Cloud Castle

I’ve got CSU tomorrow…and it is…..

Recharge

Before I get into my story telling mode, please do allow me to type a few phrases.

1) I had one of the best invites to 1 of the best raves ever to be held this side of mother earth. The fella responisble for this, is non other than Anthony Brain-is-Loss. Thanks bro so much for the invite!!

2) To all the other 3 brothers that came with us, namely Seng Chye, Kelvin and Ming Hui, thanks so much for putting up with me! Really sorry i am not as professed in the lingo that is music!

3) To hell with the organizers of this event. (as u will see later)

A Journey of 144 Kilometers, Starts With a Single Ignition

On a hot friday afternoon, straight after class, right after lunch, we headed down south to Melaka! In Ming Hui’s trusty red Kia Sephia, we trudged on! It was so hot, I was literally sweating from every pore of my body. The seats of his car were not exactly the cusions you would find in Ikea either.. (sorry Ming!) But that isn’t a bad thing because it adds to the adventurous road trippers that we were! And i would not trade it for a Mercedes S Class anyday.(those are for rich road trippers which we were not). We ate potato chips (Kelvin ate the most), sang to various songs on Ming’s Ipod, headbanged on Song2, cracked lame jokes at one another, and shout at Ming for his outrages driving skills!!!(if we ever go on a road trip, this is the sort anyone would want to have!!)

The Whole Nine Yards

We arrived at Alor Gajah without much damage and i was instantly impressed by the size of the place. It’s bigger than any golf course in Malaysia i have ever seen (though i know there’s bound to be bigger ones). Anthony’s summer home, was not the least summer to it. It’s more like home. From the family tree photo frame, to the leather sofas, it was cosier than my own home back in DJ. There was a small garden, beautifully landscaped (by Anthony’s Dad’s own hands), a swimming pool, and a few garden furniture which would be perfect for any BBQ. I was to share a room with Ming, while the rest of the blokes share another. Couldn’t quite understand why Seng had to sleep on a matteress on the floor, but i guess he wanted to save Anthony’s electricity. After we unpacked, we planted ourselves in front of the tele and started channel surfing. We got bored (eventually), and decided to hit the driving range. Anthony and Ming were pros in their own league at the game of golf, while Kelvin and Seng, though first time holding a driver, shot pretty well themselves. Me, well… i can’t even get the stroke right. I’ve always told myself that i needed a proper coach, and time just wouldn’t allow me to do that. We played all the way till it was dark, not to mention da tree i had to climb…twice…after losing at putting. And we head back to the villa, bathed, changed and headed down to Melaka town.

It was 8.30 pm

Saved by the Nyonya

The journey from Alor Gajah would take a full half hour or more to reach, toll gate to toll gate. And another half hour from the Melaka toll gate, to Melaka town. Anthony’s girlfriend recommended an apparently famous Nyonya cuisine restaurant in town. But after countless tries and numerous growls from the stomach, we were ready to have McDonalds, KFC, or practically anything that was available to be eaten that night. UNTIL, we rounded a corner, and there it stood. Not the restaurant Anthony’s girlfriend recommended, but a Nyonya restaurant nontheless. We went in, ordered, and i swear to god, the Melakan folk would have us thrown out by the way we ate. We had spicy Asam Fish Fillet, Scrumptious Ponteh Chicken, Brinjalls the shape of the cross section of a penis, Special Made Tofu, and Gula Melaka Sagu for desert. That meal, i must say, was the most satisfying meal i have ever had in my entire life. It satisfied hunger, taste buds, cephelic firing, and most of all, we had true Melakan food.

After the meal, we went to one of Melaka’s mainstreet to find MURUKHU!! Somehow, in every road trip, there’s got to be an integration between music and food. And this time round, IT”S GOT TO BE…MURUKHU!!! Man, I laughed so hard whenever they sang this!! After the indians there humiliated Kelvin and Anthony by speaking to them in Tamil, which they don’t understand, we too the coaster road back to Alor Gajah. The road tortured Ming’s foot by providing countless traffic lights as we sang along to the song’s of Ming’s Ipod.

Put Your Best Dancing Foot Forward

I shall skip the uneventful periods till the start of the Recharge Event.

2pm. 2 hours after noon, the sun was high above the sky at a 10 degree angle away from mid point…Hot as Hell. We went to the Recharge site. The site, apparently, was constructed on an airfield for small 1 man manned aircrafts. It was EXTREMELY MUDDY ( I cannot stress more the extremeness of the mud). There were people from every corner of the world gathered there. Thankfully, their numbers remained small, and we got to look around a little. Ciggarette stands were set up, a reverse bunjee machine(RM 50 a ride) was brought, 2 cranes for the purpose of dropping humans to their deaths(RM 100) were there, 5 outdoor stages, an indoor stage, a foam bar, and a few scatterd public toilets were all that was on the site. Due to the intense heat, we decided to head back and chill before coming back at 5pm to watch Pop Shuvit live! Pop Shuvit, is a Malaysian Band that plays rock music which i have suddenly gained a liking for. The sound system was awesome, the music spectacular, the long waiting time for them to set up…be damned…That was the only fault in their entire gig. After that performance, we headed down to the indoor stage, where Blackstrobe was mixing a few techno songs that rocked the whole place. Seriously, if you want quality dance music, get Blackstrobe, the bloke’s awesome!

After Blackstrobe, we headed to Tampin (near Alor Gajah) to have dinner, and back to the villa to change. Before leaving for the biggest clubbing experience of my life, all of us, except Ming drained 2 bottles of whiskey. (of course not full bottles la!!want us die ka??)Not before long, i started to talk a lot of chicken. Can’t quite recall the details though. When we arrived, Ming drained the remainder of the whiskey, and we went in. Techno, and dance music rang throughout the entire site. Men and women, dancing as though all worries have been drained from them. Guys and Gals, putting their hands in the air, shaking their bodies, without anyone to tell them what to do. We did all that they did, and a bit more. It was the best fun i have had in years, which is all I can say.

Gung Ho With a Twist of Anti-Climax

The next day, we packed, we cleaned, we threw. But the memories of the best clubbing experience remained. If it wasn’t for the Mud, or the hot malaysian tropical sun, it would have been a clubbing experience only worthy of the divine.

Again, i would like to thank my friends for the company

Anthony for the booze and the villa

Ming for the driving

Kelvin Ming and Seng for Music

and the artists, bands, DJs, attendees, Heineiken, the world, for being there and then for Recharge Revelation

CB out