It was 2 A.M (SGT) in the morning when I realized that I have been writing non-stop and that I was in serious need to pack my bags. My flight was due at 9 A.M in the morning and I guess I had to be there by 6. Quickly, I packed up and left for the airport, hoping to get some sleep on the plane ride to Shanghai.
Those hopes were dashed when I was placed to sit next to a kid and a nice but also large sized woman near the front of the carriage. All was good during the take off but as soon as the plane went up in the air, the lady beside me fell asleep and started snoring heavily. If that wasn't bad enough, this nine year old kid sitting beside me had some serious hyperactive issues as he was constantly screaming and asking his parents for validation on every little thing he did. His parents were A-grade for not calming him down.
As I was about to fall asleep anyway on the table thingy of the plane, the douche in front of me tilted his seat back (to the max) and got my head stuck between the table and the screen. What followed was just agonizing five hours of me staring at the mini monitor, screaming in my head "ARE WE THERE YET?"
Miraculously, I arrived at Shanghai at 1:59 pm, one minute earlier than the expected flight time. After a small scare through the Chinese customs, I took my bags and was home free (hotel free more like). One big problem I did not iron out before leaving for China was how am I suppose to meet Mathias. I don't really know his face nor do I have a working phone number.
However, it wasn't really hard for me to notice a big tall Caucasian guy among the thousands of people smiling at me. Knowing that he is probably the one, I marched towards the exit but was only greeted by another man, a fat Chinese dude holding a sign of my name. Appalled by this, I approached the mystery guy praying that I won't be stabbed but as it turned out, it was Vic, my only Valve contact in China.
Now that my tour guide had been established, Vic brought us to the Maglev train (travels at an astonishing 400km/h) and it only took us seven minutes to get to downtown Shanghai. Subsequently, he gave us advice so that we don't board scammer taxis and soon enough, we arrived at our hotel.
Lan Tian hotel (literally translated to Blue Sky Hotel) is a four star hotel G-1 League booked for press and also international teams. The hotel had a massive compound for car park but the hotel itself looks rather small. It's comfy though.
After dropping our bags, Vic, Mathias and I went out to grab a bite and on our way down we saw Akke, s4, and EGM but I guess the Swedes did not recognize us. All that aside, Vic brought us to a Thai restaurant in which he proceeded to order LIKE A BOSS. Yes, literally like a boss. The conversation between him and the waiter went something like this:
Vic: What do you have to recommend?
Waiter: Green curry, shrimp, fish etc
?Vic: Okay we get two curries, get me these two shrimp dishes and this big fish right here
Oh and you think that was the end of it? Nah. He continued to order 14 more dishes before asking the waiter to unleash a hellstorm on the kitchen. The dishes came one by one and you might not believe this but the three of us actually finished all of it. Didn't even flinch because we couldn't get up after that. We continued chatting for the next two hours before we mustered enough courage to leave a tip.
After dinner, Nicholas and XiiTuzi from LGD paid Mathias and me a visit in the room and we had further chat on our visit to their gaming house next week. After hesitating on whether we should visit a pub, XiiTuzi came up with a brilliant plan to knock the the team's doors. Unfortunately, everybody was out partying except for DK members who were hard smoking in their hotel room. Super wasn't in the shot because he wasn't wearing pants, literally.
And here we are, back in the hotel room all filled up and ready to sleep. Briefing will begin at 8:30 A.M. According to the organizers, the Internet at the event may not be the best but we will still try really hard to upload pictures and videos. Hopefully that's possible.
Stay tuned to GosuGamers as we get more confirmation from Bulba.
