It all came down to that fateful Saturday morning. After months of intense preparation (who am I kidding!?), it was finally Day 1 of Kalis 4 - one of, if not the most, prestigious airsoft tournaments in the Philippines. I had been psyching myself up for the past week or two. If there was one personal mission I had in mind, it was to not disappoint my teamates and myself.
I had been sick since Thursday. Come Saturday, I was sick to the bone. Flu got worse. My head was spinning. I was running a fever and felt generally weak. But no virus will make me miss Kalis. Besides, what better drama right? :) I had work that Saturday morning. Still, I couldn’t take my mind off Kalis. I had been visualizing each spot in Nayon from where I could get the best vantage point, while still having enough cover. My mind raced from one stage to another. Truth is, I didn’t have a damn clue on how FURIOUS wanted to tackle each mission. The virus had made me miss the briefing session the night before so I was coming to Kalis with literally an empty slate. There were panic attacks here and there, but overall, the resolve to join and play was as solid as…Guy and Pip? You wouldn’t believe how fast I packed my airsoft things. It must have taken me just 30 minutes to put everything in the car, my brother included. On more sane days it would have taken me a good 1.5 hours just to decide if it was worth going to Novaliches :)
I had to buy mosquito repellant to quell those pesky daytime mosquitos. Sharm didn’t want me to go down with dengue on top of the usual airsoft punishment or the cuts and bruises that were sure to come my way after this. We passed by Watson’s, then Mercury Drug then 7-11 but I never stopped to check if they had Off. I must have been too excited because I thought it would be available at Starmart. Smart no? She came out of Starmart with a smirk that read “I told you so”. But it’s ok, TMS will be there to help fix our second trial for the day.
I looked at my watch once every 10 minutes I think, just to check if I would make the 1:00 PM start time for FURIOUS. 11:55….12:17….the seconds didn’t want to cooperate. Traffic in Makati and in Edsa had a different agenda too. It was a conspiracy I tell you. First the virus, then the Off Lotion, then the traffic.