Djarum Indonesia Open 2012: it almost came down to a no-go decision as I had only bought a one-way ticket to Jakarta at a dirt cheap price of MYR95 with no return ticket cutting close to 2 weeks prior to departure.Why didn't I buy the return ticket together? Because AirAsia's sneaky like that. With a cheap outbound, you can almost guarantee a full price for the return, so I waited and waited to see if the price would drop. It's quite random with Air Asia as they tend to manipulate what's available to ensure the best sell out. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but it's a little "ugh" when you check again and realise another flight time is actually available, but you can't make exchanges to your existing ticket because it was on promotion. So be very careful when booking with Air Asia! Know the trend to beat it :)
Anyway, this post is obviously not about AirAsia, but it began with it as I always try to keep all my travels to a minimum- flying low cost is the way to go! By now, it's almost a commonplace for something to happen when I travel. Be it checking in at the wrong counter, not being able to access my luggage for overnight stay in Singapore, or making Olympian sprinter-estimated transfer times in London Heathrow, it's almost abnormal for something not to happen during my explorations. This time was no different.
Transit Madness
I love being on time, if not earlier. So, I always have a tentative schedule set out. Here was the plan: 4:30pm departure from home to hop on the Skybus departing at 5pm from KL Sentral to make it to LCCT at 6pm for a 6:55pm boarding (I only had a carry-on and I already web-checked in, so I just had to be ready for boarding). Perfect. I even calculated traffic jam for the bus ride. Upon reaching the bus about 4:50pm, I checked with the bus driver when the bus should be leaving, and he said in about 10~15minutes. Quick calculation, 5pm-ish departure...should be okay. But noooooooooooo. Why do I still believe in Malaysian's sense of time? 10~15minutes turned into a 20minute wait where people were still slowly crawling up the stairs, flipping through their documents for pre-paid tickets, or refusing to pay the regular price because they didn't book online. No kidding, the woman that got on the bus around 5:20 actually asked, "Can I sit down first? Why is it more expensive than the other bus?" By then, I was thinking to myself, "NO, YOU CAN'T SIT DOWN FIRST!! Just pay the guy or get off the bus! Geez." Honestly, I don't blame them. I blame the people managing the buses. If they had just let us leave at 5pm as we should have (it does say that the bus leaves every 10~15minutes), we wouldn't have had the pleasure of this lady hopping on, would we? I mean, it's really unfair to keep everyone waiting for the bus to fill up when we all have flights to catch. Yes, I understand that you want to make the most out of every trip. Then you should remove that "departure every 10~15minutes" because it doesn't. Manage expectations. Really, if your sign said, "will depart upon complete seating", then I'll take it as that. But it's a total lie when it isn't, and the fact that AirAsia will NOT reimburse for missed flights, this could be a scheme for them to make more money. Delay buses to generate more ticket re-purchases! Ah ha. Well, I'm not falling for that one. Next time, I'm going with a half an hour wait period just to see how long your 15minutes really are. Hmph.
The ride was definitely a nervous one, but now that I think about it, there was really nothing I can do except to run like there's no tomorrow when the bus stopped. And so I did. Surprisingly, the airport staff were all very helpful with my security checks and boarding. They even called to the boarding gate to let them know there was a crazy chinese chick storming through the airport for boarding and waited. I don't believe I've ever been the last one to board, but the saying's correct, "There's a first time for everything." I calmly sat down and breathed a sign of relief. Finally, back on track.
(finally here!! but, so began the airport tag)
I had previously arranged with a friend to come fetch me from the airport, except I had forgotten to tell him which terminal. But I mean, he's such a smart cookie, I thought he'd check the system, but nooooooooo. "It's all Jimmy's fault". Just kidding, lol. But so, after playing a good one-hour airport tag with Jimmy & Wenny through whatsapp with the horrendous airport wifi, I hopped on the shuttle to meet them at T2 from T3. Long time no see, and it certainly didn't feel like 2 years ago since we last met. Time sure flies! Thanks to Wenny's awesome sense of directions, we were on our way to meet up with XingXing for late dinner. We spent the rest of the night catching up and making plans for me to attend XingXing's first solo gathering. Excited!
Matches x Ci Day
The next day was spent mostly at the stadium watching some Quarter-Finals after going to practice with the Taiwanese gang (of course, as I'm retired, I just hanged out while they rotated on and off court). The Koreans were on the next court, and let's just say, it was like a battle to the death for them even during practice. Quite entertaining actually. Anyway, following the matches, a friend dropped me off at Plaza Senayan to meet up with my Indo Ci. Actually, I didn't expect to see so many people- because I'm shy!- but everyone was very welcoming. The Swiss restaurant they had chosen was also quite interesting. Basically, you walk around with a card and hand it over for stamping when you place your order. Then, they'll bring it over to your table. Kind of like buffet but better because the food's served fresh. I quite like the design and layout too. Very homey indeed.
(Indonesia Open 2012!!)
(3 on 3: the person at the net is always in danger)
(dinner gathering :) )
Xing's First Gathering
It definitely felt like a rush, but we finally made it. Walking into a room of gold and purple decor, it filled with teenage girls and a few outliers of that category. I believe the youngest fan was about 6 years old? So adorable. As I didn't know what was said most of the time- program was mostly in Bahasa- so I simply took the role of a photographer with my dinky digital camera. It's not the best but it did the job. Some photos to follow. Xing was awesome and even brought out his violin for a piece. Everyone else staffing were basically too busy to be bothered, so I just enjoyed the show tuning into the 70% body/tone language. In summary, I thought it was a very entertaining event, and I could tell all the fans maxed out their piece of Xing with all those photos and voice message requests. To think the last time I met Xing, all this was just a dream. Now, a reality. I can't be more proud of him and I wish him all the best of luck in the future. If he comes to perform in KL, I'll definitely show up- not going to guarantee that I can sing any of his songs, but I'll at least be there! lol :)
(my favourite picture of the day)
IO 2012 Finals
The day of the finals was for sure going to be an exciting one as Indonesians were represented in both Men's Singles by Simon Santoso and Mixed Doubles by Tantowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir. I do have to say, even though I missed the Mixed Doubles, it's still fair to say that the best match goes to Saina Nehwal vs. Liu XueRui. Just inspiring to see how Saina fought for every point with the crowds cheering her on. It gave me goosepumps! Not to say that Simon's win was any less, but I guess I had expected Simon to win simply because he was the better player as a whole. He did eventually bring it home in 3 sets, and the crowd just went nuts! Imagine the amount of pressure to play at home. Though, in a way, it could be both opposing or supportive. Just depends on how you feel it. The better player will be able to use that to their advantage while the weaker one cracks. But anyway, congrats to both Saina and Simon for their first World Superseries event this year, and hopefully the first of many more to come.
(massive construction just for entrance)
(seriously...)
(...insane)
(agreed that Indo fans always have the best costume)
(women's doubles prize ceremony: congrats CHN)
(KOR & DEN boys duking it out on court!)
(Saina-INA: what a fighter! Well deserved)
(love the "hoo-ha" in the background)
(moment of victory for Simon-INA)
The point in going, really, was to get a sense of what a good tournament environment was like, and certainly Indonesia Open demonstrated the best example with exciting spectators that had great "fanmanship" to cheer for both sides (when Indonesia wasn't playing, of course), and crazy tournament promotion set up. It was literally a small amusement park just for the tournament spectators to fully soak in the atmosphere. Just fantabulous! I love it :) A weekend jam-packed with catching up with old friends, meeting new ones, and experiencing the famous Indonesia Open.
Life is what you make of it. So make it count.