oh what a night!

okay. after all the whining i did this week abt nightly rehearsals & dumb costumes, i have to admit it all paid off. we came in... *drumroll* SECOND!!! woohoo! not bad for 4 days worth of work! :)

to bring most of you up to speed - its been a crazy week at work for me cos i. workload is peaking as we prepare for end-year festivities & lotsa events/initiatives for the new year ii. there was a company d&d to prep for & we had rehearsals at lunches & dinners EVERYDAY.

the idea - each dept was allocated a genre of music which we had to prep item - rock, hiphop, country, etc, ours was RETRO. for weeks leading up to the event, no one was really on or interested to participate. honestly, maybe only like TWO pple wanted anything to do with it. so in typical, you-dont-want-to-volunteer-then-I-will-arrow style, my boss made it almost compulsory for everyone attending the dinner... which unfortunately, included me.

under normal circumstances i might be pretty enthusiastic. but given i had barely enough time to get through the enlarging task list & was highly stressed, i was kinda grouchy that id to log off my comp early for unimpt practise sessions. i also doubted we could pull off sth respectable given a. we had only 3 days to prep b. other depts have been practising for weeks WITH choreographers & whatnots c. what could you do with a theme like RETRO??

as it turns out, it wasnt all that bad. rehearsals were SOOOO funny cos we saw a different side of our colleagues, esp the guys. the bumping into each other, the missing of steps, the (initial) lack of coordination. they whined ALOT abt having to do this (this is stupid OT! *colourful french* why us?!, etcetc), but they were really trying best to master the moves & get their timings right... hahahaha a great spirit given most of them hardly dance at all! in the end, despite the REALLY, i mean REALLY atrocious costumes we were forced to wear, the aching arms & bruised knees, the tireless rehearsals, i think the whole experience did help us to bond better as a dept.

leading up to the day, i was taken aback by the competitive spirit of the folks at the company. you shd hear the mood building up at the tower - everyone's item was shrouded in secrecy, mystery. boardrooms & auditoriums all booked up for rehearsals. people practising hushly in the pantry. news of which&which dept was hiring who&who, practising for how long. which boss was participating (senior mgt participation wld up your score in the VERY complicated judging matrix). how much they were spending, getting costumes from where, etc. everyone intensely concerned abt order of performances & fighting for rehearsal slots onsite. i looked around & thought: wow, these people are taking this waaay too seriously no?

well yes & no. everyone here’s kinda competitive alright. BUT the strive for perfection did translate into a night to remember - a colourful & vibrant display of talent & enthusiasm. the leg baring, head banging, acrobatic prancing, cool acting & sensuous jiving. some acts REALLY made my jaw-drop & eyes widen - esp those by colleagues in their 40s! I never knew the older people at work knew how to have this much fun. It was kar-a-zeeee! The partying spirit of my colleagues, young & old alike brought home the point – the people here don’t just work hard, they party pretty darn hard too!

that & nanny-ing a couple of my rather high, almost-wasted-hence-madly-amusing friends made the night a memorable one. but the thrills & spills of drunken company will be saved for another day :)