The Finale: 4o1 Chalet (Day 1)
The day started at around noon for me. I went out to the neighbourhood coffee shop to have lunch before setting out to IMM Giant Hypermarket to buy the stuff for BBQ. This year, Mr. Fok (our relief Chemistry teacher for two weeks in July) has stepped out to help us pay for our BBQ food and equipment (except for the pit and wire mesh, which will be paid with leftover from collecting the chalet money, and charcoal, which will be provided by Veronica). Coming along to IMM Giant are Kuan Yee, who happen to stay near Mr. Fok, and Quan Ming, who volunteered a bit reluctantly because he would have to travel west, away from the chalet.
I arrived very much early at IMM Giant. Just as well, I went around to look for the equipment and food. Most of the items' costs have risen as compared to last year. We met up at 2pm (a bit later for Quan Ming, since he didn't know the area well) and went around the supermarket getting the stuff. When we checked out, I worried that the stuff would exceed Mr. Fok's $100 budget, but miraculously everything added up to around $84, including the Listerine which Mr. Fok bought for himself.
We pushed the trolley of stuff into the lift to level 3, where Mr. Fok had his car parked. He didn't know his way to the chalet (considering he drove the car only to NUS), but I had done my homework long ago when he sent that email saying he didn't know the way. So I ended up next to the driver's seat and giving directions, which wasn't tough; I chose the most direct way of the PIE. During the ride, Mr. Fok told us a few storied about NHSS like one of its former Physics teacher and haunted stuff of the old school campus.
We eventually arrived at the chalet at about 4pm, way past the 3.30pm which I planned, but nobody else had arrived anyway. I had Mr. Fok help us check in, and after we had parked the car near our chalet room, we brought the stuff to the room, C-01. Having knocked on the door ("It's customary," Mr. Fok said), we entered and dumped the food into the fridge. I checked the bedroom and was a little shocked to discover it was probably a bit smaller than the one last year. Nevertheless, the chalet was much cleaner and closer to amenities than East Coast. While I headed to Bibik Caterers with Kuan Yee to rent the BBQ pit, the other two took a break while waiting for the rest to arrive, especially Veronica and her charcoal.
Once 2 whole gangs of people (Veron's gang and Toilet Gang) and some other people arrived at the chalet with a little directions from me, they took no time in warming up to the chalet. By then it was already 5pm and I decided to begin starting the fire in the BBQ pit. XL, Fang You and Quan Ming came out to help me (considering I'm not an expert in BBQ-ing and starting BBQ fires) and we played cards outside while the fire burned the charcoal. Later, I accompanied a few girls out to Cheers at NTUC Downtown East to get instant noodles in case the BBQ couldn't fill their stomachs well.
When we went back to the chalet the sky was darkening but the charcoal hadn't burned up well. Veronica and gang were now at it, and in a few minutes we were ready to begin cooking. The sausages came first, then the bacon. However, the guys who were cooking the stuff (me included) didn't add more charcoal while cooking, and the charcoal soon died out. This started off another round of starting the fire while the rest went back in, some to play cards and mahjong (courtesy of Chii Yeh) in the bedroom and some to play the Playstation 2 XL brought again. We started cooking the food again once it was hot again.
Overall Veronica and gang and Siang Yong were the big savers of the night for the BBQ pit's fire. Following the 'great save', we continued to cook the chicken franks, bacon, cocktail chicken and later otah-otah and the chicken wings. Eventually though not all the food were cooked. And I initially thought we didn't buy enough food.
Soon after the BBQ, most of the people went out to Tampines Mall to watch late-night movies; some wanted to watch the horror movie Shutter and some wanted to watch The Incredibles, something more light-hearted. In the end only Kegan, Ming Hwee, Wee Cheng and I were left in the chalet. One good thing about this was that we got the entire room to ourselves for at least 2 hours. Each of us got one whole bed to ourselves (Ming Hwee volunteered to sleep on the floor) and we slept through from midnight till 1am for Kegan, 2am for me and much later for Ming Hwee.
To be continued
I arrived very much early at IMM Giant. Just as well, I went around to look for the equipment and food. Most of the items' costs have risen as compared to last year. We met up at 2pm (a bit later for Quan Ming, since he didn't know the area well) and went around the supermarket getting the stuff. When we checked out, I worried that the stuff would exceed Mr. Fok's $100 budget, but miraculously everything added up to around $84, including the Listerine which Mr. Fok bought for himself.
We pushed the trolley of stuff into the lift to level 3, where Mr. Fok had his car parked. He didn't know his way to the chalet (considering he drove the car only to NUS), but I had done my homework long ago when he sent that email saying he didn't know the way. So I ended up next to the driver's seat and giving directions, which wasn't tough; I chose the most direct way of the PIE. During the ride, Mr. Fok told us a few storied about NHSS like one of its former Physics teacher and haunted stuff of the old school campus.
We eventually arrived at the chalet at about 4pm, way past the 3.30pm which I planned, but nobody else had arrived anyway. I had Mr. Fok help us check in, and after we had parked the car near our chalet room, we brought the stuff to the room, C-01. Having knocked on the door ("It's customary," Mr. Fok said), we entered and dumped the food into the fridge. I checked the bedroom and was a little shocked to discover it was probably a bit smaller than the one last year. Nevertheless, the chalet was much cleaner and closer to amenities than East Coast. While I headed to Bibik Caterers with Kuan Yee to rent the BBQ pit, the other two took a break while waiting for the rest to arrive, especially Veronica and her charcoal.
Once 2 whole gangs of people (Veron's gang and Toilet Gang) and some other people arrived at the chalet with a little directions from me, they took no time in warming up to the chalet. By then it was already 5pm and I decided to begin starting the fire in the BBQ pit. XL, Fang You and Quan Ming came out to help me (considering I'm not an expert in BBQ-ing and starting BBQ fires) and we played cards outside while the fire burned the charcoal. Later, I accompanied a few girls out to Cheers at NTUC Downtown East to get instant noodles in case the BBQ couldn't fill their stomachs well.
When we went back to the chalet the sky was darkening but the charcoal hadn't burned up well. Veronica and gang were now at it, and in a few minutes we were ready to begin cooking. The sausages came first, then the bacon. However, the guys who were cooking the stuff (me included) didn't add more charcoal while cooking, and the charcoal soon died out. This started off another round of starting the fire while the rest went back in, some to play cards and mahjong (courtesy of Chii Yeh) in the bedroom and some to play the Playstation 2 XL brought again. We started cooking the food again once it was hot again.
Overall Veronica and gang and Siang Yong were the big savers of the night for the BBQ pit's fire. Following the 'great save', we continued to cook the chicken franks, bacon, cocktail chicken and later otah-otah and the chicken wings. Eventually though not all the food were cooked. And I initially thought we didn't buy enough food.
Soon after the BBQ, most of the people went out to Tampines Mall to watch late-night movies; some wanted to watch the horror movie Shutter and some wanted to watch The Incredibles, something more light-hearted. In the end only Kegan, Ming Hwee, Wee Cheng and I were left in the chalet. One good thing about this was that we got the entire room to ourselves for at least 2 hours. Each of us got one whole bed to ourselves (Ming Hwee volunteered to sleep on the floor) and we slept through from midnight till 1am for Kegan, 2am for me and much later for Ming Hwee.
To be continued
yours truly, tobias at 11:29 pm
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