Memorable Moments

Let’s go back to good old democracy – polling has commenced once again! Everyone, Pangkor participant or otherwise, is entitled to cast a vote for the Best Trip Moment. Nominees are as follows, in chronological order:

Day 1

1. We missed the bus. *pause for reality to sink in* WE MISSED THE BUS! WE ACTUALLY MISSED THE BUS!

2. Rushing to Jalan Duta by taxi to catch the bus that left.
In the taxi.
Jia Yi: (answering phone call from mother) Yes, we’re on the bus already.

3. Wen Zhen and Kong Sime talk crap in the ferry.
A man in the front turns around and asks: “Are you Singaporean?”

4. Wantan mee for lunch at 4.30pm. Ordering drinks.
Shopkeeper: 要豆奶、凉茶还是薏米？
Tee Jin: 豆奶。
Shopkeeper: (returns after a while) Sorry哦，豆奶完了。凉茶还是薏米？
Tee Jin: 凉茶。
Shopkeeper: (returns after a while) Sorry哦，凉茶完了。要不要薏米？
Tee Jin: (looks at refrigerator) …100 Plus.
Jia Yi: 为什么不叫薏米？
Tee Jin: 我叫薏米的话，薏米一定完了。

5. At the beach.
Jia Yi takes off her sunglasses and exclaims, surprised: “啊！好亮哦！”

6. Wen Zhen attempts to prevent being splashed to protect the camera.
Jit Teng: 不用紧，相机掉进水里就不用「洗」照片了！

7. Kong Sime bathes outdoors as everyone (including the neighbours) looks on.

8. Ordering dinner at 8.30pm and getting it at 9.30pm. 高佬餐厅。
Jia Yi: Ah Boon, 下次我们可以合伙开「矮佬」餐厅！
Kiang Boon: 还可以份上下两层！

9. Buying 24 bottles of 1.5 litres drinking water. At once.

10. Uncle Paul gives a briefing as we ask questions (largely unanswered).
Tee Jin’s first impression of Uncle Paul: 牛头不对马嘴。

11. Playing the card game 乌龟 at midnight. At the critical moment of the game, Suat Wei and Lok Mun – the only players left – picked the 乌龟 card out of each others’ hands 4 times in a row.

Day 2

12. Staying up until 4am to wake Tee Jin up for his MU football match on TV.

13. 7.30am in the morning. Jie Hui comes downstairs, as Chor Yeng emerges from a room half asleep and gives Jie Hui a death glare.
Jie Hui: *gasp*

14. Squeezing 13 people into a pink (yes, PINK) van that was probably meant for 10.

15. 13 people barge into Jia Yi’s aunt’s house while she was watching TV, obviously disturbing, and sit there for around half an hour.

16. Jie Hui’s quotable quote: As soon as there are two people, there will be politics.

17. The legendary Uncle Paul. 鲸鱼喷水、dolphin跳水、晒木瓜、香蕉干、(performing a striptease) 脱掉脱掉, and the sincere advice: “不要去捉那种鱼！被刺到，全身痛头发不会痛！”

18. Jie Hui wakes Huan Ting and Lok Mun up in the afternoon.
Jie Hui: 起来了，火灾啊！火灾啊！…车来了。
Huan Ting: 你喊火灾我没听到。你一讲“车来了！”我就整个人“吓？！”

19. Batu Bersurat at Dutch Fort.
Suat Wei: (truly excited) 哗！没想到有一天看到Sejarah的东西会这样兴奋！

20. Fu Lin Kong temple. All wearing the black class T-shirt, we pass by a fish pond.
A little boy looks up, stares at us nervously, clings to his mom and asks: 妈咪，那些人来这里做什么？
Tee Jin: 喝椰水。

21. Ikan Bilis shop.
Jie Hui: (to the shopkeeper’s young son) 你叫我Gor Gor 还是 Zhe Zhe?
Boy: *runs away*

22. The little boy tries very, very hard to persuade Jie Hui to buy souvenirs.
Jie Hui: (leaving, after speaking to Boy for a long time) Bye bye!
Boy: (exasperated) 你都不买的！

23. The breathtaking sunset that made the world glow on our way back from the land tour. No camera was able to capture it.

24. Spending 1 hour to fail to set up a BBQ fire, and 5 minutes to watch the house owner do it.

25. Calling Ms Lum on speakerphone. Kong Sime speaking.
Ms Lum: (talking a lot in Chinese as if she didn’t realise Kong Sime was on the line)…你们几时到那边？
Kong Sime: 呃…我们昨天到。老师，你知道我是谁吗？
Ms Lum: (happy) 哗！Kong Sime你会讲华语了啊！

26. This is why discussions take a long time at night.
Jia Yi: OK, 明天的行程怎样？你们要骑脚踏车吗？
(conversation drifts away)
Wen Zhen: OK, 回来。So明天怎样？
(conversation drifts away)
Jie Hui: OK, so 明天怎样?
(conversation drifts away)
Jit Teng: OK! So! 明天怎样！

Day 3

27. Achievement! Chor Yeng, Yee Shuian and Wen Zhen learnt to cycle! *pause for applause*

28. Wooi Joe’s super-sunburnt skin being covered in aloe vera cream vs Lok Mun's sunburn-free complexion.

29. In the bus on the way back, stuck in a very bad traffic jam.
Jit Teng: (sad) 哎呀，早知道在Hang Tuah下车，现在Puduraya塞车至少要塞半个小时。
Wen Zhen: (sad) 哎呀，跟你们在一起的时间不是很多，塞多半个小时就半个小时罗。

30. In the bus. Suat Wei becomes the possible target of a middle-aged man, suspectedly photographing her not-so-discreetly with a camera phone.


Just 30 random snippets of the trip for your reminiscence. New nominations are most welcome – do add in the many others I missed out!


(p.s. Thank you. Really. All of you.)