For my birthday, about four years ago, a friend, a girl, called me up and asked me out to present a gift. I was then somewhere in Java, having lived there for a couple of months already. In the phonecall, she told me to bring spare pair of pants, t-shirt and wear sandals instead of shoes. Now this girl-friend of mine, she is a tourist guide. No, not the type that brings you to zoos, museums and shopping malls, but rather, the type that make you lug your backpack and walk 5 kilometers into a jungle to reach your cabin for the night…

So I thought, finally, I am going to be at the beach, or the very least, a river! I mean, coming from an island like Singapore, I do get restless when I settle in a place where I don’t see a lot of water for a couple of weeks!

She came to pick me up with her bike. And off we go…

We reached the base of a hill and she pointed a dark green spot amongst the trees up above. She said, “That is where we are going.”

To cut the story short… I later found myself at the mouth of a cave filled with water that would reach up to my nostrils…

I came out on the other end after one full hour traversing this dark, wet and dangerous birthday gift of mine, but it was and adventure and gift that I have and never will forget…

I am praying that Asia Video Club is such a cave… Spooky at as I enter yet unforgettable as I leave…

Now… let’s be friends!

Tags: artist, khai hori