The minute I landed at Cat City (Kuching) and being met at the airport by Yu Puay (the Catty Queen of Karar Line Dancers), I started to purr.  Research says my purring is saying that ‘Yu Puay, I am okay” and that “I am here.” A bonding mechanism between a kitten (me) and mother (her).

With the progressive arrivals of our line dance kakis from Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru and Singapore, the purring continued and became more audible.  The sound of contentment and pleasure.  A purr has been likened to the human smile.  You smile when you are happy.  So, in the cats’ world, you purr when you are happy.

Now, why should we be so sinfully happy?  Let me spill the beans…

Like a VIP, I was whisked away to check into my hotel room and then to a reception hosted by very attractive ladies of Karar Line Dancers at a private club.  After eating ourselves ‘drunk’ and bantering away, we went to Yu Puay’s music studio to do last minute wrapping of lucky draw gifts and slurping up yummy Mango & Orange sorbet.  Life is beautiful!

The next day was exciting; with Jit Phong arriving early and graciously accompanied me to welcome our Singaporean friends headed by Gangsta Robin (sometimes known as Rockin’ Robin or Captain Hook in one of his previous lives).  He was all excited to talk about the ‘near-miss’ they have had in getting over to Kuching – coach was late and they almost missed their flight.  Phew!  Glad that they made it else I would certainly be clawed at by our Kuching friends.  Fabulous pair, Maggie & Lesley joined us shortly with rest of HappyFeet – and we headed quickly for the popular Kolo Mee (local Chinese-style noodles).

Seafood at Top Spot Food Court is something to die for.  Plentiful and fresh prawns (Mongolian style), Crab (butter with black pepper), bamboo clams (belong to mussel family), fried midin (local fern) with belacan (prawn paste), sautéed assorted mushrooms, assam fish, oyster omelette, sweet sour chicken…..go on salivating.  You are forgiven.

  
Ladies enjoying their seafood dinner @ TopSpot. Yummy....

After the big feast, we were being chauffeured in 8 power-cars well maneuvered by lady drivers with F1 precision to St Thomas Secondary School Hall for our opening night jamming.  4.5 hours of non-stop dancing, socializing, dance demos by Rockin’ Robin.  2 new dances by him – ‘That Thing You Do!’ and ‘Funky Paradise’, as well as ‘Next to Me’ and ‘Strangers in the Night’. 

The spotlight was on Rockin’ Robin at Stampark Grand Hall, BDC on Saturday afternoon.  We were rewarded with good hand-picked dances and TWO specially choreographed dances by Robin for this event:

THAT THING YOU DO Choreographed by Robin Sin to That Thing You Do! by The Wonders.
Go back in time almost 40 years to the early days of rock of roll where “teen sensation’ bands drove pubescent girls wild.  Well, that is the sensation we get whenever we do this dance – especially during the easy tag where we get to simply scream out loud!  A definite floor filler.

HERNANDO’S HIDEAWAY Choreographed by Christine Boogh (Sweden) and Roy Verdonk to Hernando's Hideaway by The Johnston Brothers.
Robin was seen dancing effortlessly, making perfect poses to the calls of OLÉ on Friday night, prompting everyone to request for this dance teach.  Getting us to imagine ourselves as bullfighters and sometimes as sword-brandishing opera performers, Robin expertly guided us through the seemingly ‘difficult’ first 8 counts without much sweat.  Great fun!

  
Left: Hernando's Hideaway
Right: Funky Paradise

FUNKY PARADISE Choreographed by Robin Sin to Shining Star by Ruben Studdard.
A brilliant choreography of 48 counts with good mix of applejacks, traveling swivels, bumps and lunges.  Certainly not a run-of-the-mill dance.  Despite Robin’s repeated taunts that this is an advanced dance, we knew that we will master this dance with his systematic teaching technique.  With 2 refreshing restarts and ending at the same wall – we made it!  What a great gift to all the Gangsta’s.

A short break to refresh and then we were back for another night of dance-till-you-drop session.  And lo-behold, the ‘decent’ people we saw during the day somehow transformed into different personalities.  2 huge motorbikes appeared in the hall, and dancers bedecked with heavy chains, sinister looks, dark glasses, dark suits took over the night.

 

We witnessed the prelude of well-mannered Gangsta’s (samsengs) taking over the dance floors on Friday night itself.  It was over La Chico – the Kuching and Singapore groups were waiting for each other to start the dance; and finally the self-appointed ‘leaders’ of both groups met each other in the middle of the dance floor, had a small chat, shook hands, briefed each other’s group – and started the dance.  No blood shed but lots of laughter and giggles and sighs of relief….we did La Chico with a restart – and hey presto! the dance fits the music beautifully. 

Robin treated us with a very well-executed showcase of the dance “Pump It” – an advanced dance choreographed by Rachael & Paul of Masters in Line.  The guests were getting restless for Robin to teach another dance.  Due to time constraints, Robin could only teach one dance.  The Football World Cup may be one of the best betting occasions, but for that evening, all of us were voting for Robin to teach:

SOMETHIN’ ABOUT U Choreographed by Robin Sin to “All About You” by  McFly 
A delightful dance that you can sing along to.  The dance hall was filled within the wink of an eye, as everyone scrambled back to the dance floor to learn this stress-free easy going dance. 

We are thankful to Nestle, which generously sponsored free-flow iced cholesterol-lowering milk, Omega Plus as well as lucky draw gifts – to keep our hearts healthy so that we could handle the 129 dances for both nights effortlessly.

HappyFeet would also like to thank Karar Line Dancers for collaborating with us to realize this event.  And also to LD Kakis from Miri, Sabah, Johor, KL and Wild West Singapore for going the distance to join us. 

As one of the attendees summed up - nice flooring, friendly people, good music – that makes Kuching one of the best destinations to come to dance.  And we have a photo of bruised ankle to vouch for this – the owner of this ankle was still happily jaunting and boat-hopping around with HappyFeet the very next morning.

This report cannot do justice to the friendship and wonders that the people and Kuching extended to us.  You can only experience them by being there yourself….so the next time, try not to miss any line dance events being held in Kuching.

On Saturday, July 1 2006, we are swinging back in action at Country Heights with Sizzlin’ Hot Robin for our Summer Delite Line Dance Fun in the Sun!  Not to worry – the dance hall will be coolly air-conditioned, and you are most welcomed to come in your beach wear, swim wear, hot pants, country/western gear – whatever you feel cool in.

Look out for more details on Robin’s dances, photos and Summer Delite event on our webby www.myhappyfeet.net

Contented (purr purr) in Happy Shoes
Happy Gangsta Khim
HappyFeet
Malaysia