Goes a long way, or so they say. Unfortunately, I am with little faith (if not none at all)...
We reached Serene Centre with the rain pouring on us. That Saturday, it was raining throughout the day...More drizzles, really, but still annoying for 8 men and no umbrellas. As we reach the shop, there was a weekend tournament just about to run, so several of us decided to hop in. I was reluctant to show my Mr. Pay Per View (PPV) deck, so I used my Eugene deck instead. Andy, Bryan and Azmin also played ( I can't recall if Herman did or didn't) while the rest went scouting for cards usually unavailable in Malaysia. There was a wave of quitters in Singapore, due to the disinterest with the latest expansion, Raw Deal Revolution, so some cards were going cheap (as low as SGD 2) when it would generally cost RM 30 in Malaysia. Ahmad found his 'No Gimmicks Needed' too. But he got one too early at SGD 5 when later there was this guy with a page full of them (a page has nine cards) selling at just SGD 2. Emil was also having a field day, buying as many foils on the cheap as he could afford with the Singapore dollars he brought with him. You could easily imagine him; Look at your wife/girlfriend/female friend's face after a day splurging at a discount sale for countless 'not needed' items and that's exactly what Emil's face looked like . Of course, he'll tell you he needed those cards....
It was a 4 round cut top 4 tournament. I don't recall who I played, but I do remember being killed in 1 turn by Ken Kennedy (Emil's deck tomorrow) and making it to top 4 on a 2-2 result. This result and the countless first turn victories Emil had made him confindent of his deck, a little too confident maybe, but I'll talk about that later. Suprisingly, of the top 4, 3 were Malaysians. Andy, Azmin & myself were against 1 sole Singaporean kid, but we lost. Better said, I lost to him in the Finals while Andy failed to stop him in the Semis. Feels like 4 years ago when I came down for the Lord of the Rings Singapore Qualifiers held also in Serene Centre, where I lost in the Semis. While we were playing, Loco dropped by, NebNeb went shopping, Ahmad scoured for free commons and uncommons and Emil was the happy shopper.
By the time the tournament was over it was after 7pm, getting myself another (useless) Spinner Belt in the process. Our group stayed at the magic number 8, since Loco replaced NebNeb. When we left Serene Centre, it was still drizzling. Must have been a very depressed sky over Singapore. 2 cabs, about SGD 10 and probably 15 minutes later, we all arrived back at the Inn where we dropped off our stuff and went looking for dinner. Now, unlike last year where we had a Halal Chicken Rice shop to go to, this time we had to look around the nearest shopping complex since we already had Mamak food in the afternoon (what type of food do you think was readily available in Little India?) Passing through the food court, which we realised sold pork, there were suprisingly many of us hoping to get Burger King. Luckily for all of us (me the most), there was just one located at the lower ground of that complex. Gleefully we all made our orders; I had one Whopper and one Turkey Bacon. by that time it was closing to 9pm, I think, there was no one else but us in the restaurant. Loco brought his camera and we took a group photo.
Finishing our meals, we return to our rooms/beds and began our last minute preparations. Herman helped me out with fine tuning my PPV deck while the rest were working on theirs. I was visibly annoyed when several people came over and asked me to lend them some cards; I've mentioned they should tell me earlier, not while I'm fixing my deck. I guess they just didn't realise how serious I was about doing well this year, after an awful performance last year. Once I was happy with my build (which was flawed, but I'll tell the story when I get to tomorrow at the Qualifiers), I went to the reception to check up on the bookings.
Now, I originally booked 2 room for day 1 and another for day 2, but late confirmations resulted in me calling to book the other room for day 2 as well. My mistake was that while all other bookings went through the internet (via email), my second room second night booking was not. As the result, there was NO BOOKING for the second room second night and NO EMAIL to prove it. Another lesson in making sure everything is in black and white, no matter how reliable people say they are. Without the second room, myself and Ahmad had to take the dorm for the next night and Loco and Emil had to lose the 'Presidential Suite' and move over to our room. From that moment on I no longer liked the place; Cheap it may be, but for them to be so defensive that it was my error and not theirs, they obviously need a lesson in Customer Service.
With the lodging issue resolved, I returned to the room and slept, since I expect to be the earliest to arise the next day. There's this reliability that boys on trips can't wake up on their own. That or me being the Anal Planner. I heard the boys went out later and had some drinks before calling it a night.
Snoozing for 30 minutes, I finally woke up about 7am. No surprises I was the first to freshen up (I'd like to say I woke up first too, but then they'd probably say they were awake even earlier, just lazy to really leave their beds..). After knocking on the 'Presidential Suite' and storming into the dorm to wake up the rest, we noticed Bryan was missing in his bed! Assuming he may have found a better bed elsewhere, we weren't too concerned. Eventually he was discovered (yes, discovered!) at the small sitting area at the front of the Inn. It seems he was so busy working on his deck that he slept there..(Nobody really believes him, though...I don't...Must have had a 'great time' last night and couldn't get to his bed on the first floor dorm, haha!)
Registration for the tournament begins at 9am, so by about 7.45am I was already concerned everyone isn't ready. Most of us moved ahead anyway so that we can quickly make our breakfast before moving along to Suntec Convention Centre, where the tournament was held. The lot leaving Sunday night (Andy, Bryan & NebNeb) also had to check out. Reception was to open at 8am, but not until 8.15 did the receptionist (another lady, not the nice Chinese girl, whom I didn't like at all as she was the one who insisted I made incorrect bookings) wake up and opened the reception.
I had my bread with Margerine & jam, while the rest have eggs as well. Azmin & Bryan did some omelette/pancake with bread in eggs, which looked rather yummy. But me being me, so much hassle for food just isn't worth it (unless someone is doing it for me!). This other guest at the inn liked what they were doing with egg and bread and duly did the same. Guess you'd learn things anywhere, anytime! Loco and Emil were the last to arrive there for breakfast. Loco had this coke bottle which turns out to be mixed...with alcohol. I had a sip and luckily didn't have more. Unfortunately I would make the sillest mistake anyway, sober or otherwise.
*********
Next up, journey to the 2007 Singapore Raw Deal Qualifier and to the silliest mistake in Raw Deal gaming of my life!!
Monday, February 26, 2007
Friday, February 23, 2007
And the Blind now SEE.......
We arrived early at the backpackers...There was this random white guy who was outside the entrance (it was locked electronically so we needed someone to let us in from the inside. We eventually got the passcode though). Seeing so many of us he remarked that the inn is full. The Anal Planner (a ridiculous nickname I recently acquired) retorted, "I've already made bookings..." Random white guy duly shut up. (see the advantages of planning ahead, punks??)
Getting inside, the receptionist was a 'nice' chinese girl which took Azmin less than 1 second to start doing his thing on her (no, Azmin never managed to get laid, if that's what you're thinking, There were seven of us, remember? He'll have to wait in line, haha!!)(Ok, most of that caption was untrue, so you decide which part!). We were told that check in was at 12pm, but we could place our luggage at the store. Oh, and we could also cook our own breakfast if we wanted as breakfast was inclusive. In the store were more luggage AND an insane amount of bread (loaves) with Margerine and Jam (No, they're not already ready to eat!)... Oh, did I mention? Inclusive breakfast - only bread with margerine and jam plus your choice of 3 in 1 coffee or tea bags. Anything else, buy yourself. What were you expecting from a Backpacker's Inn??
There were already a bunch of people near the kitchen, so half of us decided to look for our friendly neighbourhood spider...sorry, mamak store and the other half chose to wait and wash their eyes...Actually they waited in line so that they could use the kitchen for a free breakfast, but really, the sight all around.....hmmmm (would have used yum, but after awhile, yum became normal, so maybe not.) I was part of the group that went food hunting elsewhere; the view while nice, doesn't particularly interest me, especially if I'm hungry. So 4 of us ( Brian, Emil, NebNeb & I) went around the block and found something we could call home, a mamak store. A couple of Roti Telur's later, we were well fed. The other 3 (Ahmad, Andy & Azmin) stayed and had their first meal on the Inn.
Returning to the Inn, we were informed that we will be located at another building (the old one) and we have to wait till about 12.30pm before we could see our abodes. With a couple of hours to kill, what do some of us do? Chor Tai Ti! (they stayed off the monies though, I doubt gambling would have been allowed). Fast forward to moving into our rooms/beds, my haste resulted in me choosing the first available room only to have Emil pick up the 'Presidential Suite' of the Inn, a double bed + single bed room with attached bathroom. Myself and Ahmad shared one room (just like 2 years ago) and Emil had to wait for Loco, his roommate. The others moved upstairs where the dorm was and the bathrooms and toilet (there were 2 toilets, but the if you close the outer door toilet, you can't access the inner toilet) were too. (un)Luckily, Emil later complained that the attached bathroom had no hot water (mine had no attached bath, by the way). Once settled and accepted that you get peanuts when you pay peanuts (i.e. SGD 24 per night), we contacted our resident RAW DEAL agent/trader who's Malaysian but working in Singapore, Herman.
Funny thing is, he doesn't know Little India much. So it was quite a task to coordinate meeting up with him since I didn't know Little India myself (now that I've spent a weekend there, I would have little problem moving about). After several phonecalls ( I haven't used the public phones for awhile since I owned a mobile phone...Reminded me of my school days where I'd call my friends with a public phone for hours at one go....) we finally met up and proceeded to have lunch, which was just next door! All of us were too hungry to find anything nicer so Nasi Daun Pisang (I think..) at SGD 3.80 it is!. After lunch, Herman suggested we head to a regular Raw Deal retailer to scout at decks and maybe play in a local tournament. We all agreed and Serene Centre was our next destination.
To get there, however, we had to go on 2 cabs. Little India isn't really a developed area, much like Petaling Street in KL, so we had to walk to a nearby shopping complex to hail our cabs. Now, to think we're in Singapore, were they have laws against chewing gum, you'd think that they'd insist on people hailing cabs at proper taxi stands and not 25 metres away from a bus stop just around the corner of a road. Well, that's where we had to queue in an invisible line to hail our cabs. As if it isn't already apparent that Singaporeans are a kiasu (not willing to lose) lot, this elderly (not that old, around late fifties. Looks frail but physically quite alright) man jumps queue by moving ahead of the (invisible) line and hailed the cab ahead of us, all eight young, big and strong (ok, the strong part maybe a little exagerrated, but the big part applies to a number of us) men. How do you beat that kind of kiasu-ness??
Apart from that mishap, eventually we managed to get on our cabs and Serene Centre is next....But this post has gone a little to long, so to be continued...ok..
Getting inside, the receptionist was a 'nice' chinese girl which took Azmin less than 1 second to start doing his thing on her (no, Azmin never managed to get laid, if that's what you're thinking, There were seven of us, remember? He'll have to wait in line, haha!!)(Ok, most of that caption was untrue, so you decide which part!). We were told that check in was at 12pm, but we could place our luggage at the store. Oh, and we could also cook our own breakfast if we wanted as breakfast was inclusive. In the store were more luggage AND an insane amount of bread (loaves) with Margerine and Jam (No, they're not already ready to eat!)... Oh, did I mention? Inclusive breakfast - only bread with margerine and jam plus your choice of 3 in 1 coffee or tea bags. Anything else, buy yourself. What were you expecting from a Backpacker's Inn??
There were already a bunch of people near the kitchen, so half of us decided to look for our friendly neighbourhood spider...sorry, mamak store and the other half chose to wait and wash their eyes...Actually they waited in line so that they could use the kitchen for a free breakfast, but really, the sight all around.....hmmmm (would have used yum, but after awhile, yum became normal, so maybe not.) I was part of the group that went food hunting elsewhere; the view while nice, doesn't particularly interest me, especially if I'm hungry. So 4 of us ( Brian, Emil, NebNeb & I) went around the block and found something we could call home, a mamak store. A couple of Roti Telur's later, we were well fed. The other 3 (Ahmad, Andy & Azmin) stayed and had their first meal on the Inn.
Returning to the Inn, we were informed that we will be located at another building (the old one) and we have to wait till about 12.30pm before we could see our abodes. With a couple of hours to kill, what do some of us do? Chor Tai Ti! (they stayed off the monies though, I doubt gambling would have been allowed). Fast forward to moving into our rooms/beds, my haste resulted in me choosing the first available room only to have Emil pick up the 'Presidential Suite' of the Inn, a double bed + single bed room with attached bathroom. Myself and Ahmad shared one room (just like 2 years ago) and Emil had to wait for Loco, his roommate. The others moved upstairs where the dorm was and the bathrooms and toilet (there were 2 toilets, but the if you close the outer door toilet, you can't access the inner toilet) were too. (un)Luckily, Emil later complained that the attached bathroom had no hot water (mine had no attached bath, by the way). Once settled and accepted that you get peanuts when you pay peanuts (i.e. SGD 24 per night), we contacted our resident RAW DEAL agent/trader who's Malaysian but working in Singapore, Herman.
Funny thing is, he doesn't know Little India much. So it was quite a task to coordinate meeting up with him since I didn't know Little India myself (now that I've spent a weekend there, I would have little problem moving about). After several phonecalls ( I haven't used the public phones for awhile since I owned a mobile phone...Reminded me of my school days where I'd call my friends with a public phone for hours at one go....) we finally met up and proceeded to have lunch, which was just next door! All of us were too hungry to find anything nicer so Nasi Daun Pisang (I think..) at SGD 3.80 it is!. After lunch, Herman suggested we head to a regular Raw Deal retailer to scout at decks and maybe play in a local tournament. We all agreed and Serene Centre was our next destination.
To get there, however, we had to go on 2 cabs. Little India isn't really a developed area, much like Petaling Street in KL, so we had to walk to a nearby shopping complex to hail our cabs. Now, to think we're in Singapore, were they have laws against chewing gum, you'd think that they'd insist on people hailing cabs at proper taxi stands and not 25 metres away from a bus stop just around the corner of a road. Well, that's where we had to queue in an invisible line to hail our cabs. As if it isn't already apparent that Singaporeans are a kiasu (not willing to lose) lot, this elderly (not that old, around late fifties. Looks frail but physically quite alright) man jumps queue by moving ahead of the (invisible) line and hailed the cab ahead of us, all eight young, big and strong (ok, the strong part maybe a little exagerrated, but the big part applies to a number of us) men. How do you beat that kind of kiasu-ness??
Apart from that mishap, eventually we managed to get on our cabs and Serene Centre is next....But this post has gone a little to long, so to be continued...ok..
Monday, February 12, 2007
The Not So Blind leading the Rather Blind...(Still about the Singapore Trip)..
A little background before I continue the story about the Singapore trip. I've never been at The InnCrowd Backpackers inn. Last year me and Azmin found this place on the web, but because we had a female in the party and only had 4 persons travelling, not to mention there were no more rooms available and we had less than 3 weeks to plan for the trip...(ok, sentence structure sucks, but intentional). So this year I took the opportunity to get everyone to buy in because I was too lazy to find other lodging and at just SGD$18, it is a steal! (OK, rooms cost more, but there's a reason why you're sharing 16 to a room, right?!) Since no one wanted to do the dirty work, I successfully 'bullied' everyone into accepting cheap lodging but share sleeping area with strangers (which in the end I'm sure they didn't mind!). Ok, enough background.
We finally 'escaped' customs after the officer decided Azmin was no threat at all, despite his flirtatious efforts. Making our way to the nearest bus stop, I couldn't recall which bus we needed to take to the Woodlands MRT station. Someone had to ask a local (Azmin I think, it was a girl he asked too!) and off we go boarding the next available bus. Since we just arrived in Singapore, most of them didn't have loose change (coins) and for some reason no one wanted to ask me for some. I had like, a pouch full of coins? Anyway, we boarded the bus and frankly speaking, I was trying to recall how I got to Bugis Station 2 years ago with Ahmad alone, so my memory was rather dusty. Luckily the last destination was the MRT station, so it was easy to act like I knew it was the stop all along (though I had a feeling they already guessed I was going on hunches).
Getting off the bus, we made our way to the entrance when an important question was raised....Breakfast??? I suppose with 7 on tow, there had to be people who's been in Singapore more often than I, so it was decided that breakfast it is but not at Burger King (Have I not mentioned that I intend to have Burger King Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Supper??). So Burger King(BK) breakfast was a failure...We stepped out of the restaurant, around 70 metres away from the MRT entrance and right in front of us was a SAM (Self Automated Machine, I think) unit. Andy, who recently got a new job that had a small reference to the machine, looked on with interest. No prizes of guessing the other 6 (I knew about SAMs so I wasn't looking on like them) looked on as interested as Andy having no clue why on earth he was looking at it. After a couple of minutes, it finally dawned upon them that WE (as in Andy and I) knew why we were looking at it and it had nothing to do with the trip or that the device was cool.
Aside from BK, there were really no other options for food if they were looking for cheap ones (in Singapore, where???(you all can shoot me later)) so we finally ended up heading to the MRT without feeding. After a little indecision over which line and stop (at the MRT, because I couldn't remember precisely), we bought our tickets (again, no one asked if I had spare change). While attempting to get into the platform, a guard noticed Emil with his trolley bag and proceeded to do a random check on him. Since we had this camaraderie going on we decided to wait until his search was over, not realising our bags aren't that much smaller than his. So one 'random' check became 5 'not random anymore you stupid Malaysian travellers forcing me to do more than one check when you all should have just proceeded to the platform while I check on your friend' check. We missed the train by mere seconds and had to wait around for the next. In between, a jibe here and there over who's fault is it anyway that we missed the train.
Once on it, it was a whopping 10+ (if I recall correctly, it should be 13) stops before we reach Bugis station. Originally the crowd was ok, and NebNeb managed to get a seat early while the rest of us stood. After awhile the crowds grew and we were almost experiencing a sardine-like scenerio. I must admit though, at least the MRT had good ventilation and conditioning, so even with the crowd I didn't feel warm/hot...No pun please...After nearly an hour on the train and a change of lines, we reached Bugis station. We then had to pick either of two exits (right or left, since I cannot recall the street names) and with me not deciphering the map as quickly as they expected, they chose the exit instead.
Now, I know it's a little braggy, but I've always had a better sense of direction. Than most. It's not absolute, but close. In GURPS terms, Absolute direction was a 5 point advantage, mine would probably cost 4. (GURPS is an RPG system, in case you don't know...(Role Playing Game)) So exiting the station, I/we found out that the other exit would have been closer, but nonetheless I found the direction that we needed to travel. I did have the map, but no maps would do any good if you couldn't read it. I also find locations faster/easier when I'm moving alone and ahead, much like a scout. The problem is people tend to think that I'm being cocky by moving ahead, so at times I have no choice but to slow down (not to mention they're slow followers, so maybe I am cocky after all!!!)
15 minutes, 6 blocks or so and lots of tired legs (8 pairs to be exact), we finally found our InnCrowd Backpackers inn!!! Hooray.....
But the troubles don't end there......
(Next up, life in a Backpackers Inn...Thank god I didn't have a camera or I'll have to really control myself from taking illegal photos!!)
We finally 'escaped' customs after the officer decided Azmin was no threat at all, despite his flirtatious efforts. Making our way to the nearest bus stop, I couldn't recall which bus we needed to take to the Woodlands MRT station. Someone had to ask a local (Azmin I think, it was a girl he asked too!) and off we go boarding the next available bus. Since we just arrived in Singapore, most of them didn't have loose change (coins) and for some reason no one wanted to ask me for some. I had like, a pouch full of coins? Anyway, we boarded the bus and frankly speaking, I was trying to recall how I got to Bugis Station 2 years ago with Ahmad alone, so my memory was rather dusty. Luckily the last destination was the MRT station, so it was easy to act like I knew it was the stop all along (though I had a feeling they already guessed I was going on hunches).
Getting off the bus, we made our way to the entrance when an important question was raised....Breakfast??? I suppose with 7 on tow, there had to be people who's been in Singapore more often than I, so it was decided that breakfast it is but not at Burger King (Have I not mentioned that I intend to have Burger King Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Supper??). So Burger King(BK) breakfast was a failure...We stepped out of the restaurant, around 70 metres away from the MRT entrance and right in front of us was a SAM (Self Automated Machine, I think) unit. Andy, who recently got a new job that had a small reference to the machine, looked on with interest. No prizes of guessing the other 6 (I knew about SAMs so I wasn't looking on like them) looked on as interested as Andy having no clue why on earth he was looking at it. After a couple of minutes, it finally dawned upon them that WE (as in Andy and I) knew why we were looking at it and it had nothing to do with the trip or that the device was cool.
Aside from BK, there were really no other options for food if they were looking for cheap ones (in Singapore, where???(you all can shoot me later)) so we finally ended up heading to the MRT without feeding. After a little indecision over which line and stop (at the MRT, because I couldn't remember precisely), we bought our tickets (again, no one asked if I had spare change). While attempting to get into the platform, a guard noticed Emil with his trolley bag and proceeded to do a random check on him. Since we had this camaraderie going on we decided to wait until his search was over, not realising our bags aren't that much smaller than his. So one 'random' check became 5 'not random anymore you stupid Malaysian travellers forcing me to do more than one check when you all should have just proceeded to the platform while I check on your friend' check. We missed the train by mere seconds and had to wait around for the next. In between, a jibe here and there over who's fault is it anyway that we missed the train.
Once on it, it was a whopping 10+ (if I recall correctly, it should be 13) stops before we reach Bugis station. Originally the crowd was ok, and NebNeb managed to get a seat early while the rest of us stood. After awhile the crowds grew and we were almost experiencing a sardine-like scenerio. I must admit though, at least the MRT had good ventilation and conditioning, so even with the crowd I didn't feel warm/hot...No pun please...After nearly an hour on the train and a change of lines, we reached Bugis station. We then had to pick either of two exits (right or left, since I cannot recall the street names) and with me not deciphering the map as quickly as they expected, they chose the exit instead.
Now, I know it's a little braggy, but I've always had a better sense of direction. Than most. It's not absolute, but close. In GURPS terms, Absolute direction was a 5 point advantage, mine would probably cost 4. (GURPS is an RPG system, in case you don't know...(Role Playing Game)) So exiting the station, I/we found out that the other exit would have been closer, but nonetheless I found the direction that we needed to travel. I did have the map, but no maps would do any good if you couldn't read it. I also find locations faster/easier when I'm moving alone and ahead, much like a scout. The problem is people tend to think that I'm being cocky by moving ahead, so at times I have no choice but to slow down (not to mention they're slow followers, so maybe I am cocky after all!!!)
15 minutes, 6 blocks or so and lots of tired legs (8 pairs to be exact), we finally found our InnCrowd Backpackers inn!!! Hooray.....
But the troubles don't end there......
(Next up, life in a Backpackers Inn...Thank god I didn't have a camera or I'll have to really control myself from taking illegal photos!!)
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
What do you do when you're on a Night Train??
Playtest of course!!!!! (OK, in case you didn't notice, this is basically part 3 of the Singapore trip 2007).
Andy, NebNeb & Emil went for the bunkers (i.e. night beds). Me, Azmin, Bryan and Ahmad decided to go el cheapo and pay RM13 less for seats. Bryan and Ahmad were sharing a row, so no issues for them. Azmin happily explained that he had a cute chinese girl as company, who unfortunately alighted well before I could bother to go validate his story. My guess it has something to do with his ability to rest his head on his OWN shoulder and in the process sound like the train. In other words, he has breathing issues while asleep. (Or, he could have been naughty and the girl left him the first chance she got. It was a multiple city stop train, anyway...)
Myself, I had to share with an elderly who was about my size bar the height. Let's just say later that night I took the first opportunity I got to takeover empty seats further behind so as to allow both of us sufficient sleeping area.
Once we settled in (except for me), we proceeded to commune at the cafeteria which is located in the middle of the train. This was where 2 years ago myself and Ahmad went GOLDBerg VS FBI head to head like 7 times throughout the night. This time however, we had backup. Suprisingly there were quite a number of passengers also using the cafeteria. There was a Korean family, several other local families, some groupies and of course, us (who took up 3 out of like 11 tables). Not that we cared, though Azmin and his Diva Victoria may or may not have gotten a stare or two with her, ahem, image. Andy tweaked his Big Freakin' Machine to much more devastating success, while we faced Emil's Ken Kennedy for the first time. Unluckily for KK, my Eugene top-decked a DTTAH (Don't Try This At Home, that's a card, btw..) with a 4 card draw while Mr. PPV just looked for it with my R-V-D. We playtested for a number of hours (we started playtesting about 11pm, I think and only ended about 3am..If my memory serves me right) eventually leaving just myself and Andy still having some attention to continue playing.
Oh, did I mentioned I left my paid seat in search for a cosier seat elsewhere? By about 4am some passengers alighted of and I hostile tookover their seats. Later the officer came over and asked for my ticket again, presumably knowing there shouldn't be anyone in those seats now.
Also, did I mention that this trip was almost cancelled because we had fears over the flood situation? Actually, I was always confident the train lines weren't affected, but this NebNeb was worried sick enough to post (where else but on YFF) and question my insistence on taking the train. Almost made me tell him to sod off, but he is after all the funny looking stranded guy in the VIOS ad (I got it right this time around!!). In any case, either it was too dark (which I believe is the case) or there weren't really any flood at all down south. I had this conspiracy theory that the whole flood thing could be a Wag the Dog plot, you know, the movie which had Dustin Hoffman play a Hollywood producer who helped the US Goverment into cooking up a non-existent war to divert the public attention from the President's misdemeanors? Anyway, a little fast forward, it seems the floods are as real as it gets, so apologies...
The train was suppose to leave KL Sentral at 10.00pm and arrive at 8.20am. Despite leaving late, we actually arrived early in Singapore, which I believe is about 7.30am? Before I close of this post (which doesn't finish off the whole trip story, actually), I should mentioned that Azmin, much like me, needs to get married. That way we cease to become a danger to ourselves while we attempt to get lucky (and I'm not even talking about sex, haha!) You see, while lining up for Singapore Immigration, Azmin spotted the only youthful looking female officer amongst all the boring and old male officers available. So he swiftly moved over to that line, I presume for a closer look. 2 more persons to go, the lady actually changed shifts! So all that waiting almost went to waste, but lo and behold, yet another youthful female officer took over! (though I'm quite sure Azmin would have preferred the earlier one). Not to mention, when it was finally Azmin's turn, that previous officer was still around, hanging out for god knows what! However, Azmin's flirtatious nature got him into some inconvenience when some roaming officer (male, of course!) decides to take interest in his passport and took over. I blame his multiple visits to Indonesia, but I think the truth is he could be hitting on that officer's girl!! Haha!. So after like 10 minutes it was decided they didn't have enough to hold Azmin, so he finally got through Immigration.
As for myself, I had the arse luck of waiting behind some Vietnamese passengers, which I thought would hold up the line, only to move to another line where some Indian family's passport got extra scrutiny, making me having to jump back to my previous line, at a lower queue. (So patience isn't exactly always my virtue, ok!)
Enough about the train and passing thorugh Immigration, on to trying to find our lodging!
..........
Andy, NebNeb & Emil went for the bunkers (i.e. night beds). Me, Azmin, Bryan and Ahmad decided to go el cheapo and pay RM13 less for seats. Bryan and Ahmad were sharing a row, so no issues for them. Azmin happily explained that he had a cute chinese girl as company, who unfortunately alighted well before I could bother to go validate his story. My guess it has something to do with his ability to rest his head on his OWN shoulder and in the process sound like the train. In other words, he has breathing issues while asleep. (Or, he could have been naughty and the girl left him the first chance she got. It was a multiple city stop train, anyway...)
Myself, I had to share with an elderly who was about my size bar the height. Let's just say later that night I took the first opportunity I got to takeover empty seats further behind so as to allow both of us sufficient sleeping area.
Once we settled in (except for me), we proceeded to commune at the cafeteria which is located in the middle of the train. This was where 2 years ago myself and Ahmad went GOLDBerg VS FBI head to head like 7 times throughout the night. This time however, we had backup. Suprisingly there were quite a number of passengers also using the cafeteria. There was a Korean family, several other local families, some groupies and of course, us (who took up 3 out of like 11 tables). Not that we cared, though Azmin and his Diva Victoria may or may not have gotten a stare or two with her, ahem, image. Andy tweaked his Big Freakin' Machine to much more devastating success, while we faced Emil's Ken Kennedy for the first time. Unluckily for KK, my Eugene top-decked a DTTAH (Don't Try This At Home, that's a card, btw..) with a 4 card draw while Mr. PPV just looked for it with my R-V-D. We playtested for a number of hours (we started playtesting about 11pm, I think and only ended about 3am..If my memory serves me right) eventually leaving just myself and Andy still having some attention to continue playing.
Oh, did I mentioned I left my paid seat in search for a cosier seat elsewhere? By about 4am some passengers alighted of and I hostile tookover their seats. Later the officer came over and asked for my ticket again, presumably knowing there shouldn't be anyone in those seats now.
Also, did I mention that this trip was almost cancelled because we had fears over the flood situation? Actually, I was always confident the train lines weren't affected, but this NebNeb was worried sick enough to post (where else but on YFF) and question my insistence on taking the train. Almost made me tell him to sod off, but he is after all the funny looking stranded guy in the VIOS ad (I got it right this time around!!). In any case, either it was too dark (which I believe is the case) or there weren't really any flood at all down south. I had this conspiracy theory that the whole flood thing could be a Wag the Dog plot, you know, the movie which had Dustin Hoffman play a Hollywood producer who helped the US Goverment into cooking up a non-existent war to divert the public attention from the President's misdemeanors? Anyway, a little fast forward, it seems the floods are as real as it gets, so apologies...
The train was suppose to leave KL Sentral at 10.00pm and arrive at 8.20am. Despite leaving late, we actually arrived early in Singapore, which I believe is about 7.30am? Before I close of this post (which doesn't finish off the whole trip story, actually), I should mentioned that Azmin, much like me, needs to get married. That way we cease to become a danger to ourselves while we attempt to get lucky (and I'm not even talking about sex, haha!) You see, while lining up for Singapore Immigration, Azmin spotted the only youthful looking female officer amongst all the boring and old male officers available. So he swiftly moved over to that line, I presume for a closer look. 2 more persons to go, the lady actually changed shifts! So all that waiting almost went to waste, but lo and behold, yet another youthful female officer took over! (though I'm quite sure Azmin would have preferred the earlier one). Not to mention, when it was finally Azmin's turn, that previous officer was still around, hanging out for god knows what! However, Azmin's flirtatious nature got him into some inconvenience when some roaming officer (male, of course!) decides to take interest in his passport and took over. I blame his multiple visits to Indonesia, but I think the truth is he could be hitting on that officer's girl!! Haha!. So after like 10 minutes it was decided they didn't have enough to hold Azmin, so he finally got through Immigration.
As for myself, I had the arse luck of waiting behind some Vietnamese passengers, which I thought would hold up the line, only to move to another line where some Indian family's passport got extra scrutiny, making me having to jump back to my previous line, at a lower queue. (So patience isn't exactly always my virtue, ok!)
Enough about the train and passing thorugh Immigration, on to trying to find our lodging!
..........
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)