Where To Watch World Cup, or, A Waterfront That Is Not

We live in interesting times. If our ancestors only had their Wayang Tongkols (nickname for the Chinese Soap Opera) to while away their pre-LLN (Lembaga Letrik Negara, now TNB) nights, we are blessed with the age of satellite and plasma TV. And to add spice to that, we are daily fed with juicy news and juicier programmes. This week, for example, has been The Tearful `Ex’ Week. Some tears were shed as Brazil became an ex-World Cup contender. More tears flowed when Salima became an ex-AF 4 student. And when Erra became Yusri’s ex-wife. Or when Nordiana became Mawi’s ex-fiance. We also anticipate some crocodile tears to drop somewhere along the exciting face-off between the PM and the ex-PM. And to ensure that everything becomes larger than life, you need a large screen and a correspondingly larger crowd to watch it with. So, where to go to watch a large screen? If you are in Ampang, you can comfortably watch TV on a large projected screen under the starry skies on a rooftop restaurant located at the brand new Ampang Waterfront. For the uninitiated, Ampang Waterfront is a hastily completed multi million dollar commercial project located just before the Taman Kosas junction at the extreme end of Jalan Ampang. In reality, the term `waterfront’ here is a misnomer for the simple reason that the front of the complex actually faces a busy road. The water is at the back, and in actual fact there’s not much of it to begin with either (it’s actually a monsoon drain, but well – Malaysia Boleh). The restaurant is owned by a Mamak (not a Budak Koleq, I presume). It’s a 24 hour joint offering palatable (that word would sound obscene in Malay) Mamak food and notably minus the usual oversized Quranic verses hanging on the walls and the ubiquitous 786 Mamak’s equivalent to the Da Vinci Code. The screen itself is sufficiently big for everyone to have a good view, although I personally think the projector lacks the requisite alumens or illuminati or whatever it is that people use to measure brightness. But overall okaylah. They say the world itself is a stage. What we see on TV is a reflection of our life. The way what you see in the mirror is a reflection of your own self. Or whatever lah. Either way, there’s gotta be laughter and tears. Concern and fear. Never mind if you were watching the World Cup or Akademi Fantasia. Warta Berita or the Fear Factor. Or just looking at the mirror…