Contestants brew up a storm in teh tarik challenge

SUBANG JAYA: It was a hilarious finale to the USJRA-NST Streets Family Day '09 when visitors to the carnival gamely put on their aprons and showed off their "tea-pulling" skills.

Second-prize winner Vijendram Vadival in the middle of his amazing routine. — Pictures by P.C. Lim, Supian Ahmad and Saiful Izan Tamadi

Contestants in the teh tarik challenge turned, twisted, did the cha-cha-cha, stood on one leg and even performed some acrobatics while "pulling" the tea from one metal mug to another.

The participants for the teh tarik challenge included housewives, professionals, students and even children. The competition was sponsored by Marigold.

They tried their best to dazzle the judges and the audience by timing their moves to accompanying songs like Do The Twist, Great Balls Of Fire and other catchy tunes.

The contestants, who are mostly novices at tea pulling, were given marks based on their teh-tarik skills, showmanship and cleanliness (not spilling the tea and dirtying their aprons and clothes).

Manju Thavamoney of Subang Jaya started the ball rolling by shaking the two mugs she held as she danced to the beat of the music. Pouring her tea from at least a metre high, she ended her performance on one bended knee.

"Being the first contestant, I was nervous as I have never made teh-tarik before. I spilt some tea," she said later. The mother of three, who loves dancing, walked away with a consolation prize.

Manju was not disappointed as she found the event to be a lot of fun. "When I came to the family day, I didn't know anyone, but after the event, I have got many friends. Events like this certainly help to bring families and the community closer," she said.

Nine-year-old Natasha was the youngest contestant and earned loud cheers from the crowd when she ended her routine with a fantastic cartwheel.

For Jacqueline Yong, one of the consolation prize winners, this was the first time she had tried to make teh tarik. "I usually make tea but have never tried pulling it before. This was a new experience for me and I had fun taking part in this competition," she said.

Vijendram Vadival of Klang, who was representing Sime Darby, skillfully whipped up the teh tarik while doing tricks like pulling the tea behind his back and pouring the tea from a good distance. He only spilled a couple of drops of tea and looked set to win.

But, when the emcees joked that he must be making teh-tarik for his bosses at Sime Darby, Vijendram laughed and was momentarily distracted, causing him to spill some of his tea. Nevertheless, he won the second prize for his effort.

In the end, it was Arunagiri Pillai who charmed the judges and the crowd with his mix of traditional dances and teh tarik skills.

Arunagiri, who won the top prize, had started slow with the joget and a pop yeh-yeh dance before increasing the tempo and doing the bhangra. At one point, he poured the tea while standing on one leg. He said his winning strategy was not to get excited and to enjoy what he was doing so that the crowd too would feel his enjoyment.

For the "scientific pest exterminator," the competition was child's play compared to getting rid of snakes, rats and other pests.