A Night To Remember

This post is over a week late, but I felt I had to document what was one of the most spectacular events of my life and probably my most cherished memory during the past one and a half years attending A-Levels at HELP University College. The A-Levels Annual Ball 2006.

I have to admit, I'm not a ball type of person. I didn't attend my high school prom, for reasons that I didn't like the thought of spending a great deal of money on one night, as well as the overemphasis on having a date. Those same reasons applied this time around, and until April this year I was quite sure I wouldn't go.

However, my decision was turned on its head when I was told all former Student Council members would get free admission. Obviously it would be downright silly not to go for the Ball when you didn't have to pay for your ticket. The whole former SC (except Bryan) and my classmates were all going, and it would be both a post-exam celebration and a farewell of sorts to the many people I've gotten to know during my time in HELP. So I decided to attend, and I didn't regret it for an instant.

The former Student Council minus Bryan (check out Dipesh's pose and shoes =P )

Thus began my preparations for the Ball. For guys in general, it's safe to say that getting ready for the Ball only begins perhaps an hour before they left the house. For most girls, however, it's a completely different story, and I was no exception. I shamefully admit that my build-up to the Ball started a good month before the actual night. In my defence, however, I had my final exams going right up to two days before the event, so I wanted to be prepared. My first objective was, of course, getting a dress. My friend Sher Reen introduced me to Phenomenal, a dress boutique that truly lives up to its name, and where I'd eventually gotten my dress. Poor Sher had to endure about two hours of me trying on a dozen different gowns, proof that she has the patience of a saint. I'm truly grateful to her, not just for helping me prepare for the Ball but for her support throughout our friendship.

Sher & I camwhoring (I love this pic)

Then exams hit, and for an intense 4 weeks everyone was buried under piles of books and labouring through papers with little time to spare a thought for the Ball. Once the last paper ended, however, a tsunami of HELP students surged through the many malls in the Klang valley. Anusha, Li Xia and Yew Jhin, three of my close friends, asked me to join them in what turned out to be one of the most entertaining yet exhausting shopping trips I'd ever done. We roamed 1U and The Curve for a total of about 7 hours, and everyone was drained by the end of it. Being the only guy there, Jhin became brain-dead and looked like he was going to keel over. I bet he's scarred for life and would rather crawl through a mile of broken glass then shop with us again.

The next day again saw me hitting the malls, Sungei Wang in the morning for shoes to go with my dress, then rushing off to Mid Valley for lunch and more shopping with my high school pals. I'd never shopped so much in such a short span of time before, and by the end of the day I never wanted to hear the word 'shop' again. When my mum saw the 3.5 inch stillettos I'd bought, all she said was to make sure I didn't fall and kill myself the following night.

I used to scoff at girls who said they needed several hours to get ready to go out, but come the day of the Ball I understood what they meant. Anusha and I headed over to Li Xia's place to do our makeup before Choon Wei fetched us to Jhin's house. I ended up delaying everyone because, to put it simply, I'm not a makeup person and did some serious damage to my face. Take it from me, never learn to apply mascara an hour before going out. Anyway, we left our stuff at Jhin's and his brother kindly sent us to our destination, KL Hilton.

Upon arrival I realised I'd foolishly left my camera at Jhin's house. Luckily, my dad was able to go there and bring it to me, but not before sounding me thoroughly for being so absent-minded. Not having my camera with me would be a sin, because everyone looked ravishing. The guys looked handsome and dapper in their suits, while the girls looked fabulous with their elegant hairdos, lovely makeup and flowing gowns. It looked like a scene from the Oscars, and I was thrilled to be part of it. As gorgeous as the gowns and suits were, the true scene-stealers were those in traditional dress, and there were quite a number. My girl Meena looked smashing in a chilli red saree and chandelier earrings. The moment I saw the former SC president, Dipesh all dressed up in his Indian attire complete with scarf and Aladdin slippers, I knew he'd win Best Dressed, and sure enough he did.

The guys looking like dashing gentlemen

Red-hot Meena & I

The ballroom itself was a sight to behold. The theme for the Ball was Lost In Paradise, and the simple but enchanting decorations set the mood for the night. Leaves, vines, white flowers and candles lined the entrance arch and walkway. Beautiful, though I must admit for a while I was worried about setting my dress on fire, what with all the candles on the floor.

Sher & I on the red carpet. Note the elegant decorations lining the way in. (courtesy of Ms. Kimmie)

Lovely table centrepieces

The opening performance was the hottest (pun intended) one of the night. Fire eaters spitting clouds of flame into the air truly got us 'fired up' for the rest of the Ball. This was closely followed by svelte belly dancers shaking their bon bons and gyrating across the stage. Next came the pleasantly short speeches by the A-Levels Department Head, Mr Jahn Cheah, Dipesh and the current SC president Divya, after which they unleashed us on the food. Meena and I went crazy by assaulting the dessert table first, loading our plate with every type available. To my disappointment, only half of them were actually good, and that's all I ate for the entire night. The general opinion of the main courses weren't great either, so I didn't miss much. It's really sad that a 5 star hotel like Hilton can't give us good food when the price of the ticket is so high.

Ferocious fire eaters heating up the start of the Ball (courtesy of Ms. Kimmie)

The lithe belly dancers were the guys' favourite performance (courtesy of Ms. Kimmie)

The rest of the evening went by in a blur, maybe because I was having fun with my friends, or maybe because I was half blind from the multiple camera flashes that went off in my face every few seconds. Excessive photo-taking was the order of the night with everyone reaching new levels of camwhoring. I'm normally more comfortable behind the lens than in front of it but even I made an exception. The performances weren't paid much attention and I felt quite sorry for the performers who nevertheless put on a good show. One of the better bands played dance numbers which managed to get people on the dance floor and I was greatly amused to see different people's interpretation of dancing. A couple of high school friends of mine crashed the Ball and it was great seeing them again.

My crazy classmates

Some guys are such posers =P

The fabulous four: me, Penny, Li Xia & Anusha

The final highlight of the night, the crowning of the Ball King and Queen carried more significance for me than I'd ever imagined. Thanks to a little scheming by Sher and Jhin, I was called onstage with the other nominees and ended up becoming Queen. Jhin was also nominated for King but lost narrowly to the actual winner. All I can say is the Ball King's win was controversial, and Jhin was a lot more disappointed than he'd let on, as I discovered later.

Ball Queen & almost-Ball King

Thus the Ball came to a close, but that was far from the end of my night. After more camwhoring outside the ballroom, my group of friends and I returned to Jhin's house with the intention of heading out to A&W. That intention never became a reality as the girls were just too lazy to move the moment we collapsed on the couch, our feet aching from hours of wearing heels. So we just sat there talking about everything and nothing till the sun started to peek over the horizon. The most debated topics of the night were Jhin's loss (which he was clearly very sore about, poor guy) and Sher's problem of explaining to her folks why she was returning home in the morning with her makeup and dress still on after staying overnight at a guy's place. Speaking of which, I must extend my thanks to Jhin for being a gracious host and allowing us to crash at his home. We finally went to a mamak place (looking absolutely ridiculous in our gowns) to have breakfast before parting ways. It was a hell of a night, one I will remember for many years to come.

P/s: For more great photos go to http://helponomics.tripod.com/. It's a site managed by my Economics lecturer Ms. Kimmie who's also an avid photographer. Scroll down slightly and you'll see the link to her Ball photos =)