Chingay 2010 Preview

After all the trainings and meetings, it was finally the parade day. I reached the reporting venue a little late due to mis-calculation of time.

A very tiring day for me as I have to take two groups at the start. Thought I have to do this alone, I am rather happy that I can do this all on my own.

I find it weird that the water that were given were all restricted and will only be given out during dinner. Most of us came hands-free and the whole day without water is rather torturing. The restriction of water had made my job a little harder to get the cooperation from my volunteers.

As I have to work alone, I have to multi-task; getting attendance and giving out the passes at the same time. After the attendance were submitted to the admin team, all leaders were called to a side. I was expecting a briefing but to my surprise, it was an advertisement time! Two ladies from the RedBull team distributed flyers and explained to us the values of a can of RedBull. We were then given a can each to drink. I took a can indicated with the word "sugar-free". As we were rushed to finish the drink before going back to our groups, I had a moment of hard time forcing the drink down my stomach. I am not really used to drinking RedBull and am still a little doubtful with regards to the content. Sweet and concentrated though it was indicated to be sugar-free. Well, at least it quenched my thirst and is going to last me for three hours as mentioned by the lady.

Deployment to place the items on the chairs was the thing that happened next. As there were not enough water, I was asked to bring five guys from my group to collect the water from garage 45. Wow, I was so glad that I performed in NDP09, which provided me with the knowledge of where the garage is and how it is numbered. Aaron led the rest of my group to place the items. Due to some miscommunications, the five guys and I wasted time waiting. We got nothing and went back to help out with the placing of stuffs with the rest of the groups. It was nice having a short and meaningful conversation with them.

Reaching the yellow sector, I led the five people to cross the road at the designated crossing points though crossing through the middle was possible. I just do not want to bring upon any unnecessary troubles.

Helping out with the placing of pompoms, the job was quickly done. I then rushed them back for dinner. People just walked very slow. We were only given a box of water before the start of work. Just 24 bottles of water was simply not enough for such a big group of mine.

Reaching back the tentage, there was no space for my group. Seeing that there was an empty space ebhind the tentage, I asked the group to proceed there. I wondered who was that big group of volunteers that took away our space. It was tough as people were crowding around the RedBull station for the drinks. It took me a hard time to move them to the space to get their orders. I even had to go to the extent of shouting fiercely. As people were still not listening, I got to block the people from giving out RedBull to my group. I really do not wish to do that too. I really don't want to be fierce. After moving them to the side and took their orders, AAOIC helped me got a space inside the tentage. Shifting again.

I really thank the guys that helped me to get the food and water. Really. Due to my back, I was not able to carry heavy stuffs then. Thanks for being tolerance too while being told off by someone unreasonably. Due to time constraint and returning late to the tentage, I only got limited time to eat. The other two leaders turned up when the dinner was started being distributed. I only managed to take a few bites as the food was rather dry. I was thinking how nice it would be if there was some gravy. Well, I wasted most of my food. Sad.

Setting off to the yellow sector for deployment, I was introduced to the PA in-charge. It was quite nice working with him. After getting the necessary information and waiting for the gates to be opened, I did pairing and deployment with another leader. It was an easy job as I am used to doing this.

After resting a while after getting the deployment done and the people into position, it was time for the spectators to enter. The rehearsal was still going on while the spectators were on their way in. Weird.

As there was no empty positions for me to fill, I was so glad that I got to walk around instead of staying still at a position. After a while of walking, I felt tired and bored. I kept my spirits high as I was expecting some friends to turn up. The other leader was telling me that there was nothing to do. I agreed and said that we are walking around and waiting for something to happen. Guess what? Right after I said that, a big problem appeared for me to handle. I immediately proceeded to solve the issue when a volunteer told me about it. I have something to do finally.

It was indeed a big issue. Due to some miscommunications and confusion, three guys from a tour group took the seats of a family of three. It took me around ten to fifthteen minutes to settle the issue. This duration is way too long to solve a problem. The family of three has been standing at the side till the parent was getting irritated as the three guys was rather reluctant to shift. They have been very tolerance enough. It was rather shocking initially when the three of them can't tell me who was their leader that was holding on to the tickets and after the leader came to me, she was not able to confirm with me whether she has the tickets or not. Wow.

Due to the long duration used to solve the issue, I was tempted to call for help but did not. I was glad that I finally got it solved. After solving the issue, I continued walking around. I was so happy to see my wushu friends as I was not sure where they would be sitting initially. It was a pity that no photos were taken with them.

After a while, someone talked to me as I was taking a peep at the pre-parade. He was from SRJC and a friend of my senior, Lydia. It took me a while to recognise him. Had a short chat before I went off. Guess he is interested in joining Chingay too. Haha.

The pre-parade started shortly and it was followed by the parade. I was so glad that I finally can have a seat as my injured ankle was working up. Had some fun with some volunteers. It wasn't really fun to watch the parade alone. I was so glad that there were people I could have fun with. It was really fun waving the pompoms and scream. I enjoyed waving to the performers, and taking pictures and videos of their performances. The show was really nice. I really like all the wushu segments.

The start of the parade made me feel very happy as the music from Chingay Wonderland was played. I really like that piece a lot.

I missed the last part of the parade as it was time to get ready for deployment. My eyes totally lit up when I saw KungFu Panda and fireworks! I feel so high-spirited! It was a pity that I could not take a picture of KungFu Panda as I was back on duty. I was too busy to get to watch the show too.

My group was asked to return back to the tentage first as the rest of the people are enough to be part of the "byebye-party". After the rest of the volunteers were back at the tentage, they were released after the admin procedures were cleared. It was then time for feedback for the leaders.

After the feedback, I quickly ran off as it was really late. I really do not wish to miss the last train. I took a train home together with HongQuan though I was allowed to claim my taxi fare as I promised him first. Really thank him for waiting for me though he could have went home first.

I was so glad that there were seats for the both of us. I really want to rest my tired legs. Guess I really need to use my ankle guard for the next day.

I reached home at around 12.40am. Really late. Was lucky that I managed to board my bus as I thought the last bus was at 12.20am. Phew. I quickly went to sleep after taking a bath, going to get myself ready for the next long day.