Women vs Boys!

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to participate in a competition which pitted the girls versus the boys. Unlike any physical competitions, this one was rather on a more mild-mannered side. The atmosphere was calm and quiet at first but when the initial round began, the placid environment turned violent and the once calm and serene background turned into one of shouting and screaming. Let me explain more.

This competition required plenty of skills, hand and eye coordination as well as a good command of the english language. Quick thinking was essential as well as good hearing was as equally important. At this level, neither the guys nor girls had an upper advantage, the playing field was equally balanced and neither side would move a budge. Competition was fierce amongst the fiery contestants yet the situation was well controlled by the judges.

You see, this competition was the boys versus girls sandwich making competition and the initial round which decided who had the bigger budget was played with Taboo. How this was played was that each team (boys and girls) had an initial budget of RM10. The winner of each Taboo round would be able to increase their budget by an amount stated at the beginning of each round. There was an extra RM20 up for grabs.

The first round, the initial prize was an extra RM2 for the budget. The girls took the early lead by edging the boys by a few points. Maybe it took the guys a round to get used to the game and prevent themselves from using the Taboo words. At the end of the first round, the guys had RM10 and the girls had RM12.

Not to be beaten, the guys increased the pace a little and won the next round. Using their continuing winning streak, the initial round ended in the guys obtaining RM23 in total and the girls, RM17. Joyous screams and shouting filled the room, jeers and teasing began amongst the boys camp while the girls were reluctant that a mere RM6 extra would allow the boys to win the main event the next day.

With their new found budget, the boys and girls raced through the shopping lines of Jaya Jusco, scouring every inch and nook of the place looking for the best bargains on bread, butter and sandwich fillings. Everyone knew that they had something to prove, pride was at stake and egos were flaring about, the presence of humility was just about as near as the sun is from the earth.

The girls had a great idea, the kept within their budget, bought all the necessary items for their sandwich as well as hunting around the complex for free items such as salt, pepper and ketchup from McDonald's and toothpicks from DeliFrance. If you asked me, I thought that was ingenious.

The guys on the other hand, went in and bought a very expensive item for their sandwich, a teriyaki chicken which they intended for it to be kept in the fridge and then be used in a cold sandwich tomorrow. Each team thought their plans were going to win them the competition but little did they know two enemies creeping up behind, complacency and principles.

As the rooster crowed early in the morning, everyone rushed out from their rooms and started preparing their sandwiches. There were very little utensils, there was no butter knife, no plates and no kitchen to prepare everything in. Experience was all the two teams had and everyone was fighting for a piece of action until something happened.

The mood began to dwindle and eyesbrows were raised as the boys team emerged sadly demoralised. Unfortunately someone had left the teriyaki chicken outside the fridge. Bold steps had to be taken and the sniffing began. Some agreed that the chicken was spoiled while others were stubborn enough to insist that it was still alright. A quick test showed that the chicken had indeed turned bad. As the ego baloons had burst, a good sense of sportmanship allowed the boys team to help out the eventual winners of the competition, the girls team.

While the boys team were frantically finding a way to try to get back into the game, the girls on the other hand combined ingenuity and skill to create a wonderful sandwich. Although I stick to my stand that it wasn't a sandwich, after a taste of it I agreed that they had won hands down. Even if our chicken was not spoiled, we wouldn have lost, badly might I add.

The sandwich had a great combination of butter, unrolled crabstick, lettuce, mixed together with a bland of mayonaise and ketchup to create a simple home made thousand island. Sandwiched between two pieces of bread, 2/3 the usual size of a normal slice, an equal sized ham was placed and the entire bread rolled up and kept rolled by a tooth pick. A single piece of seaweed covered the outer bread and two small fresh tomatoes were used to hold the bread at each end of the toothpick. If you ask me, that was definitely art.