Oops...I did it again... sigh..

1st August 2003

            My 1st impression of Stockholm was that it is a bigger city than both Trondheim and Bergen.. then i saw some weird-dressing "ah-bengs" of Stockholm in the streets, so i thought to myself, more urbanised probably also meant more hidden dangers.. well i guessed i was right.. So far, my trip is fine.. all the caucausions i met are all veri friendly, helpful and nice ppl... until today.. sigh

            Our first stop today is the Gamla Stan which is a small island in the middle of Stockholm.. Stockholm is actually made of 14 islands... and Gamla Stan is one of the smaller but more important ones.. We went to a medival Museum which is not reali veri interesting lar.. maybe cos i abit sick of museums and churches liao.. we were looking for the reception of the Parliament House to join their guided tours when we met a strange guy..

            He was walking down the street with a small green mat and 3 matchboxes and ask ppl to bet with him.. he lay the 3 matchboxes on the mat and put a small paper ball under one of the matchboxes.. den he will shifted the matchboxes around clumsily and let u guess where is the paper ball.. so there was a small curious crowd gathering around him and we joined in to take a look..

            He is a swindler and is a veri zai one lor.. its only after everything that i realised that it is reali juz a well-planned and well-rehearsed plot to trick stupid and innocent tourists like me.. so we stood there and see wat he is doing.. 1st of all, he sound abit like he's crazy one and got a few angmoh juz bet with him and some won money.. ntg seems strange 'cos some angmoh lost cos they reali quite dumb.. and chose the wrong one.. when he reveal where the ball is, we all guessed correctly one.. den we thought this guy muz be crazy or something and at the same time dun understand why some angmohs so dumb and couldnt guess the correct one...

            I stood there and start to take pictures of the guy shifting the matchboxes.. den he start to notice me and start to ask me to give it a try.. i hesitated but got another angmoh guy beside keep telling me its the middle one.. and me to go for it.. in the end i took out 100seks but the guy took me min 500seks.. cant reali rem wat exactly happened liao.. but juz rem that seems like there are a lot of ppl urging me to go for it.. so i oso blur took out my 500seks note from my money pouch.. i had 2 of them cos i juz drew the money out in the morning... den somehow, i gave the man both of the notes and opened up the matchbox.. but i was wrong..

            Sigh.. apparently this guy is quite zai in this thing one.. dun really understand how he does it but he is able to switch the ball around by juz stepping on the matchboxes.. actuali my guy fren told me if i wanna try i shld look carefully and den step on the matchbox where i tink the ball is and opened the box myself and not let the man touch or open the matchbox..  i was damn confused at first and couldnt understand how did i guess wrongly.. so i thought probably the man managed to switch the boxes with his shoe cos he step on the box as he took my bet den he let me opened it..

            After i lost the 1000seks, my guy fren ask me if i wanna try again and get my money back.. den he said he can lend some money 1st.. we were quite confident that he swapped the boxes somehow when he touches the box before i do lor.. so this time we make sure after he had re-arranged the boxes,  a man placed a bet and opened a wrong... wat a dumb guy i thought... so now left 2boxes... so i immediately stepped on the correct one and den gave him the 500seks i got from my fren.. guess wat, the man tapped the other box with his shoe ...and when i opened the box under my feet, the ball wasnt there and instead its under the other box... incredible.. i still dun understand how he does it .. but anywae the money was lost...sigh

            I realised something is wrong and that i have been conned so i told my frens that we shld juz head for the Parliament House.. its only as we head for the reception, den i realised its was a plot.. the other angmoh guy who psyched me to place a bet is his accomplice.. he intentionally opened the wrong boxes and tempted me with "easy" one out of two choices.. den i oso realised he seems to be following the swindler around... 他妈的.. 大骗局!! den my the other gal fren told us that she felt something was fishy as we were looking at the man initially.. so she stood behind and watch her purse.. i was quite pissed when she told me that lor.. wahkao.. she cant at least warn us a bit and this probably wun happened.. tink she's a bit selfish.. but haii.. no matter wat, its still my own folly lar.. my other guy oso ..haii.. forget it..

            i was in a state of stock for quite some time after the incident.. den the two of them oso dun noe wat to say.. so they kept quiet.. haii.. i oso dun noe wat to say cos i am reali quite sianz oso.. so as we toured the Parliament House and subsequently the Palace.. we din tok much.. not like we usuali tok a lot lar.. but i can feel the awkwardness lor... sigh.. i was alreadi trying quite hard in the morning to try to interact more with them by chatting to them about some boliao stuff.. den after the incident, i feel that i am wasting my time lar.. sigh..

            Right now, after some serious thought, i am more or less okay with my loss liao.. dun and cant reali blame my frens.. though my guy sort of psyched me and lend me money to bet..and my suspicioua gal  fren juz stood at a side and see me get conned.. haiii.. nevermind lar... its quite me lar.. after two wallets, two handphones, as well the Jetpack "bombshell".. i m pretty much immune to such things liao lar.. i juz take it as i spent the money to watch a magic show lor.. lidat i will feel better lar.. but now maybe less money to buy gifts for frens liao..=p

            Anywae the Royal Palace is divided in to several compartments, the Apartments (where the royal family used to stay), the Treasury, the Armoury, the Royal Chapel,etc.. but the palace is a strictly no photography place.. so i could take any pictures in the palace... could only take the exterior of the palace.. after which we took a guided sightseeing ferry around one of the bigger island in Stockholm..

            The weather was quite hot lor.. under the shade is rather cooing but once u r exposed to the sun, it veri hot lor.. juz like in Singapore but the sun rays are more intense and our skin can feel the hot senations from the sun rays lor.. abit like the desert in Cairo but less extreme.. den i was wearing my long sleeve tee lor.. cos i thought the weather is similar to Norway and shld be turning cold.. end up sweating in such weird weather..tom i shall juz wear my berms and leave my raincoat in my room.. if its rains tomorrow, den i oso 认命了..