Tuesday, March 27, 2007
It's sad that as we progress with time, some of the places that we used to frequent when we were young are not around anymore. Along the way, some of them didn't make it. It could be due to a variety of reasons like bad business, reconstruction and some could have moved to a new place. Whatever it is, we may never see it again.
Take for example the demise of the e zone lan shop in bt timah plaza that I've been going to since I was in sec 1. There seemed to a change of owner a few years back, the friendly uncle and auntie were gone, their replacements weren't the same. If i'm not wrong, it's been 2 years since I last went back to e zone because there were better shops opening in the building. They may not be as cheap but their computers were faster and they offered more games. Even the air con is stronger. However, e zone was still holding strong when the rest started to close shop after a few months of opening. For now, the mechmaster shop at the top floor of btp has been a frequent hangout for me. It's unlike any mechmaster shop you see in Singapore, it's not as beng or hot, the air con is so damn strong that I'm practically freezing. There was a time I went to play in smart4, even when I pull to long 4, I was still feeling cold.
E zone tried its best to stay up with times and with their competition as well. Their usual package of a free drink with every 3 hours of play however didn't manage to entice much of its customers. Much of it has to do with the overall condition of the shop. It's dark, hot and many of the computers lag. You can expect your game to crash halfway while playing. I even got my legs bitten by mosquitoes while in the lan shop! What make us go back to this lan shop even after all these cons was because it's been a meeting point for acsians. The uncle has always been providing good service to us before he left. Even to the point of giving us free drinks when we didn't even clock the 3 hours needed. He would recognize my voice everytime I called to book coms on the busy days like weekends. I grew up in that lan shop and everytime I go back, the uncle would recognize me and my friends and asked about our well being. From sec 1 to jc, he's probably seen us all grow up. It's a pity we couldn't see the shop grow with us.
The membership card that only cost me $10 will forever remain a souvenir.
