Monday, June 13, 2005
P.E.N.A.N.G
Preliminary Announcement:
Ladies and Gentlemen I am pleased to announce tt I am back from Penang!
However, I am not as pleased to announce tt I am bloody fucking tired. The only reason I am blogging is because I *need* (yes you heard it right) to commit my experiences to memory before I forget them, and I have to do it tonight or I won't be touching my comp till Wed or Thurs or Fri at least.
Anyway the reason for my being so tired (also to be elaborated below) is because I lack sleep and I expanded a lot of energy yesterday and the day before at the Penang International Dragonboat Festival (heanceforth known as PIDF), plus the journey was a fucking bitch and I thereby conclude tt NUS does not take good care of its rowers.
And my police attachment started today at 9.30am. Hello? My plane touched down at 2220 hours last night, by the time I collected my bags and all it was almost 2300 hours, my parents dragged me out for supper such tt I only reached home at 0030 hours, and by the time I unpacked my dirty clothes so tt my mom could wash them, and bathe and change and all, it was 0150 hours. And I had to wake up at 0800 bloody hours this bloody morning.
ARGH. Kanina. So pardon my bad mood.
Nonetheless, I shall do a nice long version of what happened from Thurs to Sun, no matter how fucking drained I am right now.
So let's get on with the show.
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Thurs 09.06.05 - Day 1
We started the day with training. You heard me right. Going to Penang on Thurs evening and we had TRAINING AT SDBA in the morning.
Ok. No comments on training. Well, at least it was short, we were given enough time to go home and pack, and the sets we did were good. "Si geenas vs. the old birds". (?!?!?!?!) WHO came up with the term "old birds" anyway?!
And the canoeing recre club was around so I happened to see someone I know who used to have an impact on me, but it's empowering to know tt now whenever I see him I wonder why I used to be so blind. Wahahahahaha. Ok ok I now readily admit tt I had the worst possible taste in guys. Fortunately there has been a vast improvement since then (altho Melissa might beg to differ). Shh.
After training I came back, did final housekeeping, had time to wash my clothes (yesh!!! in the washing machine + hang them out to dry... boy am I glad for hostelite independence), before leaving for the airport. Okay, half of the reason why I had so much time is coz my dad fetched me to the airport, so we could leave at 3pm and STILL reach at 3.30pm, even though he had taken a wrong turn and almost landed us up in Changi Village after spotting the sign tt said "Changi Airport" on the PIE, and immediately turning in the OTHER direction.
Was at the airport super early. Only people around were Jade and Jane (also known as Jack and Jill; names interchangeable and may be shortened to 'J&J'); so I grabbed my lunch from BK and went to browse through books at Times Newslink till more people came. Was tempted to buy tt Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, if only to see how much better it was compared to tt lousy excuse of a movie. But I didn't coz I was too cheapo.
The rest of the girls slowly streamed in, and then we went to wrap our paddles up in bubble wrap to check them in (coz I was right. You can't carry the paddles on hand onto the plane coz they may be considered dangerous weapons) and check in the rest of our stuff. We were very very very early btw. Flight was to take off at 6.50pm and we were hanging around the Check-In counters before 5. Ugh.
I hate waiting. And it didn't help tt Seetow made us all wear matching uniforms of our dark blue polo tees and jeans. It's not tt I don't like the dark blue polo tee coz I do, but it's very thick and it takes up a lot of space, as does jeans, and it doesn't help tt the whole bloody place is so bloody stuffy it sucks.
Oh. But when I went to the toilet my bag accidentally got checked-in by mistake even though I didn't want to check it in coz I had valuables like my camera in the side pocket. When I came back I almost had a heart attack when I realised tt it had been checked in and there was a possibility tt my camera could have been spoilt in the process.
Anyway I ended up sitting next to Alvin on the plane. I know the seats got mixed up and we could change seats once the plane took off, but I couldn't be bothered too coz it was only a 1 hour + journey; I found it troublesome; I got the aisle seat and I didn't want to move into what could possibly be a non-aisle seat, and from a previous conversation with Alvin I thought he was quite a nice guy to talk to.
Um. The bulk of our conversation revolved around beer, coz he's a huge beer fan apparently, and he appreciates Erdingers, Hoegaardens and Stella Artois. And dinner on the plane was salt and MSG-laden. Yuckz.
We touched down at the Penang International Airport a bit earlier than expected. But my happiness was to be short-lived. The bus ride from the airport to our hotel - the Bayview Beach Resort @ Batu Ferringhi was one fucking hour. One fucking hour in a bloody hot and stuffy bus. I was exchausted and even then I couldn't even fall asleep. It was boring as hell.
Me and Yirang were roomies for the trip.
Pic alert!
Above: Me and my roomie!
I think it was a good match. If I had been paired with either of the J&J combo I think I would have screamed my head off before the end of the first night, or committed some crime of VAP (violence against persons). OOH. But Geoks and Wenya graciously bought us sponges (actually, they're mroe like these round rubbery thingies tt kids sit on from Ikea, but they are now our sponges to sit on in the boat to protect our precious and often abraided butts from further abrasion); I got yellow! Like, bananana yellow! And our room sucks. Well, it's great actually. Is nice and big and comfy and YR and I both have queen sized beds. BUT the damn toilet flush spoilt and since the 1st time YR flushed it, proceeded to continue to flush itself repetitively the ENTIRE FUCKING NIGHT. Yesh. There was no more such thing as peace and quiet. Any absence of sound makes the sound of the toilet flush reverberate around the room. As a result YR got a little bit nervous, pushed the beds together, and pretty much shared the same bed with me for the night.
Hey, at least we had a queen-size, so there was space for everyone. :)
And due to the unappetizing and less than filling flight dinner, most of us were forced to turn to alt sources for food. I.e. The minimart opposite the hotel. Since I'd already bathed the moment I stepped into our room I didn't wish to dirty myself by venturing out again, so my dear roomie happily went out and bought cup noodles and biscuits for me. Thanks dearie! :)
And after eating everything we both felt so full we couldn't sleep ANYWAY, and coz Vic happened to call us to see if we wanted to play pool, we took up the offer and trooped downstairs to play pool with her and Wendy till 12-something, close to 1am I think.
And then coz YR and I still weren't very sleepy (altho we were both very tired), we just chatted till we fell asleep.
Anyway it was a good thing tt we fell asleep, because the next day was...
Fri 10.06.05 - Day 2
AND we started out the day at fucking 0600 hours. Why you ask? Because David had informed us the night before tt we would be having a morning run at 0615 hours on Fri. At first I thought he was joking.
But no, he wasn't.
So at 0615 hours we were led on a 25 min run along the road outside the hotel (The only other team tt went on a morning run was the Myanmar National Team, and they started running later than us). On our right was the beach and the open sea, but we couldn't see any fucking thing coz it was too fucking dark; on the left we passed a nice large graveyard. Fortunately it was so dark that I didn't see it either.
The pace was slow so I didn't fizzle and die. Almost managed to survive. We then did mini-circuits at the carpark coz David said we "still had time left". I think tt started the whole inner-thigh ache syndrome.
The girls all went to breakfast wet and sweaty. But the continental buffet spread effectively made breakfast the BEST meal of the day for all our days there! French toast and pancakes, eggs the way you want them, mature cheddar and swiss cheese, beef bacon and muffins... YUM. Stuffed myself silly.
After tt we actually had some R&R time, so after settling the housekeeping matters, I bathed and met up with some of the girls to explore the beach. Ooh, and my dear chick also informed me of a gig tt she, Vic and I could have at 1021 at 1021! EXCITING (or so I thought).
Interlude: Below: Me and my chick.
...Well, we tried to, but for a beach front resort the beach was so dirty and the waves were BROWN, so tt effectively turned us off from splashing around in the waves. Sigh.
It did not however, prevent us from taking pictures.
Above: Me at the beach (Vanity shot!). Wahaha.
And my chick, me and our dear Geokz.
We did a detour instead... to the hotel swimming pool!
We being Serene, me, Geokz, Wendz (all in-picture); Cheez (who went swimming), Mona (who after some hesitation stripped down to her sports bra) and Vic, who looked damn hot in her blue bikini! And we spent almost an hour relaxing in the jacuzzi... Ahh now that was the life!
Okay. But tt was the last of the kind of life was the last we would see on this trip. Ever.
Took a second bath of the day and went down for lunch.
BTW, the lifts at the hotel are HORRIBLE. There are 3 of them, but they are SO SLOW that waiting time is a BITCH, esp when it gets crowded and everyone wants to go places. And it's the only way to get around, as we later found out. And one of the lifts stops at the 2nd floor every fucking time by COMPULSION.
Stupid lifts.
Lunch was... curry rice. Or rather, rice with curry chicken, which we were obviously banned from. Needless to say it wasn't a fantastic lunch. And then later when we needed to rush up to our rooms to get our stuff again, the fucking crowd of similar-minded people (the hotel is the official hotel for the PIDF, so all the other teams from the other countries were all being housed here) outside the lifts, so someone made the birlliant suggestion of climbing up the stairs instead.
So the rest of us morons rushed up the stairs inspite of our slightly-aching quads... until we heard from the ninth floor, Vic's voice: "FUCK! The door the locked!"
And thus concluded our little adventure with the stairs. It was back down 9 floors again AND back to waiting for the fucking lift.
I think tt was another factor as to why my inner thighs ache.
At 1.30pm we left for the Telok Bahang Dam - our race site, to train for the race the next day. The dam is actually quite pretty, if you think abt the scenery. It's located in the middle of small mountains, and there's even a temple on one end. Haha.
But because of a drought, the water level was really low, so the scenery was marred by the sight bare and eroded soil, and there was a horrible flight of stairs to climb down at least 3 to 4 storeys from the waiting area to the pontoon.
We had a big boat for the first hour and a small boat for the next. The sets were pretty good. We also got to practice Mixed with the guys and got to coordinate our strokes together, which was a good thing (finally we are getting something right). And Naziman has told us the same thing so many times tt now we all know tt we want to draaaaag.
UGH. And I got the feel the full impact of the bloody stairs. It sucks I tell you. Walking up the stairs after being so winded from the rowing is... UGH. My poor inner thighs. *sobz*
After tt, we came back to our hotel early to bathe. Again. Then we had to dress in matching NUS polo tees (I think this uniform-uniform combination is highly kindergarten-ish, BTW) for the official opening ceremony for the PIDF.
So we took pictures in the lobby. I got this ang moh guy from the Royal Australian Navy Melbourne team to help me take a group pic of me and my girls (see below)...
And in the end I also had to take a picture with him and he started talking to me and asking me where I was from. And his name is Damien, which is a very nice name IMHO.
Lydia got completely mesmerised by the cute Aussie naval dragonboater who was tall, hunky and looked a bit like Keanu Reeves (then again all the girls agree tt he's damn hot) and spent the rest of her trip gushing about him. Hahaha. But the photos are not in my camera.
After tt we went out and spent the better part of the next hour... waiting.
And waiting and waiting and waiting, for the VIP to arrive.
So in the meantime we took more pictures.
Below: Me and Wenya.
The ROCK CHICKS!!!
Yeah! I'm 'Rock' btw. Wendz is 'Chick'. Aha.
And me and Johnny! Heh heh. Something to show Mrs. Tan when she demands visual proof of why we had to shorten our attachment.
Below: Me and Mona.
And scandalous pics: I'm actually lesbian and in lurrrrve with my captain! Shh.
Anyway the VIP was damn late, the announcers couldn't speak proper English as well, the speeches were a verbal assault to my ears, and the line dance demo was bloody CMI.
So after tt it was a happy dispersal to dinner. We all walked to Happy Garden. Arrived after the Singapore National Team. Food took about 30 min to come. Shared the table with Uncle Sean, who was pretty ok being around us until he opened up a can of worms by mentioning the PM Cup. Never mention the PM Cup to the girls if you are from the guys team, was the ex-captain, was the coach, or simply have a history with the girls' team, simply because there is a lot of submerged anger from over the years and it may be unleashed by the wrong choice of words as betraying a rather *cough* MCP *cough* mindset.
Oh. But we all had fun with the tofu in the Magic Claypot. You can never guess the treasures you can find at the bottom of the magic claypot.... HEH.
After tt we were walking back to the hotel, but there was a minor crisis coz our fave J&J decided to walk off inspite of David's insistence tt we had to return to the hotel, and he, Vic and Wendz had to go off and look for them. I realise tt even though I'm anti-PRC, even if I WAS pro-PRC (which I am not, heaven forbid), I would STILL be able to argue provocation as a justification for murder if ever I got charged for commiting it with regards to them.
Anyway we were a little late, only to find out tt there was some briefing at 10pm. I think we went back, bathed and slept after tt. Gig got postponed to Sat coz we had 'lights out' (just like army) at 11pm for our race the next day. And we had to be at breakfast by 6.30am coz our coach was leaving at 7.30am.
Sat 11.06.05 - Day 3
We woke up about 6am again. Went for breakfast at 6.30am, left for the damn dam (wahaha. Love saying this) at 7.30am. Didn't take any photos today. Our first race was at 10.15am - 12-men crew Women's Opens Heats. We got into the Repecharge for tt one! Unfortunately we were eliminated and didn't get into the finals.
OH! But there was a Nescafe Tarik competition, where 'volunteers' were supposed to pour teh tarik and dance around on stage, and the best performers would be awarded prizes. As everyt team had to send in 2 representatives, we sent up YR and Wenya; YR had a damn black face when pouring, but she did an impressive SPLIT! And Wenya looked cute in the red teh tarik apron. And the prizes for their participation: Nescafe coffee. Which we're all banned from till after race.
The guys sent up Johnny and this junior Teddy. But poor Teddy was bloody suay; he slipped on teh tarik while attempting a push-up stunt... and dislocated his shoulder!!! He couldn't row for the immediate set and had to be sent to an ambulance and bandaged! The poor guy. The only injury from rowing, and it HAD to be from some stupid event, and can possibly affect him for July.
(Ironically, when Johnny and I were getting drinks from this Nescafe machine this morning, the only drink I could consume coz everything else listed was coffee was... teh tarik!)
We then had to nuah for HOURS till 3.45pm, which was our 20-man Women's Opens Heats. Damn boring; walk around, rest, dance to music (coz we were SO BORED and we didn't have our gig!!!), get picked up by guys, eat... etc...
And then 3.45pm came. It was a stressful set. Raine was our drummer and David was our coxswain. We just rowed the best we could, even though I got blinded by the splashing made by the person in front of me and I lost my contacts, and I didn't know what position we got, but we got into the Repecharge. But I must say 1 thing: I don't care how angry or upset you feel. I don't care how PMS you are. We have our moods, we get angry, we get disappointed, we are unhappy at times. I know coz I am a moody person and I get tt too. But more than tt we are one team and I don't care how you do it, but you get your own fucking ego and self-pity out of the way and put your team before yourself. If you can't do tt and if you think the world revolves around you, then I think you're in for a rude wake-up call.
Wah lau. The stairs after rowing. Inner thighs ache (deja vu). DAMN CHUAN!!!
Repecharge was about 15 min later I think. And we got 2nd for tt! We literally rowed our hearts out (with Jade replacing Raine as drummer), such tt even though Wenting's paddle got entangled with the sausage and she managed to grab a spare paddle in time thanks to Geok's shouting, and we got into the FINALS!!! Which was more than we could ever have dreamed. It was a fantastic end to a day.
We were made to walk by David all the way down to Eden's Village... and then we had to turn back and walk back to Guan Guan Cafe for dinner, where mosquitoes feasted on us as we ate. Walked back to the hotel and were told tt lights out was at 10pm.
Interlude: EXCUSE ME. WHO in the right mind sleeps at 10pm? I have not slept at 10pm since I was in PRIMARY 3 and when school started at 7.15 am. What makes anyone think we can sleep at 10pm now?
Anyway "I wanna be a role model" Mona succeeded in sleeping before 11pm (I think). The rest of us... HEH. But I had a nice talk with my chick (in place of the abandoned gig) and YR and I had a cosy time with her and Vic. But sleep was illusive (don't get the wrong idea!). :( And Serene and her kid came over for a while coz Serene needed to deposit her kid at Wendz' place as the usual child care centre had been closed.
Sun 12.06.05 - Day 4
Woke up at 5.30am to pack our stuff. Brought all our luggage to the lobby and rushed through breakfast. Damn kan cheong morning. Left our luggage at the hotel shopping arcade and the went to the race for our final races. Took most of my pictures today! Ooh exciting. So here comes to photo overload.
Note: Photos are not conclusive. I took very little compared to everyone else. So look out for Penang Part II in the near future!
Anyway...
Above: Jump Jump Jump!!! (I love this pic!!!)
Me and Jul. We wanted to do the Egyptian pose but we look more like ducks. Quack quack quack. Like B Flat.
Me and Geok putting our taekwondo training into use. Wahaha.
V.W.P: Violence With Paddles!
Getting carried by Melissa... Again!
The Cap and the Vice: Unglam picture! Hahaha.
Geoks and Wendz! Cute pic!
Another group pic!!!
Yunshan, Cheez, Ah Ping and me!
Raine, Pinxiu, Lydia, and Me.
Uh... The long and short of it...
And me and Geok. Again.
Anyway 9.15am was our Mixed Heats. We did the warm-ups, got used to the different method of counting jumping jacks, did the dry run (where only pride was what made me attemp to act sae wahahahaha), and then we grabbed our paddles and sponges and went down. Vic took a banana to feed our dragon. She stuffed it into the dragon's mouth before we went down.
We rowed our way to 2nd just after the Adelaide Black Dragons, and we got into the Repecharge at 1.15pm! It was a great set! But once again, stairs = inner thighs ache = deja vu.
:)
But it was a great day. Oh. And Indon Nat Team and Myanmmar were nothing short of impressive. They were so powerful. Myanmar's charge was so scary it was no wonder they are such a legendary team. According to Ah Ping the Myanmmar team are all so tanned, toned and muscular tt they make up a whole boat of BBGs!
We walked around some more, ate more stuff... and just as Wendz and I were tucking into lunch we had to prepare for our next race: the second Repecharge. Vic stabbed the banana onto the dragon's teeth and kissed it this time. But it was our best set EVER. Rowed our hearts out again. I felt DAMN GOOD even though race sets are short but damn xiong. We got 2nd again just after RAN Melbourne (just beating German Dragons and BBBG)... and the Mixed boat got into the FINALS!!! We were ecstatic!!! It was fantastic!!!
Melvin the coxswain apologized for steering us slightly off course coz he felt like it was why we didn't beat the Aussies. Ok, he didn't exactly apologise apologise, but he acknowledged his fault and even though we don't blame him at all I was impressed. I thought tt was a very noble gesture, and I have a lot of respect for him as a coxswain.
Oh. And once again... stairs = inner thighs ache = deja vu.
The Finals was at 3pm. We got 7th, losing to the other Nat Teams and the stronger teams. Oh, and there was a hilarious starting with 1 team having lost its tail. First they wanted to nail the tail back. Then they wanted to replace it. Finally the boat went off without it! Hahaha.
But we were happy. Haha. Can console ourselves tt we're 7th best internationally! Wahey! Heh. :)
(Stairs = inner thighs ache = deja vu.)
But the moment we went up, we had no more than 5 min to rest before we had to go down for our last set: The Women's 20-Men Opens Finals.
That was a stressful set. Thailand did a false start which meant we had to restart the race. I had a bloody irritating duck tt wouldn't stop quacking so it was very hard to concentrate on the timing, esp since my left eye had been splashed blind with water again. But just kept reminding myself tt this was my last set; all out all out all out and just twist forward press it down pull all the way back lift up pause pause pause twist forward press it down pull all the way back lift up pause pause pause...
We came in 7th, but it was the best we could do. We walked up the damn stairs for the last time. Happy. Proud. And I think, all the more stronger than before we came to Penang.
Showered quickly at the shower cubicles; packed up, boarded the bus, went back to the hotel to collect our stuff...
And take 1 more picture...
Above: Wenting and me, the demure SCGS girls. :)
...And then we went straight to the aiport. Malaysian Airlines. The most no service stuffy horrible flight ever. It's no wonder SIA is a great way to fly, considering what our competition consists of.
Sat next to Mona and Ah Ping.
Ooh final photos:
Me and Ah Ping.
Me and Mona.
Finally, we reached Singapore around 2220 hours, after a long long landing.
Last photo: Me and Johnny.
Reached the terminal, immigrated, grabbed our stuff, and left...
So tt was how Penang went. Long entry, rushed ending... But I gotta go sleep now. Continue on Wed. *muakz*
In the meantime, I shall leave you with the famous AWARDS from Wendy's blog:
SO, for the long-awaited awards ceremony for PENANG TRIP 2005 (drum-roll please...):
the most cannot-make-it ang mo speaking award: all the commentators in penang
(eh... "ko-plague" for corporate, "pen"alise, sing"ka"pok... the list is endless man)
the most disappointment award: draw between NO dao-sa-pia and balieys
(still too sore over this ultimate disappointment to talk about it, almost steal the guys' dao-sa-pia on the plane hmpf!)
the most weird-looking warm-up award: the thai
(it looks cool, but are they praying rather tha warming up?)
the most cool-cheer award: royal australian navy
(the what boys cheer is woah... so cool, esp that hunk!!!)
the most eye candy award: the keanu reeves look-a-like
(most of us were smitten by him... so charming ha... he was the highlight of our excruciating work program)
the most time-wasting device award: the lift in bayview hotel
(waiting for the lift is like eternity, waiting for the lift to slowly descend to the ground floor is another eternity as the lift opens its door at EVERY single level...)
the most mini mini-mart award: the mini mart outside the hotel
(ha really a MINI mart... nonetheless our only fragile link to civilisation)
the most throw-face award: NUS
(what is with that pathetic IVP jacket doing amidst of all the other countries' flags...)
the most cannot-make-it airline: malaysian airline
(the food is for human meh? eh is the aircon called AIRCON? and mona is actually bitten by mosquitoes in the plane!!!)
the most unfulfilled gig award: mine, vic's and my dear rock's
(haiz, so much for planning our 1021 at 1021 gig, with guest of honour: serene, opening act: iso n rang, ticketing officer: jul, bouncer: cindy... and our pre-rehearsal... no time for to materalise this fantasy...due to totally ridiculous sleeping curfew!)
the most for-show award: mr seeto
(he always appear to be around at the right time, and just disappear when we are cooking at the dam)
the most sadomasochistic award: david
(what is with the morning run by the graveyard, the weird circuits and the long long walk and u-turn and finally to dinner trip? he totally tortured us!)
the most talkative award: raine
(if u can stop her from talking, esp during dinner, i will give u a nobel's prize)
the most "i wan to be a role model" award: mona
(unfortunate she din really succeed... ha)
the most teh-tarik queen award: draw between yirang and wenya
(yirang's super black face and the impressive split face off with wenya's maria pose in the cute sexy red tight apron)
the most blur award: pinxu
(forever asking "huh" and "watcha toking about"...)
the most ah lian award: meiping
(her ah lian shorts, waistpouch, slippers and mannerism, she can be the next outstanding beer lady...)
the most not-in-her-element award: yunshan
(as she is only in her element after 3am. her body alarm hour is totally screwed, that explains her weird behaviour ha...)
the most heroine award: wenting
(woah, after losing her paddle and cap, she still manage to pace...well done!)
the most diligent award: jul
(i think many people did not realise, but she is forever tidying up the mess we left behind and clearing up our rubbish. thanks man!)
the most hot babe award: iso
(ha... countless of chee-ko-pek were ogling at her and were picked up by many desperadoes... ha she did us proud!!!)
the most motherly award: serene
(always have to pick uo her kid (raine) who she deposited at childcare centres at various rooms at level 10)
the most tie-the-red-string award: cindy
(woah, she managed to be matched up with the doctor from the guys team, ha all due to the bruce lee shirt saga...wahahhaha)
the most happy-at-breakfast award: cheez
(she happily swallowed servings and servings of the buffet and needed to be stopped before the rest have no breakfast to eat ahahhahaha)
the most roommate-from-hell award: vic
(totally unnerving experience that will haunt me for the rest of my life...)
the most boycrazy award: lydia
(she drooled over the keanu reeves look-alike hunk... and even took a photo with him... jealous jealous *pout* )
the most can-tahan award: angeline
(she displayed the amazing tenacity for enduring the c-gin-nas antics. she truly embodies the seniors' remarkable virtues...wahahahah)
the most stuck-in-the-shithole with me award: geokz
(so suay, we were stuck in another dimension... while the rest are having parties in their happening hubs, nobody bothers to come visit us in that S.H. boohoo)
the most kanna-luff-at-once-again award: wendy!
(once again... think don't need to elaborate...sigh...)
now playing: hotel costes - cafe de flor
Ladies and Gentlemen I am pleased to announce tt I am back from Penang!
However, I am not as pleased to announce tt I am bloody fucking tired. The only reason I am blogging is because I *need* (yes you heard it right) to commit my experiences to memory before I forget them, and I have to do it tonight or I won't be touching my comp till Wed or Thurs or Fri at least.
Anyway the reason for my being so tired (also to be elaborated below) is because I lack sleep and I expanded a lot of energy yesterday and the day before at the Penang International Dragonboat Festival (heanceforth known as PIDF), plus the journey was a fucking bitch and I thereby conclude tt NUS does not take good care of its rowers.
And my police attachment started today at 9.30am. Hello? My plane touched down at 2220 hours last night, by the time I collected my bags and all it was almost 2300 hours, my parents dragged me out for supper such tt I only reached home at 0030 hours, and by the time I unpacked my dirty clothes so tt my mom could wash them, and bathe and change and all, it was 0150 hours. And I had to wake up at 0800 bloody hours this bloody morning.
ARGH. Kanina. So pardon my bad mood.
Nonetheless, I shall do a nice long version of what happened from Thurs to Sun, no matter how fucking drained I am right now.
So let's get on with the show.
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Thurs 09.06.05 - Day 1
We started the day with training. You heard me right. Going to Penang on Thurs evening and we had TRAINING AT SDBA in the morning.
Ok. No comments on training. Well, at least it was short, we were given enough time to go home and pack, and the sets we did were good. "Si geenas vs. the old birds". (?!?!?!?!) WHO came up with the term "old birds" anyway?!
And the canoeing recre club was around so I happened to see someone I know who used to have an impact on me, but it's empowering to know tt now whenever I see him I wonder why I used to be so blind. Wahahahahaha. Ok ok I now readily admit tt I had the worst possible taste in guys. Fortunately there has been a vast improvement since then (altho Melissa might beg to differ). Shh.
After training I came back, did final housekeeping, had time to wash my clothes (yesh!!! in the washing machine + hang them out to dry... boy am I glad for hostelite independence), before leaving for the airport. Okay, half of the reason why I had so much time is coz my dad fetched me to the airport, so we could leave at 3pm and STILL reach at 3.30pm, even though he had taken a wrong turn and almost landed us up in Changi Village after spotting the sign tt said "Changi Airport" on the PIE, and immediately turning in the OTHER direction.
Was at the airport super early. Only people around were Jade and Jane (also known as Jack and Jill; names interchangeable and may be shortened to 'J&J'); so I grabbed my lunch from BK and went to browse through books at Times Newslink till more people came. Was tempted to buy tt Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, if only to see how much better it was compared to tt lousy excuse of a movie. But I didn't coz I was too cheapo.
The rest of the girls slowly streamed in, and then we went to wrap our paddles up in bubble wrap to check them in (coz I was right. You can't carry the paddles on hand onto the plane coz they may be considered dangerous weapons) and check in the rest of our stuff. We were very very very early btw. Flight was to take off at 6.50pm and we were hanging around the Check-In counters before 5. Ugh.
I hate waiting. And it didn't help tt Seetow made us all wear matching uniforms of our dark blue polo tees and jeans. It's not tt I don't like the dark blue polo tee coz I do, but it's very thick and it takes up a lot of space, as does jeans, and it doesn't help tt the whole bloody place is so bloody stuffy it sucks.
Oh. But when I went to the toilet my bag accidentally got checked-in by mistake even though I didn't want to check it in coz I had valuables like my camera in the side pocket. When I came back I almost had a heart attack when I realised tt it had been checked in and there was a possibility tt my camera could have been spoilt in the process.
Anyway I ended up sitting next to Alvin on the plane. I know the seats got mixed up and we could change seats once the plane took off, but I couldn't be bothered too coz it was only a 1 hour + journey; I found it troublesome; I got the aisle seat and I didn't want to move into what could possibly be a non-aisle seat, and from a previous conversation with Alvin I thought he was quite a nice guy to talk to.
Um. The bulk of our conversation revolved around beer, coz he's a huge beer fan apparently, and he appreciates Erdingers, Hoegaardens and Stella Artois. And dinner on the plane was salt and MSG-laden. Yuckz.
We touched down at the Penang International Airport a bit earlier than expected. But my happiness was to be short-lived. The bus ride from the airport to our hotel - the Bayview Beach Resort @ Batu Ferringhi was one fucking hour. One fucking hour in a bloody hot and stuffy bus. I was exchausted and even then I couldn't even fall asleep. It was boring as hell.
Me and Yirang were roomies for the trip.
Pic alert!
Above: Me and my roomie!
I think it was a good match. If I had been paired with either of the J&J combo I think I would have screamed my head off before the end of the first night, or committed some crime of VAP (violence against persons). OOH. But Geoks and Wenya graciously bought us sponges (actually, they're mroe like these round rubbery thingies tt kids sit on from Ikea, but they are now our sponges to sit on in the boat to protect our precious and often abraided butts from further abrasion); I got yellow! Like, bananana yellow! And our room sucks. Well, it's great actually. Is nice and big and comfy and YR and I both have queen sized beds. BUT the damn toilet flush spoilt and since the 1st time YR flushed it, proceeded to continue to flush itself repetitively the ENTIRE FUCKING NIGHT. Yesh. There was no more such thing as peace and quiet. Any absence of sound makes the sound of the toilet flush reverberate around the room. As a result YR got a little bit nervous, pushed the beds together, and pretty much shared the same bed with me for the night.
Hey, at least we had a queen-size, so there was space for everyone. :)
And due to the unappetizing and less than filling flight dinner, most of us were forced to turn to alt sources for food. I.e. The minimart opposite the hotel. Since I'd already bathed the moment I stepped into our room I didn't wish to dirty myself by venturing out again, so my dear roomie happily went out and bought cup noodles and biscuits for me. Thanks dearie! :)
And after eating everything we both felt so full we couldn't sleep ANYWAY, and coz Vic happened to call us to see if we wanted to play pool, we took up the offer and trooped downstairs to play pool with her and Wendy till 12-something, close to 1am I think.
And then coz YR and I still weren't very sleepy (altho we were both very tired), we just chatted till we fell asleep.
Anyway it was a good thing tt we fell asleep, because the next day was...
Fri 10.06.05 - Day 2
AND we started out the day at fucking 0600 hours. Why you ask? Because David had informed us the night before tt we would be having a morning run at 0615 hours on Fri. At first I thought he was joking.
But no, he wasn't.
So at 0615 hours we were led on a 25 min run along the road outside the hotel (The only other team tt went on a morning run was the Myanmar National Team, and they started running later than us). On our right was the beach and the open sea, but we couldn't see any fucking thing coz it was too fucking dark; on the left we passed a nice large graveyard. Fortunately it was so dark that I didn't see it either.
The pace was slow so I didn't fizzle and die. Almost managed to survive. We then did mini-circuits at the carpark coz David said we "still had time left". I think tt started the whole inner-thigh ache syndrome.
The girls all went to breakfast wet and sweaty. But the continental buffet spread effectively made breakfast the BEST meal of the day for all our days there! French toast and pancakes, eggs the way you want them, mature cheddar and swiss cheese, beef bacon and muffins... YUM. Stuffed myself silly.
After tt we actually had some R&R time, so after settling the housekeeping matters, I bathed and met up with some of the girls to explore the beach. Ooh, and my dear chick also informed me of a gig tt she, Vic and I could have at 1021 at 1021! EXCITING (or so I thought).
Interlude: Below: Me and my chick.
...Well, we tried to, but for a beach front resort the beach was so dirty and the waves were BROWN, so tt effectively turned us off from splashing around in the waves. Sigh.
It did not however, prevent us from taking pictures.
Above: Me at the beach (Vanity shot!). Wahaha.
And my chick, me and our dear Geokz.
We did a detour instead... to the hotel swimming pool!
We being Serene, me, Geokz, Wendz (all in-picture); Cheez (who went swimming), Mona (who after some hesitation stripped down to her sports bra) and Vic, who looked damn hot in her blue bikini! And we spent almost an hour relaxing in the jacuzzi... Ahh now that was the life!
Okay. But tt was the last of the kind of life was the last we would see on this trip. Ever.
Took a second bath of the day and went down for lunch.
BTW, the lifts at the hotel are HORRIBLE. There are 3 of them, but they are SO SLOW that waiting time is a BITCH, esp when it gets crowded and everyone wants to go places. And it's the only way to get around, as we later found out. And one of the lifts stops at the 2nd floor every fucking time by COMPULSION.
Stupid lifts.
Lunch was... curry rice. Or rather, rice with curry chicken, which we were obviously banned from. Needless to say it wasn't a fantastic lunch. And then later when we needed to rush up to our rooms to get our stuff again, the fucking crowd of similar-minded people (the hotel is the official hotel for the PIDF, so all the other teams from the other countries were all being housed here) outside the lifts, so someone made the birlliant suggestion of climbing up the stairs instead.
So the rest of us morons rushed up the stairs inspite of our slightly-aching quads... until we heard from the ninth floor, Vic's voice: "FUCK! The door the locked!"
And thus concluded our little adventure with the stairs. It was back down 9 floors again AND back to waiting for the fucking lift.
I think tt was another factor as to why my inner thighs ache.
At 1.30pm we left for the Telok Bahang Dam - our race site, to train for the race the next day. The dam is actually quite pretty, if you think abt the scenery. It's located in the middle of small mountains, and there's even a temple on one end. Haha.
But because of a drought, the water level was really low, so the scenery was marred by the sight bare and eroded soil, and there was a horrible flight of stairs to climb down at least 3 to 4 storeys from the waiting area to the pontoon.
We had a big boat for the first hour and a small boat for the next. The sets were pretty good. We also got to practice Mixed with the guys and got to coordinate our strokes together, which was a good thing (finally we are getting something right). And Naziman has told us the same thing so many times tt now we all know tt we want to draaaaag.
UGH. And I got the feel the full impact of the bloody stairs. It sucks I tell you. Walking up the stairs after being so winded from the rowing is... UGH. My poor inner thighs. *sobz*
After tt, we came back to our hotel early to bathe. Again. Then we had to dress in matching NUS polo tees (I think this uniform-uniform combination is highly kindergarten-ish, BTW) for the official opening ceremony for the PIDF.
So we took pictures in the lobby. I got this ang moh guy from the Royal Australian Navy Melbourne team to help me take a group pic of me and my girls (see below)...
And in the end I also had to take a picture with him and he started talking to me and asking me where I was from. And his name is Damien, which is a very nice name IMHO.
Lydia got completely mesmerised by the cute Aussie naval dragonboater who was tall, hunky and looked a bit like Keanu Reeves (then again all the girls agree tt he's damn hot) and spent the rest of her trip gushing about him. Hahaha. But the photos are not in my camera.
After tt we went out and spent the better part of the next hour... waiting.
And waiting and waiting and waiting, for the VIP to arrive.
So in the meantime we took more pictures.
Below: Me and Wenya.
The ROCK CHICKS!!!
Yeah! I'm 'Rock' btw. Wendz is 'Chick'. Aha.
And me and Johnny! Heh heh. Something to show Mrs. Tan when she demands visual proof of why we had to shorten our attachment.
Below: Me and Mona.
And scandalous pics: I'm actually lesbian and in lurrrrve with my captain! Shh.
Anyway the VIP was damn late, the announcers couldn't speak proper English as well, the speeches were a verbal assault to my ears, and the line dance demo was bloody CMI.
So after tt it was a happy dispersal to dinner. We all walked to Happy Garden. Arrived after the Singapore National Team. Food took about 30 min to come. Shared the table with Uncle Sean, who was pretty ok being around us until he opened up a can of worms by mentioning the PM Cup. Never mention the PM Cup to the girls if you are from the guys team, was the ex-captain, was the coach, or simply have a history with the girls' team, simply because there is a lot of submerged anger from over the years and it may be unleashed by the wrong choice of words as betraying a rather *cough* MCP *cough* mindset.
Oh. But we all had fun with the tofu in the Magic Claypot. You can never guess the treasures you can find at the bottom of the magic claypot.... HEH.
After tt we were walking back to the hotel, but there was a minor crisis coz our fave J&J decided to walk off inspite of David's insistence tt we had to return to the hotel, and he, Vic and Wendz had to go off and look for them. I realise tt even though I'm anti-PRC, even if I WAS pro-PRC (which I am not, heaven forbid), I would STILL be able to argue provocation as a justification for murder if ever I got charged for commiting it with regards to them.
Anyway we were a little late, only to find out tt there was some briefing at 10pm. I think we went back, bathed and slept after tt. Gig got postponed to Sat coz we had 'lights out' (just like army) at 11pm for our race the next day. And we had to be at breakfast by 6.30am coz our coach was leaving at 7.30am.
Sat 11.06.05 - Day 3
We woke up about 6am again. Went for breakfast at 6.30am, left for the damn dam (wahaha. Love saying this) at 7.30am. Didn't take any photos today. Our first race was at 10.15am - 12-men crew Women's Opens Heats. We got into the Repecharge for tt one! Unfortunately we were eliminated and didn't get into the finals.
OH! But there was a Nescafe Tarik competition, where 'volunteers' were supposed to pour teh tarik and dance around on stage, and the best performers would be awarded prizes. As everyt team had to send in 2 representatives, we sent up YR and Wenya; YR had a damn black face when pouring, but she did an impressive SPLIT! And Wenya looked cute in the red teh tarik apron. And the prizes for their participation: Nescafe coffee. Which we're all banned from till after race.
The guys sent up Johnny and this junior Teddy. But poor Teddy was bloody suay; he slipped on teh tarik while attempting a push-up stunt... and dislocated his shoulder!!! He couldn't row for the immediate set and had to be sent to an ambulance and bandaged! The poor guy. The only injury from rowing, and it HAD to be from some stupid event, and can possibly affect him for July.
(Ironically, when Johnny and I were getting drinks from this Nescafe machine this morning, the only drink I could consume coz everything else listed was coffee was... teh tarik!)
We then had to nuah for HOURS till 3.45pm, which was our 20-man Women's Opens Heats. Damn boring; walk around, rest, dance to music (coz we were SO BORED and we didn't have our gig!!!), get picked up by guys, eat... etc...
And then 3.45pm came. It was a stressful set. Raine was our drummer and David was our coxswain. We just rowed the best we could, even though I got blinded by the splashing made by the person in front of me and I lost my contacts, and I didn't know what position we got, but we got into the Repecharge. But I must say 1 thing: I don't care how angry or upset you feel. I don't care how PMS you are. We have our moods, we get angry, we get disappointed, we are unhappy at times. I know coz I am a moody person and I get tt too. But more than tt we are one team and I don't care how you do it, but you get your own fucking ego and self-pity out of the way and put your team before yourself. If you can't do tt and if you think the world revolves around you, then I think you're in for a rude wake-up call.
Wah lau. The stairs after rowing. Inner thighs ache (deja vu). DAMN CHUAN!!!
Repecharge was about 15 min later I think. And we got 2nd for tt! We literally rowed our hearts out (with Jade replacing Raine as drummer), such tt even though Wenting's paddle got entangled with the sausage and she managed to grab a spare paddle in time thanks to Geok's shouting, and we got into the FINALS!!! Which was more than we could ever have dreamed. It was a fantastic end to a day.
We were made to walk by David all the way down to Eden's Village... and then we had to turn back and walk back to Guan Guan Cafe for dinner, where mosquitoes feasted on us as we ate. Walked back to the hotel and were told tt lights out was at 10pm.
Interlude: EXCUSE ME. WHO in the right mind sleeps at 10pm? I have not slept at 10pm since I was in PRIMARY 3 and when school started at 7.15 am. What makes anyone think we can sleep at 10pm now?
Anyway "I wanna be a role model" Mona succeeded in sleeping before 11pm (I think). The rest of us... HEH. But I had a nice talk with my chick (in place of the abandoned gig) and YR and I had a cosy time with her and Vic. But sleep was illusive (don't get the wrong idea!). :( And Serene and her kid came over for a while coz Serene needed to deposit her kid at Wendz' place as the usual child care centre had been closed.
Sun 12.06.05 - Day 4
Woke up at 5.30am to pack our stuff. Brought all our luggage to the lobby and rushed through breakfast. Damn kan cheong morning. Left our luggage at the hotel shopping arcade and the went to the race for our final races. Took most of my pictures today! Ooh exciting. So here comes to photo overload.
Note: Photos are not conclusive. I took very little compared to everyone else. So look out for Penang Part II in the near future!
Anyway...
Above: Jump Jump Jump!!! (I love this pic!!!)
Me and Jul. We wanted to do the Egyptian pose but we look more like ducks. Quack quack quack. Like B Flat.
Me and Geok putting our taekwondo training into use. Wahaha.
V.W.P: Violence With Paddles!
Getting carried by Melissa... Again!
The Cap and the Vice: Unglam picture! Hahaha.
Geoks and Wendz! Cute pic!
Another group pic!!!
Yunshan, Cheez, Ah Ping and me!
Raine, Pinxiu, Lydia, and Me.
Uh... The long and short of it...
And me and Geok. Again.
Anyway 9.15am was our Mixed Heats. We did the warm-ups, got used to the different method of counting jumping jacks, did the dry run (where only pride was what made me attemp to act sae wahahahaha), and then we grabbed our paddles and sponges and went down. Vic took a banana to feed our dragon. She stuffed it into the dragon's mouth before we went down.
We rowed our way to 2nd just after the Adelaide Black Dragons, and we got into the Repecharge at 1.15pm! It was a great set! But once again, stairs = inner thighs ache = deja vu.
:)
But it was a great day. Oh. And Indon Nat Team and Myanmmar were nothing short of impressive. They were so powerful. Myanmar's charge was so scary it was no wonder they are such a legendary team. According to Ah Ping the Myanmmar team are all so tanned, toned and muscular tt they make up a whole boat of BBGs!
We walked around some more, ate more stuff... and just as Wendz and I were tucking into lunch we had to prepare for our next race: the second Repecharge. Vic stabbed the banana onto the dragon's teeth and kissed it this time. But it was our best set EVER. Rowed our hearts out again. I felt DAMN GOOD even though race sets are short but damn xiong. We got 2nd again just after RAN Melbourne (just beating German Dragons and BBBG)... and the Mixed boat got into the FINALS!!! We were ecstatic!!! It was fantastic!!!
Melvin the coxswain apologized for steering us slightly off course coz he felt like it was why we didn't beat the Aussies. Ok, he didn't exactly apologise apologise, but he acknowledged his fault and even though we don't blame him at all I was impressed. I thought tt was a very noble gesture, and I have a lot of respect for him as a coxswain.
Oh. And once again... stairs = inner thighs ache = deja vu.
The Finals was at 3pm. We got 7th, losing to the other Nat Teams and the stronger teams. Oh, and there was a hilarious starting with 1 team having lost its tail. First they wanted to nail the tail back. Then they wanted to replace it. Finally the boat went off without it! Hahaha.
But we were happy. Haha. Can console ourselves tt we're 7th best internationally! Wahey! Heh. :)
(Stairs = inner thighs ache = deja vu.)
But the moment we went up, we had no more than 5 min to rest before we had to go down for our last set: The Women's 20-Men Opens Finals.
That was a stressful set. Thailand did a false start which meant we had to restart the race. I had a bloody irritating duck tt wouldn't stop quacking so it was very hard to concentrate on the timing, esp since my left eye had been splashed blind with water again. But just kept reminding myself tt this was my last set; all out all out all out and just twist forward press it down pull all the way back lift up pause pause pause twist forward press it down pull all the way back lift up pause pause pause...
We came in 7th, but it was the best we could do. We walked up the damn stairs for the last time. Happy. Proud. And I think, all the more stronger than before we came to Penang.
Showered quickly at the shower cubicles; packed up, boarded the bus, went back to the hotel to collect our stuff...
And take 1 more picture...
Above: Wenting and me, the demure SCGS girls. :)
...And then we went straight to the aiport. Malaysian Airlines. The most no service stuffy horrible flight ever. It's no wonder SIA is a great way to fly, considering what our competition consists of.
Sat next to Mona and Ah Ping.
Ooh final photos:
Me and Ah Ping.
Me and Mona.
Finally, we reached Singapore around 2220 hours, after a long long landing.
Last photo: Me and Johnny.
Reached the terminal, immigrated, grabbed our stuff, and left...
So tt was how Penang went. Long entry, rushed ending... But I gotta go sleep now. Continue on Wed. *muakz*
In the meantime, I shall leave you with the famous AWARDS from Wendy's blog:
SO, for the long-awaited awards ceremony for PENANG TRIP 2005 (drum-roll please...):
the most cannot-make-it ang mo speaking award: all the commentators in penang
(eh... "ko-plague" for corporate, "pen"alise, sing"ka"pok... the list is endless man)
the most disappointment award: draw between NO dao-sa-pia and balieys
(still too sore over this ultimate disappointment to talk about it, almost steal the guys' dao-sa-pia on the plane hmpf!)
the most weird-looking warm-up award: the thai
(it looks cool, but are they praying rather tha warming up?)
the most cool-cheer award: royal australian navy
(the what boys cheer is woah... so cool, esp that hunk!!!)
the most eye candy award: the keanu reeves look-a-like
(most of us were smitten by him... so charming ha... he was the highlight of our excruciating work program)
the most time-wasting device award: the lift in bayview hotel
(waiting for the lift is like eternity, waiting for the lift to slowly descend to the ground floor is another eternity as the lift opens its door at EVERY single level...)
the most mini mini-mart award: the mini mart outside the hotel
(ha really a MINI mart... nonetheless our only fragile link to civilisation)
the most throw-face award: NUS
(what is with that pathetic IVP jacket doing amidst of all the other countries' flags...)
the most cannot-make-it airline: malaysian airline
(the food is for human meh? eh is the aircon called AIRCON? and mona is actually bitten by mosquitoes in the plane!!!)
the most unfulfilled gig award: mine, vic's and my dear rock's
(haiz, so much for planning our 1021 at 1021 gig, with guest of honour: serene, opening act: iso n rang, ticketing officer: jul, bouncer: cindy... and our pre-rehearsal... no time for to materalise this fantasy...due to totally ridiculous sleeping curfew!)
the most for-show award: mr seeto
(he always appear to be around at the right time, and just disappear when we are cooking at the dam)
the most sadomasochistic award: david
(what is with the morning run by the graveyard, the weird circuits and the long long walk and u-turn and finally to dinner trip? he totally tortured us!)
the most talkative award: raine
(if u can stop her from talking, esp during dinner, i will give u a nobel's prize)
the most "i wan to be a role model" award: mona
(unfortunate she din really succeed... ha)
the most teh-tarik queen award: draw between yirang and wenya
(yirang's super black face and the impressive split face off with wenya's maria pose in the cute sexy red tight apron)
the most blur award: pinxu
(forever asking "huh" and "watcha toking about"...)
the most ah lian award: meiping
(her ah lian shorts, waistpouch, slippers and mannerism, she can be the next outstanding beer lady...)
the most not-in-her-element award: yunshan
(as she is only in her element after 3am. her body alarm hour is totally screwed, that explains her weird behaviour ha...)
the most heroine award: wenting
(woah, after losing her paddle and cap, she still manage to pace...well done!)
the most diligent award: jul
(i think many people did not realise, but she is forever tidying up the mess we left behind and clearing up our rubbish. thanks man!)
the most hot babe award: iso
(ha... countless of chee-ko-pek were ogling at her and were picked up by many desperadoes... ha she did us proud!!!)
the most motherly award: serene
(always have to pick uo her kid (raine) who she deposited at childcare centres at various rooms at level 10)
the most tie-the-red-string award: cindy
(woah, she managed to be matched up with the doctor from the guys team, ha all due to the bruce lee shirt saga...wahahhaha)
the most happy-at-breakfast award: cheez
(she happily swallowed servings and servings of the buffet and needed to be stopped before the rest have no breakfast to eat ahahhahaha)
the most roommate-from-hell award: vic
(totally unnerving experience that will haunt me for the rest of my life...)
the most boycrazy award: lydia
(she drooled over the keanu reeves look-alike hunk... and even took a photo with him... jealous jealous *pout* )
the most can-tahan award: angeline
(she displayed the amazing tenacity for enduring the c-gin-nas antics. she truly embodies the seniors' remarkable virtues...wahahahah)
the most stuck-in-the-shithole with me award: geokz
(so suay, we were stuck in another dimension... while the rest are having parties in their happening hubs, nobody bothers to come visit us in that S.H. boohoo)
the most kanna-luff-at-once-again award: wendy!
(once again... think don't need to elaborate...sigh...)
# posted by Kitana @ 6/13/2005 07:40:00 PM 
