Dragon boat Race – River Regatta 2008

Watching the sunrise alone at Merlion Park at 07:15. (: Those group of people are actually some American tourists. 🙂

The Merlion at Merlion Park. (:

Another beautiful view

All the dragon boats at Kallang River (my training venue)

Kallang River (my training venue)

The River Regatta race heats were actually held yesterday. My team’s event was the last few. I was asked to reach at 14:00. So, I reached Singapore River (the race venue) at 14:00 and realised that coach hasn’t arrived. I called him and he said that I can reach at 14:30. So, I found a place in a shopping mall and sat down to read my book.

I returned to Singapore River at 14:30 and coach was not there yet. While I was walking, I saw one of my teammates. So, I joined him and continued to read my book. I found out that my race event should be at 16:05. However, in the end, we only started to prepare and register at 17:30 due to some delays.

Suddenly, there was lightning and thunder. So, the organisers had to stop the race for awhile and wait for the lightning to be gone. They carried on for 1 more event after some time when they were convinced that the lightning was gone. Unfortunately, after that 1 event, the lightning returned with some drizzle. So, the organisers decided to postpone the remaining race events to today which was suppose to be for the semi-finals and finals.

My team’s event was included in the last few events that were being postponed. So, we had to report at Singapore River today at 07:30 and the race will start at 08:00++.

I woke up at 06:00, left home at 06:30 and somehow, reached Raffles Place MRT station at 07:10. So, I was super early and I really dislike hanging around the race venue alone because all the other teams are there. It’s like big groups of professional dragon boaters staring at you. It just makes you feel like they are looking down on you. :X

So, I decided to walk to the Merlion at the Merlion Park. It was still really early. 🙂 I walked there alone and enjoyed the morning breeze. The sun was rising and it was beautiful and relaxing, as shown in the first picture. Then after awhile, a group of tourists, probably from the U.S. walked towards that area with their tour guide. 🙂 I think tourists are very interesting people. It’s like they are here at my country and you know that they are actually from the other part of the world with a totally different culture. 🙂

After enjoying the sunrise, I walked back to Singapore River but couldn’t find any teammates. So, I sat down at read my book at 07:30. I managed to reach coach’s cellphone after some time and he said he’ll give me a call when he reached. At 08:30, I still didn’t receive any calls. So, I walked around and found my team at one corner. They were already preparing to report for our event. Thank goodness I decided to find them. If not, they would’ve gone for the race without me. haha.

The race was fine and I was surprised that we were 4th out of 5 teams in the heats. Considering our training, it’s not surprising to be last. I’m not being pessimistic here, but just facing the truth.

Anyway, the race ended earlier than expected — 09:00. So, I was feeling bored. I walked to Merlion Park again, then to the Esplanade, the Singapore Flyer, back to the Esplanade, to CityLink Mall, then Marina Square, and finally, Suntec City. It was rather tiring but quite interesting. But it was getting a bit too hot once it starts to approach the noon.

After lunch, I intend to make a trip down to that scam company to collect my pay since my dad called the boss and he agreed on paying me what I should be receiving. I was suppose to be at the office at 14:00. That explains why I didn’t go home right after the race. I thought I could hang around until that time.

In the end, at about 12:00, after lunch, I felt extremely tired and sleepy and decided not to go to the scam company. It’s a Sunday! I don’t really expect them to be open. I took the bus home and it was a very long trip. I felt very dead on the bus and just want to sleep but can’t sleep properly.

When I reached home, I slept for 3 hours plus.

This is one of the days whereby I spend my whole day out alone.

Dragon boat training

Dragon boat training today was like totally weird! I was at Kallang Water Sports Centre at 15:45 as the usual training starts at 16:00. I only managed to reach coach’s phone at 15:55. Then he told me to wait for another 30 minutes to an hour. :O So, I waited.

I was alone there, feeling pretty bored and out of place. I didn’t know who were my team mates. My ex-team mates were there. And they were talking to me and asking me to reconsider returning to their team. :X I’ve made the decision to follow coach, so, I won’t even have to consider going back to my old team. :X It was really awkward with all the ex-teammates surrounding me. ><

At 16:45, coach and all the teammates arrived together. At that particular moment, I realised 2 things — I’m the only female, and I’m the only Chinese among all the Malays. Wow. One of them actually spoke to me in Malay. Then I guess I had a blank look on my face. So, he asked me if I’m Malay and I told him that I’m actually Chinese. hahaha. Oh great, I actually looked Malay. :X heheh.

So, the race is next week. I’m quite sure that we aren’t going to win. >< But still, we’re going to do our best! That’s what matters the most! (:

All right, now, I just need a job really really soon!! I planned to search for a job tomorrow. I called up some friends and they all can’t make it. =/ Actually it isn’t that fun after O’s. I mean I thought all of us (good friends) can celebrate together for a few days. However, it seriously kind of suck. Everyone is busy with their own little things. *sigh* I mean it’s really sad. I dislike it a lot. And I still don’t have a job. That’s one of the worst thing ever. I really really need a job soon!! )):

I hope tomorrow will be a good day. I really hope. At the moment, it doesn’t seem like it.

End of the holidays

Time passes really fast and it’s the end of the June holidays! Awww… I won’t deny that I’m reluctant to return to school, unlike 2 years back when I just couldn’t wait for school to start. I guess when I return to school tomorrow, I’ll be expecting lots of drillings and practices that would probably drive me nuts. Preliminary examinations are nearing, so is the ‘O’ Levels. Apparently, I’m not prepared.

I planned to use the June holidays to revise ALL my subjects but I failed to do so. In fact, I failed to complete all my assignments as well. I’m prepared for the worst when I go back to school tomorrow. Nevertheless, I’ll get the homework done as soon as possible.

The June holidays flew pass and I did close to zero revision. Basically, I was trying my best to adjust my mind and body to a less stressful state first, so that I’ll be prepared for the longer and more taxing journey ahead of me. I can’t say that I’ve achieved that and am fully well, but I’m PROBABLY feeling better than before.

Actually, I feel extremely guilty. I felt like a slacker this holiday yet I can’t really do anything about it. I mean, I tried to sit down and do my work, but I just couldn’t concentrate on my work. Even A. Math that used to make me really excited, it didn’t make me excited at all. I had lots of problems trying to solve the math problems and that’s really demoralising.

Well, I guess tomorrow is the start of a new term, I got to forget about all the crap during the holidays and concentrate on my studies. I really have no idea how it’ll work out. I could see myself studying REALLY HARD from tomorrow onwards, but I could also see myself having troubles concentrating as well. I’ll just wish for the best to happen.

Today, I went back to Kallang for my FIRST dragon boat training after 6 to 7 months! The feeling was odd when I first entered the Kallang Water Sports Centre because as usual, I’m the earliest in my team. I saw Audrey, Yenting, and a group of Punggol Central CSC dragon boat team members;my ex-teammates. I walked towards Audrey to greet her (and from what I remembered, she was suppose to be in my current team) and the rest. Everyone was surprised to see me there cause I guess they are aware that I’ve stopped training 6 months ago to prepare for my ‘O’ Levels. Apart from that, they were curious which team I was rowing for, cause some things happened last year and we had to ‘choose’ who to follow. I chose to follow coach which also means that I’ll be leaving Punggol Central CSC to join the Yio Chu Kang CSC Dragon boat team.

Whem I saw Notti, I felt better cause before that, I was feeling really awkward with my ex-teammates. Notti told me that many things happened when I wasn’t going for trainings. Most of the older teammates have left the team, leaving just 4 of us, the ‘older’ teammates. There were so many new faces! And they were probably wondering who was this random girl who appeared from nowhere.

Training was really tiring today, considering that I haven’t been training for 6 to 7 months! I was afraid that I couldn’t row at all! But fortunately, I managed to keep up and endure all the way. 🙂 Actually, the feeling was good to be back rowing again! But anyway, I’ll only be rowing for next week’s race and I’ll stop rowing for another 5 months.

The race next week is the SIngapore Dragon Boat Festival. It’ll be at Bedok Reservoir on 29 June 2008. The race is like… EIGHT-HUNDRED METRES! Zomg. I just hope I can endure that long. It’s going to be tough but oh wells, I’ll just give it a shot. 🙂

Tonight, being the last night of the June holidays, I hope that it’ll be enjoyable and fun. But at the moment, I ain’t having any fun. :X I hope I will soon.

All the best to everyone and see you guys back in school tomorrow!

lots of love,
jaslyn.huishan.

DRAGON BOAT TRAINING! :D

Woah. Today was like damn tiring. After 3 months, I finally picked up the dragon boat paddle, and rowed in the dragon boat at Kallang. Today is my first time in Yio Chu Kang CSC dragon boat team. My previous team was Punggol Central CSC dragon boat team. And when I reached Kallang today, I didn’t know who have switched team to YCK from PC. I met up with some who decided to stay in PC and they were asking me why I didn’t stay. Well, I just prefer coach. =X

I reached Kallang with Kp and Pearson at 15:40. It started raining at 15:50 so Kp and Pearson went to hide under the bridge while I stood alone at the shelter. I was feeling so lonely there cause I still couldn’t find Fiffy or any other YCK members. I carried my backpack in front and hugged my shoe bag, with my back facing out. The rain got heavier and my whole back was almost totally drenched. Then, it got EVEN heavier with really ‘bright’ lightning and really loud thunder, and the wind was blowing the rain towards me. Hence, I annouce my back is totally soaked. I stood there in that position for an hour plus plus, not talking to anyone, and barely moving.

Finally, at 17:00, it was drizzling and we started to move into the boat. We rowed all the way to 18:15 or so. During the training, we raced with 4 boats. Woah. We won by 1 boat’s length!! Considering the fact that the other boats were small [12-crew] , and full, some were all men and ours, was the big [24-crew] boat with less than 12 people in side, and with 2 females. Yup. AND, it was my first time paddling after 3 months! My endurance level was rather low, I guess, but I endured and pulled through. ((:  Who knows, they called for another race. Hmm… This time, we lost by a bit. Maybe it’s my fault cause I didn’t use a lot of strength since I was totally worn out by then. When we head back, we did a few competition starts. Zomg. That was damn tiring, especially when the pacer was going too fast. ><  Anyway, I completed the whole dragon boat training today!!! I survived with no gloves, no water to drink, no light paddle. Hmm.. Not bad. Haha. Coach said I did fine today, just that I got tired more easily because, rowing in a big boat, with less than 12 people in it is not easy!! hehe.

I’ve got training again tomorrow and on Wednesday at Punggol Marina. ((: Hmm.. I hope I’ll be able to paddle better cause next Saturday and Sunday is the race!!

SINGAPORE RIVER REGATTA 2007
2nd & 3rd November 2007
Singapore River
09:00 to 18:00
WHO WANTS TO COME? :DD

Sorry to make you guys wait for me today. =X

Tomorrow, getting back results. I hope it’s something good. But I don’t know. >< Well, we’ll see.

jaslyn.

Fears

My apologies for not blogging yesterday. I was extremely tired and mum will definitely scream at me if I touch the computer. I just backdated it.

I went for the race yesterday, all tired and lonely. I reached SKCC and was the only female there as well as on the bus. Gender has never been a matter to me but yesterday, I was very much ignored. Well, at least I had the time to rest. However, the loneliness just remained as I read my book. It’s a new book that I borrowed as I thought I really needed to read in the morning. Hence, before I even head to SKCC, I rushed to Compass Point library to borrow 2 books — ‘The Defender’ and ‘Blood Pressure’. They’re both thrillers, and thrillers are at least interesting. So, on the bus, I was in a lousy mood.

When we reached there, I saw Chin Yi, Sing Yun, Poh Khoon and Yvonne, doing CIP work at the race. Next, I saw Miss Ng and talked a little. She said I looked really tired. Indeed. In the end, Peter sent all men down, me being the only female. But I was the drummer, for the first time. Being the drummer was a great experience. I was very much unbalanced at first. But I enjoyed it later, hitting really hard during the race itself. I didn’t hold the stick properly, hence, I was hitting my middle finger on the drum too, causing it to be swollen and bruised after the race. We came in 2nd with a timing of 1.37 minutes.

Then we waited for the prize presentation and I left for Tan Tock Seng Hospital, alone. I saw coach and he was recovering really fast. He talked to me a lot about the team and training. I was extremely fatigued and could dose off simply anytime. So, I thought I was 1/4 sleeping already. Then I left about 45 minutes to an hour later. I went to Toa Payoh to find mum. Got rather unhappy cause I couldn’t find my way there and I was so tired.

Dad arrived and picked us up, and he said that I don’t know photography. Zomg. That really hit me hard. So, I just shut off with music. I didn’t want to talk after that. I went to my niece’s house and played with the dogs, Shandy and Coco. They were great. (: Megan is still cute and smart.

Anyhow, I returned home, getting annoyed after that by mum. Being so annoyed, I was confused. Together with the lethargy, it was seriously crazy. I went to the bedroom, in the darkness. I felt like crying but couldn’t. In the darkness, I felt a sudden fear. Darkness hasn’t been something I feared. But last night, it was different, I just had this fear in me, and racing thoughts. There was some creepy music outside, it freaked me out even more. The moment I shut my eyes, scary thoughts, I don’t what, just appeared. It was terrible.

Sick and tired.

Now, as I listen to ‘Wait For You’ by Elliot Yamin, I feel like crying. I don’t know what’s the reason for it, but that’s how I’m feeling at the moment. I think I’m just so sick and tired of all these anxiety/stress crap in me. It’s just so annoying. It spoils my mood and spoils my day. It disturbs me. =/

Anyway, about my day first. In the morning, I visited my relative at the hospital. She was found with something in her intestines after some endosopy tests. Hence, she had a surgery to remove that ‘something’. She showed us her scar and it was about 10 – 15cm horizontally along the lower abdomen. I could she the stitches were about 0.3 – 0.5cm apart and also noticed the whole part that was slashed open. My first time seeing that.

After that, we went for lunch somewhere in Chinatown, and I headed to Harbourfront MRT station. I was there early. Hence, I went to walk around in Candy Empire, looking around for interesting candies and checking out their prices. At around 13:00, I walked back to the station and waited for quite long. At 13:35, Jason R. came and we chatted for awhile while waiting for Ai Zhi, when she arrived at 14:05.

When we were proceeding to the Sentosa Express station, we spotted Jason, Geraldine, Yan Ting and Berlin. They were going to Sentosa too! So, we went there together, but Jason, Berlin and Geraldine stayed at Vivo City.

Outrigger canoeing was not bad. We spent some time at the beach before getting to try out though. There, we experienced the waves coming in and I taught Jason R. how to swim. 😛 It was similar to dragon boating anyway.

After all that, we took the beach tram to the washroom then bathe. We took the skyride to the cable car station and took a bus to the Merlion place. On the bus, an Indian tourist spill his cup noodles’ soup on me. haha. Anyway, we took the Sentosa Express back and headed to SKCC.

We were all exhausted so we slept on the train. At SKCC, the hungry Ai Zhi and I ate quite a lot. Minister Teo [Minister of Defence] was there too. After dinner, we went into the auditorium. While waiting for the minister to enter the auditorium, as well as some others, we could dedicate songs to sing. I thought we could just dedicate them. In the end, we must sing them. I selected ‘Because of You’, thinking that it was the one by Kelly Clarkson. In the end, it wasn’t and Jason R. helped me to sing it, not knowing the song. I also chose ‘Against All Odds’ and I knew how to sing it. More people came in, including the minister. But I just sang it.

Anyway, it was quite a fun day, but extremely tiring. After the outrigger canoeing, I became quite blur. Nevermind. Jason R. was quite nice, kept chatting with me and stuff. Thanks.

I am worried about something.

yours,
huishan.

Upset over loss of social studies textbook

I was so upset by one thing which no one should be. I know it’s strange, but I’m upset about losing my social studies textbook. I don’t know how. I just couldn’t find it yesterday when I was putting my books into the locker. I thought I left it in class accidentally. That’ll be the 3rd incident I come across this week. My books went missing two other times this week and fortunately, I found them in class. This time, I couldn’t find it anywhere. )):  One possible reason that I get so upset is that there are personal notes inside whereby I wrote in myself. Also, I wrote the answers to some questions inside too. Now, all gone. ><  I almost cried when I couldn’t find it, even after searching the places.

There wasn’t any social studies test today. Social studies lesson is good so far. Interesting things and lovely teacher. We were given an essay to do as homework. I just remember that. =X

Today, 2 other teachers showed their concerns about my problems [anxiety/stress]. I don’t know, but is it so distinct that people can see so clearly I’m totally stressed out? Mr Tan C.K. talked to me, telling me to clench my fist then release it, feeling the release of pressure. Then Mr Tong spoke to me, asking if I have any problems and if I need help. WOW. Can’t believe it. 5 teachers know about it. When I asked Mr Tan C.K. how did he know about all these stress things going on in me, he replied, ‘you look the most stressful among everyone. I have EYES.’ o.O Well, I appreciate their concerns though. Thanks teachers.

I can’t believe I finished writing my Chinese composition. It’s quite hard to write and I managed to write it! Moreover, I wrote around 835 words and that’ll be under the ‘good’ range. 😛

Rehearsal today was QUITE all right. I thought I did quite well actually cause I managed to slow myself down. I didn’t speak too fast. Then I will be joining Hazimah and Wendy on stage to sing the last chorus of ‘When You Believe’! I just need to practise the song and think of some actions to fit into it, cause I thought I was rather awkward today. Then we’ll sing the pop version of the school song. We’ll have to clap and all that. I’ll se if there are any other actions we can do.

Training was rather all right. Wanted to skip it today after waiting so long. I waited from 19:10 to 19:55. I was thinking that if I still don’t see anyone at 20:00, I’ll leave for home. I was really really tired of course.

I tried taking spicy food during recess. The gastroenterologist advised me to avoid spicy food. However, I haven’t really noticed the abdominal discomforts when I consume spicy food last time as I wasn’t aware of the food I take. This time, I wanted to try if it really triggers the abdominal discomforts. True enough, it did.

Anyway, I’m going for outrigger canoeing tomorrow afternoon with Ai Zhi and Jason R. [he’s a super cool guy! a mixed race: Italian + Thai + European + Asian]. There may be others coming along. Then in the evening, we’ll head to SKCC for the Thank You dinner. No rehearsal tomorrow! CHEERS! But next week, I’ve got 2 common tests already. Biology Common Test and Physics Common Test.

That’s all for today, though more happened, but my eyes are shutting soon.

[Oh yes. I called IMH today and asked if I could bring forward my appointment with the psychiatrist. In the end, she told me that the dates available will only be in September, earlier than that, no dates. So, of course I’d stick to my current appointment date which is 25 July. Can’t believe they have so many patients to see. =X I requested not to have my mum with me when I go for the appointment. And she said I MUST have her with me. I think that totally sucks. They are there to hear me out. What’s the point of having my mum inside when I can’t talk about things as I wished to? I REALLY hope she can not be with me. ><]

lots of love,
huishan.

Dragon boat & outrigger canoeing!

Well well well, I’ve spent my whole day at Bedok Reservoir! My first time doing that. I went there for my dragon boat race. It’s an 800m race and my team took part in 4 races, 20-mixed open, 20-men open, 10-women open and 10-men inter-business clubs, at the times 11:40, 15:10, 15:30 and 18:10 respectively, claiming the timings of 4:17.38 mins, 4:17.16 mins, 5:57 mins and 4:57 mins respectively.

I rowed for 2 races and that’ll be the mixed and women races. It was quite tiring and we didn’t enter the semis for any of the 4 races we took part in. We came in last in all except for the 10-men inter-business clubs, we came in 5th. But, we’ve put in our best efforts and that’s what matters. For the 10-women open, I was having heartburn. That sucks. Despite taking Gaviscon before the race, the heartburn didn’t subside. However, I made it through the race.

At the race venue, we met some of our old rowers that are not in our club anymore. Alvina is in SAFRA now. Faizal is in Singapore Paddle Club [SPC] now. And Amran, not really out, but busy for this year. Faizal invited us over to the SPC Outrigger Canoeing Open House on 7 and 8 July. I suppose I’ll be going with Yi Qian and Ai Zhi on Saturday, from 14:00 to 17:00, at Sentosa, then we’ll make our way to SKCC for the Thank You dinner by Minister Teo, because of our first Champion for dragon boat the last race. This time, it’s free, for both events. The outrigger canoeing is a try out. Super cool. THEN, you know what Faizal asked me? He asked me to join SPC. ZOMG. SPC is a good dragon boat team!! Well, it’s 40 bucks for 3 months. I’d have to pay. But, I may consider joining. However, I won’t leave my current team. Faizal said it’s all right to row for both. They have very little females [hence he’s asking me to join]. The ratio of men to women is like 39:12. Well, I’ll consider.

Anyhow, I did some A. Math notes there during the breaks, as well as read a bit of Social Studies which bore me out. Yeah. So, no race tomorrow! Hence, I’m going to do my work with Charlton [from Catholic High] at Bishan Library tomorrow afternoon. I may go there earlier.

AND, one last thing, I saw Miss Ng today! She was rowing for NTUC club and she made it into the semis tomorrow! Whee! All the best to her!

yours,
huishan.

Carsick? No way.

I can’t believe it. I’m getting carsick and motion sickness so easily. I’ve been feeling sick on the car or bus like within 15 – 20 minutes of the ride. Yikes.

Anyway, nothing much today. As in I’m all tired now and can’t type much at the moment. I was so tired that I was reluctant to attend the council meeting.

Anyhow, thanks to Fi, I managed to reach home earlier. *phew*

Tomorrow, I’ve got Higher Chinese, Social Studies and Chemistry lessons only. Perfect. Lesser lessons. Then after that, I’ll continue with my A. Math notes. I’m still indulged in copying the notes. That’s a good thing. At least there’s something I can do about my studies right now. Then after that, I’ll have the combined rehearsal to attend.

Okay. That’s all for today. Apologies for the short entry cause I’m really really tired. =X

love,
huishan.

What a day!

Oh man. What a day! I just reached home from dragon boat training and I’m totally worn out. I don’t have the energy to type a lot but I’ll try.

I can’t believe it. I actually forgot that I had PE today. Not really forgot, but just didn’t notice it on the new timetable. I only realised it when I was in school, grabbing books from the locker. I panicked for awhile and was fine after that. Just thought that probably Mr Riyaz won’t scold me for that cause it’s the first time and there was a new timetable.

The first 2 periods of the day was Higher Chinese. We were asked to practice our Chinese oral cause the ‘O’ levels Express Chinese Oral for Sec 3s is next Tuesday. Goodness. He issued out a passage to read and he’ll test us. Surprisingly, I did rather well. He said I emphasised on the right words and it was great, other than the too long or too short pauses at comas and fullstops. However, I think that wasn’t a reliable test cause I practised a couple of times. During the real oral, I wouldn’t have so much time to practise. And what’s worst is, clarify the words that I don’t know how to read.

English was the best period of the day. We watched the movie, Patch Adams, throughout the 2 periods. Man, I love that movie! It’s inspiring and all. It’s real and Patch Hunter is such a wonderful person.

Other than that, I went to KAP today to try and study. Due to the bad mind, I did some copying of the A. Math notes instead of reading new things or deal with long paragraphs of words. I’ve decided to copying all the A. Math notes that I’ve taken down since the start of the year, all from scratch. The main objective is to revise and at the same time, transfer the notes onto a nicer book with nicer and neater handwriting. I was so indulged in it. I was reluctant to stop and head for dragon boat training.

Anyway, training was a bit crazy. As in, it was tough, and I didn’t do my best. Not exactly that, but I did my best on the spot, but it was not the best that I could do. I suppose it was due to all the fatigue. Oh wells. Nevermind.

I’ve been having eczema on and off. It’s rather annoying. Like, you kept scratching it. =X I’ve got meeting and rehearsal tomorrow after school. And I’ll be having a mock oral exam during the last 2 periods of the day. All the Chinese teachers in the school will be present. Sigh. I know I won’t do well. So, drop it.