WAWAS! - The Last Day (And Last-Minute Shopping at Times Square)

--17 of 19--

To cut a long story short, at around noon we had uprooted ourselves, packed everything, cleared the bathrooms, and went downstairs to Stor Teater to get the props we had left there. We didn't know what to do with the fruits that Cikgu had given us some days ago (Foods To Preserve Your Voice, I presume) so we arranged them neatly on the dressing table along with some tidbits as a token of appreciation for the Mama Indias who had been so helpful throughout our stay.

Downstairs Didi realized he hadn't taken a photo of himself with the Wisma Puspanita sign beside the road, and so there we were in the middle of the road (in the road divider at the turn) snapping pictures. He also made amends with me over the row we had yesterday, good man.

With Stor Teater duly emptied, we set off for Times Square. (I do not remember where we had breakfast, or even if we had any breakfast at all.)

We reached Times Square in disjointed groups. I daresay it was because some bags were so heavy they impeded the walk of their owners. I was one of the first to reach there, because this damned accordion bag is killing me! It is always an exhaustive prospect to carry my accordion over long distances. Haddad volunteered to take care of our bags and encouraged us to find some lunch for ourselves. The rest were beginning to arrive by now.

After a spot of window shopping and scouting for prices (too expensive), I went back down to the bags, saw some of us eating McDonald's, enquired as to its origins, and went off to search for it on the fifth floor. Jihad, Mai and Haddad were already there, standing in the queue.

The indoor roller coaster there defied description! Loops and turns wound their way all around the pillars of the mall. I heard that Jeff, Hadis, Zana and Asmida had plans to ride on it. (I do not know if they eventually did.)

After lunch there was *more* window shopping, this time for clothes and accessories. Shamil selected a pair of skinny jeans, a very interesting decision on his part, and I chose a blue cap. The rest of us, when we met up downstairs, had purchased many kinds of things like jackets, shoes, bags and other accoutrements.

I sneaked off to the reputed location of a prop shop, on the 5th floor, courtesy of a tip-off by Haddad, who had passed it earlier. There were severed hands, legs, heads, and several different kinds of masks, but none were up to my expectations, so I abandoned the shop.

WAWAS! - The Excursion to Sunway Lagoon

--12 of 19--

True enough, we woke up at 9am. The transport that was supposed to take us out comes at--9am.

Great Rush! Never had we dressed up so quickly before! "Cikgu is already at DBP, waiting for us!" Haddad agitatedly announces. People come in and out of the toilet. A waiting list quickly forms. "Whoever's ready go down first!"

In due course we left for the old DBP, in disjointed groups. A van passed us at the gate, containing those who had come down earlier than us. A second van was waiting inside. We packed into it and off we went--to Sunway Lagoon!


At Sunway we took care of our breakfast. I spent a great deal of money on a Tuna Foccacia Sandwich at Starbucks which I thought cost RM2.90. I didn't notice the 1 in front of the 2.


The rest had found an A&W restaurant, a fact which those of us at Starbucks found out too late (it was a rare but delicious and cheaper restaurant!)

We didn't do much at Sunway Lagoon, I regret to say. Yes, it had a theme park, and most of us planned to go to it, but the dry rides were extremely exorbitant and the wet rides about so. Some of us couldn't afford the ticket price, rumoured to be around RM45 or so. One by one we backed off, and the rest who could afford decided it was not worth it going in such small groups (for there were only a few left). We turned to other recreational pursuits.

There was ice skating! We rushed eagerly to the rink but alas!--it was undergoing resurfacing. It won't open for another half hour. We resolved to go bowling to pass the time. The rest who didn't fancy either skating or bowling had gone off shopping (I didn't come all the way here to bowl!) so I simply sat and watched the rest play bowling. And waited. Tried to enlighten the pages of this Book, but inspiration didn't come, so I stood up and had a walk around the mall, buying a cup of Root Beer from A&W.

Time passed. 1 o'clock. We started at 12. We had purchased two games. The ice skating rink was already available from 12.30. We had to be back by 3. The first bowling game had just concluded. At this rate, we would finish at 2! How to go ice skating like this?!

I voiced my concerns to the rest of the group. They understood, and the second game was played, but with a sense of urgency and not as energetic as before. I sat restless, wondering if we'd ever go ice-skating.

At 1.45 the game finished and we hurried to the ice skating rink but alas again!--it was going through yet another resurfacing! It would only finish at 2.30, and by then there'd be insufficient time for skating. We went away gloomily, with me feeling it the most.

With whatever time we had left, we went shopping. Not a very productive activity, I thought.


After some time we got tired of shopping and waited at Starbucks near the main entrance. The rest gathered, some laden with shopping bags full of purchases. The vans came; we piled into them and started back to Stor Teater, where we'd do some cleaning up.

We lamented about the lack of fun we had at Sunway Lagoon. It was supposed to be a great time. Jihad fully agreed. We should have played just one game of bowling earlier. But then, 3pm was quite an early time to leave; we should have been given more time--the whole day, even! I was feeling particularly dejected. I went to Sunway Lagoon and didn't enjoy myself...