Not all of us made it there. Nas and Kun didn't dare to climb the ladder to the highest point on the roof because it was a LONG way down if we slipped and fell, and I almost backed out as well. At first, I only climbed up to give Zongren and CK my camera and I went down again, but they thought I chickened out at the last rung, so I went back up again, and I'm glad I did.
The two photos showing why. There are a few more pictures of us dancing on the roof of the hotel, and one with the two of them doing the Titanic scene and looking so damn gay, but they're all on my Facebook, and I'm too lazy to upload them...
It is dry as hell in Hong Kong, and I've fufilled most of my main objectives there, namely
-Buy new shoes
-See the nightlife (Non-existent where I was)
-Count how many 7-11's I could see from my hotel (3)
-Find a new entry for engrish.com
-Play in the match we went to there to play (failed)
Yeah, I was pretty upset about that last one. Very upset, but perhaps I did get a bit too emotional about, looking back now sneaking away from the rest of the team when they went for the dinner reception wasn't the best thing to do. It's painful though, listening to them recount their stories on the field, that crash that left a guy out cold, the run that gained more than 20 meters, that tackle to stop the one that almost got away... To here all these post-match tales, unable to join in because you have none of your own... It hurts, really.
But meh, I'll get over it. Aside from that, everything else was fantastic. Left to roam the streets of Kowloon by ourselves most of the time, we jumped from shop to shop, possibly annoying quite a few shopkeepers by trying out just about everything in their stores before finally deciding on something, or worse, not buying anything at all, but those were rare cases since everyone was eager to spend and most stuff is really cheap there.
Execpt for two VERY important things I hold dear to my heart.
Video games, and food.
For some reason, both cost more than back home, the average NDS game costing at least SGD$40, and that's the for the not so popular ones, where 30 is the norm here, and I couldn't find a place that would sell a decent meal for anything less than $5. That made me sad. Okay fine, at least they compensated for the meals by having super large portions, but that's beside the point.
Oh yes, speaking of meals, there was this conversation that practically sealed my reputation as team dreamer...
-----
(Peter Wang and Keith talking about something I misheard)
Micro : Wait, wasn't the hotel gym closed?
(Very long puzzled silence)
Mr Lim : Err, Micro, you're watching wrong channel, everyone one here is tuned to MTV, I think you're on Discovery right now...
Zongren : So what channel are you watching sir?
(whispered) Micro : His TV is broken already...
-----
Zongren almost covered the table in tea upon hearing that.
Hehe, the kangaroo court sessions... Turns out the stuff Lincoln was furiously scribbling down was all the so-called charges he would prosecute us with. Our first hint was when he bought all those century eggs and raw brocoli, someone should have suspected something, but we all assumed he would get his wife to cook or something, and me being me I was too happy carrying two 2 litres of bottle Coke that I would get a share of for carrying to notice anything suspicious.
Turns out, all that stuff was for eating. Raw. As punishment for charges he fabricated. A few of the charges...
---
"Keith, you are accused of being too much like a tourist, always having a camera out to take photos of yourself."
"Edmond, you are accused of learning how to pass balls on the 11th floor of the hotel, what do you have to say for yourself?"
"Micro, you have two charges. *Gets century egg ready* You are accused of not being a team player by not letting anyone else carry the Coke, and for posing as an SJI boy on an ACJC rugby tour" (I only wore my tracksuit, and George wore the bottom half...)
"Tim, George, Nasril and Song, you are all charged with stealing my bananas to eat them."
"Peter Wang, you are hereby accused of not going out with at least one J1 player."
"Mr Lim, you are accused of *insert ridiculous charge here*"
-----
Prentice has a video of Peter freaking out for at least 2 minutes before eating the century egg, and Mr Lim only finished his after much complaining, threatening the judge and pleading. No problems on my end, two bites and it was over.
Most importantly though, I've learned on a lot of people who look real fearsome and intimidating can be quite nice once you get to know them.
I've learned that not everyone is the talented but distant Space Marine I thought them to be.
I've learned that truly, you won't be left behind or forgotten here, even if it seems like you have been.
And I learned to play hearts.
No comments:
Post a Comment