3rd March 2013.
8 years ago today, I was just starting out my online business on a second hand computer and 56K modem for Internet connection in the suburbs of Gelang Patah.
On this day, another list from my Dream Bucket was about to be realized.
The 15 of us had our early breakfast in the streets of Mongkok before taking a bus to Sai Kung with the Hong Kong airsoft players. We would later take a ferry across to an island – and damn, the jungle here is super dense! The last time anyone came here was 6 months ago.
I was nervous at first, in spite of being told that this is just a friendly match with no serious competition whatsoever. Probably because of the fact that 6 of my team mates came to Hong Kong last year only to get trashed badly in a series of CQB skirmishes.
And the fact that their average player has nearly 20 years of experience in airsofting – the ‘youngest’ player has 10 years of experience. I feel like a rookie now.
For most of the day, our Malaysian team pitted against the Hong Kong team Unicorn and its allies in over 4 rounds.
The outcome for each round is not that clear since each round timed out with survivors from both sides, but this much is clear: the Hong Kong players are superior in tactics. And of course, since we are fighting on THEIR turf they have the benefit of knowing the terrain already + they get to mod their airsoft guns, whereas for many of us our airsoft guns were stock.
I don’t know if this is something to be proud of mentioning but… we actually did pwn them badly in 2 of the fast, direct-confrontation matches – maybe thanks to us growing up in our Malaysian ‘samseng’ culture? Haha!
I’m pretty certain if they put in an effort they could beat us flatly but that wasn’t the objective. 🙂 At the end of the day, we forged new connections and friendships through the tactical sport – and we are now in touch through Facebook and WhatsApp. Will this be a great motivator for me to finally speak Cantonese?
And hey, the prospects are bright – since these guys are national players we are now in the loop whenever there are airsoft games or tournaments going on outside of Malaysia.
Alright I won’t bore you too much with the details, I’ll share some of the photos I took on this big day. 🙂
It was an expensive trip to Hong Kong – and a rushed one – but I don’t regret coming here at all. 🙂
ADDED 9th April 2013:
This is overdue… finally here’s the compiled video footage from my GoPro camera when playing Airsoft in Hong Kong. Enjoy! 🙂
