Before TI1 was held back in 2011, I never dreamed of seeing the game I love up on big screen, watched by an enormous crowd who all share the same interest with me!
I had a small taste of an international LAN tourney earlier this year at MAS, but that was NOTHING compared to TI.
How did I get to TI5?
Astro Supersport has just launched a new show called Wishlist, and I'm the lucky winner that got to be featured in its pilot!
Basically, they get people to send in their sporting wish - be it football, tennis or Dota - and they will pick a lucky winner to make their wish come true.
:)
So I wrote in to the Dream Team about how much I really wanted to attend TI, and one day they just appeared at my home, with camera crew in tow.
After breaking the news to me, and filming a quick tour around my 'gaming space' (aka bedroom) it was time to pack up and go!
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| L-R: Emilia (producer), Mark (host), Me, mom, Reem (host), Joe (camera guy and Dota player too!) |
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| Pre-flight selfie |
My flight and accommodations were paid for - basically everything was taken care of by the Dream Team (except my shopping, or else they'd go bankrupt by the first episode :P)
The Flight
We flew EVA air, a Taiwanese airline.
KL - Taipei (5 hours)
Taipei - Seattle (11 hours)
I was quite excited to eat airplane food again because I haven't had any since I was a kid...been flying budget airlines since AirAsia was introduced!
But wow, airplane food is HORRIBLE, sorry to say. I saw the woman next to me have 'chinese porridge' and it was served in the same rectangular tray as every other meal, and she could literally CUT a piece of porridge out and have the rest retain its 'tray shape' wtf D:
Anyway, being the Professional Sleeper that I am, I slept 12 out of the 16 hours on board (now you know my hidden talent ^^).
Arriving in Seattle
I was 8pm when I arrived in Seattle.
The sun sets later in summer, so the sky was still bright! It gets fully dark only after 9pm.
And because this was my Dream Come True, the team went all out to make sure stuff went smoothly - we rode Ubers everywherrrreeeee. No normal taxis for this lady, nope, nuh-uh.
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| Check out my sweet ride ;) |
For the 3 days we were supposed to be there, we stayed at Holiday Inn North, on Aurora Avenue.
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| The shoes are lying that way because I kicked them off violently, not cause I kia gui ok?! |
Look at the sweet bed! The selection (wah fancy) of pillows were labeled 'firm' and 'soft' summore! Also, I got put into a disabled-friendly unit so I had a bench for my bathtub too! Standing up to shower is for scrubs, ok?
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| Also, some sweet railings to help me get up in case I get light-headed from all the excitement. |
Swag Bag
Before we headed out for our first American Supper, I found this on my bed.
SWAG BAG YO!
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Left: Tee
Middle (top to bottom): Water bottle, Secret Shop order form, notebook, Sharpie, sticker collection card, TI5 press pass, welcome note, Secret shop catalogue, in-game item redemption card, wristband (I LOST IT ARGH I KEEP LOSING ALL MY WRISTBANDS) and card holder, TI5 suncreen (lol thanks for taking care of our skin, Volvo)
Right: The backpack it came in
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Basically, this is the bag of goodies you get with your TI ticket. The Dream Team had it all ready for me to get me all hyped for the event! They were also super thoughtful and got me something to wear for my first day tomorrow :D
And it was the right size! And the design that I wanted - I was only eyeing 2 shirts and this was 1 of them! Also, that's $27 saved to spend on other stuff HOHO HAHA
Supper + The Streets of Seattle
After settling down and filming a haul video of my new TI goodies, we left the hotel in search of supper.
In true angmoh style, everything seems to be closed at night. MAMAKS WHERE ARE YOU?!
It was about 16 degrees out (by my estimate only la), so I wore a hoodie and jeans. It was also drizzling, which made it even more chilly.
Also, did you know that weed is legal in Seattle? I wanted to try some, but I was so exhausted and busy throughout the trip that I didn't get to :'( I even googled and they had this huge weed emporium downtown and all...
Oh well, another time!
Anyway, after wandering around and finding nothing open but drive-through fast food (and no you cannot walk through a drive-through - we tried), we finally asked for directions and was pointed to Sharis, an American-style bakery/diner.
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| Look at all dem pies. |
To be honest, I didn't find the food here very good. The bacon and ham in my sandwich was cold and soggy, and the bread was hard to bite through :/
BUT.
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| Whatcha lookin' at, Mark? |
THEY HAD THESE!
You know all the pies in the first pic? They blend them down and add ice cream to turn them into... *drum roll* ....PIE SHAKES!
Got yummy-back guarantee summore leh! (Luckily they didn't have these on their food, or they wouldn't make any money)
But seriously, you just cannot find cheap and good milkshakes in Malaysia. These were good enough to be a meal in itself.
I got the s'mores-flavoured one. I don't really know what s'mores are, but I know Americans roast them over campfires and they involve biscuits and marshmallows.
Tummy Full, Body Ready
Anyway, after eating our fill and making the long trek back to our hotel, it was time to sleep and prepare for my first day at TI5!
I actually got there on the night of 5th August Seattle time, so I would technically be attending the 4th day of TI, but whatever! I was as excited as I would be if it were Day 1!
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| Day 1...or 4, let's go! |
[To be continued]
