5:14 p.m. - 2004-06-06
Aftermath - Day 85
Now if you havent read the update immediately before this, do so now before proceeding any further.
So those of us who were not exactly rich decided to camp out inside the LOTR Exhibition Hall. It was now around 3.30am and we’d all just finished a second round of photographing and touching all the exhibits. Everyone else was gone of course. Clarice and the SFX girl were lying down inside the Scaling booth and the rest of us spread out the Nazgul costumes on the floor and lay down just in front of Scaling. We bypassed the timers so we still had the lights and sound effects on.
So we were talking about the wacky stuff we’ve done the past 3 months of work and all in all making a slagload of noise.
And then suddenly the SPI guys walk in. bwahahahaha! That was just too much man. Checking for supernatural activities inside the LOTR Exhibition?!?!? ROTFL!!! Did they hope to find a Nazgul? Sauron maybe? How about the spirit of dead Boromir. Oh and there’s the Ring in its own chamber too. Of course since they were just asking for ridicule, whenever they walked past we’d all start singing the Ghostbusters theme song. Hahaha! They must have cursed us for that.
Anyways, by 4am, Clarice and the other girl were asleep and we were making far too much noise right in front of them. So since we felt bad about depriving them of proper sleep, we decided to take our noise into Movie World. Fatimah had ROTK on DVD and we decided to play it on the big screen. So we were alternately sleeping and watching the movie for the next three and a half hours. Hehe. Was fun. We were shouting out our own comments now and then. Haha and all of us woke up in time for the Ride of the Rohirrim so that we could cheer on Rohan!
And the movie finished just in time at 7.30am, just as Thor messaged my phone to wake me up. Lol! So we dragged our sorry-looking selves up and headed to the bathrooms to freshen up. The ladies bathroom was out of toilet paper so Ann and I went into the gents and got some. Yes we made sure the place was empty first.
Apparently the other two had already left so it was just us showhosts remaining. We went to the back room behind Scaling – our headquarters and home away from home – and packed up all our stuff. I took one last walk around the Exhibition Hall, hugging all the exhibits. Sounds stupid but I’ve been around that stuff for 3 long months. It felt like we all owned a small part of everything in there. We took care of them, looked after them, and protected them for all this time and now we had to give them up. That exhibition hall was like our second home, we knew every square inch of the place. But this time, once we walked out, there was no coming back in again. I was crying while hugging the Exhibits.
Everything that happened, good or bad, they happened in there. Friendships were formed, with each other and with visitors too. We had experiences that we’ll probably never have again. We learned teamwork and loyalty. We stood up for each other. I’ll never forget how the others stood up to that guy who made me cry last month. I was touched. We had so many hilarious moments in there, so many wacky moments. All those times in costumes, esp the Nazgul, scaring the slag outta people. All those amazed looks from visitors when we gave them snippets of information they never knew. Haha and repeating the same information over and over again, stalking people with cameras and handphone cameras.
*Sigh* I know there’ll never be another job like this. Ever.
I feel bad for the other LOTR staff. Because some of them had really crappy supervisors I don’t think they were able to form as close bonds with each other as we showhosts got to do. Ah well we were pretty much friendly with all the groups: VSAs, SFX, Café, Merchandise Shop. Hehe. I shall miss them all.
Finally after we were all packed, it was time to leave. As we were walking out for the last time, I shed a few tears. It just overwhelmed me that I wouldn’t be walking in again the next day. =’(
We trooped into McD with all our bags and baggage for breakfast at around 8.30 am and sat there for about an hour just talking about everything we’d been through. Ann wanted to go for a movie after that but everyone was too sleepy. Understandable I guess. So we went our separate ways.. man I do hope I still get to keep in touch with them after all of this.
How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on? When in your heart you begin to understand: there is no going back. There are some things time cannot mend. Some hurts that go too deep, that have taken a hold.
Don’t say: We have come now to the End. White Shores are calling, you and I will meet again.
All you have to decide is what to do with the Time that is given to you
And
Well, I’m back.
P.S: Thor, thanks so much for the list and the poem! loved them!
