It started last month when Liverpool miraculously beat Barcelona 4-0 to overcome a 0-3 deficit in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final.
The win was such an incredible comeback that the day after, two Indian restaurant chains in Singapore, Casuarina Curry and Springleaf Prata Place, offered free prata for any customer wearing a Liverpool jersey.
I regretted not going for the free prata.
Even though I actually wore a Liverpool T-shirt that day, it didn't occur to me to get the free prata because I didn't own a Liverpool jersey. I had a T-shirt.
But then I realised later that I could have at least tried.
I mean, was the restaurant going to make a distiction between a jersey and a T-shirt? Probably any top with the word "Liverpool" would do.
I promised myeelf that if ever such an offer comes along again, I should try to get the free food, even with just the T-shirt.
So after Liverpool finally won the Champions League after 14 years two days ago, I was immediately on the look-out.
And I wasn't disappointed.
The Texas Chicken, An-Nur Shenton Way Famous and Gayatri Restaurant offers were for Sunday only. The Ah Lim Jalan Tua Kong and Casuarina Curry offers were for Monday.
An-Nur Shenton Way Famous and Gayatri Restaurant are too out of the way, so on Sunday, I just went for free two-piece combo meal at Texas Chicken in Nex.
But by the time I got there around 6.50pm, I was told the offer was for the first 100 customers only and I was too late.
I couldn't believe it. I felt so cheated. I checked the Texas Chicken offer on Facebook again.
Well, it did say "while stocks last". Just not that the "stocks" were only enough for 100 customers.
I was crushed.
Not wanting to waste my trip there, I bought the two-piece Sambal meal, which was not bad, actually.
Then as if to add insult to heartbreak, some time between 8pm and 9pm that night, Texas Chicken posted this on Facebook:
So if only I had gone to Nex two hours later than I did, I could've gotten my free meal!
I was upset enough that I commented on Texas Chicken's post:
And Texas Chicken actually replied:
So I messaged Texas Chicken the next morning:
So in a way, I got my free Texas Chicken meal after all.
Woohoo!
But my quest for free Liverpool food wasn't over yet.
Ah Lim Jalan Tua Kong and Casuarina Curry's offers were for Monday, ie yesterday.
Ah Lim Jalan Tua Kong is in Joo Chiat, which was too out of the way for me. So I headed for the Thomson Road outlet of Casuarina Curry, wearing my unwashed Liverpool T-shirt for the second day in a row.
I went around 3.30pm to avoid the lunch and dinner crowd.
It was raining.
But I got my free chicken biryani.
Woohoo!
Mission accomplished.
Ironically, I'm not even a Liverpool fan. I just bought the shirt to troll a colleague, a real hardcore Liverpool fan.
He owns an actual Liverpool jersey. Probably more than one.
And he didn't get any free food at all.
Maybe I'll give him my $10 Texas Chicken voucher since he went with me to Nex on Sunday.
Maybe I won't.
UPDATE: Got it. (Yes, I'm wearing a Man City shirt to troll my colleague as I gave him the voucher.)
UPDATE: I finally got free Texas Chicken meal by pretending to be a Liverpool fan
