Janji ROCK!

LINKedua received a VIP invitation to the “Malam Jasa Pahlawan 2007″ which would take place at Hyatt Regency, Johor Bahru on 18th August 2007 at 8.00pm and the dresscode was traditional attire. As one of the major contributors to the event, the organiser was kind enough to reserve a VIP table of ten for LINKedua. Five seats would be occupied by us, of course.

It was a night to remember those who lost their souls in fighting for the country’s freedom and independence. It was a night we learned how things can always turn out differently than you can expect. A night we also learned that colours play an important role in human life.

This blog entry is a tribute to my other-half (hee… hee… hee…) who had made us laugh non-stop throughout the weekend the five of us spent together. Janji ROCCCKKK!!! (in Jawanese slang).

A few days before the day of the event, my other-half, as the leader of the table were asked for colour theme.

Leader: What colour theme?

Organizer: Sir, each table must have a colour theme. You can choose whatever colour you want. Do you want to decide now or do you want me to call you back in an hour?

Leader: Ok, black then. Cause I only have black batik in my wardrobe. The ladies and the rest of LINKedua’s people shall have no problems with the colour, I suppose.

There he went deciding without consulting us first, that we should all be wearing black, taking for granted that not all women had traditional dresses in all types of colours in their closets. Menggelabah semua orang looking for black traditional dresses to wear for that night. One friend (tak sampai hati nak mention her name here hee… hee…) even had to decide on a torn black traditional dress because that was the only black traditional dress she had in her closet.

When the day came, off we went to Johor Bahru. Can you imagine that at 6.45pm, the five of us were still on the road? We only reached Senai at 7.00pm. And from there, it would take another 30 minutes to get to Johor Bahru. To clean and dress up to the event, that might take an additional time of 45 minutes. Oh gosh, we were running late! I didn’t think we would be able to make it at 8.00pm.

Ifah: Sempat ke? Nak mandi lagi. Nak mekap lagi.

Nenney: I haven’t ironed my kebaya yet. Sempat ke?

JIMY: I hope so. If not, just pegi cam nih je la. Jeans and T-shirt. Mana tau menang best dressed award plak ke.

Leader: Cannot. I’d promised Pak Ungku our colour theme will be black. Everyone at LINKedua’s table will be wearing black traditional attire. Other tables shall be blue, red, yellow, and bla… bla… bla… Ours will be black.

And he went on…

Leader: There’s going to be some traditional dance shows by a group of Johor profesional traditional dancers. What made the event even more important was that Tengku Mahkota Johor and Johor Chief Minister YAB Abdul Ghani Othman would be around.

Nora & Ifah: Wah, best tu! Tapi kan macam nak gila, you know, kitorang cari baju hitam.

Nora, Ifah & Nenney: Why pilih hitam?

Leader: I thought you guys have a lot of black traditional attires.

Ifah: Mana ada. Baju pegi clubbing banyak la warna hitam.

Nora: Nih la satu-satunya baju traditional hitam I ada. Tak lawa plak tu. Camner nak ngorat Tengku Mahkota Johor kalau baju tak lawa.

Nenney: Ha’ah, samalah. Ini la satu-satunya baju traditional hitam yang vogue I ada tau. Lain semua tak vogue.

However, we managed to reach the hotel at 7.15pm and checked-in. In the lift…

Nenney: So what time shall we meet up downstairs?

JIMY: It is now 7.20pm. Meet you guys at 7.50pm. That’s 30 minutes from now. So each of us will only have exactly 6 minutes to get ready.

Nenney: But baju I komot-komot, tak iron lagi.

Leader: I need to poo-poo.

JIMY: Nenney, u just mandi, while Ifah or Nora call for the iron. You, the leader, go poo-poo and shower quickly and when you’re ready, it’ll be my turn to occupy the bathroom. Nora can come in after I’m done.

Nora: Ok Ma’am.

Nenney: Ok Ma’am.

Ifah: Ok Ma’am.

Leader: Ok Ma’am.

Ifah, Nora & Nenney: Aik, Leader pun cakap “Ok Ma’am”?

I didn’t know how we did it, but we managed to get ready in that 30 minutes. All girls smelled really good, ready with high-heeled shoes, sequined purses and selendang. Hair styled into braids and buns complete with fancy glittering hair clips and ribbons. Faces beautifully made-up. The girls looked like God-sent angels. Pheewwwiiittt!

With no time to waste, everyone ungracefully hopped into the car and my other-half drove off as fast as he could to Hyatt Hotel. As we reached the hotel, we raced to the dining hall, panting and huffing throughout the ‘journey’ trying to keep up with each other. Ooohh, we surely didn’t want Tengku Mahkota Johor to see us making a late entrance. When we got into the hall, everyone turned and gave us a strange look. And there we were at the entrance, looking back at them in horror. Not a single table had any colour theme. Each table was filled with colourful clothes, and there was a mixture of styles - modern and traditional, tuxedos and batik shirts.

It was horryfing to know that the whole situation had made us look like freaking witches (only without the broomsticks) amongst these colourful mortals! And we were no God-sent angels anymore, uuwwaaaaaa! I rasa nak cekik-cekik aje my other-half. Dah la masuk hall termengah-mengah, baju plak hitam-hitam belaka, oh my, I feared people might think we came to the wrong party. I was praying hard that night that no one would come over and make a joke on us - “Babes, Party Halloween kat bilik sebelahlah” or maybe “Party Halloween dah lama lepas daaa…” , else it would be a total embarrassment, wouldn’t it?

What made it much worse, Tengku Mahkota Johor and Johor Chief Minister could not make it to the dinner and the organiser had to cancel all shows. What left for us was just the dinner, prize giving ceremony and lucky draw session. What a dull event!

As we got back to the hotel, everyone had a very good laugh. Laughing and talking till tears came out from our eyes. Suddenly all that rushing and speeding, time management plan in the lift, 3-minute shower, black traditional attires, torn baju kurung, huffing and puffing at the hall entrance, non-presence of Tengku Mahkota Johor and Johor’s Chief Minister, zapin dance which was never there, were not a big deal to us anymore. As long as we had each other around, that’s what mattered the most. Janji ROOCCKKK !!!

So moral of the story, if someone ever ask about dresscode, never ever let the men decide!