A Walk To Remember - [MISS MALAYSIA DIVA PAGEANT 2003/2004] Part IV - THE FINALS!

A Walk To Remember - [MISS MALAYSIA DIVA PAGEANT 2003/2004] Part IV

Well here we are... after a long, tak der lah long mananye pun... short few seconds break, at last, we're in the final chap of the 4 part epic blog of Miss Malaysia - A Walk to remember.... eheheh.. FINALLY!

Ok... lets not waste anymore time. Kejap... nak recall balik... ok ok... hmmm

Ok. After that Miss Berkemban Malay Tradition Swinwear night tu, that was like in October 1st... I sort of like had two months to prepare for the finals... Disamping itu jugak, I memang sibuk flying. Tapi dah tgh sibuk fly2 pun, tetap practice q/a dlm bilik waktu nightstops memana, tetap bukak bijik mata surveyed for accessories yang meletop letup, then carik2 kasut, shopping boleh tahan jugak lah sebulan dua tu. Habis jugak duit aku. Ekekek. But anyways, didn�t concentrate much, not until end of November tu. Kindda like last minute prep jugak. CNN ade jugak melaporkan hal hal contestants yang lain to me when I balik KL after flights ke ape ke. Sempat eden bertanya kan CNN pasal Miss Perak State reps� preparations. CCN cakap her evening dress is in PINK. Ewww, PINK!? Well, cannot say anything yet, not until malam tu bile I nampak that dress. Silap hari bulan, cantik. Tanye lagi CNN, ape lagi citer? CNN cakap banyak orang confident in me winning, tak kurang jugak yang cakap I MIGHT just fall second again to PERAK as she was afterall a cool competitor� Hmmmm.. Apa apa jer la. Lagi? CNN said� rumors here and there in KL that I got sponsored 100% for the finals. Addinch!!!! Kalau 100%, tak yah buat pe pe la. Goyang kaki and bontot jer la for the finals, kan? Rumors, I wonder bile its gonna end. And the FINAL CNN! For the final night, only 15 states competing! The runner-up semuenya hanya backing up in case anything were to happened to the State Rep. Kan ade State Rep tarik diri, so first runner-up kenalah take over. Reason being sbb diaorang akan buat Mr and Ms Malaysia 2003/2004 Pageant serentak! Memang time kitaorang sibuk compete for state reps, Mr. Malaysia Pageant 2003/04 pun tgh berlansung hangat. The exact same thing cuma it was for men only la kan. Ehehehe. So the organizers nak buat serentak. So�nak cut time and what not, runners up last minute hanye stand by kalau state rep tak jadik masuk. Kesian kan?

So basically what would actually happened malam finals tu macam nih.
- Introduction round in Traditional State Costume Mr. and Ms
- Brief parade in Traditional Costume Mr and Ms
- Evening Wear category Mr and Ms
- Announcement of Subsidiary title winners Mr and Ms
- Top 5 result Mr and Ms
- Q/A between top 5 with selected judges Mr and Ms
- Results Mr and Ms Malaysia 2003/04
PS- Of course my main highlight would be the Miss Malaysia jer la ek? Mr Malaysia tu, tunggu ah sikit tahun I buat review/recalling ek? :)

Ok, so, like, erm� after surveyed sana, surveyed sinik, shopping sana shopping sinik, larik sana sinik dengan Kak Vee yang also bertungkus lumus nak membantu me in preparing for the finals� I finally managed to get everything ready just two three days before the final night, December 20th.

- Traditional State wear, gold lace kebaya top, filled with diamonds and embroideries, with matching green and gold batik sarung. For this category, I decided to use a simple ruby earrings (which I already had �em� need not to shop anymore for that thingie � bende yang leh save, save la kan�. Ehehehe), dua cucuk sanggul silver dangling, two yellow roses (fake ones of course), gelang tangan gold diamonds and also kipas tangan kayu with dangling lace.. (kipas tu buat sendiri tau � the dangling ruffles and lace that is� hehehe)
- For evening dress round, Abang Roy, yang sponsored my traditional state wear tu, also sponsored my dres for this round. Dia guna kain batik lepas Jawa, (memang dia gi carik khas for me tau� love that guy!) Memang cantik kain tu punye designs and siap with scattered diamonds lagi. But he added more diamonds as he knew I ratu diamond pun. Ehehehe. Accessories for my evening dress, just two simple diamond bracelets, and a diamond drop choker, and yes, it did come with a matching earrings. Ehehehe� Hair accessories, just a diamond butterfly clip (a bi one ok!) and an orange flower (bunga apa tah Kak Vee guna. Tah I pun tak tahu bunga ape tapi it matched my dress well� )
- For both dresses, I guna one pair of heels jer. Senang. Malas nak tukar2. Lagipun, I bought those Vincci shoes in goldish creamed colour. So matched well dengan my both dresses. Bukannye orang or judges as for that matter nak tengok in detail pun, kan?

Ha� itu la dia. Dah ready for the finals. Just a three four days before the pageants final night tu, everything was sort of like, settled. Kak Vee pun ade jugak test make up with me. She wanna know ape yang dia nak buat for me during the finals. And thus she wanted to know what I think. I said to her something like this;

�Kak Vee,� make up you ols la yang buatkan hem menang Miss Penang. Make up you ols jugak lah yang buatkan hem berseri- seri malam berkemban hari tu. Dan make up you ols nak buat untuk finals nih, terserah la. You ols dah tahu selok belok muka hem. Hem dinch worry la dengan kemampuan you ols. Buat jer yang terbaik. The rest, hem cuba jugak usahan dan the remaining, tgk nasib malam tu�. Dinch risau la you ols, hem dinch kisah la you ols nak make up macam mana. Janji meletop!�

I like to make things easier for her as well. I leh jadik fussy, ngokngekngokngek. Kang nanti, sentap. Tannak lah. I nak dia keje dengan I dalam keadaan happy dan tak tension. Baru make up dia menjadik. Kang dia tgh sentap, make up ke mana, ape ke mana, tul tak?

The two dresses I picked up a day before the pageant. Waktu tu I baru balik from a single nightstop flight dari mana tah� waktu picking up the dresses, I met Miss Perak State rep tgh ambil her dresses from another designer yang boutique nye tak der lah that far from Abang Roy�s boutique. Jeling sana jeling sini, addinch nampak what was in that boutiques� paper bag that she was carrying! Chis! Chimpeng tul!

Tunggu punye tunggu punye tunggu, makan tak lalu, tidur tak leh nak lena, December 19th tibe. It was the first rehearsals for finals. Went well. As usual. JANJI at 3pm, yang datang at 3pm, ADO? Ade lah beberape kerat jer yang datang. Most of them came around 3.30pm. Tak per la. Nampak sangat tak disciplined. Tgk me? I arrived 15 minutes earlier tau, only to find out Miss Perak and Pahang state rep dah arrived 5 minutes ahead of me.
So practice pi practice mai, habis la first day practice at 6pm. Then malam, me lepak with Kak Vee. Did my nails, hands and feet, lepak minum2, (ADDDINCH MAKAN OK! A NIGHT BEFORE CONTEST, NEVER EAT ANYTHING�) then Kak Vee slept over at my place. Then masuk tidur kindda like a bit early. By 11pm dah tidur.


DECEMBER 20th 2003

Pagi2 buta dah jaga dah. 9am went breakfast. Then duduk umah kejap. Relaxed and what not. 12pm gi final rehearsals. Again most of them sampai lewat. Biase lah. Yesterday tu kan Friday night, semuenye nak happening ler kot. Kak Vee didn�t come along as she wanna ensure everything was set up for me to get ready and do my make up after I balik rehearsals. So as we finished rehearsing, we had a short briefing;

- Contestants had to be there LATEST by 6.45pm
- One contestant, one make up artiste/ assistant
- Crowd would be arriving by 8.00pm ++
- Contestants were advised to keep the level of professionalism to a high level as VIPs and VVIPs would be there that night
- Etc � tak important pun for me�

Rehearsals habis around 3.30pm. I said to myself, THAT�S IT! Habis la. Kak Vee needs at least 2 solid hours� sempat ke nak siap? Tgh drive pun pening kepala datang lah. Migraine, biasa la. Most of the contestants siap kat situ jer, I mean, diaorang siap kat venue jer. But knowing me, I cerewet. Nak mandi dulu la, itu ini lagik� susah. So I decided to balik jer and get ready at home.

Balik rumah, mandi, siap2 semua, baring, Kak Vee start make up. I terlelap. Sedar2 twas like 6.15pm. Got up. TERKEJUT tgk my make up! Flawless Kak Vee make upkan I. Then twas the hairdo. Dia lilit sana lilit sini, sepit sana sini, then 6.30pm, I dah SIAP. Rushed bagai nak rak nih. Drive serupe pelesit jer. Sampai kat venue 7.15pm. I thought that�s it lah. Habis la aku! Alih2, ado!? Ade lagi ramai yang tak sampai! Argh!!! TENSIONNYE waktu tu!

So I relaxed� Kak Vee touch up sikit. We laughed, chatted a bit, smoked, and what not. By 7.45pm baru start tukar to my state dress. As usual, when I pakai jer my dress tu, the whole room macam.. �wwooooooo�� sama macam time I masuk the changing room tu. Everyone tgk me like, � �woooooo�� ape hal? Heheheh Ape kes? Kak Vee betulkan itu ini and after that get ready semuenye, she asked me to sit down. And dia taburkan glitters gold and silver all over me and sprayed glitters spray all over my body, neck, hands, legs, all over my la termasuk my dress and hair, so that as stage nanti, kena jer spotlight, memang glittering habis ahhh me nanti kate Kak Vee�

Sementara waiting for everyone to get ready and what not, contest patutnye start at 8.30pm, tapi twas already 8.15pm, crowd belum ramai. Oh. Lupe wanna tell the details of the finals�
Event: Mr Malaysia and Miss Malaysia Diva Pageant 2003/2004
Venue: Orange Club, just off Jalan Pinang � Jalan Kia Peng
Time: 8.00pm- Arrival of Guests
8.30pm- Competition Begins
VIP/VVIPs: Ade la some Tan Sris and Datos� with their wives and what not. Ramai la jugak. One corner dalam Orange Club tu untuk diaorang jer, VVIPs and VIPs.
Judges: Maria Farida (actress), Aleeza Kasim (actress/model), Sara Loo (ex-Miss Malaysia), Sheila Rusli (actress), Syed Abu Bakar (Erra Fazira's Manager), Vernon (Ning Baizura's Manager), Zul Yahya (actor), Rosnah Mat Aris (actress)

Lepas tu, after awhile they said the contest dah about to start. I just cut things short la ek. Tak yah la into details sangat ape I buat dalam changing room and what not, ape I borak semue tu, tak yah la ek? Ekekekeke. Oh tapi this I have to tell. Ade some contestants, kesian I tgk. Ade yang by 8pm make up tak sudah2 lagi. Ade yang 8.15pm, costumes/dresses tak sampai sampai lagi. Ade tu, tgh menangis gabra la, ade yang panic lah, itu la ini la, ADE YANG GADUH dengan make up artiste la. Ish. Sabar jer lah! Yang Mr Malaysia contestants, ade yang dari muka cute, terus lasam sbb salah touch ups. Ade yang Mr Malaysia tu, punye lah CANTIK patutnye masuk Miss Malaysia. Ade yang tak sehsuweeii langsung. Macam macam ragam lah dalam changing room tu. 15 Miss Malaysia contestants, 15 Mr Malaysia� pepaham jer lah how riuh rendah amik gambar la itu la ini la� :)

So anyways, contest dah nak mula� jengjejeng!

Mr Malaysia 2003/2004 and MISS MALAYSIA DIVA PAGEANT 2003/2004

Opening was some shows from some paperdoll dancers. Great show though. Pastu the mc was great. Talk here talk there, sampai lupa nak get the ball rolling. Keji tak? Ehehehe. So when the music started, there we went, parading in our State costumes, with our Mr state sendirian berhad lah. Me had my Mr. Penang by myside� so cute� so fair, so� so�so� *sigh* so lembut! Sedeh! I had this big smile of my face when I walked down the steps to the stage, through the crowds, roaring and cheering for me! And not to mention to some other contestants also la kan. And then lepas dah catwalk segala malai, came the introduction round. Me as usual did my normal opening speech macam states selections dulu tu la, ade la lebih sana sini sikit.

�Assalamualaikum and a very good evening Malaysia! 24 years old, 5�11� and 125pounds, and countin� em down still, came all the way from the historical island known as The Pearl of the Orient, I�m Nur Lea Laurielle Lai Lee Abdullah, proudly representing, PENANG!� And yes, the usuals, the crowd went wild! Good I jual nearly 30 tickets to crew members and my outsider friends� ehehehehe� SATU BUS tu� ekekek.

Ok lepas semue contestants dah siap bercerekarama berdialog berceloteh semue tu, berintroduksi semue for BOTH categories, we all catwalked one by one again, for a minute or so, then we went back to the changing room and changed into our Evening wear/ formal wear for Mr Malaysia candidates. Mine, was like, memenuhi citarasa contest. Nothing too modern, nothing too old. Oh! Miss Peraks� dress, MEMANG cantik; IF THE PINK WAS NOT MATCHED WITH GOLD LINING INSIDE THE PINK LACE! Ewww! But great design and she pakai it very like, cantik la on her! Coz she�s fair, kan� Ehehehe

Before we, Miss Malaysia girls came down, the Mr Malaysia finalist paraded first. Tak perlu I reviewkan pasal diaorang ek?

So lepas Mr Malaysia finalists came out in their formal wear, baru we came down from the spiral staircase, down to the dance floor, through the audience, and then up to the stage where Fazli (the one of the finalist in Malaysian Idol tu ler), he was up there, on the stage, taking one contestant at a time by the hands, sambil dia menyanyi lagu BEAUTIFUL MARIA live! Ok! Memang sedap! Meremang bulu roma dengar suara dia live menyanyi sambil like, memberi tangannye, menyambut my hand, up to the stage. Sweet sangat! So catwalk pi catwalk mai, tu la� habis lah sudah contest two category tu. Nampak macam cepat kan? Sbb it�s in here, kalau actual malam tu, boleh tahan lamanye jugak sebab each contestant took their own sweeeeeeeet time feeling feeling lebih atas stage tu. Ehehehehe I know I DID TOO! Ehehe.

So lepas tu, ade some shows, and then they called us up to the stage again. This time, the subsidiary titles�

-Miss Personality: Miss Penang
-Miss Hot Favourite: Miss Penang
-Miss Exotic Look: Miss Perak
-Miss Body Beautiful: Miss Negeri Sembilan *BIG HUGE MISTAKE FOR THE NIGHT!!! They salah announced the winner, which was supposed to be ME! Waktu tu muka I dah masam a bit, crowd yang tahu about this pun semuenye hairan. I was a bit upset. MOTIF salah sebut pemenang!!?!?!
-Best Legs: Miss Penang
-Best Traditional Wear: Miss Perak
-Best Evening Wear: Miss Penang
-Miss Congeniality: Miss Selangor
-Overall winner for Miss Malaysia Swimwear round: Miss Penang and Miss Perak

Mr Malaysia punye results nak jugak ke? Tak ingat lah� sorry! Top 5 ingat lah! Ehehehe
And then later was the final top 5 results: Twas in no merit order;
1. Miss Kelantan 1. Mr Sarawak
2. Miss Perak 2. Mr Selangor
3. Miss Negeri Sembilan 3. Mr Negeri Sembilan
4. Miss Malacca 4. Mr Johor
5. Miss Penang 5. Mr Pahang

At this point, I was so surprised Miss Selangor and Miss Pahang didn�t make it into the top 5. Miss Selangor won Miss Congen� Miss Pahang was overall 2nd best in Malam Berkemban� How could that be? Macam, pelik ah!? Tapi yang penting, PERAK was in top 5! Habis lah aku! As for Mr, erm, nak komen ke? Tak yah la ek?

So here comes the Q and A session. I will NOT tell the details of Miss Kelantan, Miss Malacca�s Q and A session. Cannot. Sedeh sangat lah! Bukan hina, tapi sedeh! Sbb tu I tannak letak. Kang ape orang kata. I saje nak buruk2kan diaorang. Tannak ah!

*Shit! It�s 2am already! Tak habis2 lagik nih!*

(MY ANSWERS FOR MISS PERAK AND MISS NEGERI SEMBILAN, SEINGAT2 I LA OK? IN MY WORDS LAH. TAPI WHAT I TULIS HERE, SIKIT2 SAMA LA MACAM APA DIAORANG CAKAP TU)

So q and a session Perak was like this; she pilih judge Maria Farida�s question;

MF: Miss Perak, you think you stand a chance to win tonight?

MP: Terima kasih daun keladi diatas soalan yang telah diberi. Saya rasa, semua peserta pada malam ini ada peluang masing2 utuk menang. Tapi semuanye bergantung kepada cara pembawakan diri masing2 dan jugak kita tidak patut tolak ketepi soal nasib. Bagi saya, berada di tangga top 5 ini sudah cukup bererti dan saya rasa peluang saya masih ada untuk menang, akan tetapi, menilai persoalan NASIB? Saya masih tidak mampu menjawab. Terima kasih.

*a very safe and intelligent answer, she was good!

Q and a for Negeri was something like this; she picked Zul Yahya�s question;

ZY: Sekiranya anda boleh tanye sesuatu pada saya, apakah yang akan anda tanyekan?

MNS: Emmm� bila nak kawin?

*she was funny. she tackled the q well. The crowd loved this girl so much that suddenly I felt, threatened.

And I picked Syed- Erra's Managers' question which went something like this;

S:If you were given that chance to live your life again as someone else, who would you be and why?

ME: If I have that chance, I would probably choose to relive my life as myself again. I�ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, and I�ve learned a lot from my many mistakes. And so, if I had to relive my life again, I would only wanna be myself as I know now what to do to make me a better person and wont be repeating the same mistakes again� Thank you.

*I know twas a bit running here running there hiding behind the bush before I get to my point, but twas a good answer, kan? Ceh puji lagik!

Lepas tu Mr Malaysia pulak buat Q and A�and then bla bla bla bla. Ade lah dalam setengah jam tunggu, results out. Setengah jam tu, ade la stand up comedies, shows and bla bla bla. So waktu menunggu tu lah, amik kesempatan bergambar lah, bergossip lah, touch up la. Me? Isap rokok and put my contact lense eye drop. Pedih / kering sangat mata malam tu! Touch up muka sikit. Amik gambar. Then they called us all up for the results. They announced serentak� here we go! The results!

- 4th Runner-up (5th Place): Mr Johor and Miss Kelantan
- 3rd Runner-up (4th Place): Mr Sarawak and Miss Malacca
- 2nd Runner-up (3rd Place): Mr Negeri Sembilan and Miss Negeri Sembilan

Then� they called up the last two candidates for Mr Malaysia to step forward. Then they announced the winner; 1st Runner-up was Mr Selangor and the new Mr Malaysia 2003/2004 was Mr Pahang (expected) So crowning and bla bla bla semua dah settle� Happy� Tunggu la dia kat situ for his MS Malaysia, hehhee! God! He wish!

Then, about Miss Malaysia�
MC: Would the two lovely ladies please step forward pls. This is a very intense moment for both of you, I know, but need me to remind here, to both of you and to everyone; IF for whatever reason the new Miss Malaysia Diva 2003/2004 cannot, by any chance, fulfill her duties and reign as the new title holder, then, the 1st Runner-up will take up her place. This is it. You girls are ready?

By waktu nih, Miss Perak dah pegang2 tangan I dah. And we were like whispering to each other. She said �You�re gonna win� and I said �NO, you will win, girl�� Walhal I wanted to win the title soooo much!

MC: Ladies, what can I say? You two are fabulous, you two looked absolutely radiant and perfectly beautiful, but the judges had come to their decisions and there can only be one winner for tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you, the 1st Runner-up, she is� *slowly the MC jalan towards Miss Perak and then pegang her shoulders and then the crowd started screaming, PENANG! PERAK! PERAK! PERAK PERAK!* YES� the 1st runner-up is Miss Perak and YOU! Miss Penang, IS THE NEW MISS MALAYSIA DIVA 2003/2004 !!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Tears fell right off my eyes as they the DJ pasangkan lagu ONE IN A MILLION!!! MY SONG! Hugged Miss Perak who was also in tears (frust kot? Ke tumpanghappy dia kalah I menang? Hmmm) And then waved sekejaps kat audience! And then still in tears, I got crowned by Sara Loo, Ex Miss Malaysia (tahun berapa tah) and dapat all my sash, tropphy, crown, bla bla bla bla. Semuenye la. God! What did I feel waktu tu? SPEECHLESS! Am on top of my world, of everything! I WON! I was like, MISS MALAYSIA!!!!!!!

And then there was the group hugs, friend hugs, lover hugs, ooopps! Ex by now! Ehehehe. Amik gambar nan stop... still in tears... :) Make up still maintain... jumpe judges, borak kejap, photos, ade this one fella interviewed me a bit (dunt know whatever happened to him and his interview tu.. hmmm) And then packed stuffs, and brambus balik awal sbb waktu semue ended semue tu dah 1.30am kot. At 6am was my pick-up for my morning Amsterdam flight! Eheheh.. Pergi jugak tu! Dalam keadaan ohhh gumbira!!! Walaupun tak cukup tidur tapi ku tetap gumbira!!! Eheheheh

So that was pretty much it. Perjalanan I dari one of the contestants for Miss Penang state selections till the night I was crowned Miss Malaysia 2003/2004. FYI, my reign ended already last year when I crowned 2004/2005's winner... :) Anyways, twas great sharing the joy and experiences with everyone. I dont mind sharing since twas a great memories puun, kan? :) Well, kesimpulannye... Been there, done that, as MISS MALAYSIA DIVA 2003/2004... :)


The end