Way overdue....

Ok, it's now more than 2 months since I started the Singapore adventure, so I better finish it off or even I won't remember the details.....So where were we???


After making the blunder of the millenium; head between my legs, we strolled out of the tournament area and headed back home. Our mission was to go to the Chicken Rice shop we patronised last year. Emil, Loco, Ahmad, Azmin and I decided we could walk there (actually, I was just walking aimlessly, still distraught over my own stupidity). Unfortunately, due to poor sense of direction, we ended up heading out of Suntec Complex like headless chicke...cocks..Hmm, just trying to get the gender right.

So the Anal Planner gets a little ego boost when everyone looked a little lost and I got to lead them out of trouble again. In no time, we were back in familiar territory and I basically had the whole route to the Chicken Rice shop in my mind. People should just learn to accept I have better sense of direction MOST of the time. Aftr 15 minutes or so of walk, we arrived at our destination only to find that the shop is closed. On a Sunday. Nice business decision. With that, we proceeded to the Bugis (something something, I don't recall the name) Complex to scour for food. Burger King was somehow no longer an option, Moss burger was a non-favourite and the other fast food just didn't cut it. For some illogical reason (other than being sick of Fast Food), we wanted to find the food court. Yes, food court. A place we normally wouldn't go to in Malaysia because it's just expensive hawker food.

As usual, I (ok, others may remember this differently, but this is MY BLOG, so the story will FAVOUR me...bleh!) led all of us to the food court which was jam-packed. It took us more than 10 minutes to find a seat. When we (as in me, Emil & Loco) did, we decided to toy around with Azmin & Ahmad by not directly signalling them we've found a table so they stood around looking like lost scouts for another good 5 minutes or so before they finally spotted us. Food was so-so. After food, we stopped by a bookshop and Loco bought a magazine. I don't recall the name, but it was one of those for MEN magazine. I think you can't get it in Malaysia types. Go figure. Getting back to the main floor (did I mention the food court was at lower ground?), Emil, Loco & Azmin needed to look for a money changer. While they went looking, Ahmad and I stood just inside the complex looking over the fountain area. There we spotted a teenage female probably no older than 16 wearing really revealing clothes. Now, no offence, us being all male, it should be a sight for sore eyes. But it wasn't. The problem lies with this girl wearing really low pants/skirt (I can't remember) that showed a little too much of the butt crack. Trust me, it looked horrible.

Side show aside, eventually they found the moneychanger (they took like, 30 minutes or something?) and we begin to plan for our route home. At the entrance, I had an urge to get some Moss goodness so while everyone (Ok, Ahmad doesn't smoke while Azmin is a closet smoker) was smoking outside, I lost some SGD for some rice goodness (ok, Moss(is this the right name?) isn't that nice after all.). From there, we needed to indentify the direction home, so the best person to do it was no other than myself (OK, I'm trying very hard to forget my biggest gargantua mistake here, so cut me some slack, will ya?). In no time we were back to familiar ground and the passage home was clear.

15/20 minutes later we were back to our Inn. With Ahmad and I now staying at the dorm, we got our stuff and went straight to 'book' our beds. I had this inkling they didn't note down our bookings, but I couldn't be bothered anymore and decided if they realised that our night wasn't booked, I'll kick up a super Customer Dissatisfied Storm and force them to let me stay for free. Wait, I already paid up last night....hmmmm....Luckily they didn't try to evict us.

That night we played some Big-D and because I insisted on not gambling, they didn't as well. 5 packs of expensive 7-11 bought crackers and 1 bottle of liquor later, we had enough of Big-D and returned to the dorm. Ahmad chatted up some new guest in the dorm, followed by Azmin, Loco & Emil ( I couldn't give two hoots, or I'm just shy...I think your guess is as good as mine). Midnight almost arrived and we decided it's mamak time. For some unknown reason, we decided to venture further than our comfort zone and explore the area around Little India...At 12am in the morning...Geeze, no wonder people get in trouble when overseas...Nevertheless, 5 men should be able to keep each other safe, even though we were in a foreign area, so we walked...And walked...And walked....And walked...And walked...And walked...And walked..............Ok, we probably just strolled for like, 15 minutes, but without a real sense of direction (where they wanted to go I have not been before, so I can't get to a place I don't know) it felt REALLLLLLY long....We finally reached the area they wanted to go, but somehow couldn't get the food we wanted. So we walked some more.....(you insert the walking bit here) before finally settling down on what looked like a place with Wrestling on show (not enough of it already??) and then ordered some meatballs or something and fries. Oh, they had beer too.

Some 20 minutes later, I think, 5 sleepy heads decided enough of this late night hangout, it's time to go back and sleep. I may not know how to get where we were, but I sure knew how to get back. If I was on my own, I would have reach the Inn in probably 10 minutes tops...But you know how fast tipsy sleepy men walk....Wait, if I was alone, I wouldn't have ventured so far.....Oh well..

Fast foward to the next morning. Again the first to rise (yeah yeah, who gives a shite if that's not true), I freshened up ahead of the others and after we were all done, we went over to get some bread and jam. Unfortunately we failed to buy fresh ingredients for Emil to cook for us, though I doubt he was in the mood anyway. Breakfast was a non-event and not long after we met up with Herman at Bugis station (yes, just under the Bugis complex) with of course more walking and 30 minutes delay. Next stop to no one's surprise (except maybe Emil & Ahmad) we headed towards the same 'hidden' bus station we found last year. A hop on a bus and minutes later, we were at the customs. Someone got stopped by the Customs again. Do I need to say who??

The other five of us (now is Ahmad, Emil, Herman, Loco & I) had to wait for Azmin to get closely acquainted with the Customs officers again. This time they took him to the room and he returned after awhile. (No one dared ask what happened inside. But I'm sure Azmin will tell you all about the horror stories that he experienced....hahaha...) Aside from asking him to pay for lunch, nothing else was worth mentioning. We soon reached Larkin and within seconds had tontos trying to get us to take their bus to KL. Thinking that Herman should be a old hand (since he travels to and fro KL-Singapore monthly) at identifying good busses and cheap ones too, we let him handle the haggle. He did, getting us a bus leaving very soon (which turned out to be 30 minutes later) at RM 30 and supposedly non-stop to KL too. Loco, in particular, was very outspoken in reminding Herman about this. In the end, we stopped not just to have a short break, but we went into Seremban too. if you know Loco, you can guess what he would do in response to this (No, he didn't play any counter spells nor fast effects that removed passengers...err, creatures...).

One hour late, I think, a long ride on the bus and me watching Herman play Tekken on the PSP (which looked so good I feel like buying it for myself!) we finally arrived in good old Puduraya. From there, as though we've truly had enough of each other, it was rather quick that we decided to go our seperate ways. Actually, I think I was the one who broke off from the group fast. I'm not sure what the rest did, but I tried hitching a ride with my sister who works a few blocks away ( I work there too..) to no success. I took a cab in the end.

That's the end of my Singapore Adventure. I learnt some really nasty lessons, got to travel with a bunch of guys who were quite fun if only I played my part and I'd say was quite a success planning wise. I can't wait to do this again next year. Hopefully the dwindling turnout isn't going to put an end to the Qualifiers in Singapore....Unless we can grow fast enough in KL to get one of our own??


Oh, let me remind my disclaimer. All the names are fake. Really. If you don't believe it, ask Ahmad, Andy, Azmin, Bryan, Emil, Herman, Loco, Michael Toh & NebNeb...They'll confirm these aren't their names....The TRUTH......