It was 1.00pm (13th March 2005) @ Wolf's Game Shop when I decided to not go for a Classical Concert (which I paid in advance) to go for a Raw Deal Tournament. ( I was also expecting to go to dinner with some ex-colleagues, but that's another story). It was to be my last Tourney at the shop, the last pre-Armageddon tourney and also one final hurrah for GOLDBerg since Jericho/Chyna is working.
NOT!!!!! For some reason, Andy decided to 'surprise' everyone by 'not' working and 'playing'. Thank god his love affair with a middle aged man was stronger than his preference for the most populous country. (that's China ler).
To cut to the chase, there were 11 players. From memory, there was GOLDBerg, Jericho, Dudley Boyz, Los Guereros, Undertaker, FBI, Deadman Inc, RVD, Dude Love, Rey Mysterio and B!+$# (Babe) of the Year (you will see why the dissent soon). As Armageddon wasn't legal, the opportunity for mutiple ME's in a tournament wasn't possible (The current thought that Shelton Benjamin is the next best thing offers multiple MEs possible). So let's talk about the matches
Round 1
B!+$# of the Year. B!+$#.B!+$#.B!+$#.B!+$#. F^@k!#& B!+$#.
(let's just say GOLDBerg had a bad hair day. Even when bald......) 0-1 (pin loss)
Round 2
oops. I can't believe it. I can't remember anything else about this tornament. All I could remember is loosing to Babe of the Year, then doing a comeback and beating Undertaker for the finals. Wha' the F???
In any case, this is a failed post, but will go up anyway.
Sorry about the memory loss.
Now, what was i doin?
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Friday, March 18, 2005
Singapore Raw Deal Qualifier - Epilogue
And so the odyssey to Singapore came to an end. We basically sped off to the MRT, caught the next available bus to Customs, went straight through it (with Ahmad deciding against small talking with Customs Officer only to be 'bag searched' by the Malaysian customs instead) and caught the same bus to the bus station in Johor. At least I think it was Johor. It's not like I've really set foot there, you see.
Once at the station, we got lucky with a bus leaving in 15 minutes or so (Malaysian time....you know, late by 30 mins)... I stayed, I think with Azmin and Dawn on the bus, while Ahmad, Shaz and Andy went scouring for food as everyone was hungry. I wasn't hungry, as i had...(talk about that later) but I chose to ask them to get me McD's as well... Ans a bottle of mineral water....Man, was I thirsty or what (I didn't share the water, fyi..)
Once everyone was onboard, the bus went a'rollin' and we happy munchin' McD's. Sorry, Wolf's Game Shop Owners, we do love McD!! While the bus switched off most the lights there were six sleep deprived but hyper active failed to make it to top 16 amatuer wrestlers happily relating their experience to each other not bothering the fact that it was night and other passengers were trying to sleep! Yeah, we were mean.....really mean...So...There's 2 things yoo can do....(Wrestlers, complete the sentence yourself).
On the bus, as mentioned we took turns relating our experience. All of us remember Ahmad's "Multi!" screams, his threat to his last opponent (he personally repeated this like, 5 times! (5 times! 5 times! 5 times! 5 times!) ), Azmin's 1st opponent, Andy's victory rolls, Shaz....was pretty quiet (didn't hear him shouting "it's all about nipples!"), Dawn's lack of opportunity to exploit her feminity, and Ben's 6-1 result that didn't make top 16! After the Bus stopped for a break, we returned to the bus and finally decided to retire (I mean sleep). Oh, Azmin made a new friend/foe. His 1st opponent sms him the result and wanted to sell Paid Laid and Made to us at !!!!!30 sing!!!! We of course said no.........
Lastly, we arrived in KL about ( i don't really remember the time) 5am? Everyone but me got off at Bukit Jalil and I walked home......from the exit at Desa Petaling.....The last thing I remember about the trip? Sleeping at my own bed at home. There's just no place like it.
So, in summary, here's some things you ought to know about this trip:
1) No one smoked in my room in Singapore (Azmin couldn't find a big enough closet to smoke in, poor boy)
2) I completed my Burger King Quest. I had Burger King for supper as I packed a Whopper on the last day and had it at about 6/7 pm. While some people would say that's dinner, others know it as supper too. So that's quest completed to me. 5 of 5. And there's 2 things you can do.......
3) Ahmad took loads of pictures. If you haven't seen them, it's because he's got 'evil' intentions (ala VooDoo). In other words, where are the photos, Ahmad?
4) I am so happy no one did better than me in the tournament (sorry, self inflation in progress). Despite them beating me to the pulp during playtest, I benefitted most from it. I knew all their moves, and the counters. Frankly speaking, I was very confident (and extremely stressed) as I know there was only one reason why I would lose, my own mistake. And yes, it was my own mistake at round 6 that lost me top 16. Overall, I'm better than you! (self inflation reaching dangerous limits. Activate deflation measures asap before overload occurs and ego boost become setups! (What??))
5) You do not need Sing 200.00 for a weekend there, and 5 burger King meals isn't shopping. Not even 30 Sing worth of packs is. Now, what do I do with my foreign currency?????
6) Dawn is extremely sporting. Being a new wrestler (like 1 week before tourney?) she playe all 7 rounds despite....not so positive results against....minors. If it was I, me and my pride would have gotten the better of me. Never give up!
7) Shaz, who borrowed my toothless aggression, seemed to have taken it to seriously. It was truly rare to see Shaz somewhat serious, (and toothless) as nipples and what not wasn't shouted across the venue. Either that or his impending knot tieing got the better of him...We missed you....NOT!
8) Andy's decision to be Jelly Koh over Chyna was....unfortunate. She would have been a threat has she had played. And there was no Chyna player. IMHO.
9) Brian and Wolf See FFK!!!!! Those....um..sorry, they probably had good reason not to turn up, but mayhaps your missing auras and support lost us top 16? (excuses)
10) To top it off, never, ever, ever never, ever, ever, never ever ever talk about the water issue, or other issues unresolved between Malaysia and Singapore, if you are Malaysian in Singapore especially in public. You need to have a death wish to do that. (or I just hate singaporeans).
Whatever. Hope you had a good read. Next up, what happened on the last Pre Armageddon Tourney in Wolf's Game Shop. Retold from GOLDBerg's eyes!
Once at the station, we got lucky with a bus leaving in 15 minutes or so (Malaysian time....you know, late by 30 mins)... I stayed, I think with Azmin and Dawn on the bus, while Ahmad, Shaz and Andy went scouring for food as everyone was hungry. I wasn't hungry, as i had...(talk about that later) but I chose to ask them to get me McD's as well... Ans a bottle of mineral water....Man, was I thirsty or what (I didn't share the water, fyi..)
Once everyone was onboard, the bus went a'rollin' and we happy munchin' McD's. Sorry, Wolf's Game Shop Owners, we do love McD!! While the bus switched off most the lights there were six sleep deprived but hyper active failed to make it to top 16 amatuer wrestlers happily relating their experience to each other not bothering the fact that it was night and other passengers were trying to sleep! Yeah, we were mean.....really mean...So...There's 2 things yoo can do....(Wrestlers, complete the sentence yourself).
On the bus, as mentioned we took turns relating our experience. All of us remember Ahmad's "Multi!" screams, his threat to his last opponent (he personally repeated this like, 5 times! (5 times! 5 times! 5 times! 5 times!) ), Azmin's 1st opponent, Andy's victory rolls, Shaz....was pretty quiet (didn't hear him shouting "it's all about nipples!"), Dawn's lack of opportunity to exploit her feminity, and Ben's 6-1 result that didn't make top 16! After the Bus stopped for a break, we returned to the bus and finally decided to retire (I mean sleep). Oh, Azmin made a new friend/foe. His 1st opponent sms him the result and wanted to sell Paid Laid and Made to us at !!!!!30 sing!!!! We of course said no.........
Lastly, we arrived in KL about ( i don't really remember the time) 5am? Everyone but me got off at Bukit Jalil and I walked home......from the exit at Desa Petaling.....The last thing I remember about the trip? Sleeping at my own bed at home. There's just no place like it.
So, in summary, here's some things you ought to know about this trip:
1) No one smoked in my room in Singapore (Azmin couldn't find a big enough closet to smoke in, poor boy)
2) I completed my Burger King Quest. I had Burger King for supper as I packed a Whopper on the last day and had it at about 6/7 pm. While some people would say that's dinner, others know it as supper too. So that's quest completed to me. 5 of 5. And there's 2 things you can do.......
3) Ahmad took loads of pictures. If you haven't seen them, it's because he's got 'evil' intentions (ala VooDoo). In other words, where are the photos, Ahmad?
4) I am so happy no one did better than me in the tournament (sorry, self inflation in progress). Despite them beating me to the pulp during playtest, I benefitted most from it. I knew all their moves, and the counters. Frankly speaking, I was very confident (and extremely stressed) as I know there was only one reason why I would lose, my own mistake. And yes, it was my own mistake at round 6 that lost me top 16. Overall, I'm better than you! (self inflation reaching dangerous limits. Activate deflation measures asap before overload occurs and ego boost become setups! (What??))
5) You do not need Sing 200.00 for a weekend there, and 5 burger King meals isn't shopping. Not even 30 Sing worth of packs is. Now, what do I do with my foreign currency?????
6) Dawn is extremely sporting. Being a new wrestler (like 1 week before tourney?) she playe all 7 rounds despite....not so positive results against....minors. If it was I, me and my pride would have gotten the better of me. Never give up!
7) Shaz, who borrowed my toothless aggression, seemed to have taken it to seriously. It was truly rare to see Shaz somewhat serious, (and toothless) as nipples and what not wasn't shouted across the venue. Either that or his impending knot tieing got the better of him...We missed you....NOT!
8) Andy's decision to be Jelly Koh over Chyna was....unfortunate. She would have been a threat has she had played. And there was no Chyna player. IMHO.
9) Brian and Wolf See FFK!!!!! Those....um..sorry, they probably had good reason not to turn up, but mayhaps your missing auras and support lost us top 16? (excuses)
10) To top it off, never, ever, ever never, ever, ever, never ever ever talk about the water issue, or other issues unresolved between Malaysia and Singapore, if you are Malaysian in Singapore especially in public. You need to have a death wish to do that. (or I just hate singaporeans).
Whatever. Hope you had a good read. Next up, what happened on the last Pre Armageddon Tourney in Wolf's Game Shop. Retold from GOLDBerg's eyes!
Sorry, no epilogue yet...
Glad someone's been feeling good about themselves....and others.
Just had a 1 to 1 session with my boss. Not something unexpected, but still utterly deppressing. I didn't make the cut and will be back to 8.30-5.30, Mon - Fri work soon. Hey, that doesn't sound as bad!
Unfortunately it does. Well, at least as long as i have some sense of pride. You see, for those of you unaware, I change job responsibilities recently. On a temp basis with opportunity to make it permanent. Failure to make it so is a clear indication of my, well insufficient ability/talent. And I failed (p.s. if anyone from my office reads this, they would be truly suprised as it isn't even official yet). Not that I can blame my boss, i haven't been delivering. Nor was I helped to deliver. I guess I wasn't in the masterplan. THey have identified someone internally to take the job permanently. Good luck to you, whoever (I know who) you are....
While I would say I could have done better, I didn't. Possibly because I didn't really wanted too. Or I did, but couldn't. Whatever....Who gives a F@&!. Oops. (that's out of pattern spend, fyi). Really wanted to dsay the following few lines to my boss, but obviously didn't have the balls:
The Board is Set,
The Pieces Moving,
I've no Regrets,
I'll keep on Going,
The Walls are Thin,
As This Bubble Expand,
The Pressure Within,
Will Burst in the End.
Sorry if I plagiarised, but this has complete reference to my office and myself. FYI, if you understand this and it's context, I'm a dead man. he he.
Still in the office, using office time to update this. Been very sarcastic and snappy all day, as a result of....Wonder when I'll snap out of this. Hopefully tomorrow's Futsal tourney would get me to forget today's sorrow.....NOT! Will be tackling all the way though! Eat this ,you mother F!&*#&!!!!
Yes, I am chemically imbalanced in my brain. And that's how it's gonna be for awhile. Those who wrestle with me, beware....Be very aware.....
Signing of before I fail to censor my own Blog. I've written too much anyway....sob....
Just had a 1 to 1 session with my boss. Not something unexpected, but still utterly deppressing. I didn't make the cut and will be back to 8.30-5.30, Mon - Fri work soon. Hey, that doesn't sound as bad!
Unfortunately it does. Well, at least as long as i have some sense of pride. You see, for those of you unaware, I change job responsibilities recently. On a temp basis with opportunity to make it permanent. Failure to make it so is a clear indication of my, well insufficient ability/talent. And I failed (p.s. if anyone from my office reads this, they would be truly suprised as it isn't even official yet). Not that I can blame my boss, i haven't been delivering. Nor was I helped to deliver. I guess I wasn't in the masterplan. THey have identified someone internally to take the job permanently. Good luck to you, whoever (I know who) you are....
While I would say I could have done better, I didn't. Possibly because I didn't really wanted too. Or I did, but couldn't. Whatever....Who gives a F@&!. Oops. (that's out of pattern spend, fyi). Really wanted to dsay the following few lines to my boss, but obviously didn't have the balls:
The Board is Set,
The Pieces Moving,
I've no Regrets,
I'll keep on Going,
The Walls are Thin,
As This Bubble Expand,
The Pressure Within,
Will Burst in the End.
Sorry if I plagiarised, but this has complete reference to my office and myself. FYI, if you understand this and it's context, I'm a dead man. he he.
Still in the office, using office time to update this. Been very sarcastic and snappy all day, as a result of....Wonder when I'll snap out of this. Hopefully tomorrow's Futsal tourney would get me to forget today's sorrow.....NOT! Will be tackling all the way though! Eat this ,you mother F!&*#&!!!!
Yes, I am chemically imbalanced in my brain. And that's how it's gonna be for awhile. Those who wrestle with me, beware....Be very aware.....
Signing of before I fail to censor my own Blog. I've written too much anyway....sob....
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Singapore Raw Deal Qualifier - Finale?
Last I checked the entourage of KL Wrestlers have reached the:
Venue: Suntec Convention Centre, level 3
Felt good that we have made it this far, and on time. (certain individuals tend to affect this negatively). Hung around and found a lot more people than, well, even the organisers expected. While everyone was thinking of getting some food, I was busy looking for people to trade/sell cards with. My 'then' perception was, "with the collection of cards that I have, surely there will be many who would drool over it and want them." Man, was I wrong.
Fued: Prematch Scouting
Began scouting around to see if I could find out what I would be up against. Expecting tons of Evolution(still the deck I was supposed to play) but saw a bunch of Armageddon Wrestlers instead. Worried sick about what cards were leagal as Singapore already have their shipment of Armageddon (Wolf, if you see this, why, Wolf, why?)
Stipulation: Banned Cards
Got so worried that I went up to the TO (tournament Organiser) and asked for clarification. This is the asnwer (in my own words) :" All cards with Armageddon expansion number is not legal. Everything else, Bring it on!"
Managed by Francis 'Wolf' See
Wolf did excellently to set us up in Singapore and showing the way. However, he (and his brother, Brian) chose to FFK (Fong Fei Kei, or Fly Aeroplane) and we were without their much needed 'management' and support throughout the tourney. We did ok, IMHO, but still wanted to rub it in on Wolf and Brian (read this!)
Prematch Event: My Sacrifice
Found a Singaporean with near limitless supply of promos. Got 3 That's Balanced, 1 Tornado Takedown of Doom, 3 GRA (completing my set of 7, YEAH!) and a host of other stuff. Sad point was the lost of Chyna Interferes and Brother's 'Till the End, as well as Sing$ 30. All in all, I think it was worth it.
Prematch Event: My Answer to F*@&^@ing Hell in a Cell
Up 'till now I was still thinking of GOldBerg, but it's problems with Hell in a Cell Match just stresses me out. However, one of the GRAs that I just bought, Vince McMahon, solves that problem! As a Prematch event, I could blank any stipulation in play! My prayers were answered. My worries, gone! GGGGOOOOLLLLDDDDBerg! was at the back of my head. Everyone with me would be able to tell how I pestered them this question: "do you think it's too late to change to GoldBerg?" They were all answering yes, but I think it's only because they had some much fun trashing GoldBerg, they preferred me to play that. Little did they know, I was going to play GoldBerg anyway. Onwards I went to rewrite my decklist, and fix my Backlash.
Prematch Event: Everyone Had Breakfast But Me!/Ahmad the Celebrity
For some unknown reason, I could remember everyone going to catch a snack except me. Ahamd don't count as he was getting a different kind of feed. He was getting FANS!! Once we settled the registration and stuff, Ahmad turned on his Celebrity Switch and, boy, he was famous. bordering on Infamous! And he didn't turn it off until the whole Swiss Rounds were over!
OK, sorry to bring alittle RAW DEAL to this entry. I just had to. WARNING!!!!!! "The following entries borders on GOLDBERG Flaunting.......If you have an issue with Successful Bald Men, please ignore this section"
I will now move on to storytelling all 7 of my matches, and the events in between.
Round 1
Evoulution. I mean, c'mon. I was suppose to play with you, not against you. Evolution started of without a venue, whcih I promptly said, "We only play in OSAKA!, Japan." Evo then played Bitter Rivals, which I thought he would round up with It's all About the Game. But he didn't play Hell in a Cell, which I found quite puzzling. The lack of a manager further convince me he wasn't going to blow our backlash. And he....didn't. All that I could remember is him taking out my Road to victory and his suprise to see It's Showtime that I played. After that, it was GoldBerg all the way with evolution having no fortitude at all. Little did I know, this was the same deck that won the tournament (but different palyer). 1-0 pin
*****FYI, the venue was so packed (did I mention turn out was 109 palyers with a venue fit for, like 64?) I played round 1 on the floor. So did Dawn and Ahmad. Dawn was so disgusted she brought up some, ahem,sexist comment, which, unfortunately wasn't to her favour. Oh, and Ahmad beat Crippler. Way to go!*****
Round2
Stephanie McMahon had Bacstage Signature but didn't reveal it because she felt like using Edge. So the higher the SuperStar Value (SSV) the better. I got lucky to overturn a Let's Wrestle Already on the second Run the Gauntlet, so I only overturn a few cards. I also GGGGOOOLLLDDD....Berg her First Family of Wrestling to avoid my It's Showtime from being plucked away. This was another uneventful match as it was GoldBerg all the way, with my opponent never changing enforcer as he necer got a chance to play any high risk manuevers. Oh, and local spectators were impressed with the win. Yippee! 2-0 pin
***** Dawn grumbles again about palying on the floor. Can't remember much of everyone's results, but at this point we were all quite ok. Adrian Teh (Guest TO?) announced that Round 3 would begin after lunch, not knowing that this was Round 3...Wonder if anyone else noticed?******
Round3
Was Mystery Wrestler. Tested with this deck quite regularly when Ahmad was using it, and as expected he All About the Game me. Knowing this, I played both Duchess of Queensbury Rules and Manage by Stephanie McMahon. He played Pay per view event as Stipulation, I believe to save him from pins. He was quite unfortunate to not have any Lariat Takedowns to begin with, and I just Jachammered & Speared him to kingdom come. No Backlash, no Backlash! by the time It's Over, I had higher fortitude (he had none) so his pay per view was blanked by Steph. Comfortable pin 3-0.
******Time for lunch (I think). We hurried to the Food level (directed by Adrian Teh) and then Ahmad, the auto pilot chose to navigate for us. We were at this roundabout that leads to many exits and even more food outlets, and with Burger King @ 9 o'clock, Ahmad decided to ask all of us to turn right saying that it's closer. I mean, granted we haven't really decided what to eat, but who can resist Burger King? So we ended up going 3/4 of the roundabout before arriving at the Burger King exit. After an insanely long wait to takeaway BK (no thanks to our hindsight of not noticing that our cashier was, urm, retired...), 4 of 5 Quest completed! Returning to the venue, Ahmad continued his Fan Club building while the the rest, lingered around. They were also selling booster packs of old at $2.50 each which prompted, even the poorer of the entourage to spend!*******
Round 4
FBI was next. Oh, to refresh your memory, I lost all my playtest matches against FBI. The difference this time, was again My Answer! Vince McMahon GRA has an ACE that allows me to completely reverse any multi manuever. Isn't he made for GoldBerg? It was actually quite a tough match, and because I couldn't hold my opponent to no fortitude, his Headstongs were online and I was running through my deck fast enough to find a counter. Eventually I ran out of reversal and took the chance to count out instead of pin. count 4-0
****** Tried to convince my opponent that a pin would be better for his tiebreakers. He agreed, and we reported the results as such. Damn those eavesdroppers who reported this to the TO. WHo said ex-Judge can be bad, huh? I know all the bad moves!*****
Round 5
Was with A very snobbish Kane. He played control and started with Bitter Rivals (again, possible AATG) and proceeded to HiaC me. I countered with DoQR even though I had Vince GRA. Then he proceeded to play Vince GRA before me! He even made a point to show his friends that this is how you do it. Even when I activated GgggoooollllddddBerg, he played Judo Takedown! I thought this must be my unlucky round. Fortunately for me, Kane sucked (though he did make top 16, boo hoo) and could draw enough firepower before I pounded him and It's Over. Not so cocky anymore, Kane?
Round6
Babe of the Year bluffed me by playing Raw Roulette as Stip and placed Skirt VS Skirt Match. Thinking that she would be playing a lot of actions, and not heat (no HiaC), I played Rules Are Meant to be Broken instead of something useful. Due to this hindsight, Things got rather crappy. I also got Undermined (the Competition) and ny the time her Headstrongs were online, I could only sit and wait. Unfortunately for both of us, time was running out and neither one of us could win. We spent a good 5 minutes trying to pyscho the other to concede, but in the end it was a double count out. boo Hoo. 5-1
******* By now, everyone was just enjoying the game knowing that top 16 wasn't possible (even for me). I had another GoldBerg above me with 6-0 record. Poor me. Little did I know there were other good GoldBergs. IF only he won.*******
Round 7
Victoria. Lucky for me, I was playing GOldBerg and not Evo. The last time I played Evo against her, 4 men enjoyed her so much they couldn't decide who to pin her (and got pinned instead!). GoldBerg on the other hand, sruvived a Get a Look at these (discard Widows Peak for 20 overturn) with yet another Let's Wrestle Already. Victoria was surviving with 1 card in arsenal with quality reversals in hand and in arsenal, unfortunately those reversals can't handle.....Atomic Lariat! pin 6-1
******** Tourney is now over. No one made top 16. Everyone got a belt/GRA and one ultra rare foil. We were happy, but tired. And we needed to rush home as poor Ahmad and Andy is working the next morning! (Azmin don't count 'cos Sleepy Jedi can make student assume the class happened)
Got to rush home now. Will finish off proper with the Epilogue.
Apologies for unincluded details! It was all intentional! (and also due to poor memory!)
Venue: Suntec Convention Centre, level 3
Felt good that we have made it this far, and on time. (certain individuals tend to affect this negatively). Hung around and found a lot more people than, well, even the organisers expected. While everyone was thinking of getting some food, I was busy looking for people to trade/sell cards with. My 'then' perception was, "with the collection of cards that I have, surely there will be many who would drool over it and want them." Man, was I wrong.
Fued: Prematch Scouting
Began scouting around to see if I could find out what I would be up against. Expecting tons of Evolution(still the deck I was supposed to play) but saw a bunch of Armageddon Wrestlers instead. Worried sick about what cards were leagal as Singapore already have their shipment of Armageddon (Wolf, if you see this, why, Wolf, why?)
Stipulation: Banned Cards
Got so worried that I went up to the TO (tournament Organiser) and asked for clarification. This is the asnwer (in my own words) :" All cards with Armageddon expansion number is not legal. Everything else, Bring it on!"
Managed by Francis 'Wolf' See
Wolf did excellently to set us up in Singapore and showing the way. However, he (and his brother, Brian) chose to FFK (Fong Fei Kei, or Fly Aeroplane) and we were without their much needed 'management' and support throughout the tourney. We did ok, IMHO, but still wanted to rub it in on Wolf and Brian (read this!)
Prematch Event: My Sacrifice
Found a Singaporean with near limitless supply of promos. Got 3 That's Balanced, 1 Tornado Takedown of Doom, 3 GRA (completing my set of 7, YEAH!) and a host of other stuff. Sad point was the lost of Chyna Interferes and Brother's 'Till the End, as well as Sing$ 30. All in all, I think it was worth it.
Prematch Event: My Answer to F*@&^@ing Hell in a Cell
Up 'till now I was still thinking of GOldBerg, but it's problems with Hell in a Cell Match just stresses me out. However, one of the GRAs that I just bought, Vince McMahon, solves that problem! As a Prematch event, I could blank any stipulation in play! My prayers were answered. My worries, gone! GGGGOOOOLLLLDDDDBerg! was at the back of my head. Everyone with me would be able to tell how I pestered them this question: "do you think it's too late to change to GoldBerg?" They were all answering yes, but I think it's only because they had some much fun trashing GoldBerg, they preferred me to play that. Little did they know, I was going to play GoldBerg anyway. Onwards I went to rewrite my decklist, and fix my Backlash.
Prematch Event: Everyone Had Breakfast But Me!/Ahmad the Celebrity
For some unknown reason, I could remember everyone going to catch a snack except me. Ahamd don't count as he was getting a different kind of feed. He was getting FANS!! Once we settled the registration and stuff, Ahmad turned on his Celebrity Switch and, boy, he was famous. bordering on Infamous! And he didn't turn it off until the whole Swiss Rounds were over!
OK, sorry to bring alittle RAW DEAL to this entry. I just had to. WARNING!!!!!! "The following entries borders on GOLDBERG Flaunting.......If you have an issue with Successful Bald Men, please ignore this section"
I will now move on to storytelling all 7 of my matches, and the events in between.
Round 1
Evoulution. I mean, c'mon. I was suppose to play with you, not against you. Evolution started of without a venue, whcih I promptly said, "We only play in OSAKA!, Japan." Evo then played Bitter Rivals, which I thought he would round up with It's all About the Game. But he didn't play Hell in a Cell, which I found quite puzzling. The lack of a manager further convince me he wasn't going to blow our backlash. And he....didn't. All that I could remember is him taking out my Road to victory and his suprise to see It's Showtime that I played. After that, it was GoldBerg all the way with evolution having no fortitude at all. Little did I know, this was the same deck that won the tournament (but different palyer). 1-0 pin
*****FYI, the venue was so packed (did I mention turn out was 109 palyers with a venue fit for, like 64?) I played round 1 on the floor. So did Dawn and Ahmad. Dawn was so disgusted she brought up some, ahem,sexist comment, which, unfortunately wasn't to her favour. Oh, and Ahmad beat Crippler. Way to go!*****
Round2
Stephanie McMahon had Bacstage Signature but didn't reveal it because she felt like using Edge. So the higher the SuperStar Value (SSV) the better. I got lucky to overturn a Let's Wrestle Already on the second Run the Gauntlet, so I only overturn a few cards. I also GGGGOOOLLLDDD....Berg her First Family of Wrestling to avoid my It's Showtime from being plucked away. This was another uneventful match as it was GoldBerg all the way, with my opponent never changing enforcer as he necer got a chance to play any high risk manuevers. Oh, and local spectators were impressed with the win. Yippee! 2-0 pin
***** Dawn grumbles again about palying on the floor. Can't remember much of everyone's results, but at this point we were all quite ok. Adrian Teh (Guest TO?) announced that Round 3 would begin after lunch, not knowing that this was Round 3...Wonder if anyone else noticed?******
Round3
Was Mystery Wrestler. Tested with this deck quite regularly when Ahmad was using it, and as expected he All About the Game me. Knowing this, I played both Duchess of Queensbury Rules and Manage by Stephanie McMahon. He played Pay per view event as Stipulation, I believe to save him from pins. He was quite unfortunate to not have any Lariat Takedowns to begin with, and I just Jachammered & Speared him to kingdom come. No Backlash, no Backlash! by the time It's Over, I had higher fortitude (he had none) so his pay per view was blanked by Steph. Comfortable pin 3-0.
******Time for lunch (I think). We hurried to the Food level (directed by Adrian Teh) and then Ahmad, the auto pilot chose to navigate for us. We were at this roundabout that leads to many exits and even more food outlets, and with Burger King @ 9 o'clock, Ahmad decided to ask all of us to turn right saying that it's closer. I mean, granted we haven't really decided what to eat, but who can resist Burger King? So we ended up going 3/4 of the roundabout before arriving at the Burger King exit. After an insanely long wait to takeaway BK (no thanks to our hindsight of not noticing that our cashier was, urm, retired...), 4 of 5 Quest completed! Returning to the venue, Ahmad continued his Fan Club building while the the rest, lingered around. They were also selling booster packs of old at $2.50 each which prompted, even the poorer of the entourage to spend!*******
Round 4
FBI was next. Oh, to refresh your memory, I lost all my playtest matches against FBI. The difference this time, was again My Answer! Vince McMahon GRA has an ACE that allows me to completely reverse any multi manuever. Isn't he made for GoldBerg? It was actually quite a tough match, and because I couldn't hold my opponent to no fortitude, his Headstongs were online and I was running through my deck fast enough to find a counter. Eventually I ran out of reversal and took the chance to count out instead of pin. count 4-0
****** Tried to convince my opponent that a pin would be better for his tiebreakers. He agreed, and we reported the results as such. Damn those eavesdroppers who reported this to the TO. WHo said ex-Judge can be bad, huh? I know all the bad moves!*****
Round 5
Was with A very snobbish Kane. He played control and started with Bitter Rivals (again, possible AATG) and proceeded to HiaC me. I countered with DoQR even though I had Vince GRA. Then he proceeded to play Vince GRA before me! He even made a point to show his friends that this is how you do it. Even when I activated GgggoooollllddddBerg, he played Judo Takedown! I thought this must be my unlucky round. Fortunately for me, Kane sucked (though he did make top 16, boo hoo) and could draw enough firepower before I pounded him and It's Over. Not so cocky anymore, Kane?
Round6
Babe of the Year bluffed me by playing Raw Roulette as Stip and placed Skirt VS Skirt Match. Thinking that she would be playing a lot of actions, and not heat (no HiaC), I played Rules Are Meant to be Broken instead of something useful. Due to this hindsight, Things got rather crappy. I also got Undermined (the Competition) and ny the time her Headstrongs were online, I could only sit and wait. Unfortunately for both of us, time was running out and neither one of us could win. We spent a good 5 minutes trying to pyscho the other to concede, but in the end it was a double count out. boo Hoo. 5-1
******* By now, everyone was just enjoying the game knowing that top 16 wasn't possible (even for me). I had another GoldBerg above me with 6-0 record. Poor me. Little did I know there were other good GoldBergs. IF only he won.*******
Round 7
Victoria. Lucky for me, I was playing GOldBerg and not Evo. The last time I played Evo against her, 4 men enjoyed her so much they couldn't decide who to pin her (and got pinned instead!). GoldBerg on the other hand, sruvived a Get a Look at these (discard Widows Peak for 20 overturn) with yet another Let's Wrestle Already. Victoria was surviving with 1 card in arsenal with quality reversals in hand and in arsenal, unfortunately those reversals can't handle.....Atomic Lariat! pin 6-1
******** Tourney is now over. No one made top 16. Everyone got a belt/GRA and one ultra rare foil. We were happy, but tired. And we needed to rush home as poor Ahmad and Andy is working the next morning! (Azmin don't count 'cos Sleepy Jedi can make student assume the class happened)
Got to rush home now. Will finish off proper with the Epilogue.
Apologies for unincluded details! It was all intentional! (and also due to poor memory!)
Friday, March 04, 2005
Singapore Raw Deal Qualifier - Part 2
Smoke covers the Arena.....Pyrotechnics burst all over the ring. GoldBerg, GRA (Guest Ring Announcer) introduces the incoming tag team. "Entering first into the ring, weighing.....Not disclosable......The Very Naughty Girl....Perhaps She Needs a Spanking.....Azmin 'Babe of the Year' M. Khalid (a.k.a Closet Smoker). With her..or..him.. weighing at...also undisclosable...The One Who's Got It, Will Flaunt It, but can't find the proper crowd to do so, Dawn 'Lita' of War..ahem..RAW! What an interesting Tag Team this is, Babe of the Year and Lita. Facing them, weighing somewhere from 70kg to 90kg, the Man all about nipples, the Toothless Aggression, Shaz..'the Crippler'..li! And finally, the Main Event, the Showstopper,..erm. Sorry, wrong intro. Let's do this again. And finally, the Undisputed............musical chair champion , the Sanctimonious Son of a B!+C#, Andy 'JellyKoh' Putra! The entourage is finally complete!"
A thousand apologies. Continuing from Part 1, the rest of the team arrived at the Hotel. Andy, Shaz, Dawn and Azmin arrived close to 4pm. Azmin came to the room while the rest went to room 5-0-6(did I get this right? No matter. You'll see why). FYI, we were at room 6-0-2. Azmin immediately took over as FBI's (oh, did I mention that's what Ahmad's been playing, while I was GoldBerg?) sparring partner and they playtested while I watch Indy Jones. After several games, we got tired and chose to call the rest to go out for dinner. As I didn't know how to make room to room calls (and got away pretending I don't ask directions, he he!), Azmin called reception and found out how to do just that. So what does Azmin do next? He proceeded to call room 5-0-6. "Hello, may I speak to Andy please?.....Oh, sorry." Azmin then calls 5-0-4. "Hello, may I speak to Andy please?.....Oh, sorry." You see, Azmin seemed to have forgotten the room the others were in. So he decided to call every room on level 5 (p.s. Hotel had 6 floors only) only to discover....they're not there! As Azmin has a reputation of, well, absentmindedness, he was second guessing himself if the room number is correct. Me and Ahmad just watched (and laughed within). Eventually we found out the guys changed rooms to 2-0-6. So any amount of attempts by Azmin to call them would have been futile (unless he called every room in the Hotel, which he would have..)
Fast forward to us finally meeting up in the other room (from now on referred to as "Fog Bank". "Fog Bank" is a Magic: the Gathering Creature that has it's own story, but later..) Had several more playtest games, of which one of them was between Jericho and GoldBerg. A short sypnosis of what the match was like. Jericho beaten to a pulp, but spared from pin. Jericho being it's usual insolent self, recovers and pins GoldBerg with Victory Roll..That's the musical chair Champ for you. Finally hunger got to the better of us, the guys (Dawn has a hot date with a friend from Singapore, so left the guys to fend for themselves) made a move to hunt for food. So guess what was for dinner?
BURGER KING!!!!!!! Located just opposite our Hotel (a bit out of the way), Burger King was dinner (2 of 5 Quest completed). There was a scratch and win contest, in which everytime you buy a set meal, you get a chance to win a car! Of course, for us, we got 4 small fries and a Whopper (of which Ahmad happily kept for a rainy day). I shall fail to mention what happened to the Mountain of Man..Fries resulted from 4 additional free small fries. Go figure.
We were stuffed. Literally. Considering that everyone went for the bigger sized burgers (and yes, they aren't pathetically sized like Malaysian BK), let's say everyone probably added 4kgs +/-. The guys decided to chill and jalan-jalan (walk around) to help digestion.( I don't care what research says, it does help, ok!) We waltzed over to Suntec Convention centre and Ahmad decided to fulfil his Father's request.....(Sorry Ahmad, didn't mean to mention it but it wouldn't be complete) safe to say everyone did a little sightseeing, found the venue (again) and some did some shopping. Once we covered Suntec, the guys wanted to chill further and I decided to head back. (What happened while they chilled will have to be added by Azmin, Ahmad, Shaz or Andy. Frankly speaking, doubt it was eventful..he he).
Reached the Hotel without the slightest care on my own. Set myself up real nice, low lights and TV with live Football and I got a call. Dawn was back from her 'hot ' date didn't have keys to the 'Fog Bank'. After letting Dawn in, for some unknown reason I fell asleep only to be awaken by a bunch of loudmouth men trash talking. They thought they didn't wake me, and proceeded to return to their 'Fog Bank' to (I thought was playtest) hang out. So I decided I required further playtesting and forced myself to wake up on go to the 'Fog Bank'. I guess what, like Azmin aptly put it in his Top Ten list for Singapore, man was I dissappointed. Here is a group of Malaysians, who chose to travel 6 hours to Singapore to pit against the best wrestlers in (South East) Asia, decided playtesting comes second to Freddy VS Jason!!!! Wha' the F!?? The rest, as they say, was history. After some playtesting, everyone's fitness began to fail and you could hear snorring. Ahmad, Azmin and I went back to the room (them first, me later) and while watching football, we started to write our decklist. At this point, and also for the fact that GoldBerg has been trashed badly during playtest, I popped the question to Ahmad & Azmin? "You think I should play Evolution instead?"..Bottomline is, I wrote my decklist for EVOLUTION (bye bye GoldBerg.......not yet).
Had supper with Azmin later. Unfortunately BK is closed (it was about 12am) so failed to complete quest. Oops, forgot to mention, on the way back to Hotel from lunch, bought BK as takeaway. So 3 of 5 Quest completed!! Missing Lunch and Supper! Back to Singapore, @ 12am. They actually had a row of restaurants/pubs/stalls open so food was readily available. I had Wan Tan mee while Azmin had snacks from 7-11. Spoke at great Lengths...............about football and wrestling. Returned to bed about 1am. FYI, Azmin set alarm at 6.00am, Ahmad at 6.30am and me 7.00am. We woke up at 7.30am.....Long live Snooze!! It took another 1 hour+ to freshen up and pack, and then we had to wait for 'Fog Bank' to check out as well. All in all, what was planned as "let's do breakfast tomorrow morning" became "let's get to the venue before we miss registration!". We were late. Really. Well, at least by my standards (as an ex-T.O., I hate being late for an event. hate it). So there we were, 6 persons lugging around city streets of Singapore with our luggage bags looking like refugees...Me all set to set the world alight with EVOLUTION!!.......(I know, let's not kill the suspense, ok..)
And we are there, at Suntec Convention centre, Level 3. ................................................................................................................................................to be continued.......
****Editors note - FYI, there will be the last part followed by an epilogue. Be patient and you will enjoy the concluding episode...I think. Also, apologies for the spelling errors and poor grammar of the previous post. Not to mention the length of the post. All feedback welcomed. Travelling party welcomed to rectify discrepencies. Regards..GoldBerg, Guest Ring Announcer*****
A thousand apologies. Continuing from Part 1, the rest of the team arrived at the Hotel. Andy, Shaz, Dawn and Azmin arrived close to 4pm. Azmin came to the room while the rest went to room 5-0-6(did I get this right? No matter. You'll see why). FYI, we were at room 6-0-2. Azmin immediately took over as FBI's (oh, did I mention that's what Ahmad's been playing, while I was GoldBerg?) sparring partner and they playtested while I watch Indy Jones. After several games, we got tired and chose to call the rest to go out for dinner. As I didn't know how to make room to room calls (and got away pretending I don't ask directions, he he!), Azmin called reception and found out how to do just that. So what does Azmin do next? He proceeded to call room 5-0-6. "Hello, may I speak to Andy please?.....Oh, sorry." Azmin then calls 5-0-4. "Hello, may I speak to Andy please?.....Oh, sorry." You see, Azmin seemed to have forgotten the room the others were in. So he decided to call every room on level 5 (p.s. Hotel had 6 floors only) only to discover....they're not there! As Azmin has a reputation of, well, absentmindedness, he was second guessing himself if the room number is correct. Me and Ahmad just watched (and laughed within). Eventually we found out the guys changed rooms to 2-0-6. So any amount of attempts by Azmin to call them would have been futile (unless he called every room in the Hotel, which he would have..)
Fast forward to us finally meeting up in the other room (from now on referred to as "Fog Bank". "Fog Bank" is a Magic: the Gathering Creature that has it's own story, but later..) Had several more playtest games, of which one of them was between Jericho and GoldBerg. A short sypnosis of what the match was like. Jericho beaten to a pulp, but spared from pin. Jericho being it's usual insolent self, recovers and pins GoldBerg with Victory Roll..That's the musical chair Champ for you. Finally hunger got to the better of us, the guys (Dawn has a hot date with a friend from Singapore, so left the guys to fend for themselves) made a move to hunt for food. So guess what was for dinner?
BURGER KING!!!!!!! Located just opposite our Hotel (a bit out of the way), Burger King was dinner (2 of 5 Quest completed). There was a scratch and win contest, in which everytime you buy a set meal, you get a chance to win a car! Of course, for us, we got 4 small fries and a Whopper (of which Ahmad happily kept for a rainy day). I shall fail to mention what happened to the Mountain of Man..Fries resulted from 4 additional free small fries. Go figure.
We were stuffed. Literally. Considering that everyone went for the bigger sized burgers (and yes, they aren't pathetically sized like Malaysian BK), let's say everyone probably added 4kgs +/-. The guys decided to chill and jalan-jalan (walk around) to help digestion.( I don't care what research says, it does help, ok!) We waltzed over to Suntec Convention centre and Ahmad decided to fulfil his Father's request.....(Sorry Ahmad, didn't mean to mention it but it wouldn't be complete) safe to say everyone did a little sightseeing, found the venue (again) and some did some shopping. Once we covered Suntec, the guys wanted to chill further and I decided to head back. (What happened while they chilled will have to be added by Azmin, Ahmad, Shaz or Andy. Frankly speaking, doubt it was eventful..he he).
Reached the Hotel without the slightest care on my own. Set myself up real nice, low lights and TV with live Football and I got a call. Dawn was back from her 'hot ' date didn't have keys to the 'Fog Bank'. After letting Dawn in, for some unknown reason I fell asleep only to be awaken by a bunch of loudmouth men trash talking. They thought they didn't wake me, and proceeded to return to their 'Fog Bank' to (I thought was playtest) hang out. So I decided I required further playtesting and forced myself to wake up on go to the 'Fog Bank'. I guess what, like Azmin aptly put it in his Top Ten list for Singapore, man was I dissappointed. Here is a group of Malaysians, who chose to travel 6 hours to Singapore to pit against the best wrestlers in (South East) Asia, decided playtesting comes second to Freddy VS Jason!!!! Wha' the F!?? The rest, as they say, was history. After some playtesting, everyone's fitness began to fail and you could hear snorring. Ahmad, Azmin and I went back to the room (them first, me later) and while watching football, we started to write our decklist. At this point, and also for the fact that GoldBerg has been trashed badly during playtest, I popped the question to Ahmad & Azmin? "You think I should play Evolution instead?"..Bottomline is, I wrote my decklist for EVOLUTION (bye bye GoldBerg.......not yet).
Had supper with Azmin later. Unfortunately BK is closed (it was about 12am) so failed to complete quest. Oops, forgot to mention, on the way back to Hotel from lunch, bought BK as takeaway. So 3 of 5 Quest completed!! Missing Lunch and Supper! Back to Singapore, @ 12am. They actually had a row of restaurants/pubs/stalls open so food was readily available. I had Wan Tan mee while Azmin had snacks from 7-11. Spoke at great Lengths...............about football and wrestling. Returned to bed about 1am. FYI, Azmin set alarm at 6.00am, Ahmad at 6.30am and me 7.00am. We woke up at 7.30am.....Long live Snooze!! It took another 1 hour+ to freshen up and pack, and then we had to wait for 'Fog Bank' to check out as well. All in all, what was planned as "let's do breakfast tomorrow morning" became "let's get to the venue before we miss registration!". We were late. Really. Well, at least by my standards (as an ex-T.O., I hate being late for an event. hate it). So there we were, 6 persons lugging around city streets of Singapore with our luggage bags looking like refugees...Me all set to set the world alight with EVOLUTION!!.......(I know, let's not kill the suspense, ok..)
And we are there, at Suntec Convention centre, Level 3. ................................................................................................................................................to be continued.......
****Editors note - FYI, there will be the last part followed by an epilogue. Be patient and you will enjoy the concluding episode...I think. Also, apologies for the spelling errors and poor grammar of the previous post. Not to mention the length of the post. All feedback welcomed. Travelling party welcomed to rectify discrepencies. Regards..GoldBerg, Guest Ring Announcer*****
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Singapore Raw Deal Qualifier - Part 1
Hmmm.....Where did I stopped?
Oh, we're in Singapore. Lack of sleep resulted in me trying very hard to stay awake and reach the Hotel. Ahmad fared much better since he slept. For some reason I manage to convince Ahmad I don't asked directions, so he did all the asking (oops! Ahmad is not gonna like this, he he!) Found out where to take the bus and what number to get to Woodlands MRT. Realised we didn't have coins, so Ahmad went ahead and bought a local paper. When we later took a (long) peek into it, wow, didn't know Singaporeans liked EPL that much! more than 1/3 of the paper was on EPL related stories!
Got on the Bus. Got off the Bus. proceeded to MRT before seeing Burger King next to it. Voila! Burger King Breakfast fulfilled! Once I finished my BK Breakfast (Ahmad not a breakfast person, so thanks for the company) we went on to the MRT. Almost wasn't sure which stop was it that we needed to go to. Remember Wolf giving us directions to the Hotel? He said, "you need to go to City Hall, and get of at Bugis station". Guess what, Bugis and City hall were 2 different stations! Decisions, decisions. Ahmad remembered it was to cost $2.80 and we bought tickets to Bugis station and it was $2.80. So we were convinced we were on the right track. (actually, if City Hall cost $2.80 as well, we would have been fooled.) Got on the train and for some unknown reason (other than 2 sleep deprived men trying to look MACHO) we chose not to sit throughout the journey. Those who did take the MRT from Woodlands to Bugis will vouch that unless you REALLY have someone to impress, sit. Oh, we saw this guy we stood in the middle of the train without holding on to anything. I can it "at peace with the train". You would probably call it, "Show Off!". Oh, and Ahmad had the audicity to ask me, in a packed MRT, " What happened to the water issue?". I was dumbfounded (and speechless as I didn't want to get whacked!)
45 minutes later (and very much exhausted), we got off City Hall and changed trains to Bugis station. Once there, it look rather familiar (the station), as the last time I judge Magic here (3 years ago), I took the MRT there. Didn't know which exit, so we went eeni meeni mini moe and took the "right" exit. We were both lost and tired. Ahmad, more attuned to his feminine side, asked for more directions. The final direction was at the Chicken Rice Shop (just next to the Hotel) and we were so happy to locate it! I was also so tired, I was willing to pay for day use before our official check in!
At the reception, we heard probably the best news so far. The hotelier said that they are ok if we checked in now! We were there, like 10am! And Wolf said," Don't check in before 2pm". There are good Singaporeans after all. Checked in, "checked" in and Check in! (Room, Bathroom, bed). Was suppose to wake up at 1.00pm for lunch and more playtesting.
Guess what? It's closer to 2pm than 1pm. Still didn't want to wake up. Ahmad got a call from the other entourage and found out they are having lunch and won't arrive till, possibly 3pm+. So what do we do? Go out and have lunch, of course. Oh, don't try asking me what's for lunch. Luckily for Ahmad, we (check)ed (this) out Suntec Convention centre and found the Food Court. Guess Burger King Lunch will be tomorrow, then. Nothing noteworthy at the foodcourt, other than an extremely efficient drink cashier who's perfect to show how efficiency lacks service. Trust me, she was really fast! Walked around the complex, found out where we will wrestle the next day, and back to the Hotel we went. Took out the decks and playtested for awhile. Had TV on, and it was Indy and Temple of Doom up. Got somewhat distracted, but wasn't too distracted until we heard a knock on our room door. Who was it?????
Part 2 up next...
Oh, we're in Singapore. Lack of sleep resulted in me trying very hard to stay awake and reach the Hotel. Ahmad fared much better since he slept. For some reason I manage to convince Ahmad I don't asked directions, so he did all the asking (oops! Ahmad is not gonna like this, he he!) Found out where to take the bus and what number to get to Woodlands MRT. Realised we didn't have coins, so Ahmad went ahead and bought a local paper. When we later took a (long) peek into it, wow, didn't know Singaporeans liked EPL that much! more than 1/3 of the paper was on EPL related stories!
Got on the Bus. Got off the Bus. proceeded to MRT before seeing Burger King next to it. Voila! Burger King Breakfast fulfilled! Once I finished my BK Breakfast (Ahmad not a breakfast person, so thanks for the company) we went on to the MRT. Almost wasn't sure which stop was it that we needed to go to. Remember Wolf giving us directions to the Hotel? He said, "you need to go to City Hall, and get of at Bugis station". Guess what, Bugis and City hall were 2 different stations! Decisions, decisions. Ahmad remembered it was to cost $2.80 and we bought tickets to Bugis station and it was $2.80. So we were convinced we were on the right track. (actually, if City Hall cost $2.80 as well, we would have been fooled.) Got on the train and for some unknown reason (other than 2 sleep deprived men trying to look MACHO) we chose not to sit throughout the journey. Those who did take the MRT from Woodlands to Bugis will vouch that unless you REALLY have someone to impress, sit. Oh, we saw this guy we stood in the middle of the train without holding on to anything. I can it "at peace with the train". You would probably call it, "Show Off!". Oh, and Ahmad had the audicity to ask me, in a packed MRT, " What happened to the water issue?". I was dumbfounded (and speechless as I didn't want to get whacked!)
45 minutes later (and very much exhausted), we got off City Hall and changed trains to Bugis station. Once there, it look rather familiar (the station), as the last time I judge Magic here (3 years ago), I took the MRT there. Didn't know which exit, so we went eeni meeni mini moe and took the "right" exit. We were both lost and tired. Ahmad, more attuned to his feminine side, asked for more directions. The final direction was at the Chicken Rice Shop (just next to the Hotel) and we were so happy to locate it! I was also so tired, I was willing to pay for day use before our official check in!
At the reception, we heard probably the best news so far. The hotelier said that they are ok if we checked in now! We were there, like 10am! And Wolf said," Don't check in before 2pm". There are good Singaporeans after all. Checked in, "checked" in and Check in! (Room, Bathroom, bed). Was suppose to wake up at 1.00pm for lunch and more playtesting.
Guess what? It's closer to 2pm than 1pm. Still didn't want to wake up. Ahmad got a call from the other entourage and found out they are having lunch and won't arrive till, possibly 3pm+. So what do we do? Go out and have lunch, of course. Oh, don't try asking me what's for lunch. Luckily for Ahmad, we (check)ed (this) out Suntec Convention centre and found the Food Court. Guess Burger King Lunch will be tomorrow, then. Nothing noteworthy at the foodcourt, other than an extremely efficient drink cashier who's perfect to show how efficiency lacks service. Trust me, she was really fast! Walked around the complex, found out where we will wrestle the next day, and back to the Hotel we went. Took out the decks and playtested for awhile. Had TV on, and it was Indy and Temple of Doom up. Got somewhat distracted, but wasn't too distracted until we heard a knock on our room door. Who was it?????
Part 2 up next...
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Singapore Raw Deal Qualifier - Prologue
Last Friday I could hardly work. Starting at 11am, with the intention to make it for the 10.30pm Train down to Singapore, i could only think of several things:
1) GoldBerg or Evolution?
2) Did I bring all the important stuff, like passport, toiletries, spare underwear (no, I didn't really think about this one, but thought it should be fun to add in)?
3) Change RM with $Sing
4) GoldBerg or Evolution?
5) Burger King.....yum
A chat with Azmin, Ahmad and Dawn resulted in me announcing my intention to have Burger King for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper & Takeaway.....(you'll find out later if I succeeded). Spoke to my colleague so that I could leave an hour early by skipping lunch. We agreed it was ok, but something came up and I ended up leaving office quarter past 8pm.
Was getting desperate to get to the shop, so that I could meet up with Ahmad (my bunk mate on the train) and Wolf (for directions to Hotel in Singapore & Suntec Convention Centre). Contemplated to take the cab only to have to wait another 5 minutes and when I saw a bus passing by, took the bus instead.
Reached the shop (That's Wolf's Game Shop, where all the 'Wrestler's congregate in AmCorp Mall, PJ) quarter to 9 and was glad to see ewveryone there. Initial entourage was 10 persons, then it dwindled to 8 (eventually it went to 6, but that's another story). Wolf (who owns the shop and a regular tripper to Singapore) had a tough time trying to get us to confirm how many rooms we need. I have always insisted that I share the room with minimal people, and as Ahmad shares the same 'hate' for 'FOG', sharing the room with him was the 'perfect' plan. Then there were the rest, Andy, Shaz, Brian, Dawn (all 'foggers') and Azmin (the 'closet fogger'. Haha, gotcha!) Initial plans had more people, and required more rooms but with only 7 (Wolf to join us Saturday night), 2 rooms was the end result. Mr. Closet Fogger had to share the room with us non-smokers!
The rest then decided to share a room to optimise financials. Off we go to the train station as it was getting closer to 10.30pm. Oh, forgot to mention, upto now, no one has any Sing $$! We crossed our fingers hoping that the FE-Office is still open by the time we reached there.
Oh, btw, during the chat earlier it has been established that Sing$$ 100 should suffice for the 48 hour trip. However, due to my, erm, Burger King cringes, I got Sing$$ 200 instead...Yes, I need that much of Burger King!
We reached there with ample time and got our Sing$$ too! Then we hopped (figuratively) into the train and I found my bunker only 6 feet long! Man, did I have trouble sleeping that night. Had one game in bed (Wrestling game, mind you) and decided to chill to the restaurant hoping that they would have proper tables and chairs, which they did. Played another like, 5 games before calling it the day. (fyi, GoldBerg no good against FBI...really no good). Returned to the bunkers and tried to sleep. Was extremely restless and couldn't pass out. Then the train decided have a faulty caboost and stay put at Gemas for 90 mins! I took the opportunity to change my GoldBerg to be more aggresive (3 Blindside Slam!) and the nproceeded to try to go to sllep after the train began moving again.
Fast forward to 7.00am. Woke Ahmad up and proceeded to the restaurant again for more playtest. Found out that we will be arriving in Singapore late (no thanks to the 90 min delay) and reached Woodlands only at 8.45am. We proceeded to the Customs and......for the love of God....Ahmad small-talking with the Immigration Officer! When it was my turn, I thought must be some 'chun' chic at the counter......Let Ahmad tell all of you who he warmed up to....he he.
And that was it! We were officially in Singapore!
Part -1 up next!
1) GoldBerg or Evolution?
2) Did I bring all the important stuff, like passport, toiletries, spare underwear (no, I didn't really think about this one, but thought it should be fun to add in)?
3) Change RM with $Sing
4) GoldBerg or Evolution?
5) Burger King.....yum
A chat with Azmin, Ahmad and Dawn resulted in me announcing my intention to have Burger King for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper & Takeaway.....(you'll find out later if I succeeded). Spoke to my colleague so that I could leave an hour early by skipping lunch. We agreed it was ok, but something came up and I ended up leaving office quarter past 8pm.
Was getting desperate to get to the shop, so that I could meet up with Ahmad (my bunk mate on the train) and Wolf (for directions to Hotel in Singapore & Suntec Convention Centre). Contemplated to take the cab only to have to wait another 5 minutes and when I saw a bus passing by, took the bus instead.
Reached the shop (That's Wolf's Game Shop, where all the 'Wrestler's congregate in AmCorp Mall, PJ) quarter to 9 and was glad to see ewveryone there. Initial entourage was 10 persons, then it dwindled to 8 (eventually it went to 6, but that's another story). Wolf (who owns the shop and a regular tripper to Singapore) had a tough time trying to get us to confirm how many rooms we need. I have always insisted that I share the room with minimal people, and as Ahmad shares the same 'hate' for 'FOG', sharing the room with him was the 'perfect' plan. Then there were the rest, Andy, Shaz, Brian, Dawn (all 'foggers') and Azmin (the 'closet fogger'. Haha, gotcha!) Initial plans had more people, and required more rooms but with only 7 (Wolf to join us Saturday night), 2 rooms was the end result. Mr. Closet Fogger had to share the room with us non-smokers!
The rest then decided to share a room to optimise financials. Off we go to the train station as it was getting closer to 10.30pm. Oh, forgot to mention, upto now, no one has any Sing $$! We crossed our fingers hoping that the FE-Office is still open by the time we reached there.
Oh, btw, during the chat earlier it has been established that Sing$$ 100 should suffice for the 48 hour trip. However, due to my, erm, Burger King cringes, I got Sing$$ 200 instead...Yes, I need that much of Burger King!
We reached there with ample time and got our Sing$$ too! Then we hopped (figuratively) into the train and I found my bunker only 6 feet long! Man, did I have trouble sleeping that night. Had one game in bed (Wrestling game, mind you) and decided to chill to the restaurant hoping that they would have proper tables and chairs, which they did. Played another like, 5 games before calling it the day. (fyi, GoldBerg no good against FBI...really no good). Returned to the bunkers and tried to sleep. Was extremely restless and couldn't pass out. Then the train decided have a faulty caboost and stay put at Gemas for 90 mins! I took the opportunity to change my GoldBerg to be more aggresive (3 Blindside Slam!) and the nproceeded to try to go to sllep after the train began moving again.
Fast forward to 7.00am. Woke Ahmad up and proceeded to the restaurant again for more playtest. Found out that we will be arriving in Singapore late (no thanks to the 90 min delay) and reached Woodlands only at 8.45am. We proceeded to the Customs and......for the love of God....Ahmad small-talking with the Immigration Officer! When it was my turn, I thought must be some 'chun' chic at the counter......Let Ahmad tell all of you who he warmed up to....he he.
And that was it! We were officially in Singapore!
Part -1 up next!
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