Last week, during the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF), I was also participating in the Pesta Sukan dan kebudayaan Perkhidmatan Pendidikan (PSKPP) at SMK Paku, Bau. The game I played was Scrabble, and this marks the second year I’ve joined the fest, thanks to Martin =)
Now, I’m not into language, and I don’t have a huge vocab (so to speak…), but I can play ‘a bit a bit-lah‘ they say. My personal aim this year was to help the Padawan Education District (PPD Padawan) beat the likes of Kuching, and Lundu and come in second. Bau wasn’t in my target because they are just too strong.
Arrived at SMK Paku at 8AM sharp and located the venue of the games. It was held in two classrooms and the schedule given to us showed that the games would run on until 8PM, with a long break in between for Friday prayers. Being single, it wasn’t a big deal for me as playing scrabble is as addictive as it gets, and I can spend hours playing online. So, no sweat!
The first game was with Lundu. I was paired with Ms Chan, a newbie to the competition from my school. The first game with Lundu proved a challenge, but we managed to loose only by 50 points. It was due to one ‘slam’ done by our opponent. (A ‘slam’ is when a player finishes his tiles and gets an extra 50 points).
The second game with Lundu wasn’t as inspiring. I had 7 vowels, while Ms Chan had 7 consonants. Lundu didn’t help when they opened the game with a slam, and won the game by over a hundred marks! However, our spirits remained high after we eventually learned that the team we played was actually one of the best in Kuching.
Second game saw Bau meeting us. The game was less tense as the Bau players were more sporting, filling the game with lots of joy and laughter. Ms Chan and I pushed hard to balance the game against Bau. We closed high rewarding opportunities, but eventually succumbed to a 2-0 defeat to yet another team which had previously represented the division. Anyway, the game was very enjoyable.
Last game came, and it was Kuching. Our last change of redemption! Well… it never materialized because we played a very open game and ended loosing by at least 3 slams.
At the end of the day, I admit I had fun playing, and the losses were a little disappointing. But then again, it was fun, and I made new friends, which was the whole point of the PSKPP. Next year, I will be back again to compete for glory =P
Uuuhhhh.. and the quote of the day would be when Ms Chan greeted me on Facebook by saying “hello partner (in defeat)” … LOL…