I had a game with a star!

I do not have friends who are stars (meaning artistes), so I do not know exactly how it feels to be walking alongside a star, chatting and even having dinner together.

Picture this scenario. You are up close and personal with an artiste in a restaurant, while fans are crowding outside, jostling and pushing, and sticking their faces to the door. The fans are even trying to catch a glimspe of you, to see why you are so lucky to be with their idol. Suddenly a sense of importance overwhelms you. (Although after sometime, you would probably find the attention disturbing and distracting, or that people are invading your privacy.)

Well, if I see a star walking past me, I will probably steal a few glances at him, no matter how popular or unpopular he is. It is true that artistes are basically just like you and me, except that they get to appear on television. But precisely because they are public figures, we tend to look at them and exclaim: "Hey, it's XXX!" (or at least I do), followed by, "He looks so cool!" or "Gee, he looks so normal, I wonder how he ever became a star?".

Of course, as we grow older, we will appear calm and composed when we meet an artiste, but there is always this little bit of excitement burning inside. After all, we do not get to see the stars in real life everyday.

That day, I went for a game with some friends, and...she was there! She is this artiste who is knowledgable, intelligent and often gives intellectual comments. She happens to be a friend of one of my friends. Well, she is not my idol (more of my mother's idol), but imagine having a game with a star when we actually paired up! We did not talk much, but she was nice and kept smiling, and we had some small talk too. I was tempted to ask her for an autographed photograph (I think my mother would like that), but luckily I stopped myself in time (I remembered suddenly that I have an image to maintain), otherwise, I would have appeared like a crazy little fan.

I believe the rest were pretty used to having a star amidst the company. I guess she does not feel like a star amongst them, and neither do they feel that she is any different. Probably that is why she likes to hang around with them. I think public figures value privacy and being "normal" a lot, especially those who have been in the entertainment scene for quite sometime.

About a few months ago, I was waiting for a friend in Bugis when I bumped into the Channel U television crew. The hosts Quan Yi Feng and Kym Ng were filming this matchmaking variety show. This is kind of embarrassing, but I will say it anyway. I was immediately transformed into a little fan, and even boldly approached a stranger to help take a photo of me with Quan Yi Feng. That is the so called "star effect". I do not particularly like the two, and I hardly watched that variety show, but yet they "enticed" me to turn into a fan at the spur of the moment.

You must be saying, "Hey, come on, you are already 23, yet you are doing this kind of silly thing?"

Well, I am over twenty, but I am still young at heart, with this tiny bit of "childishness" still in me. And it seems set to stay put for a while!