'Comedian material': S'porean man turns up for 'Joburg' tour with luggage, thinking it's a city holiday
A Singaporean traveller showed up for what he thought was an eight-day Johannesburg (Joburg) city vacation - only to find out he had actually booked a wildlife tour that involved camping.
TikToker @ericlinguine shared his US$1,600 booking blunder in a three-part TikTok series titled Book Wrong Trip, which has since gone viral.
"My friend is the one who booked it," he told Stomp, explaining that he had simply paid for the October trip, which was arranged earlier in February.
He said he didn't have any details because his friend, who has the itinerary, was busy and did not have the time to check it.
In his first video, posted on Oct 30 and captioned "what a turn of event funny sia", Eric can be seen laughing through the mix-up - a clip that has since racked up more than 308,000 views, 25,000 likes and 280 comments.
Eight-day Joburg city tour?
Eric said in the video that he assumed it was a city trip and packed accordingly. He only realised something was off when he arrived for the tour and saw everyone carrying backpacks and sleeping bags - while he was the only one with a full-sized suitcase.
"I thought Africa is a continent, like North America and South America," he admitted, adding that he didn't realise Johannesburg was in South Africa.
At first, he thought his tour mates were joking about sleeping in tents, until the guide confirmed it.
Things got even more surprising when he found out the tour wasn't just in Johannesburg. They'd be heading to "another country called Botswana".
With no charging points or mobile data, Eric had to rely on fellow travellers for a power bank for the following days of his trip. He also had to quickly buy a sleeping bag from a supermarket.
Despite the unexpected turn of events, he said he got to see wildlife up close and try bungee jumping, calling the experience "not bad lah".
'Beats a Jet2Holiday": Netizen
Netizens were in stitches over his misadventure.
"Best blind box tour booked by accident," one commenter wrote.
Others praised Eric's Singlish narration, saying it made the whole story even funnier: "This is the Singlish I lived for!"
One joked: "People try to siam outfield. This guy pays for outfield."
Another added: "This guy go jcc but only bring PT kit."
One user admired his carefree spirit, saying: "I want to be like this guy. Adventure, no real plans, no knowledge on anything until we get to the destination. I'm tired of being organised."
