Woke up at 6. Ate bread with eggs, grabbed all my barang barang and took a bus down to Commonwealth. Lugged a good 35 kg of stuff to where the old Agape Bowling Pro shop once stood. Boarded the bus... Left at 0815, a good 30 minutes after the appointed meeting time. Reached immigration at 10 a.m. Some time after entering Malaysia, got a sms reminder to buy presents... let's see what I can get for my classmates there haha. At 1+ our Jurong Bird Park bus finally reached a reststop of sorts... Was like 3+ before we finally reached Sunway Lagoon. Room assignments came out, and the seniors got a room of their own in Pyramid Towers... me, Har, Jun Yan and Aden got a room in Sunway Resort, slightly further from the shopping mall, which is huge in itself, with a Ferris Wheel, Ice Skating Rink and more... and a 48 lane bowling alley. Dewei ended up crashing at Room 619 with the 4 of us because he didn't want to be with the seniors alone. (also, since they had 4 people and 3 beds, the guy who bowled the lowest would have to sleep on the floor. Guess who bowled the lowest...).
Anyway after checking in we went to the bowling alley at 4+ to watch the seniors bowl the first block at 5.30 p.m. The lanes are bloody nice to bowl on despite being wood, although the approach is abit short and weird... After that was time for our blocks at 7.00 p.m. Bowled like a donkey... Got an average of 5 strikes per game over 3 games... 167/161/159... 1 spare only wtf. Score keeps ending up something like XX-7X7-X.... you get the idea... not much string of strikes, nearly no spares, occasional gutter on the first ball... When my ball doesnt gutter, though, the margin of error is huge... get strikes as long as my ball stays on the lane past the tenth board. Got a foul... on a gutter shot so it doesnt matter anyway. Spared that frame... or rather I consider it as a pseudo-strike... whatever.
Spent about $50 RM on my first day here. Not a good sign... considering only half the day was spent in Malaysia.... and I still need to buy gifts back... sigh. Must qualify tomorrow... bowling two blocks tomorrow and two blocks the day after.
Day 2:
Did not have a good night's rest thanks to several disturbing dreams of which I have absolutely no memory, yet nonetheless lead to my waking up several times during the night. The main system in the hotel room also comes equipped with an auto-alarm which woke us up at 6.10 a.m... and after that I didn't feel like sleeping anymore so I vacated my spot for Har, whom had slept on the floor during the night, and went to burn some time on my laptop.
After everyone woke up, which was like a good few hours later, around 10+, we went to eat breakfast at Toast Box or something... which is pretty cheap, and sells perfectly cooked half-boiled eggs. Har and Jun Yan went back to the hotel room to slack first, while me, Dewei and Aden went to shop around... bought a few gifts at Popular and some consumables at Giant's... the stuff here is really cheap...
Today's first block was at 5.30 p.m.... we ended up reaching the bowling alley around 2, and spent a good few hours watching people bowl, widening our bowling perspective... the Koreans and the Malaysians and the Burnei-ians and what not... really makes me/us feel like noobs. Fucked up the first block of games... balance today was fine, but couldn't find a proper line, and ended up bowling 148/153/169... using my third game to attempt to find a line, with me chucking the ball at the pins basically as hard as I can.
Then came the highlight of the day for me... the 7.00 p.m. block. First game was decent, found a good line, and closed 8 or 9 frames for a good 219. Opened the second game with a six-bagger, with one lucky brooklyn which ran straight down the lane, skidding through the oil, and a lucky rolling messenger for pin 10. Got a couple of open frames and ended up bowling 239. At this point I actually thought I had a chance of qualifying... then came my third game which started with 2 open frames, and alternating between strikes and open frames... ending in a depressing 152. 610 series... decent but too far from the qualifying cut-off mark, which is probably around 700... sigh. Tired... and two more blocks tomorrow morning. Oh yeah... aloysius treated us to bak kut teh today.... although I didnt really have appetite and ended up getting hamstring cramps during the meal -_-
Day 3:
Very disappointing day. Woke up all groggy, took a soak in warm water in the bath before going to the bowling alley a good 30 minutes before the 9.30 a.m. blocks. However, my left thigh started hurting after the first game, screwing up my balance and accuracy and basically everything else. Can't remember what I got for my first game, around 134 or something, and fucked up my second game with a 99. Yes, a 99. A two-digit score. Slightly redeemed myself in my third game with a 199, when my leg started to hurt less.
Went into the second blocks at 11.00 a.m. rather disappointed with myself, and majorly screwed my first game, bowling a 125 game if my memory isn't failing me. The second game I managed to pick up all my left-sided spares by sending my pin slasher at the bumper, which along with a few lucky brooklyn strikes allowed me to get a good 216... Bowled somewhat averagely for the third game and chucked my pin slasher one-handed at the full rack on my fill shot for a 180-something game.
Really disappointed that I didnt qualify at all this year, but it was an eye-opening experience, watching top junior bowlers from around the world congregated in one place. Makes all the small competitions back in Singapore seem like nothing at all. Oh, and I swear I've developed an unequivocal fear of all Koreans... tall, fat, short, thin, regardless all of them bowled powerfully, some to the extent where me and Felix probably look like weaklings by comparison.
Oh well... at least I think I bowled the highest series for a Hwachong bowler, with the highest game of 239... then again I also have the lowest game of 99. Sigh... at least the pressure's off, meaning tomorrow's basically a free day to do some shopping haha.
Day 4:
Got a good night's sleep for the first time... on the other hand, not bowling at all today. Slacked away most of the day, going the bowling alley in the morning a little too late to watch Boy's Graded Finals, bought a 160 RM bowling ball bag, stocking up on chocolate to bring back to Singapore. Spent a good few hours re-watching American Pie in the hotel room with the others as well.
