Story Of Mai Life

Dark Place

Laughing over inside jokes and hanging out at the nearby playground; Upon departing from primary school, these precious moments vanished from my life. Setting foot in secondary school, times weren’t as happy and lively as they used to be.

Making friends in my new school was my first goal but to my disappointment, I constantly found myself being unable to fit in. I didn’t stop trying but to no avail...

WHat am i doing wrong?

Left in tears and hurt, I found more comfort in being alone so I started distancing myself from everyone.

Welcome To MaiMai!

One day, I came across a washing machine-like rhythm game. A brightly-lit circular screen with 8 buttons at the rim, stood there in front of me at the arcade. This game was none other than maimai.

So...what is maimai?

Maimai is an arcade rhythm game series in which the player interacts with objects on a touchscreen and executes dance-like movements to the beat of various songs.

Hajimarumai!

Gloves on!

To begin, you need a pair of touchscreen gloves to reduce friction between your hands and the screen, making the gameplay easier and more comfortable!

Feel the rhythm!

Hit the notes to the beat using the buttons when they reach the rim. There are 4 different notes: Tap, Hold, Slide, Touch.

select a song!

There are over 1000 songs of various genres to choose from, Vocaloid, Pop, Anime and more.

Together? Wanna play

In the subsequent weeks and months, I became a regular maimai player, connecting with many new people in the community all over Singapore. We enjoyed clearing missions and unlocking achievements together. As the days passed, we grew closer and closer.

That’s when it all changed

On the first day, I was approached by other players to play together. In excitement, I agreed and it wasn’t long until we warmed up to each other. I made new friends!

“Welcome to the Community, Zoey!”, they welcomed me with bright smiles.

Arcade memories

The arcade feels like a second home to me, where the maimai family is and where lots of memories were created. These are some mementos that really take me back in time and they mean a lot to me.

The Token

I got some paco tokens for my birthday from my friend, Luke. Because they’re a gift, I decided to save the last one.

Tickets

These tickets were from the time Cheng Kai, Zach, Luke and I had fun with ticket games on the Olevel results collection day to celebrate.

Community Shirt

Majority of the community has this shirt and it gives us a sense of belonging. It was a project by my friend, Alexa, and it was the first shirt that was open for everyone to buy.

Circuit Breaker

The circuit breaker didn’t break our circuits. Though we couldn’t meet at the arcade, we continued to stay connected virtually. We had many fun calls and game nights, which really helped get me through the lock down.

Among Us WhatsApp

Discord Bandori

Ongoing Call 6:30:05

Video calls were something we did almost daily. We could chat for hours and hours, sometimes we lose track of time. These calls were filled with joy, laughter and warmth. I really appreciate that they were my listening ears when I was feeling down too.

STARTLINER BY ONGEKI

This song was our anthem!

Skribbl.io

This was our favourite game to play because we could play it with up to 20 players, the more the merrier!

Skribbl.io is basically digital Pictionary. Most of us couldn’t draw well which made it challenging to guess, but that’s what spiced up the game. Some drawings were really funny.

Answer: Shrek

There is one imposter Among us

Among Us is a mafia inspired game. It gets intense at times and everyone becomes really high energy during the discussion on who’s the imposter and who isn’t.

When Phase 2 of the circuit breaker came around, we finally arranged to hang out again. However, this time it was different. It was our first meet up beyond the arcade! I mark 20 June 2020 as the day our adventures took a new direction.

Beyond the arcade

To whelan’s house we go

It all started from this day, where we spent the afternoon playing card games at Whelan’s house! From then on, we did many new things together. It went from picnics to KTV to the escape room to other one of a kind experiences I’d never imagined having.

Origami Frogs

I made an origami frog for everyone that day. I let everyone choose their frog first and I took the remaining one. Her name is Mimi, the youngest of the froggy family!

the main game of the day

We spent more than half of the day playing The Singaporean Dream. It works like Monopoly Deal but with a Singaporean touch.

Till today, we still play this game a lot. We have many inside jokes associated with this game which makes it even more fun.

Zoeyand Gavin for. .

Pocky Jumble

This was where our mixed pocky tradition started. Everyone brought a different flavour of Pocky and to share, we mixed around. Since then, we started intentionally buying various flavours for our Pocky Jumble.

Ai SteadMai

EXPLORATION TIME!

Our favourite pastime is exploring places in Singapore without a plan while chatting. Through these impromptu walks, we discovered many interesting and fun places! Now and then, we like to revisit familiar routes which feels pretty nostalgic.

Some of the places we go to often include Capitaspring, IKEA Tampines, Orchard

Central...the list goes on. There were also various new sights that we came across. One of them being the white guys statues outside Shenton Way MRT station.

A Special Place The StAdium Tower

This lookout tower holds many memories as I’ve spent time there with multiple cliques within the Mai community. Watching the sunset together always made me feel warm. Whenever I’m up there, I reminisce those times.

To my favourite people

I can’t put into words how grateful I am to have met you. All the times we had spent together mean so much to me and I cherish them dearly. The smiles, laughter, ups and downs, if I could, I wish to relive them all over again. I hope that even when the time comes when we can’t spend as much time together anymore, we will still keep in touch and catch up in the future.

Meeting you guys have added so much colour to my life. Thank you for everything and all the little moments we have had. Up till today, I still remember vividly the warmth and joy that I felt when I first entered this community. It’s a blessing I will never forget. I can’t imagine what life would have been like without you. From the bottom of my heart, I just want to say thank you.

Thank You