I kept having problems with the server, which explains the delay in this post.

But suffice to say, the Claymate get-together was a blast! What was initially supposed to be 2 or 3 of us having a quiet dinner ballooned into a gathering of 10, all of whom are absolute Clayniacs! And I thought I was fanatical! :D

Everyone hails from different walks of life -- healthcare workers, the media industry, university under- and post-grads, a risk analyst from a major bank, etc. -- but where Clay was concerned, there were zero problems
communicating. From the word go, conversation never ceased, and we must've said "Clay" thousands of times during the 4 whole hours we spent together. No doubt the other diners at the restaurant knew who we were, and a few of them even gave us warm ( and a little bemused ) smiles. :)

All the Claymates I've met on the boards have always been really nice, but this dinner was especially significant, because it's the first time I've ever met any fellow fans in the flesh. And let me tell you, Claymates everywhere are super-nice! One lady got us extra copies of the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly ( with Clay on the cover ), which was sold out at most bookstores and newsstands. Another paid for the entire meal, despite our repeated protests. And everyone brought their own Clay paraphernalia to share -- magazines, pictures, you name it! And the food was good too. :)

After the meal, we adjourned to a private area nearby -- won't say where, in case someone tells us later that we weren't supposed to be there, haha! This place provided us with lots of privacy, and the lady who got us the EW mags even brought her laptop along, allowing us to view fantastic video clips of Clay's very recent
appearance on a telethon with Jerry Lewis to raise funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, as well
as a stint for Total Request Live on MTV. We also watched many of his concert clips which were downloaded from the Internet. There was even a montage of all his famous shirt tugs and yanks, accompanied by a voiceover from a hilarious radio interview ( the link of which I posted not too long ago ). We swapped lots of news on our favourite singer, and let me tell you, some of these fans are walking Clay Aiken encyclopaedias! I learnt so much in just one evening, I'm totally stunned! One Claymate surfs the Net till 1am everyday, and another stayed up till 5am to catch his performance on the telethon. I take my hat off to you both! :D

But the highlight for me was definitely meeting SF (initals don't correspond to her real name, by the way ). She's 25, and a relatively late Clay convert -- instead of following American Idol from the beginning, she noticed him only after he sang This Is The Night during the finals. Since then, she's become as enthusiastic as the rest of us, but went a step further by getting tickets to the AI concert in New Jersey during a trip to the US late last month. Even more amazingly, she managed to get backstage passes, and met all the Idols, including Clay, who took a picture with her! The photos were fabulous, and I'm extremely envious! :D

The next incident warrants special mention. After the meet and greet ended, SF waited outside near Clay's limo for 1 1/2 hours, and happened to be standing right next to the rear door when he got in from the other side. She tried to get an autograph from him (very politely, of course) but as there were loads of other fans standing there behind her, Clay couldn't oblige or there'd be a stampede. Just as a bodyguard tried to move her physically, Jerome ( Clay's famous personal guard ) appeared, and the sweet guy brought her over to Clay's window so she could get his autograph! Awwwww :) As she thought her name would be too tough to spell ( it's rather unusual, I agree ), she very considerately asked him to make it out to Singapore instead.
His response? A very funny "You mean the whole country?!" She said yes, and he kindly obliged.
She didn't bring the actual signed CD sleeve with her, but we got to see the scanned picture, and the exact wording is:

"Singapore, All my love, Clay Aiken."

The word "Singapore" is printed very clearly, and looks like he was writing this as carefully as he could so he wouldn't spell it wrongly. After that, the "all my love, etc" bit is his characteristic scribble. It's an amazing thing to see, and if / when we do have that local CD release party, let's blow this photo up and use it as an official poster. :D

We're definitely going to meet up again real soon, hopefully with double or triple the numbers. It was wonderful to meet you all! You're the best! :)