In between start and end

Hella nervous for this.

"Band Achieved: 4"

Dropping by,
Melynn.

I guess you can say I got lucky again.

I made it into another competition. This time, forget about making videos. I got enough of that. I still feel like a noob in all this video production thingy. Especially after seeing my friends producing better videos for class projects after I've won. Insecurity at its best.

I shifted. It's now a speech competition WITH A TWIST. The competition name is "Lomba Pidato dan Bercerita dalam Bahasa Indonesia bagi Penutur Asing". Yes, that means I gotta speak Indonesian lol.

Briefly there's 2 categories for this - pidato and bercerita. Pidato has "Unity in Diversity" as its topic while bercerita has "Indonesian Folklore" as its theme. I chose bercerita (storytelling). 

There's 2 stages to get through. First one is semi-final. Among everyone who participated (which this year I think is around 30 in total), only 10 will proceed to become the finalists. Semi-final took place in Sekolah Indonesia Kuala Lumpur on the 28th of April 2018. For those who cannot make it physically, we are given an option to send in a video. I did the latter. 

Long story short, here's a google drive link to the video if you are interested in watching me for semi-final; https://drive.google.com/file/d/13OGFC-8eUfKCTeku7uk8hk_zE8A500K0/view?usp=sharing 

P.s. If you wonder why the audio is rubbish, it's because I recorded with the fan on and kinda ruined the whole thing. So I tried edited out the fan sound and increase my voice pitch, only to hear the sinking voice of mine. Sorry.

Final
For my experience in final, it's a very valuable opportunity. Why? Because firstly, it's held in Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Kedah. That's like the getaway I was hoping for. I wanted it to be as far as it could possibly be and this is like a wish come true. Secondly, my family are sending me there instead of me taking the bus along with the rest of the finalists. I personally am glad my parents decided to make this sacrifice as I don't think I'm able to handle going off for a competition like this on my own. 

The final is on 6th of May which is a Sunday, a.k.a a week after the semi-final. We are required to change the story to a different one. To me personally, it's a torture. If you've read the previous post - Memorising. It's partly about this competition. And to my surprise, I'm not suffering it alone. The time given was way to short for any of us finalists to not worry about the script. Up until the performance time, it's considered great if you are not bringing a script up to the stage. Because most finalists did. Thankfully by that time, I didn't feel the need to bring it along.

I practiced day and night for days before this competition. My worry for it was reaching the roof. Somehow it's very difficult to memorise the script and come up with dramatic gestures at the same time.

My dad uploaded the video on YouTube, so you can see it for yourself. BUT don't put your hopes too high lol; https://youtu.be/2yx6SgHFZz8

I couldn't bear watching it cos I think I did so badly. My gestures were lacking. My speech was too fast. Overall, I was just really nervous. Plus, my dad's camera zooming is really a bother. 

But from my point of view during the performance, I actually felt great. It was really the best walk-through I've ever done. Even during practice I could never really get through without a forgotten part. But during final, I did. The hall was really quiet but everyone was seen to be paying attention to me. Which is what I like because it made me feel more encouraged to move on with the story. One of the VIP was smiling at me and there's a lady at the side who actually chuckled at my words. Truly, that's all that matters. 

They may be looking at me because my clothes were really something. Cough horrible cough. But who cares, at least it made my mum happy bcos she decided it for me.

Before my performance, one of the storytelling finalist - Shakif, did his performance of Bawang Merah and Bawang Putih. He was SOOO GOOD. Forget about him going wayy past the time limit, he was very talented in acting and funny. I'm glad he won the trip to Indonesia. At that point during the announcement, I'm just glad I won something. It's better to lose over someone who's obviously better than to win when you know people won't think you deserve it as much.

I did wanted to win a trip to Indonesia or any country for that matter initially. It's just a feeling of really wanting to be in a different country at the moment. Hoped for Korea but earliest for that to happen would probably be next year (insyaAllah). But along the competition period, the feeling of winning kinda faded(?) as if winning the trip doesn't matter much to me anymore. Just figured I should just enjoy and have fun while I'm at it. Partly because I didn't want the trip to clash with my internship (which I have yet to be accepted for, unfortunately). Though not gonna lie, winning 2nd place is a thing to be highly grateful for nevertheless.

Me on the middle row to the right. Storytelling winner Shakif is the one right behind me.

All the finalists were good and really friendly. Thanks for the good time, guys!

My other prize "cheque"!!

If I'm being honest, I hated what I wore smh tapi #mamapilih.

As always being in a competition will always teach me something. Truth is, what I really wanted isn't just money... I prefer getting the acknowledgement... for being good at something... from dem few people.

Also, this news wasn't updated on my insta bcos I uninstalled the app on my phone. I'd re-install it whenever I feel like it later. Probably after Raya.


Dropping by,
Melynn.

Never have I ever thought that memorising anything can be so hard. And believe it or not, most times our intelligent is measured based on how much we remember things. The more you memorise for an exam, the higher your score gets. The better you memorise, the further you get in academic-based competitions.

It made me think how unfair it would've been for someone who couldn't memorise things well. For me, even though I'm like a Dory, it would roughly take me a week to memorise something by heart. But I'm not complaining cos someone else may even take longer (I hope lol).

Memorising may take a minimum of 2 days and a maximum of 7, if I repeat it everyday. But what is worse is how much my energy is drained after doing so. Memorising a script takes way more energy than it seems. For someone who always make sure to say things exactly as it is in the script, it gets more frustrating.

Also the fact that moving on to doing other activity is so hard once you get yourself to memorise something bcos you would barely have energy left. Brain power is really everything.

But that moment when you finally get over it and went through the entire script, it really feels like the best achievement ever. Because only then will you be able to pour your soul and emotion into what you are saying. Which also makes me think, making your own script is really the best way for you to memorise better.

How you write is how you usually would say. Rewriting a story yourself is like putting your own voice into the story even though it had been repeatedly told. If you think about it, you kinda get your own freedom if you write what you say. At the end of the day, when you are delivering your message, no one will know the things you didn't say. What you give is what they get. Frustrating, maybe but a tiny flaw won't ruin an entire speech.

I guess this is why I can't be an actress. Besides the fact, I have bad skin condition and won't pass any casting anyway. I envy how actors and actresses do this daily as their job. Memorising seems like a small part of the whole acting, but it's really not the easiest. If it is, life would be too fair.

Nevertheless, memorising things and performing it really brings satisfaction. I guess that's why I keep doing it even though it hurts. Pain is temporary, they say. The outcome however is like a blessing in disguise.