I made my own travel arrangements this year, declining to tell anyone why or where I was going.

The CIP access was much appreciated. I was out of the airport within twenty minutes of landing! The skies were clear as I made my way to the hotel, but I couldn’t hardly contain my incredulity as it started to pour the minute I put down my bag.

The initial plan was to head straight to my favourite massage place before doing dinner, but it had to rain cats and dogs just then. The BTS station was some distance away and it didn’t make sense to take a cab during evening peak hours. Oh well, I shall do an early (and light) dinner then.

I muttered a second vulgarity when the Casaer Salad was sent to my room shortly after. The rain stopped the minute I touched my fork! The Thai deity in charge of the weather certainly had a sense of humour.

There was no Conrad Bear in sight. And in lieu of the usual rubber ducky, there was a blue (and possibly homosexual) elephant waiting at the bathtub.

Two BTS stops and twenty minutes of walking later, I discovered that my favourite massage place, Marble House – established in the early 1980s, no less – had closed down! The sleazy parlours next door which sprung up in the last five years were still going strong, but the one I chose a decade ago for its “NO SEX!” sign at the front door had vanished! A sudden bolt of lightning would have been perfect right there and then. Having been to Bangkok countless times, I know exactly where to go for a *cough* happy ending , but I just wanted a totally professional and authentic Thai massage. It was a good thing I managed to find a decent one along the same street.

I saw something familiar the next day. The Subaru Challenge, originally conceived by MediaCorp! The contestants were vying for a place in the regional finals in Singapore.

I discovered later that nothing went according to plan. At Central World, where I was wandering around aimlessly, I happened to spot a screening available in the next fifteen minutes. My jaws dropped slightly as the lady handed me the ticket, “Two THOUSAND and sixty baht (approx S$106) to watch a 3D Digital movie?!” She meant two HUNDRED. Oh.

While googling for “Best Restaurants in Bangkok”, I half heartedly typed “Best Cake in Bangkok” as well. Haha.

When I was alone in Taipei on 18.09.02 and Shanghai on 18.09.03, I was too preoccupied with work and didn’t think about getting cake or anything. What amused me greatly was that the first bakery I clicked on was located a stone’s throw from the hotel. When told of my plans, S. instantly pledged S$50. “Don’t be silly. I can’t finish a whole cake. I’m just getting a slice!”

Bearing in mind the lesson and disappointment from the previous evening, I decided against walking up and down the street to hunt for a supposedly famous bakery I’ve never visited. That cheesecake from Isetan would do. And I somehow picked up a bottle of cheap wine- which I chucked after two glasses. Awful taste.

In a show I saw recently, the kidnappers were filming a video of their victim and held newspapers to the camera. I was thus inspired to take a picture to record the moment. Heh.

I was alone, but certainly not lonely. A group chat on Whatsapp began the moment I reached Bangkok.

I’m calling Gillian 大姑姐 from now on.

Two of the restaurants on my “Best of…” list were located within Conrad, and I chose Japanese over Chinese. (Finally something according to plan.)

That sashimi was yummy!

A friend who is now based in Thailand called and plans for local Thai fare in the evening were swiftly made. I hadn’t seen Mark after primary school. It’s been TWENTY years! Rather meaningful meet-up there. And he berated me the next day when he saw my online update.

Heh. 18.09 is a huge event for me obviously, but it wasn’t necessary to create a huge fuss every single year. My message, however, made three xiaomeimeis went into panic mode instantly.

Totally hilarious.

Shortly after, I saw a string of tweets from the friend who has since gained a considerable following on this blog.

Chapter 3.0 was grand; Chapter 3.1 was fun; and Chapter 3.2 was chillaxing- with a huge dose of friendship in the form of messages and phone calls from hundreds of kilometers away. Thanks, everybody!

This, is a historical photograph. In more ways anyone (outside the industry) can ever imagine.

Dasmond and Chongqing came to my 21st birthday party right after Singapore Hit Awards 2000. I knew them since I was in my teens so it was only appropriate that they were among the hundred-odd guests to watch me transform into an adult.

Many memories flooded back the evening I flipped through the dusty albums containing those 3R and 4R images.

Things were much simpler then.

And I realised later with a heavier sigh, that these emotions only hit you when you’re not that young anymore.

Upgrading completed. I’m 31 now. Hohoho.

17.09.2010 started off really badly. It was almost like 52 weeks ago, when I was cursing and swearing like a hooligan on the morning of Chapter 3.0.

It was pouring when I left the office at 10.30am. No, that didn’t help at all.

As I boarded Jan’s car, I overheard the discussion between the two front seat passengers. The rendezvous point had changed, and they were unsure if everyone had been informed.

“Who changed the meeting place? Can’t that person just inform everyone? Why is everyone calling everyone?”

Very grouchy there. Hahaha. To their credit, Jan and San Chin replied promptly,

“Ok, ok. We do the organising. You sit behind there and do your own things ok? We’ll inform you when we’re ready to leave.”

We were an hour behind schedule when we finally moved off. No one complained. It was a holiday after all. Who cares about deadlines and timelines?

The phototaking began once we were parked in JB. There were so many cameras I didn’t whip out my own eventually. The pictures you see in this entry were mostly taken with my phone. The group pics come from various cams.

The skies cleared after everyone was fed. The moodiness was gone with a birthday balloon. Haha. And I was ready to take over the wheel. Don and How Han hurried over as they saw me getting into the driver’s seat.

“You don’t drive too fast hor? We very scared of you. Keep within the 110km/h.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Please lah. I drive very slow one lah. You all just follow me.”

Let’s just say that people have different definitions of ‘slow’. I rarely look at the speedometer when I drive and at one point I was startled by the screams from behind. “Will you just slow down! We are not in a hurry!” Oh. I had my right hand on the steering wheel, and my left hand on my chin. I didn’t realise I was going at that speed.

Anyway, the two cars behind were within my sight all the time. Those two are just closet speed demons, who needed someone to take the lead. All that fake modesty about not being able to catch up…

We checked into Everly Resort in the late afternoon. The place wasn’t posh, and the furnishing seemed rather ‘pre-loved‘. But the rooms, like most Malaysia hotels, were huge.

The group came well prepared. They had googled for things to eat and places to see.

We returned to the hotel shortly before 11pm. I was really tired by then, and I was very amused to see them scrambling off in different directions. No one said goodnight, and no one mentioned any plans for later.

Come on, don’t say that I’m shameless. People don’t travel for more than 200km and sleep before midnight, only to have their friend counting down to his birthday alone. The question was where? My room? Their room? Lobby cafe? Or by the pool?

The truth was that I was very sleepy. And I knew they were tired too. I actually didn’t mind turning in early, and had contemplated telling them to call off any surprises they had in mind.

The notification came about half an hour later. I was supposed to report to their huge ass three bedroom suite at 11.50pm. Excellent. I could shower before going down. No fears of being thrown into the pool, or the Straits of Malacca.

They labelled the picture on the left as FAIL. “Do you have to spread your legs so wide?!”, someone shouted.

Half the group woke up bright and early the next morning and headed for a very value-for-money local breakfast at a little coffeeshop outside the hotel. The rest of us were happy to continue lazing in bed. The slumber ended shortly before lunchtime. And we were at Jonker Street again.

The sun was merciless. Everyone was hot and bothered, so we didn’t spend too much time sightseeing.

“This is your convoy leader. Car 1 will now recce for tonight’s dinner location. Cars 2 and 3, please head over to Mahkota for some air-conditioning. You are also reminded to get me a cake. Over.”

Walkie talkies were so fun to use. Hahahha.

Car 4 arrived before dinner, taking the total number of passengers to 15. I think the objective of Chapter 3.1 has largely been achieved. I didn’t want a lavish party. I wanted a get-together. I just wanted to eat, drink, and laugh with my friends. Never mind the ambience, and never mind if the food wasn’t divine.

Having perspired heavily the entire day, I wasn’t in a phototaking mood. No pictures of the peranakan dinner, and the supper at a hawker centre nearby. And I was developing a headache by then- probably from the heat and insufficient water.

The same thing happened when we returned to the hotel. I was left high and dry in the room as they prepared for midnight. A painkiller later, I was told to report to the same suite at 11.40pm.

“Ok, he’s here! Quick! Turn off the lights! Go hide! Don’t take too long! He’s very impatient and he’s having a headache! He might just walk off if we keep waiting!”

I heard them loud and clear from outside.

Prior to the trip, I told them that I didn’t want any presents. “Spread the word. Don’t buy me anything, please.”

They gave me something eventually. Something that money can never buy.

Friendship, and a Chapter 3.1 Booklet containing photos and their well wishes. My favourite line has to be : “交情變深厚，你的身材也越來越寬厚”。AHAHAHAHHHAHHHA. Thanks, Gillian.

I called XH immediately at midnight. She was alone in Penang for work. No one there knew it was her 30th. “KAWAN! My birthday is over. It’s your birthday now! Happy Birthday!” And we sang her a birthday song from Malacca.

Our party ended at about 4.45am, which prompted Irvin to comment, “We must set a lights off timing for future holidays. 1am max!”

Fatigue levels peaked the next day. We were reluctant to check out- some didn’t want the getaway to end that quickly, and others simply wanted to get more sleep.

The shop selling wanton mee was mentioned in several travel sites. The reviewers must have been lying through their teeth, or the sad souls haven’t had the chance to try better mee.

Those pineapple tarts from Jonker Street, on the other hand, were heavenly. The aunties in the group were quick to point out that each tart was only S$0.20. We’ve already made plans to drive up every quarter just to buy those. (I don’t have the exact address. It’s beside the famous 88 Chendol shop.)

With the arrival of Car 5, Chapter 3.1: The Celebration concluded with a sumptuous dinner for 18 in JB on Sunday evening.

Thanks everyone!

“Thanks everybardy, for being part of Chapter 3.1 Don’t fret if you didn’t get enough. Chapter 3.2 is only twelve months away!”

I’ll be turning 31 very soon. Too soon, actually.

Chapter Three: The Party seemed not so long ago. I had fun. A lot. And I hope my guests still remember the event as fondly as I do.

Chapter 3.1 is going to be a relatively low key affair. By that, I mean no lavish parties with elaborate decoration and expensive yet mediocre F&B. No lengthy RSVP processes and no month-long countdowns on my blog.

Yup, things are going to be low key here this year. We’re going to bring the WOOHOO! out of Singapore. Muahahaha.

I had wanted to do another solo retreat. A couple of the guys said they wanted to come along- wherever I was going. Then the passenger list expanded as weeks passed. Because it was hard to book everyone on the same flights, we decided to do a road trip instead.

By mid July (Incredible, I know. Hahaha.), we confirmed a four-car convoy for 14 people. Suites were booked at the end of August. And the borrowed walkie talkies were collected last week.

I’ll be leaving right after the morning show on Friday. Can’t wait.

In the meantime, I can’t stop laughing at the mock brochure I did. Inspired by the previous collaborations with travel agencies.