Trip Report Day 3 - D-day for Abi in HKFBF 2014 (prejudging)

This is the day of Abi's first competition abroad, and there's no better stage to display the product of her long training and dedication than in the Hong Kong stage. As I  mentioned on the previous entries of this blog, the Hong Kong stage is the best platform for any bodybuilder, physique, bikini or fitness athlete bar none. The lighting is good, the stage is big, the emcees are professional, it's just a good overall package. But enough of the venue.

In the morning of the prejudging, I saw Abi in the sofa trying to relax. The food has already been cooked, and Abi has been colored.  So I don't know how early they woke up, or if they have every slept the night before.  I hurriedly prepared myself before we went to the venue. All this while coach Dondon was still continuously texting/messaging Abi. In hindsight, i think it would have been easier if we just stationed a laptop in the living room and turned on skype so he can see what's happening in the apartment - a virtual big brother.

While me, Reysan, Ricci and Martin were having breakfast, Momo was touching up Abi's face makeup. I recall she started with some cream last night, so this morning is the real work. Yesterday, Ricci and Abi found a salon that can do her hair and makeup, but it opens at 930. We needed to be in the venue by 11am so it won't work, and decided that Abi does her hair herself.



At this time, the sweet potato that John Ama brought was almost finished. So Jacques and Joseph decided to stay home to buy and cook more sweet potato for the continuous carbo loading that the two would need. They will come to the venue to support Abi at the same time bringing these sweet spuds later that morning.


So off we went to find a taxi to the venue. Some taxis in Hong Kong are not fluent in English and telling them that you want to go to KITEC will just return a blank expression. Good thing I bought a Hong Kong SIM with mobile data, I was able to show the website in Chinese. When we arrived at KITEC, we found a few athletes already waiting outside the hall. Instead of waiting there, we decided to get comfy in a coffee place to have Abi suitably cooled relaxed while waiting. We found a cold spot for her while we had coffee and juice and chit chat with the other athletes that is also waiting for the Hall to open.

When they finally opened the Hall, some people preferred to wait outside as the air conditioner has just been turned on in the Hall and was still quite warm. Around 12.30pm, the instruction to the ladies has been given and some rehearsals for the athletes entrance was given. After 30 minutes, the prejudging started.

The lineup for Abi's category - women's physique under 160cm consists of a very impressive though diverse lineup. There were around 10 contestants in the lineup. You have the usual women's physique that you see in the Arnold's Amateur coming from the Singapore representative and Abi. You see a Women's Figure like body of the Taiwan representative, who incidentally has won this HK title more than 3 times. Then you have Jacky Sweet, who despite being muscled, still retains her feminine form. Then there are those who can be mistakenly thought to compete in the bikini category, but with a bit more muscle definition.


The prejudging happened without a hitch for Abi. Everything worked as plan. At least from what I was seeing. All compulsory poses were done as practiced. They stick to the 4 compulsory vs. the 7 that is done by the men. Her abs, back, hamstrings, biceps and tricips were all present and accounted for on stage. I don't recall any callouts in the prejudging after the 2 sets of contestants (5 each round) were called. I guess the judges pretty much made their decision.

to be continued...