"Tiring."
That is how my standard answer starts off whenever anyone asks me that question. I'm not even kidding. But of course it continues with, "but I had a lot of fun."
You know when you step into high school and prom is kind of like the biggest thing you'll be looking forward to? Making sure you don't miss it for the world, getting super excited about what you're going to wear, thinking about your hair and whether or not you are going to do it up or down or half up half down, where are you going to buy your heels and all that. That was kind of like the same feeling that I had when I was preparing for prom as well. Of course, including the nervousness and the rushing and worrying that the night won't turn out right and all that.
On the 14th of December, 2014, the class of 97' were going to have their prom at Sheraton Imperial, Kuala Lumpur. The theme was the Masquerade. Preparation started after lunch for me, with the girls - Bux, Iza, Stephanie and Shin Wei coming over to my place and getting our hair and make up done together! Big thanks to Mori saloon (which is right behind the BU1 housing area) and Camillia's skills, we managed to get ready just in time. Marcus and I had to be there by 5pm latest because we had soundcheck for our performance later so it was a bit stressful.
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| I didn't take photos at the saloon so here, have Bux's cute selfie instead. |
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| Camillia doing Shin Wei's makeup. |
And so when all of us were ready, 2 cars took off, with the girls in my mum's car and Marcus, Jun Wen and myself in my dad's car. Unfortunately we were a bit late reaching the hotel because of traffic and all but thankfully the people in charge were very, very understanding.
Sheraton itself is super fancy, super high class looking so I felt super underdressed walking into the hotel with a button-up top (button-up because I can button-down later to change without ruining hair and makeup!), my shorts and flats. So we all got changed and did the necessary touching up and all that, people started coming in and the event started to take place!
This is Eugene, the host of the night! Personally, I felt quite bad for him because through out the night people kept stealing his mic and making it their own show instead of letting him do what he is supposed to do. Iza went to apologize to him at the end of the night on behalf of the people who did that. But he was professional as to keeping things going, handling the crowd and all that jazz.
The committee planned a lot of mini on stage stuff to keep things going like performances, lucky draws and the many different awards - Best Dressed, Best Prom Date and of course, Prom King and Prom Queen.
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| Jia Jun, who danced and then sang All Of Me. |
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| L-R: Jason A., Zhi Hao, Alif, Jian Wei, Jason K. and Edane performed Fly Me to the Moon and I Love You, Baby. |
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| Marcus and myself did Everything Has Changed, aka Qingcus' first debut. (Is Qingcus still a thing man c'mon help me) |
Evonne won Best Dressed for girls with her dress that was made by her very own mum (which I really really really really loved by the way), Tien Sing won Best Dressed for guys, Yee Thong and Shee Bin won Best Prom Date, Tien Sing won Prom King and Prom Queen was won by yours truly.
I will spare you the details of the whole event because I don't want to sound like I'm doing a report for school. So, this is my personal experience of prom and remember that everyone has their own opinions so please, please don't hate on me or judge me for having a different night that you did.
The food wasn't too bad from what I heard. And yes, only from what I heard. Because half the time I was on stage and the only food I managed to really sit down at the table and enjoy was the starter - soup and bread. Hence, the tiring part. But it wasn't because I was part of the committee or anything, it was because I was on stage for the games they had for the nominees of the Best Prom Date award, and then I had my performance with Marcus, and also for the Prom Royalty award as well, so I was barely at my table through out the night. Only after the last event I managed to get back to my table. But by then everyone had left the hall to take photos and only Marcus, myself and my salmon was left. And my fish was cold, tasted okay still, but it was cold and unappetizing. Sounds quite sad. So I gave up trying to eat and left to go take photos as well.
I'd have to say though, one thing I've noticed is that I felt like there was too much going on on stage, so much so that I didn't have time for the rest of my friends at the table. I know I wasn't even there half the time but for the other people, I don't think you could leave to the toilet without missing 2/3 things happening on stage. Maybe it was their point? But I guess I wasn't a very big fan of that.
And also that the photo booth wasn't exactly the photo booth I imagined. I thought it would be an actual booth with the drape and all which you walked into and all that, but for this they had a photographer and a background and I felt like it was kinda weird. Because like there were people full on kissing and I'm just thinking how awkward it was for the photographer to be taking their photo. And I felt like I would have wanted a bit more privacy taking these photos and I felt like maybe it was supposed to be more spontaneous and candid. Not to say that I don't pose for funny photos and such but I guess I would've appreciated a lil' more privacy instead of having the people who are lining up look on as those photos are being taken. I don't know. Maybe it's just me...
And also that the photo booth wasn't exactly the photo booth I imagined. I thought it would be an actual booth with the drape and all which you walked into and all that, but for this they had a photographer and a background and I felt like it was kinda weird. Because like there were people full on kissing and I'm just thinking how awkward it was for the photographer to be taking their photo. And I felt like I would have wanted a bit more privacy taking these photos and I felt like maybe it was supposed to be more spontaneous and candid. Not to say that I don't pose for funny photos and such but I guess I would've appreciated a lil' more privacy instead of having the people who are lining up look on as those photos are being taken. I don't know. Maybe it's just me...
Nevertheless, I applaud the committee for great planning, even down to the very last minute. I think the night went pretty smoothly and everything was going according to plan. And from what I heard from other people from different schools, they tell me that ours was extremely well planned and very organized. So kudos to the team!
Anyways, it's been too many words and not enough pictures. Here's a whole bunch of them! Side note: I've been having the worst time trying to find the white balance for the photos so if you can, please ignore that, I've tried my best.
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| L-R: me, Nicholas, Shin Wei, Bux, Jun Wen and Marcus! |
The 6 of us had a mini photoshoot because we all wanted nice generic prom photos with our prom dates. As you can tell, we took all of these (and many, many more) before the night started hence better lighting and you can see that I actually still had my curls and that my face still looks like I'm awake. After 5 hours or so, the only lighting we had was pretty terrible (note to all you future prom committee: make sure the hotel has nice lighting) so the photos turned out really grainy and all that.
After so long, I'm still kind of disappointed at the fact that the girls of kawan perempuanku didn't take a group photo. Besides the fact that every other girl group of friends had at least one, we were all dressed in shades of blue and black. We could have done a really nice gradient photo of all our dresses but we didn't. Still learning to let go (or maybe just find another day to wear our dresses again just for photo's sake) but in the meantime, here are individual pictures of me and the girls!
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| Cherie! |
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| Stephanie! |
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| Shin Wei! |
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| Iza! |
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| Bux! |
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| Me being the super attractive lightbulb that I am. |
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| I...don't know what's going on. |
This is Vinnie, the absolute darling who helped me a whole bunch. I bugged her all day and all night about prom stuff because she was part of the committee and she made things a whole lot easier for me. But don't worry, I don't just bug her about prom stuff, I bug her about a lot, a lot of stuff that happens through out my days. She was there for me when I need her and she should know that I'll be here for her when she needs me. I love her a lot. A lot, a lot, a lot.
Alif! Who always, always showers me with truck loads of compliments on anything and everything. This guy always denying the fact that he can sing even though he performed with his friends, never letting me win when I'm telling him how talented he is.
Say hello to Mak, or as he always says - mak_guitarman! This man bakes the best brownies and deserves so much because people need to appreciate him the way that he is supposed to be appreciated. He never fails to make me laugh and make my day despite our conversations being only 2 sentences or so. Really amazing guy.
This is Nicholas who came back after studying about almost a year at Australia! We've had a bunch of good memories together since we've been in the same school for almost half our lives. Funny because he turned out to be my unexpected undang friend who I met when I thought I was going alone! Super easy going guy who's super blur at times but a great company to have.
Jun Wen. I cannot begin to describe how blessed I am to have this noob of a guy right here. He's my best buddy, my lava buddy, my iPhone buddy, my contacts buddy, my gaming buddy and so many, many more. He understands me more than I understand myself and it scares me sometimes. He's been there through many thick and thin and I'm so proud to say that he's my best friend. Definitely going to miss having this guy around to talk to.
Alright, now I'm beginning to slowly realize that I didn't take a lot of photos with a lot of people that night. But at least I managed to take a few with the most important people that I know and love.
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| Guys L-R: Jun Wen, Nicholas P., Marcus, Nicholas O. and Jin Kang. |
The Table 19 family photo or as we call it, the mafia photo. I don't need to say much, but they are more than just friends to me.
And I guess this is where my closing comes where I think about how people ask me whether it was all worth it - going through all the preparation, all the make up, the feeling of being torn between two or more dresses, finding the right pair of shoes, thinking of the look you're going for and all that.
Budget wise, I've spent rm525 in total - rm175 for the ticket, rm60 for my dress, rm50 for hair and make up, rm80 for my heels (it was perfect for prom and casual wear so it was a good buy!), rm160 for my clutch (the only thing I wore that went beyond rm100 because I didn't splurge on anything else and also because this clutch is so beautiful I will use for the rest of my life. No joke.) Minus the ticket, I went under rm400 which was reasonable enough for me. I've heard of other people's expenses and it's quite jaw-dropping!
Put aside the numbers and all that, I will say that going to prom was definitely memorable and I don't regret going at all. It's because I had good company to spend the night with and because we didn't really bother about whether or not our mascara was running or if our lipstick was close to gone. We just made the best out of whatever we had and it was well worth the money.
Some people probably think they're too cool for prom or that it's a waste of money because you're just going to pay a whole bunch of cash to sit and eat dinner with friends when you can do that any other day. But personally, I think it's different because it's the whole atmosphere itself. From the very first day you start going dress shop hopping at Kota Damansara with your girlfriends, to the time when you're getting ready, the dressing up, the photo taking, seeing all your friends looking really amazing in their suits and dresses, putting on the corsage for your date, having super nice photos of you and your friends looking your finest and so much more. And okay, if your night went not as well then at least you could go home and complain about it yknow.
But for me, what made prom great was the company that I had. From having the best prom date I could ever ask for, to having the best group of friends I've spent my high school with, take away how hungry I was through out the night, all the rush and last minute panic I had to deal with, the stage fright and nervous butterflies in my stomach - I honestly wouldn't have asked for the night to go any other way.
