Thriller Night

I opened the passenger seat and hollered a big hello. The hooded figure looming over the driver's seat remained motionless. I froze in my boots. Just when I had begun to wonder if I had gone to the wrong car, the hood was flung back and I was greeted with a face that almost made me urinate in my cargo pants.

"Oh my GOD! ASH! You're so good!"

The thing curled its upper lip to reveal a set of gnashers deformed beyond redemption.

"Okay, you're scaring me... Hey you can stop it already!... Ash...?"

It continued snarling.

"Okay Ash, you're freaking the sh*t outta me... I'm sorry, I can't bring myself to get into the car yet..."

I slammed the door and howled with laughter. I had to admit, Ashvin was effing hideous.

It was Ashvin's first halloween night out in Malaysia and the both of us were pretty psyched. He didn't tell me what his costume was going to be beforehand, which wasn't really fair since I had told him what I was planning to wear. Earlier this year I was so tickled at the sight of a balaclava hanging at a pasar malam stall that I just had to buy it. (It did worry me though, how easily accessible it could be to others with less-than-noble intentions.) I worked my costume around my headgear, but on the day itself I had realized that I didn't have the appropriate attire for a robber; rather, I didn't know what robbers typically wear. I pulled the next second best thing in my wardrobe. I flipped to the back of my Evolution sweater and read the movie's tagline in canary yellow:

Have a nice end of the world.

I humbly accepted my upgrade to terrorist.

Ashvin just pieced something together and hadn't the slightest idea what he did to himself, so I just categorized him as a ghoulash... Ghoul-Ash, geddit? Whoo! I am good.

So here we are before being beaten with the ugly stick...

And after.


We arrived to a lukewarm crowd at Zouk's Disco Bloodbath. We were accompanied by Coery and Sarina, who weren't up to dressing up for the occasion but looked smashing as usual. The scene wasn't as manic as the previous year's Halloween party, particularly since this time it coincided with the Ramadhan month.

I got halted by the security at the entrance to the club. "Is that a knife?" one of the burly guys asked gruffly. I flexed the blade like a drinking straw. "Sort of," I replied. He also eyed my gun, but seemed to loosen up after noticing the flourescent orange nozzle and questionable army motif.

Ivan, the usual dude at the Velvet entrance, looked absolutely adorable in an outfit which Ashvin assumed was purchased from Victoria's Secret.


Upon entering, I was tapped on the shoulder by a Japanese soldier. He wielded his knife. I pointed my gun. It was a tense moment until the cheeky bugger smiled and snickered off.

I also recognized Jon from his blog; I went up to introduce myself to him and his girlfriend Jinjung, but only after much deliberation... after all, I wasn't exactly dressed to impress. Thankfully Jon and Jinjung greeted me with a friendly handshake instead of the foreseen can of pepper spray.

The night was wierd and wonderful... Whilst stomping to electronic beats on the dance floor, we got chummy with our homies from the South Side.

The dude in white didn't say much.

Aw c'mon mate, lighten up.

Even baddies can be super kawaii.

Don't worry, I'll be gentle... *Cue sadistic snicker*

Ashvin playing Mr. Reaper,

and Pimp Daddy.

We weren't really attired for a proper jig, but Ashvin and I ended up giving in to our instincts and got down and dirty. Things started to heat up and I found it hard to hide my... gun.


We called it a night after I felt an impending asthma attack from breathing through the wool and Ashvin's face paint started to crust up and stink of paraffin. We did pass by an attractive little Ferrari on the way out, and I saw it as a fortunate chance to brush up on my small-scale criminal acts.


I also aimed my gun at random passing cars, after which I heard a meek, trembling voice behind me go, "Hey! Hey! Hey!" I thought nothing of it, until Ashvin turned around and noticed that the voice was coming from a girl whose face was filled with genuine terror.

After reaching the car, Ashvin admitted that he relished the opportunity to act like a fool in public without being recognized. On the contrary, I was a little let down that for once, no-one knew who I was.

It was a night of good laughs and good music, where Ash and I did the Monster Mash and put the word 'boogie' in boogie man. It was a different experience from the party Zouk held last year, where the craziness factor was literally tweaked...



But that's another story.