Monday, December 08, 2008
Saturday morning saw me and Jolene emerging from the Sungeiwang carpark, all fired up to run the N96 race. Preceding the event was a scrumptious breakfast provided by Bon Ton, Lot 10, and that was where we had a friendly chat with our fellow racers/competitors over a hot cup of coffee. It was fun getting to know Kelly (better known as Curryegg) and May, both of whom were eagerly awaiting a chance to use the N96 Kelly had gotten earlier.
Bon Ton in the morning. Strangely, the egg had 2 yolks. May, Kelly, Jennifer, Theresa, and Jolene, all in matching T-shirts.
After that delighful breakfast session, we adjourned into a smaller room, where David Lian gave us the mandatory booklets and instructions on what to do in the race. This was shortly followed by the motivational (short) speech by Nokia General Manager, Vlasta Berka, and soon, we were already outside, waiting to be flagged off.
Our route, on the big screen. Vlasta giving the motivational speech, compulsory before any race.
When the whistle was blown, however, I noticed that my Nokia Vine application still didn't show any map, and it took a few minutes for Glen, the Nokia Product Manager, to iron out the problem (it had something to do with the 3G settings) Already slowed down by my ineptness, we raced off to complete the following tasks (which had to be done in the correct sequence);
Task 1: Head over to the arcade on Level 2, Sungeiwang Plaza, and complete at least 1 Level of Street Fighter, and take a recording of that feat.
Jolene was pretty good at this, so in short order, we had a video of her smashing away at the controls, and we quickly ran over to the next stop.
Task 2: Go to the Nokia Concept Store in Low Yat Plaza, and capture pictures of the banner ads, window posters, and buntings.
Already a bit winded, we raced up the narrow escalators in Low Yat (knocking several people along the way. We were quickly becoming unpopular) and reached the Nokia concept store. Slightly breathless, I whipped out the N96, and quickly snapped the required pictures, before racing down the narrow escalators (again, knocking people over) to our next destination.
Task 3: Purchase a cd from Speedy Video, along Jln Bukit Bintang. The cd must be from an artist whose name starts with the letter "N", or has six members in the band. Capture a video of the purchase.
Running headlong down Jln Bukit Bintang, we reached the store only to find that it wasn't opened yet. Apparently the store manager was late (probably from clubbing the night before) and the assistant wouldn't let us in. At this point, the race participants were beginning to arrive one by one at the store, and that was where we were told that we could proceed on to complete the other tasks first. With a groan, Jolene and I ran back up the street to the next task.
The store was actually closed!
Task 4: Take a picture of yourself in front of Kompleks Kraf Negara, along Jln Conlay.
Now, Jln Conlay is pretty far from Speedy Video, and by the time we reached the place, we were both already ready to keel over. Seeing the other participants arriving gave a boost of adrenaline (kiausu-ism) so we took the picture, and started running to our next task.
I seriously contemplated getting on the KL Hop On/Off.
Task 5: Take a (random) picture of 5 people and their Nokia handphones in front of Menara Standard Chartered/Wisma Cosway.
Seeing as to how a lot of people carried Nokia phones, we weren't too worried about this task. We even asked 2 policemen who were issuing samans (summons) to illegally parked cars, but unfortunately they BOTH carried Sony Ericssons. In the building however, the nice people were all too willing to flash their Nokias.
Nice security guard. Nice Chinese man.
(Repeat) Task 3: Purchase a cd from Speedy Video, along Jln Bukit Bintang. The cd must be from an artist whose name starts with the letter "N", or has six members in the band. Capture a video of the purchase.
Running back to Speedy Video took up most of our energy, and Jolene decided to get a Natalie Umbruglia CD, before we ran helter-skelter back to Bon Ton, where we collapsed in a heap.
Since I looked like I had just fallen into a pool, I freshened up, and we adjourned back into Bon Ton for an extremely tasty lunch (buffet style!) before the results of the race were announced. The participants were required to submit their Vine via 3G upload, but most of us had problems uploading the file (it had something to do with the 3G servers) Sadly, we only managed to come in 4th, and the winners of the competition were a Malay girl and friend. Nonetheless, we received a bag of Nokia merchandise, and we could keep the CD, but those weren't the things that we were most happy to bring home.
Winners! Eating as much food as possible. (Partial) Group Photo. Jennifer and Theresa, after the race. Skyler! Mabel, Kelly, Alicia, Theresa, and Jennifer.
Food, new friends, and fun memories of dashing madly around KL.
And those are worth running any race for. =)
We came in 4th! Woo! Again, many thanks to Nuffnang and Nokia, for the opportunity!
To see the chronological recording of the race, visit the Nokia Vine page, and just search for Soon Seng, or N96 Race.
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