Modus Magus Telematch 2009

We had to wake up early this morning as Kristine's school's instruction specifically stated that she must be registered by 0830 in the morning. And so, after waking them up and getting them ready, it was already a quarter past eight....

As the venue was in Shah Alam, we were very lucky that there were no jam. Or maybe its because most of the companies there have already stopped working on Saturdays. Or maybe because its the middle of the month where everyone's salary is almost gone. Whatever it was, our route was quite clear. They are using the Panasonic Stadium, which, I found out later, was being used for three events, with Kristine's being one of them. This also explains why the stadium's car park was full. Although the RM34 Million Stadium has now been "donated" to the Sports Ministry, the place looked as if its about to go into a slum. Toilet facilities looked as if no one bothered to clean them, and the small little arrow pool at the entrance looked stagnant too.

Anyway, her event was called the Modus Magus Telematch (The Way of Magic), which in a nutshell, is Sports Day with a Harry Potter Theme thrown in. The events were arranged in such a way that it suits the children of different ages. From pushing a ball with a broomstick to some object matching (I was out to the toilet for this) to an obstacle course to a three-legged run, it was fun all the way, apart from a few anxious parents going to the off-limit area and blocking everyone's shot.

The girls listening to Lady Ga-Ga's "Poker Face"
on my Nokia 5800 which I used to wake them

Registering counter. A lot of anxious parents there.
OK, so everyone was late.........

Once we brought Kristine to her group, she settled
in at once. Being lost, that is. I always see her in this
state whenever she was in school. This might be a
bit different for her as there was large crowds in
the Stadium stands.

The children gathered there before the event starts.

Just as soon as she has settled down, she started to
look for us, with a worried face. But later on, after
waving like mad, she found me and she was more
relaxed, knowing we were there for her.

There was no ceremony to signify the arrival of guests and
so on as they were there very early. No late VIP crap and
everything went according to schedule. Which is a nice
change for any public event or educational establisment.

The Sports began with a March to salute the VIPs like any
other sports. Which is nice because each team has their
own "thing", which I found out later, contributes to the
overall points per team. Here, the blue team are the
water fairies.

Kristine's team, the yellow Sun Fairies were the last.
But they made a small show in front of the VIP.

With the masks on, I cen't even tell where she is,
although she is one of the smallest in the team.

Yeah, there's one in every crowd.

No gunfire or fireworks. Just
a simple release of ballons.
Nice.

After the procession, when they took off their masks,
I can see Kristine again.

OK, so she's not worried anymore

In the crowds, Kaelynn was a bit impatient and wanted
to go down to where her sister was. Maybe its the heat
inside the Stadium but everyone was sweating buckets.
Also, the fans were placed quite some distance and the
ones who came first hogged all the good spots.

The first event, the Broomstick Run which Kristine's
team won. Its fun to see how each child interpreted
the rules. One was so clever, she put the ball on to
the broom and ran. Of course, she had to be taken
back to the like and start all over again.

The second event, the Spoon Eyeball, is much more on
the motoring skills. Everything went peacefully except
for a few times the eyeballs got "lost". Here, Krsitine's
team won as well but the Blue team is fast catching up.

On the third event, the Spell Search, the Blue team was
the winner with Krsitine's team coming in second. Maybe
I shold have been there to support them. But my bladder
wants to go somewhere else. And so, these are the other
two events which was sharing the same Stadium. One
is a small Tele Match

And the other is some track meet of a scholl which I
don't even know the name. Nevertheless, there was
a carnival thrown in as well where Wife bought some
drinks and "food on a stick" via coupons.

In the intermission, there was some Tae Kwon Do demo
where at the end, each student get to break the thin
wooden planks of their own style, which is either by
a straight punch or a kick. No flying kicks here, though.

By this time, my parents have
arrived and my Wife gave Dad
a 100 plus, which Kaelynn was
eyeing it all the time. Gave her
some water but she refused.

Here, the fourth event, the Fairy Jump is where Kristine
get to participate. Which is fine for her as she did it quite
naturally without any mistakes execept for her members.
But her team and the Blue team lost to the Green.

Its a very simple obstacle course. You just hop over
to the rings and then do some left-right-left-rights,
then hop to the other side and smack your pal's palm

Here's the video:

And for the next event.....
Hang on, why is she out there again?

Oho. She's in for the next event too, which is the
So, both their legs were tied. And from the yawns,
I think they're both tired as they have just done
their run minutes ago. Yeah, the yawns are
contagious. He yawned first and she followed.

Its so funny to see them do this

And kids being kids, you can see the innocence there

And here's teh video too:

We were so proud of her! Out there, she looked
and acted older than she really was.

The final score, the Yellow team come in strong but
faltered during the end. While the Blue team rose
to give a close fight but still, faltered at the end. But
the Green team was really strong in the end. Still,
Yellows lost to Blue by one point but here is the good
news. Remember the parade? Yellow team won by 15
points which puts them out of reach to become the
overall winner! In the end, the points were Yellow-31,
Blue-22, Green-23 and Red-17. Unfortunately, in her
event, Kristine's team did not win and so, she did not
get her medal. And also, I was told, the overall winners
did not get extra medal since it all ran out. Sheesh.

And finally, there is a last event there
was a Mommy versus the teachers in
a Tug of war. The Bangsar Mommy
voluntereed until the spaces filled up.
I think the teachers would win as they
were a bigger sized lot.

But the surprise was, the Mommies
actually won as they kept pulling and
pulling. I guess there would be no
increase in school fees next year!

The girls sharing a drink after the TeleMatch

Later on, we had lunch at the Club House, and its
been a long time since we were there. I did not
order anything except for ABC seeing that all
the food ordered could not be finished.

And, to my knowledge, this was her first try with
a water cooler. And its working too!

Yeah, I had to convince her to let Kaelynn have a
go too. But there is a real reason why we came to
the Clubhouse. My Dad felt they are ready for it
although I felt they were ready for it since last year.

What were they ready for? This.

Each of us took them walking around the pool. First it
was my, then my Wife and finally, my Mom. They're
so happy with it, they did not want to go home. Alas,
the swimming instructor was not available until two
hours later. "Let's walk around the pool and if
your legs are too hot, just dip them into the water, OK?",
"OK, Daddy."

The Clubhouse has changed a lot and now, it looked
more inviting that ever. Too bad its too expensive
for me to be a member. And I heard the waiting
list is very long. Very long, indeed.

I just love this garden/pond a lot. Although it was
hot and humid, the feeling was wonderful when
the wind blew and the trees swayed........