A Little Faith...

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.

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Next up, journey to the 2007 Singapore Raw Deal Qualifier and to the silliest mistake in Raw Deal gaming of my life!!