I
was in Bali over last weekend, representing TheOrganisation in Scrabble at the
Games. There were two tournaments held to select the players and the few of us
then had to undergo practice sessions to determine the ranking – yes, we took
it very seriously indeed. After all, we were the champions for the previous two
times when Scrabble was contested and we wanted to ensure we defended the
trophy. After we had finalised the players’ list and ranked them, we then had
twice weekly practice sessions after office hours (well, we were given time off
for the practice sessions). I was tasked to play in the women’s single category
and had to practise with my sparring partner who was assigned to play in the
men’s single category. I missed two practice sessions when I took leave
returning from KK and Gaya Island and when I had to attend a meeting.
Besides
Scrabble, the other games contested were bowling, women’s volleyball, mixed
badminton and table tennis. There was also executive golf for the senior
people. The games were all agreed to at the previous Games (similarly, the
games for next Games were already discussed and agreed to at the just concluded
Games). We were given sport attire – four t-shirts (each to be worn during the
opening ceremony, game day, farewell ceremony and city tour), a pair of track
bottom, a cap and a pair of shoes. This wasn’t my first Games though it has
been a while since then.
We
flew out to Bali on Friday, 28 October 2016, by various flights. My flight was
at 08:50 and I left home right after morning prayers. Abah sent me to Ampang
Park and I rode the LRT to KL Sentral (50% fare discount for journeys between
06:00-07:00, nice!). I had checked in online but couldn’t print the boarding
pass so I obtained it from the KL CAT and dropped off my bag. I took the 06:30
KLIA Express and was there before 07:00. After meeting up with two of my other
teammates, I went in to clear immigration. There were a lot of other travellers
too which surprised me somewhat. As I had time to spare, I took the aerotrain
to the duty-free boutiques to browse. I’m quite broke right now (story of my
life of late) so I could only browse and lust.
The
flight took off on time and it was pretty full. There were a lot of Indians on
the flight, perhaps celebrating Deepavali there? We landed at almost noon and I
quickly made my get away. Cleared the immigration then waited for our bags to
emerge. I then discovered that the small water container provided by the
airline broke in my handbag so I had to go to the washroom and dry it out as
best as I could. Harrumph!
We
finally emerged out (a team member was subjected to a random search while
another’s bag had broken during the flight) and were greeted by a
representative of the host. We then boarded the bus to the hotel. It’s a newly
renovated hotel not far from the airport but the traffic! It didn’t help that
the road was narrow and only has two lanes, one going each direction. It was a
bright hot sweltering day.
We
were given a little welcome drink (the mug was big but the content was pitiful)
and collected some ‘door gift’ before collecting the card keys to our
respective room. My room was on the first floor (second floor to them, how
American) and right at the very end of the corridor. It was a twin room with a
balcony but didn’t face the garden and pool. The room felt how no matter how
much I fiddled with the AC control and after hunting and feeling the wall, I
finally found the luggage area and wardrobe – in the bathroom! What a strange
place to put your luggage and have a wardrobe. I mean, won’t the condensation
spoil your bags? Or did the hotel designers thought the steam would help keep
your clothes wrinkle-free? After some time sorting out my things, I went to
join the others for lunch.
I
decided not to go with our team captain to check out the venue where our
Scrabble games would be held when I heard it would take about an hour each way
to get there and return back to the hotel. Plus it was simply just too hot to
be venturing out. So I agreed with the other two lady players that we would
have a practice session later in the afternoon. I returned back to the room,
performed prayers and ironed my scarves. I also changed beds after deciding I
couldn’t possibly sleep in the first bed (I hadn’t trashed the bed yet and my
roommate hadn’t arrived either). I once spent sleepless nights in a hotel room
because the AC was situated such that the cool air didn’t reach me and I wasn’t
about to endure that again. My roommate arrived shortly after ;) she had a big
suitcase that couldn’t fit into the luggage area so she decided to put it
beside her bed. She went down for lunch and I made my way to NAN’s room and
they were just about to start practice too. We played for two rounds as we
needed to get ready for the welcoming ceremony.
After
showering, I went down and walked to the beach to watch the sunset. Luckily for
us, this side of the island afforded good views of sunset. I didn’t spend long
there before hurrying back to my room for evening prayers and getting ready for
the welcoming ceremony. The Malaysian contingent had to don the sport attire
provided: collared t-shirt, wind cheater, track bottom, socks and sport shoes.
The welcoming ceremony was held at the grand ballroom and after some Kodak
moments of the senior management of the four participating bodies of the
various contingents, we were ushered into the grand ballroom. Ah, AC relief at
last!
We
had buffet dinner and were kept entertained by songs performed by a group.
Finally the speeches began and the performance continued with local dances. The
ceremony ended around 10 p.m. and we made our way back to our rooms. We had an
early start the following morning. The captains of the various sports had to
stay back though to trash out the finer details of the respective competition.
To be continued
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