It was a Tuesday I was looking forward to since months ago when I heard that Chicago is coming to Singapore.

I first wanted to watch it when it first launched in London, where all the posters of risquely dressed ladies in fishnet stockings and had their modesty covered by a chair, giving the most smoldering looks they could manage were posted along the neverending escalators.

But, there was an age-limit set for it, and the fresh meat in the form of me was too young for it.

I didn’t go back when I was 18, cos I was too shy to ask anyone to go with me, and a group of us shy girlies made do with CATS instead.

I fell in love with the movie which showcased Catherine Zeta Jones’ talents, though I was still not quite buying Renee Zellweger’s performance..

It was one of my favourite movies cos I was captivated by the music and all that slickness, boy oh boy. Pure seduction.

Betrayal, fame, suspense, empowering females, a flamboyant lawyer, and awesome choreography, what’s there not to love?

I was a little apprehensive that the musical wasn’t gonna to match up to the movie, especially since I already knew the plot, and the numbers, and how can anyone match Catherine Zeta Jones’ charms?

The cast were all Australian, and even their usual lead Velma Kelly wasn’t going to be performing for their Asia tour.

Then again, sometime in 2006, a reader once told me that the best Phantom he had ever seen was from Australia, and it is a land of theatre talents overlooked cos the masses’ hearts are with New York Broadway and London West End.

Nonetheless, I was very much looking forward to it and literally counting down to 20th April, right after my driving practical!

I even refused a practical that day cos I was adamant not to miss something that was going to make me that exhilarated. Waited at Esplanade on a nice, breezy evening for the others.

I even got to witness the sun setting on an almost perfect evening.

That’s me at Esplanade with the floral skater dress I had fell in love with on www.theoneparade.com and Jo from Foggiare had sent me in the little package of surprise. Can you imagine my shock when I received the exact same dress within couple of days of each other?

Nonetheless, I love the dresses to bits cos the material was just so soft, and it was perfect for a long day out, and if not for the driving practical, I could have glam it up more for the occasion.

An article had featured the lead actress Sharon Millerchip who plays Roxie Hart, and it was pretty impressive as she had became the only actress that had won award for playing BOTH the role of Velma Kelly almost a decade ago, and Roxie Hart recently.

That’s her in the musical’s banner behind me.

I have had read lukewarm reviews of the musical after its first couple of nights of run, and yet kept an open mind about wanting to enjoy my night to the max.

I love the square outside Esplanade, for it is just such a quiet place…. with so much anticipation for the show to start.

Of course, there’s the beautifully lit city lights glamming the place up.

And the resident cam-whore basking in the evening right before the splendidly dazzling Esplanade.

We made our way to meet Cheyenne for dinner at Thai Express, and there was nothing express about the service there.

Our order was mixed up, and they didn’t serve one of our orders, and we had to wave 159 times before they could bring us the bill, which conveniently included the item which wasn’t served.

Still, we got the chance to camwhore while waiting for the food, and I was getting a tad giddy from the day out.

By then we got a little impatient because they were taking way too much time to get back to us that we might actually missed the musical’s timing, and we were not about to let that happen.

The four of us half-ran to the door to the stall seats, and made it just in time to catch our breath and for the lights to be dimmed.

And what a show it was.

Every bit of it oozes sexiness and sensuality and despite it was a plot we were all too familiar with, the live singing, and all the impressive dance moves just made us indulge in the pure beauty of theatre.

Yes, it doesn’t have the lavish set of Phantom, the costumes of CATS, the charged numbers of We Will Rock You, or the humor of Avenue Q, but it was still one hellava show and I mean, all the tight fitting costumes and fish net stockings and sexy people… it gotta be explosive!

We got to see the sexiness upclose and personal and the brilliant seats meant we could see the dancers’ sweat, and every bit of their bodies as they writhed to the music, and even their expressions.. which shows the professionalism of each and everyone of them.. even in the most obscure positions, they would be in character and were every bit of fabulous.

And then, there were the tight asses of the boys… OH. MY. GOD. The male casts were relatively younger, and they were ALL HOT.

Those tight fitting pants hugged their asses so snugly that, YOU JUST CANNOT MISS THEM.

When they did their sways and hip thrusts, you first notice the perkiness, before you have your gazes held by the spectacular bulges. Giggles.

There were plenty of hand gripping, and bated breaths as we sat through the routines.

Especially there was this part when the female cast did a standing split against a male cast and it was HOT HOT HOT!

Watching it and the dance choreography makes me wish that I could dance like that. It was inspiring.

Was pleasantly surprised by Deone Zanotto’s portrayal of Velma Kelly and though everyone was probably more in it for Sharon Millerchip, I found myself more impressed by Deone’s performance.

Billy Flynn has all the flair but is a tad lacking in the vocal department.

I mean, these people do it 8 times a week, every week! How do they do it?!

Musicals just show how much talent these individuals have and I am just glad I caught it and we cheered we clapped and we had plenty of fun.

There was some standing ovation, and though it still didn’t meet my benchmark, it was close. I remember the squeals we gave when the male casts took their bows and the guys 2nd and 3rd from the right just made our hearts skip a beat.

Joanne Peh and Jeanette Aw were there to watch it together and a naked face Jeanette Aw still looks amazing, I must say.

I can’t wait for Marina Bay Sands’ Lion King to open in October. Still a long way, but I am just glad to get my fix from Chicago.

***

Headed off to have supper at Hotel Rendevous and had a good laugh over boys’ conquests and their tiny victories that seem so significant to boys and yet so trivial to us ladies *blows nailpaint dry* since it was drizzling at Esplanade… and the dreaminess of it all when we stepped out of the musical lingered on such a gorgeous night.

This lesson is for the internet junkies out there who are tech morons, which is a fatal combination that yours truly unfortunately is.

Can you imagine when you are almost dying from withdrawal and frustration, you realise the only thing that is separating you from your fix is your stupidity?!

It is like you see someone having a heart attack, and you are the only one around… with the defibrillators right next to you but you thought those are just for ironing the emergency creases on your shirts or something.

I was blogging halfway last night on my notebook after putting Minibean to sleep, sorely missing my desktop after watching an episode of glee and CSI Miami without regular sound cos the speakers ain’t working when plugged in, when my internet connection died on me.

Just like that *snaps of fingers*.

After hours of attempt to try to revive it, I still couldn’t get it working. I even woke up to check if it works when I changed Minibean’s Drypantz in the early morning, but it still wouldn’t give me any sense of hope.

How sad is that?

This afternoon, the withdrawal got the better of me, and I tried again.

Then I saw the wireless connections of neighbours and one that said excellent connection but I cursed slightly when it was actually secured network.

Since I have had my internet connection for the past… gasp, almost 3 years (which was why I got this notebook for free), I have sometimes saw the same stingy basket who had locked up the connection, which would have sometimes solve my internet woes when using my notebook in the hall.

But since it is rare, my gripes towards the stingy basket weren’t as strong as it was today, since I know my survival is solely base on the wireless since I couldn’t got on the internet via the modem.

I don’t agree to be an internet leech, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Imagine how I could have find troubleshooting solution online!

In the saddest story ever told.. I was left with a desktop with dead motherboard, and a notebook without working internet connection. FML.

A call to Singtel brought forth more revelations than one.

The story got sadder, and sadder.

My network card died indeed, and it could be due to my itchy hand when I tried to clear my notebook of more files.

And then, I was told my modem has always been a wireless too.

I have been wanting to leech the bugger for almost 3 years, only to realise the stingy bugger is myself and the network key is on the bloody modem.

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

And the ready wireless had been there and for all the years I leeched off weaker signals (may I add, only on two occasions I ever did that and less than 10 minutes!), and cursing the stingy bugger, I had been talking about none other than my own, brilliant, self.

BAH!!!!!

THE NETWORK HAS ALWAYS BEEN MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!

SO SAD RIGHT?!?!?!?!

And now, I am liberated back into the internet, with my wireless network losing its virginity for the very first time in almost 3 years.

Next time anyone of you come my house and I won’t give you a sad little face to tell you I don’t have wireless connection and you would respond with your dejected puppy looks that would make me feel badbadbad.

It was a very “duh” moment but then the joy started seeping in cos all hopes were not lost for me to get online, you know you know?

So, lesson learnt. If you are a tech moron like me, most likely the answer is easier and more straight forward than you think it is.

Just like how last night, an eureka moment dawned upon me with other issues that… “Most of the time, things are the simplest at its most complicated, and most complicated at its simplest.”

I do feel that it holds true that way for many things.

And suddenly, I don’t quite trust myself to dismantle my hard disk from my desktop already.