / staffs who would immediately recognize that we are not one of them immediately.
Notice up to now, we¡¯ve never lied, if anything, we were in fact telling them the direct truth, but these people seem to misunderstand that we are staffs, maybe because we arrived very early, before the place was sealed for privacy. Soon the security began sealing the surroundings for privacy and we were quite relieved to be sealed inside with all of them. Breadgirl decided Mainland accent was too tiring / to hard for her to remember using it so we decided we should be trainee reporters from her college (she has had experience with that). However, it seems whatever plans / roles we made up for ourselves were never used when anyone came up to question us because we would again be too nervous to remember anything. We will always end up telling the truth.
The whole wait was very disturbing as we had to somehow keep watching out for Michelle¡¯s appearance while keeping ourselves as low profile as possible, invisible if possible!
When the Dato, also the owner of the club came asking us again, we again told him we were waiting for Michelle. He asked if we are here to interview her, but we said we are just waiting for her just to ask her a few questions (we wanted to ask about her new movie), if she rejects, we won¡¯t bother her. He asked if we are local, and we said yes. Maybe it was the way we answer which misled him to thinking that we were reporters, and then asked which newspaper were we from. We immediately told him we were not reporters, and he too walked away looking as confused as his wife. Now that I recall, it seemed quite rude of us to be conversing to a Dato without standing up to greet him by his title, we were in fact seated while talking to him (he was standing). Don¡¯t blame us, whenever anyone approached us, we basically freeze from head to toe with fear.
Anyway, Breadgirl decided it was too dangerous for us if anyone approach us anymore so she said we should ¡®appear¡¯ busy and look as though we are as occupied as other staffs. She said then people would think twice before approaching us. She said even if we¡¯re not talking we should point our hands here and there (at the props and stage and balloons) to appear as though we¡¯re discussing about the event. Basically, the only people who knew of our true identity as Michelle¡¯s fans were the guy who heads the organizers team and the club manager (the really nice lady, she is so nice she kept asking if we¡¯re hungry, want to order Mc Donald¡¯s haha¡) The first was too busy to notice we have yet left, while the second was too nice to spill on us. She even promised to let us know when Michelle arrived (we thought Michelle would arrive early for makeup like the other celebrities).
I must clarify that there are 2 parties holding this event, one was of course Hang Heung¡¯s Kitchen as the organizer, and the other was the 1388 Country Club in charge of the logistics. Both these parties were having conflicts in agreement. 1388 CC basically welcomes anyone with open arms, for them, the more the merrier, but HHK had better ideas, that this was event for the invited and exclusives only. However, 1388 CC won over HHK as they were Dato and Datin (for those who don¡¯t know, Dato & Datin are honorable titles given to highly reputable individuals in Malaysia). They also claimed that they were the rightful owner of the place, and reminded HHK that they have yet signed any contract with them and that they reserve the right to pull back the contract offer anytime if HHK don¡¯t abide to them. So basically while 1388 CC were fighting for the rights for reporters to stay, they were also indirectly fighting for rights for us to stay without paying RM50.
Michelle¡¯s arrival
Okay, so finally the most important part event arrived when the lion dance started drumming away announcing the arrival of the celebrities. We rushed to the main lobby but when we only saw the lion dance we thought it was another false alarm (we had quite a few before, Breadgirl even mistook another girl in blue who tied her hair in a ponytail to be Michelle). I thought the lion dance was really nice, so I decided to take a video of it. Before I know it, I saw a delicate lady in lilac afar, I recognized her as Michelle right away. However, I wondered why she was not coming in but standing still at her spot (now that I think of it, she was probably doing some officiating ceremony thing like dotting the head of the lion, either that the lion was blocking her path). Suddenly Lawrence Ng appeared out of nowhere ¨C in the middle of the two lions actually, with his newly wed wife. I focused my video on them. I expected Michelle to be right behind them so I waited for her to descend the stairs (because there was a pillar blocking my view between the entrance from main lobby to the pathway they were to walk, I did not want to return back to the main lobby there in case I missed her while she walk through, behind the pillar to the pathway).
I¡¯m not exaggerating when I say she was walking right beside us (Breadgirl and I) only that she was below at the pool level and we were at a raised slideway beside her. I had the urge to call out to her, because she really was just an arm¡¯s reach away, but then decided against it in case it diverted her attention away from her graceful walk (haha!). Breadgirl later told me she too had the urge to call her so that my video would have the front view of her instead of just side view. She didn¡¯t call as well I forgot for what reason (probably afraid of getting kicked out). I was really happy for it was a really close up video! After waiting for so many hours, and seeing so many guards around, I had never thought we would still be able to see Michelle at such a close distance.
HOWEVER, good things never last. While I was busy following Michelle with my video my sling bag kept slipping down, thus obstructing me from taking a steady video, so Breadgirl offered to help me take my bag (as she was not taking any video / pictures since she didn¡¯t bring camera). In our rush to hand over bags, it was during that moment when the misfortune happened, my camera nearly slipped from my hand and my reflex was to jerk the camera backwards by the camera cord which was strapped around my wrist. That one jerked basically jerked the whole video away. The camera was jammed, and the video was spoilt (due to video recording not ended properly). By the time the camera was functioning again, Michelle was only a tiny dot visible, and soon entered the VIP dining location.
Misfortune continues
Basically that was all we saw of Michelle and it was already half past seven. We knew we had no chance of waiting for her to go onstage. So we called the taxi station, whose operator seemed to think we¡¯re some kind of kids playing pranks and did not want to send a taxi to fetch us! We resorted to asking the receptionist to call a taxi for us. It was only when the taxi arrived we just realized that we haven¡¯t even taking a photo of the big Michelle poster so we hurriedly took it (from inside taxi), but the taxi was moving so¡
I sincerely apologize for not being able to take any photos / video at all for two main reasons (1) Camera problem, (2) We were trying to be as invisible as possible as we fear being kicked out¡
Michelle¡¯s look
Michelle¡¯s makeup and simple hairdo gave her an amazing makeover, a totally new outlook. I must say her makeup was quite heavy, causing her eyes to look a little different, she doesn¡¯t look very Chinese, she looks a little Eurasian¡ In person, she definitely does not look like what the newspaper prints, so much prettier and elegant. She looks different from what I expected, but I say all this from my sideway view only, maybe she still looks like the Michelle I know from front view. Her dress was a flowing lilac ¨C I can¡¯t really remember much about the dress design because I was trying to focus on her eyes to figure out what was making her eyes look different ¨C probably the dark eyeliner¡The first idea that pops in mind is that you¡¯re watching a Barbie doll coming to life.
Aftermath
Although Breadgirl said I was very HC when I saw Michelle, I must honestly say I did not have the ¡®high¡¯ unbelievable feeling as I did when I first saw Raymond, Ron and Charmaine (I¡¯m not even their fan, don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯m not against them, I¡¯m neutral). Maybe, it¡¯s because I¡¯ve read and know so much about Michelle, that she seems more like someone I¡¯ve known for a long time instead of a celebrity. The feelings after seeing her in person:
Happy & glad ¨C I did get to see her despite having to supposedly be kicked out of the venue
Pleasantly surprise ¨C I thought I¡¯ve seen most of Michelle¡¯s appearance be it cute, sexy elegant, but I really had a pleasant surprise when I saw her ¡®Barbie¡¯ look last night¡
Triumphant ¨C that we managed to stay in the venue and even got to see Michelle successfully
Pity ¨C the close up video was spoilt
Altogether, this day spent with Breadgirl is a very peculiar and funny day, we both seem to be spies in Infernal Affairs¡ After knowing we were to be kicked out when the event starts, we didn¡¯t even dare to mention the word ¡®fan¡¯ so we use ¡®little seahorse¡¯ as substitute. I really hope to see Michelle again in October, hopefully my work schedule is a bit more human then. I apologize to all fans I promised autograph, but yeah, you know as spies, we can¡¯t exactly be too attention attracting. I¡¯m definitely glad to have known Breadgirl from this outing, hope to see you again in future & hopefully our situation is a much better one in future. I have tried my best to rescue the damaged video but it seemed beyond rescue, unless there are some IT experts out there who are willing to give it a try¡ Then again, don¡¯t hold your breath¡
Prologue
Under the motivation of Breadgirl (according to her we must pen down our feelings right now before we lose them), even though I feel like fainting onto the tempting mattress of my room, I still chose to sit before the flickering yellowish ray of my hotel desk lamp and start scribbling whatever flashes through my numb brain now¡
By this time, it is already twenty to midnight, and I¡¯ve showered, settled into my pajamas, ate my dinner (a pitiful egg sandwich) and then my medicine (probably the reason I¡¯m so groggy now). Have also smsed Breadgirl to see if she¡¯s safely reached home, but still no reply¡
Before the journey
Because of my work placement in the past few days, I¡¯ve been traveling east, north and west of Malaysia ¨C by land transport, bus to be exact ¨C the means of transport I hate most. By Thursday night while I was still in far north, Ipoh, I came down with fever and flu and cough, and my condition worsened on Friday as I was still traveling with no time to rest. On Friday evening I finally was too sick to move a muscle so I rested the rest of the day away. I thought I will no longer be able to travel south to see Michelle, but remembering the autographs I promised some fans, I pressured myself to get better but the effect rebounded. In short, I was so sick, my mum did not want to let me go until I see a doctor, so half an hour before meeting Breadgirl, she dragged me to the nearest clinic. My handphone malfunctioned at that critical moment, and I panicked because I knew I was late and was afraid Breadgirl would contact me. Luckily I exchanged handphone with my mum and immediately got Breadgirl¡¯s SMS saying she has arrived (while I was still on LRT). The erroneous LRT ticket did not help since I was stuck behind the turnstiles until the guard allowed me to pass manually after checking my ticket.
Meeting Breadgirl
This must be the first time I¡¯m meeting someone I know online, seeing how my parents have always said it is dangerous etc. etc. We promised to meet at Mc Donald, KL Sentral. Coincidentally, Breadgirl was the first person I locked my sight on when I rushed towards Mc D. It was her grim and straight face that caught my attention. I was thinking, wow, this person looks so serious, she couldn¡¯t be here to meet Michelle, could she? I looked around but no one seemed apparent so I took my handphone to call Breadgirl when I remembered that Breadgirl said she would wear Michelle¡¯s t-shirt. So I checked that serious girl again (she¡¯s the only girl wearing a causal shirt there, others were in blouses / etc) and noticed her sleeves printed with www.michelleye.cn. So I walked up to her to introduce myself. I noticed Breadgirl looking at me and away again, haha, it¡¯s so funny because I¡¯ve already recognized her and she still have no idea that I¡¯m the other fan so, she¡¯s probably wondering why I was walking towards her¡
We started conversing in English, maybe because I usually instinctively chat with someone I barely know in English because I am not sure which language they prefer. Breadgirl and I fell in pace immediately while exchanging introductions of ourselves. Later, I asked her if she prefers speaking in Mandarin, and we were soon chatting away like old friends in Mandarin. We didn¡¯t need further icebreaking, Breadgirl is a girl really sweet and easy to chat with. I got to know that she¡¯s taking Mass Communication for her college, so I thought silently to myself, I¡¯m in luck (I assume Mass Comm students more outspoken), for although I may appear quite ¡®talkative¡¯ online, but I usually have problem speaking aloud in real life, esp with strangers. With Breadgirl here, I needn¡¯t worry about leading conversations / talking to staffs of the event / Michelle later. How wrong I was, because later I was the one doing all the talking & negotiations with the staffs (she said she will only talk when she¡¯s alone, since I¡¯m with her, she is not ¡®forced¡¯ to talk) Strangely I do not feel any of these while talking to Breadgirl, maybe because we both share the same passion for Michelle.
The Journey
The hot and heaty and crowded and long train ride from KL Sentral to Seremban was not very enjoyable, especially when both of us did not get any seats initially. Gradually the passengers got down at every station (Seremban is the last station), so we found ourselves seats. We began exchanging what items we had brought for Michelle along the way. Only then did poor Breadgirl realized that her water bottle which spilt earlier on had drenched her entire album of Michelle¡¯s photos. Fortunately, most of her photos are waterproof, so little damage was done. I discovered Breadgirl is a brilliant member who have won many prizes from Michelle¡¯s websites before. She was generous enough to allow me borrow home the VCD she won from Ray Mic Nebula website. Meanwhile, she began speed reading my copy of Michelle¡¯s autobiography, because her order... had some postage problems. At the Seremban station, we took the chance to take a break. Breadgirl ate her breakfast + lunch, while I gulped down two bottles of water due to the heat, plus my fever was killing me slowly. Then we asked a guard nearby for directions to get to the destination. It was definitely out of walking distance so we took a taxi (who ate our money) there.
Arriving there, I sensed Breadgirl¡¯s facial expression distorting away. Little did I know that she had no idea that Hang Heung¡¯s Kitchen is located in a high class golf club. She began worrying a lot about her dresscode (which was sporty look, Michelle¡¯s shirt + khakis), but I assured her it¡¯s alright since people do dress like her to come play golf as well.
The Shock
We stepped into the place which was quite empty except for a staffs who were fixing the place up for the event. There was a notice there saying all the facilities will be closed from 12 noon onwards for an event none other than the one Michelle was attending. I began to worry as it sounds as though it was an exclusive private event which does not welcome outsiders¡ Furthermore, we got to know the event won¡¯t start at 5pm as we had expected, but only begin at 7 at night! After collecting our courage for a few minutes, we asked the receptionist for more details when she directed us to her manager. I thought we were sure to be ignored by the manager, but she turned out too nice to be true. She took us to see the person in charge (the organizer), who would not agree to let us in unless we pay RM50 each! Furthermore, we were only allowed to stand on the first floor, nowhere near the stage / VIP dining location. Even if my camera had super mega zoom-in function, I probably could only take ant-size pictures of Michelle. The shock came to us so suddenly, that our minds were blank. We were not willing to give up at this point, having traveled half the peninsular to meet Michelle, yet we did not think we would ever get our RM50 worth because first we had to leave early to reach back home at 10pm and secondly it was out of Breadgirl¡¯s budget. We were so blank that we SMSed TnJerry telling her our situation and asking for advise ¨C which was to sneak into the venue from backstage. If only she had the clear image of what she was speaking, I bet she would laugh at her own words as well. The stage was located before a 400m swimming pool, and around it were the dining tables. There was no way any sneaking could be done. Breadgirl kept complaining her bright red Michelle shirt was not going to make anything easier for us since it seems to be very eye-catching. (At this point, I decided it was time to surrender to retire to bed¡)
(Feeling so much better this morning after a good night¡¯s sleep¡)
I really wouldn¡¯t mind paying RM50 if it guaranteed that we could meet Michelle, but the problem was we both had to get home by 10pm. At that rate, we had to leave the golf club latest by 7pm, which is when the event just started!
Thus, we sat at the sofa nearby the reception doing the one and only thing we could do ¨C wait. The weather was hot and humid. I don¡¯t know about Breadgirl, but I definitely was feeling sicker than ever. Breadgirl however claimed that I looked quite energetic.
I must also add, that I came to meet Michelle with only my Mum¡¯s permission, my dad had no idea where I was going, while Breadgirl only told her parents that she was out for some business. During our taxi ride, she got a call from her dad asking of her whereabouts, haha it was an awkward call I can tell, because she told her father she¡¯s going to see someone, and was stuck for words when her father insisted further. Little did I know, I said the exact same words when my father called while we were waiting on the sofa.
The Very Peculiar Wait
Breadgirl continued speed reading Michelle¡¯s autobiography to pass time, while I was left with nothing to do. Breadgirl advised me to ¡®look¡¯ busy with my handphone so that we won¡¯t attract anyone¡¯s attention.
Now, sitting there from 2:30pm, to 7pm attracted quite a few people to come over asking what our business was.
If I¡¯m not mistaken, the first person who came to ask us was the wife of the club owner. She actually asked us if we were performers, we denied right away, mumbling nervously that we were just waiting for someone. She probably couldn¡¯t catch what we were saying and left us alone, looking quite confused. Breadgirl and I were so relieved that she did not kick us out! I don¡¯t know about Breadgirl, but both my legs (although we were seated) actually froze with fear when she was questioning us. I could only feel my legs again when she left. We heaved a sigh of relief and decided we should give vague answers from now on because it seemed to allow us to stay. It may be due to our attire (mine official wear, Breadgirl reporter-like wear). Then we decided that Breadgirl might just as well be Michelle¡¯s staff from HK, but Breadgirl insisted that her Cantonese was too local to deceive anyone. Instead, she settled for Mainland accent, to be China staff / reporter. I was supposedly to be a Malay to English translator¡
However, I think both of us are really truthful kids who have a problem with lying. So when the next person came asking again, I couldn¡¯t even finish my sentence. Then I gave eye signal to Breadgirl to ask her to use her Mainland accent to reply to the lady, but she obviously was too nervous and forgot. She replied in local accent saying we were waiting for Michelle ¨C so promptly and directly that I thought she would know we are fans right away. I was waiting for her to tell us to get out when she instead invited us to the bar (I guess she too thought that we were Michelle¡¯s staffs as well) ¨C probably a much more comfortable and cooler place to wait in. I was still too nervous to talk but Breadgirl told her we were alright where we were. Frankly we were afraid that pub would be full of other reporters / staffs who would immediately recognize that we are not one of them immediately.
Notice up to now, we¡¯ve never lied, if anything, we were in fact telling them the direct truth, but these people seem to misunderstand that we are staffs, maybe because we arrived very early, before the place was sealed for privacy. Soon the security began sealing the surroundings for privacy and we were quite relieved to be sealed inside with all of them. Breadgirl decided Mainland accent was too tiring / to hard for her to remember using it so we decided we should be trainee reporters from her college (she has had experience with that). However, it seems whatever plans / roles we made up for ourselves were never used when anyone came up to question us because we would again be too nervous to remember anything. We will always end up telling the truth.
The whole wait was very disturbing as we had to somehow keep watching out for Michelle¡¯s appearance while keeping ourselves as low profile as possible, invisible if possible!
When the Dato, also the owner of the club came asking us again, we again told him we were waiting for Michelle. He asked if we are here to interview her, but we said we are just waiting for her just to ask her a few questions (we wanted to ask about her new movie), if she rejects, we won¡¯t bother her. He asked if we are local, and we said yes. Maybe it was the way we answer which misled him to thinking that we were reporters, and then asked which newspaper were we from. We immediately told him we were not reporters, and he too walked away looking as confused as his wife. Now that I recall, it seemed quite rude of us to be conversing to a Dato without standing up to greet him by his title, we were in fact seated while talking to him (he was standing). Don¡¯t blame us, whenever anyone approached us, we basically freeze from head to toe with fear.
Anyway, Breadgirl decided it was too dangerous for us if anyone approach us anymore so she said we should ¡®appear¡¯ busy and look as though we are as occupied as other staffs. She said then people would think twice before approaching us. She said even if we¡¯re not talking we should point our hands here and there (at the props and stage and balloons) to appear as though we¡¯re discussing about the event. Basically, the only people who knew of our true identity as Michelle¡¯s fans were the guy who heads the organizers team and the club manager (the really nice lady, she is so nice she kept asking if we¡¯re hungry, want to order Mc Donald¡¯s haha¡) The first was too busy to notice we have yet left, while the second was too nice to spill on us. She even promised to let us know when Michelle arrived (we thought Michelle would arrive early for makeup like the other celebrities).
I must clarify that there are 2 parties holding this event, one was of course Hang Heung¡¯s Kitchen as the organizer, and the other was the 1388 Country Club in charge of the logistics. Both these parties were having conflicts in agreement. 1388 CC basically welcomes anyone with open arms, for them, the more the merrier, but HHK had better ideas, that this was event for the invited and exclusives only. However, 1388 CC won over HHK as they were Dato and Datin (for those who don¡¯t know, Dato & Datin are honorable titles given to highly reputable individuals in Malaysia). They also claimed that they were the rightful owner of the place, and reminded HHK that they have yet signed any contract with them and that they reserve the right to pull back the contract offer anytime if HHK don¡¯t abide to them. So basically while 1388 CC were fighting for the rights for reporters to stay, they were also indirectly fighting for rights for us to stay without paying RM50.
Michelle¡¯s arrival
Okay, so finally the most important part event arrived when the lion dance started drumming away announcing the arrival of the celebrities. We rushed to the main lobby but when we only saw the lion dance we thought it was another false alarm (we had quite a few before, Breadgirl even mistook another girl in blue who tied her hair in a ponytail to be Michelle). I thought the lion dance was really nice, so I decided to take a video of it. Before I know it, I saw a delicate lady in lilac afar, I recognized her as Michelle right away. However, I wondered why she was not coming in but standing still at her spot (now that I think of it, she was probably doing some officiating ceremony thing like dotting the head of the lion, either that the lion was blocking her path). Suddenly Lawrence Ng appeared out of nowhere ¨C in the middle of the two lions actually, with his newly wed wife. I focused my video on them. I expected Michelle to be right behind them so I waited for her to descend the stairs (because there was a pillar blocking my view between the entrance from main lobby to the pathway they were to walk, I did not want to return back to the main lobby there in case I missed her while she walk through, behind the pillar to the pathway).
I¡¯m not exaggerating when I say she was walking right beside us (Breadgirl and I) only that she was below at the pool level and we were at a raised slideway beside her. I had the urge to call out to her, because she really was just an arm¡¯s reach away, but then decided against it in case it diverted her attention away from her graceful walk (haha!). Breadgirl later told me she too had the urge to call her so that my video would have the front view of her instead of just side view. She didn¡¯t call as well I forgot for what reason (probably afraid of getting kicked out). I was really happy for it was a really close up video! After waiting for so many hours, and seeing so many guards around, I had never thought we would still be able to see Michelle at such a close distance.
HOWEVER, good things never last. While I was busy following Michelle with my video my sling bag kept slipping down, thus obstructing me from taking a steady video, so Breadgirl offered to help me take my bag (as she was not taking any video / pictures since she didn¡¯t bring camera). In our rush to hand over bags, it was during that moment when the misfortune happened, my camera nearly slipped from my hand and my reflex was to jerk the camera backwards by the camera cord which was strapped around my wrist. That one jerked basically jerked the whole video away. The camera was jammed, and the video was spoilt (due to video recording not ended properly). By the time the camera was functioning again, Michelle was only a tiny dot visible, and soon entered the VIP dining location.
Misfortune continues
Basically that was all we saw of Michelle and it was already half past seven. We knew we had no chance of waiting for her to go onstage. So we called the taxi station, whose operator seemed to think we¡¯re some kind of kids playing pranks and did not want to send a taxi to fetch us! We resorted to asking the receptionist to call a taxi for us. It was only when the taxi arrived we just realized that we haven¡¯t even taking a photo of the big Michelle poster so we hurriedly took it (from inside taxi), but the taxi was moving so¡
I sincerely apologize for not being able to take any photos / video at all for two main reasons (1) Camera problem, (2) We were trying to be as invisible as possible as we fear being kicked out¡
Michelle¡¯s look
Michelle¡¯s makeup and simple hairdo gave her an amazing makeover, a totally new outlook. I must say her makeup was quite heavy, causing her eyes to look a little different, she doesn¡¯t look very Chinese, she looks a little Eurasian¡ In person, she definitely does not look like what the newspaper prints, so much prettier and elegant. She looks different from what I expected, but I say all this from my sideway view only, maybe she still looks like the Michelle I know from front view. Her dress was a flowing lilac ¨C I can¡¯t really remember much about the dress design because I was trying to focus on her eyes to figure out what was making her eyes look different ¨C probably the dark eyeliner¡The first idea that pops in mind is that you¡¯re watching a Barbie doll coming to life.
Aftermath
Although Breadgirl said I was very HC when I saw Michelle, I must honestly say I did not have the ¡®high¡¯ unbelievable feeling as I did when I first saw Raymond, Ron and Charmaine (I¡¯m not even their fan, don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯m not against them, I¡¯m neutral). Maybe, it¡¯s because I¡¯ve read and know so much about Michelle, that she seems more like someone I¡¯ve known for a long time instead of a celebrity. The feelings after seeing her in person:
Happy & glad ¨C I did get to see her despite having to supposedly be kicked out of the venue
Pleasantly surprise ¨C I thought I¡¯ve seen most of Michelle¡¯s appearance be it cute, sexy elegant, but I really had a pleasant surprise when I saw her ¡®Barbie¡¯ look last night¡
Triumphant ¨C that we managed to stay in the venue and even got to see Michelle successfully
Pity ¨C the close up video was spoilt
Altogether, this day spent with Breadgirl is a very peculiar and funny day, we both seem to be spies in Infernal Affairs¡ After knowing we were to be kicked out when the event starts, we didn¡¯t even dare to mention the word ¡®fan¡¯ so we use ¡®little seahorse¡¯ as substitute. I really hope to see Michelle again in October, hopefully my work schedule is a bit more human then. I apologize to all fans I promised autograph, but yeah, you know as spies, we can¡¯t exactly be too attention attracting. I¡¯m definitely glad to have known Breadgirl from this outing, hope to see you again in future & hopefully our situation is a much better one in future. I have tried my best to rescue the damaged video but it seemed beyond rescue, unless there are some IT experts out there who are willing to give it a try¡ Then again, don¡¯t hold your breath¡
