A Heroes' Welcome

Indeed, I did turn up yesterday at Vivocity for the Heroes World Tour as soon as the Teachers' Day activities in school have ended. Found out that at least 100 but not over nine thousaaaaaaand! people have showed up before me. I had decided to stand beside the red carpet where the cast would be walking down, which was suspiciously unbarricaded. I had wanted to at least get an autograph from Oka Masi-san, knowing that the dumb Amconics camera I brought along (my mum was using the Canon Powershot that day) would definitely go dead on me (it does not feed well from the batteries, and tends to shut off prematurely and without warning) even before I ever come off with a single shot.

Half an hour after the designated time of arrival (I learnt that international celebrities are always known to be late for appearances), the cast finally arrived. Cameras (excluding mine) were blazing. Security guys had to surround the VIPs as they strolled down the carpet. One of them rudely shoved me aside when I stuck out my hand to show Oka-san the message I wrote on a page (knowing my voice only won't beat the crowds'). He didn't see it.

Everybody was up on stage, together with the VJs from Channel V, saying how wonderful us Singaporeans are and all that. Ali Larter seemed truly amazed at the size and enthusiasm of the crowd (I wonder why, though. SHe's already been to Japan and Kong Hong, hasn't she?), I could barely hear what Sendhill Ramamurthy was saying cos he wasn't speaking into the mike, Oka-san actually sounded very American, though I detected a slight Japanese slur, and Greg had promised that Matt was going to make a reference to the wonderful city of Singapore in Heroes season 2. That was followed by a brief beatboxing preformance by Greg and Oka, a meet-and-greet session with four lucky bastards who were picked to come on stage to immitate Nakamura Hiro's 'yataa!', some more talking (I wasn't paying attention anymore as I was more conscious of the crowd that was pushing from all directions, and the fact that my groin was pushing against the protruding butt of the woman in front of me. All the while people were holding up placards which sported (non) witty quotes related to the show, and sometimes blocking my view from way behind. When it was time for our HEroes to take leave, Security had to form the protecting covering around them again as they led off a different direction, which crazed fans chased on the side and from behind. I was there too, jostling with the crowd. Twice I got to overtake them and stand still as they walked past, holding up the pathetic message on my notebook. Neither time did Oka-san notice. It was only outside, when the cast boarded their tour bus, did I see his eyes flicker at the notebook held high above my head from behind the glass window. I made a last eye contact with Sendhill and the bus rolled into motion and drove off.

Ah, the life of a Groupie.

(No pictures were taken by me of the event, so I don't have any to show you. I'm really sorry.)

Afterwards I headed for Bugis to satiate my thirst, and my thirst for Drummania (I make it a habit to go once a week, but very soon I'll have to stop that too), before finally heading home for some much-needed rest.

You might be wondering why I'm able to spend so much time doing up this entry. No, I haven't settled the issue with my dad yet. It just so happens that today's a Saturday, and dad still goes to the office on Saturdays. Ah, well, I'm very glad it turned out this way. It's always better to look at the positive side of things. I may not have any chance to blog last night, but I kept telling myself that there was always tomorrow.

I have one week of holidays to catch up on my studies. The prelims clamp down on me the week school reopens. Wish me luck.

BTW if you're an anime fan in Singapore, visit Darkmirage's blog and complete a brief survey. He's aiming for 1000 so he'd have something to show Odex. Check it out; it's in my Featured Feeds.