Kings of Mahjong

Went to Alan's house yesterday to have a mahjong session with the gang. I think it was only the 2nd time I played with them. My Mahjong virginity was lost a couple of years back when Alan and I was introduced to this amazing/wonderful game during the CNY period.

I was not really into Mahjong after that first time cos the game seemed so complicated. So many rules to remember and the various confusing combinations to score points made the game more difficult to pick up.

It was only recently that I started to pick up Mahjong again, after Gys introduced me to this online multi player mahjong game, viwawa, which incidentally was introduced to him by Alan.

Dar dar loves to play viwawa too that's why after a few games of online mahjong with her, I got hooked. Ha.

Besides "training" online, I also started playing the hand phone version on my Nokia Mobile. Heck, I did not even know such an incredible game existed in my hand phone all along! I had to make up for lost time as I dutifully play whenever I had free time on the train, while waiting for lectures or even when having big conferences in the loo. Ha.

So, armed with my new found confidence after about 2 months of intensive training, I took up the challenge when Alan suggested heading over to his house for a game of Mahjong. I think they were all happy that they had found a new "victim" to "slaughter" Ha.

I was determined to prove them wrong.

However, let's just say that Mahjong online or the mobile version is way different from the real life one. Ha. Had no idea how to stack up the tiles and it was only after some rather patient guidance from the guys that I slowly picked it up. :)

Incredibly, the first real "noob" mistake of the game did not come from me, rather the honor fell to our one and only Figo. Ha.

For non-believers of Mahjong, there is this rule in the game which specifys that whoever fasely declares a win (Zha Hu) will have to pay for the whole game. The guys were kind enough to grant me a one time "Get out of Jail" card should I declare a false win since I was afterall a Noob.

Figo however, let's just call him the Zha Hu King, was way too experienced for that. Ha. He won the first game but it was only after some sweat inducing moments.

"Hu!" Figo declared triumphantly. But when Kok asked him, "Are you sure or not? You got any Tai?" (Tai is the Mahjong way of keeping score. To win you need at least one tai.)

Instantly, Figo tried to covered his tiles rather desperately with his hands and succeeded partly. Ha. Peeking at his tiles, he heaved a sign of relief after what seemed like mahjong eternity.

"Heng ah, got one tai." he exclaimed.

Ha. It was then that Alan and Kok told me that it was normal that Figo will Zha Hu and we just have to wait for that one chance to win all his money. Ha.

My first noob mistake came after a few games when I forgot to discard one tile after a "Pung" (In Mahjong, Pung is when you have 3 identical tiles") but instead drew another tile. I ended up with 14 tiles and therefore could not win the game anymore. Ha.

This mistake came about because in online mahjong, once I "Pung" I will AUTOMATICALLY be directed to discard one tile whereas in real-life mahjong, I was on my own! Ha.

Overall, I think I won about 3 games, including one Big one with 4 Tais. Figo was the ultimate winner despite his infamous Zha Hu reputation. Incredibly, he had a near perfect game that whole afternoon with no Zha Hu to his name. Ha.

The guys were telling me stories of how Gys used to play Mahjong with them and it made me feel regretful. Regretful that I never had a chance to play mahjong with Gys. Haiz.

Apparently, Gys was darn good at Mahjong and he will normally win everybody's money. Kok said that there was one time that Figo threw his wallet at Gys in frustration because he really lost badly.

"Take lah! Take everything in my wallet!" Figo screamed.

And you know what was the best part? There was not enough money in the wallet to cover his losses! Ha.

Well, things will never be the same again now that Gys has left us... It's almost 4 months now... Sometimes, I think that maybe deep down inside there's still a part of me that has not fully accepted that he is gone forever. When I think of him, it seemed so surreal.

I think I've blocked parts of my emotions because if I don't, the flood gates will open. I guess this is for the best.

No doubt that time will heal the pain and there's little purpose in lamenting what could have been. Just have to appreciate the gang I still have more and remember Gys in my heart.

Next time man, when our journey on this place ends we'll seek you out and we'll have endless sessions of Mahjong. Ha. Don't worry about losing though, there's always Figo the Zha Hu King. :)

Missing you.