Ice Skating in Gorky Park

It has been a while since I last posted anything here. What can i do? Our holidays have been filled up with either something not really useful or useless. Sleep late, wake up late (of course), staring at the laptop's screen and listening to some antique yet exotic songs. No trip to other places whatsoever, after the plan to go to Murmansk were canceled due to some technical reason. Moscow will be our place of exploration this winter, and I hope that we will at least get to go and see other places in the world as well next year. Well, since we are totally free and absolutely have nothing to do, lots of ideas came pouring out of my mates' brilliant brains on what to do during our break.

First is classic. We used to play this when we were in primary school. Anyone our age that does not know about this game, well, hurm, I can't say anything. Either did not go for standard one to 6 studies, or you just don't want to bother knowing about this game. It is popular by the way. Whoever that does not know how to play this back then in Sek. Keb. Minden Height (my primary school), has a great chance to be deserted. Hehe. What they call this game differs in different states (now only I know about this since everyone in my room and comes to our room frequently came from different states). In Penang and Kedah, it is called "tudung tin" while in Johor and Selangor, "tudung ceper". Here is a quote: Boredom makes everything spills out. From foolish ideas, to the most creative one. Trust me on this :). And it is really nice to recall back our days when we were in the range of age 7 to 12. A lot of good and even the greatest memories happened along these period. We played until morning, laughing and chatting based on the game.

tudung tin, tudung ceper etc. (since I do not know what they call it at other states)

see the concentration on their faces?

(since I am the cameraman, all that I can do is laugh at their way of playing, fun!) :)

Second is ice skating! We have always been wanting to go for ice skating since the start of our holiday, and only yesterday we got the chance to go for it. After searching through the net, I found one interesting place to skate in, the Gorky Park. At first I thought it was free of change to enter the park, but when we arrived there, 80 roubles were charged. I can't believe that even the internet deceives! Since everyone agreed to pay for it, I have no choice but to say yes. It was actually a part of my mistake of not getting the details about that place first. Sorry!

Once we got ourselves inside, Fairuz and I began searching for the place to rent the skating shoes, while the rest did their Asar prayer. We found a place kind of far from the entrance, rented the shoes first then went back to where the others were waiting for us. To our surprise, they have found a place to rent the shoes nearer! All our hard work went down the drain T.T. We did our prayers after that and after that we skated freely! The rink is so huge that I haven't finished exploring every corner of it. Even though the condition of the rink is not like what you expected (with holes and unsteady surface), it was really worth it. It was also my first time so I do not bother about the surface very much. The company of my friends and the excitement made this experience priceless. The rink is outdoor by the way. It makes the excitement a lot better. All of us had a great time, falling onto the hard ice, learning the real way on how to skate, improving ourself, and laughing at each other. After an hour of skating, almost half of us bailed out, reciting that they have blisters and too "weak" to continue. Since we still have the energy to carry on, Fairuz and I decided to add another hour, along with Evana, Kucai, Fuad, Afiqah and Kumbang. We skated in the dark and finished at 1730. It was very exhausting. Fairuz wanted to join the large group of Human Train, but as we were shy of time, maybe next time Pai!

From back: Syahir, Fairuz and me on the skates

Thanks Fairuz for this pic

Post skating picture (except for Fairuz who is now the cameraman) :)

Sore back, swollen toe nails, wrist pain, the parts and parcel of ice skating if you are an beginner, like us. So do not afraid to try something new. There are risk of it but life is about facing risks. Even during eating you might face the risk of getting choked by the food you eat. If you can not face it, then I don't think that you have a life. Just go for it and have fun, that is what matter the most.

I think that wraps it up. Sorry for the long silence. It seems like time flies very fast, especially now, on the holidays. Till then, salam and tata! :)

p/s: In whatever cases you are in, please, do not forget to do your prayers. People gets drowned by entertainment easily, therefore we need to casually remind our friends about this. Have fun for the holidays!