tadpole

Warning: A very long post. Go to the toilet now so that you won’t have to go in the middle of reading this post. Take some snacks as well if you like.

For the first time ever, tadpole is not going back to Malaysia for the school holidays. And yesterday, for the first time ever, she went to the Perth Royal Show with her friends. Also, for the first time ever, she went on a bus and it wasn’t a school trip! She even went on a train…FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!

Royal Show was so much fun. I went there with my friends - Nicole, Joanne, Monica, Margaret (Monica’s sister), Michael (Margaret’s boyfriend) and Harrison (a new friend). No, they are not tadpoles. And no, they are not normal humans. They are all cows. Just joking.

At 9.30am, my mom dropped me off at Monica’s house. Then, we walked to the bus stop to catch the bus…obviously. The bus came like about 10 minutes later. They all simply tapped their SmartRider cards on the processor located on board the bus but because I didn’t have any money in my card, I had to pay the bus driver directly and then I had to collect my change and my ticket. So troublesome. Anyway, so after that, I found a seat beside a middle-aged woman. I didn’t talk much in the bus, I just listened to my iPod. Monica sat beside Harrison (I didn’t know him). Later on, Nicole joined us…

$10 entrance fee. I am still a child! *Yay*

Finally, after 15 minutes, we arrived at the Perth City Busport. There, we met with Joanne and Michelle (Joanne’s sister) and got on another bus to the train station. The train took us to Claremont Showground, our final destination. Alright, enough of public transport.

After all that, we found ourselves standing at the entrance of the Royal Show. Monica, Margaret and Michael went in first because they bought their tickets beforehand. The rest of us lined up to buy our tickets. There were so many people, it was scary…but exciting!

I took 300+ photos, this being the first photo…

The first thing we saw was horses. Many of them. They ran along the big grassy green field as if the world wasn’t even there. The riders guided their beautiful horses gracefully through a variety of movements. It was a very beautiful sight indeed.

Most of the horse riders were women.

We got bored with the horses soon after and moved on…

The Blacksmiths Association of Western Australia (Inc.)

Vintage Tractor & Machinery Association of W.A.

Joanne was waving contentedly at the driver…

It was kinda hot on that day. And everyone was just keen for rides and games. I am never keen for rides. In fact, I hate rides. Scary rides. Years ago, I went to Gold Coast with my family and I cried so badly after I went on The Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster. I told my parents, this time, I would only be taking photos and throwing balls into buckets. Unfortunately, I don’t always do as I say…

We didn’t go on rides straight away. We started off with ‘tossing’ games. Michael paid $5 for three balls and he tried to throw the balls into one of the red buckets to win those soft toys. He didn’t win any because he simply didn’t have the skills. Nahh, actually it was kind of hard because there were so many rules and like every time the ball went it, after like one second, the ball bounced out of the bucket…

Rules: No leaning; No rim shots; No toy shots; No cross shots; No rebounds; 1 ball in bucket at a time; Operator must see winning shot; and Don’t waste time - just hand over your $5…

I am not exactly sure about this one. I think the first teddy to hit the bell wins. You figure out the rest.

(L to R) Harrison, Michael and Margaret…

They decided to give it a go at the teddy game and they didn’t win. Heheh, so obvious.

Quack! Quack!

The fluffy balls are so cute. Joanne and I love them!

Laughing Clowns! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Players attempt to score a number by feeding the clowns with ping-pong balls. Prizes are given to every player even if they don’t get a winning number. I decided to give it a go and I won a cow as a consolation prize…

Aww, so cute. Moo-moo is my best friend now.

Catch a Clown Fish

I paid $5 to catch Nemo’s relative and won…

a baby. In a teddy bear costume.

Nicole and Monica. I have crazy friends!

Enough of throwing balls and catching animals. They We wanted to do something extreme.

I still can’t believe I actually went on the Swing with Nicole!

I really didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to pay $8 to do something I hate. But the little voice inside me kept telling me to do it and not to disappoint Nicole. While lining up, I could hear my heart beating so loudly in my ears. My legs were all wobbly, I thought I was going to collapse. My hands were sweating. I felt like crying. I felt like running away. I had a lot of things on my mind. I thought of the teenage girl who had both feet amputated during an amusement park ride recently - the cable thing apparently snapped, whipped up and took off her feet. Then I thought of a video I watched on YouTube. The little guy was falling out of his seat?! Thank God, he was safe.

I sat on one of the seats, separated from Nicole. I took hold of the metal chains firmly. The swing ride began to spin around the center axis of the ride. My eyes were closed tightly. I kept hoping that I would be on my feet soon. I didn’t scream. I was too scared to scream. My heart was seriously pounding like crazy. Every time it tilted, my heart dropped. After what felt like an eternity, the swing finally came to a complete stop.

I told myself, “No more rides. You don’t want to make this a horrible experience!”…

But the next thing I knew, I was paying another $8 for another extreme ride. Oh no.

I went on Crazy Dance. All of us did. I sat beside Monica. The brave Nicole sat all by herself. At first, it wasn’t that scary. But then I felt like someone was continually stabbing my heart and twisting the knife. I got sick in the stomach. I was so dizzy. I really wanted to puke. We were up there like at least 10 minutes. AT LEAST. When the thing stopped, I quickly ran down the platform. I felt vomit travel up my throat and I forced it down again. I didn’t end up vomiting. I didn’t even end up throwing off incredible amounts of water-like liquids. I forced them all down with a bottle of water. All the while, there was this girl staring at me with an evil smile. Like oh, it was so hilariously funny. =_=

Seriously enough of scary rides.

We wanted to eat. Monica wanted to find Jewels, our friend selling Indonesian food at the Royal Show. We walked and walked. We looked at the map over and over again. We rang her for directions. But it was useless. We decided to look for her later. Because it was simply too hot. And some of us were simply too hungry.

Miserable Monica. Michael harassing the teddy bear. Nicole’s Mocha.

We had fries and sausage rolls. Or more correctly, they had fries and sausage rolls. I didn’t have the appetite after those rides. Sad. Sad. Sad.

Monica eating ice-cream and posing like a retard. Multi-tasking.

Harrison playing with bubbles…

After lunch, we were too lazy to walk. And it was still very hot. We sat there chatting. Harrison and Joanne played with the bubbles and ran about like little kids.

They had horses in between their legs…

When it wasn’t that hot, we went on. Joanne wanted to buy a Hello Kitty showbag. I wanted to buy a Stewie Griffin showbag for my older brother. And a Bart Simpson showbag for myself. My friends were completely shocked to discover the fact that I like Family Guy and The Simpsons. Don’t ask why.

If you don’t know what a showbag is:

“The ’showbag’ which became part of Australian shows as an advertising gimmick, are now sold at $1 to $65 each and contain a number of cheap novelty toys and candy. Showbags are related to particular candy product, television show, brand name (e.g. Coca-Cola), or may be ‘jumbo’ bags containing a number of brands (e.g. ‘the Mighty Mammoth’ bag). They are a focal point of the Show for many younger children.”

Joanne in pink…

(I will have a post on Showbags soon. This post is way too long already.)

When I began to feel better, they decided to go on Chairlift. Great, just great. They didn’t force me to do it. Nicole even volunteered to walk with me. I am not a selfish person. I am but sometimes, I am not. And so I ended up paying $6 to torture myself. To death. Did I tell you I am afraid of height? Well, yes. I suffer hypsiphobia. It wasn’t that bad when I was a little kid, it’s getting worse now.

I didn’t dare to look down. In fact, I didn’t even open my eyes. I had this full blown anxiety attack and I was sweating so badly! But I really want to thank Nicole because she kept talking to me, distracting me while we were up in the air…

I don’t like Chairlift…

They went on more rides while I took photos:

Monica and Nicole again! Brave people…

Ferris Wheel!

People everywhere…

So crowded.

Michael, Monica and Nicole went on Super Nova.

You Spin. You Whirl. You Rock. You Roll. It’s absolute CHAOS!

Even Nicole was getting tired of the rides. So, we went to look for Jewels. And after a lot of walking, we found her! She even got permission from her mom to buy showbags with Nicole and I. She bought a Cadbury showbag for herself and a CLEO showbag for her sister! All happy. Monica and the rest of the gang ate satays, etc. Nicole and I had Lychee Bubble Tea! The tapioca balls were so…bubblish and chewy. Hahahahaha.

We were walking when suddenly:

Jewels: Oh, look rainbow!

Tadpole: Where?

Jewels: There, the rainbow…

Tadpole: Oh, there. How cool is that?

*I spotted a kid with rainbow hair and took out my camera…*

Tadpole: Wait, I want to take a photo of his hair!

*And after taking the photo, I spotted a real rainbow!*

Tadpole: Jewels, a real rainbow!

Jewels: Yeah, I just told you…

Tadpole: Really? I thought you were talking about that kid’s hair…

Jewels: Hahahah!

And look at this photo carefully:

Double Rainbow! I rock!

Goodbye Perth Royal Show!

We didn’t wait for the fireworks. We had to leave earlier. I had a really great time and I am pretty sure everyone did. And I spent so much money. Thanks dad, thanks mom!

I am mentally and physically exhausted now. This is like the longest post ever.

Note:

1. I can’t go on rides. Not even sissy rides. Extreme motion sickness. Vertigo and vomit ensues.
2. The next post will also be on Royal Show. Stay tuned.