Pesta race updates
Posted On Monday, December 14, 2009 at at Monday, December 14, 2009 by Sharon
Am taking time off from all the weekend's hustle bustle.
Tired, was so dead tired. Woke up at 6 in the morning on Sunday and only managed to crawl to bed at 5 in the morning on a Monday. Amazed... by how much leftover/stored energy we still had after spending practically almost 24 hours under the hot sun for 2 days.
Now that I'm back here blogging in my comfy room with darkened uneven skintone, painful butt and at least 5 blue black bruises on my legs, I wished I could somehow rewind back the past 2 awesome days I'd spent with so many wonderful people around me.
I wish I have the time to write more about the weekend's events but unfortunately I don't have the copy of the pictures with me, will have to wait until I get them. Till then I have only one thing to say....
VICTORY IS NOT ONLY SWEET BUT IT'S FUCKING ORGASMIC.....
we may not be the champion but hell we went through the whole nine yards for this, kicking some Sporean as well as local asses for this
Front view
Back view
Our very first pewter medal, heck yea I'm proud! I am so so very proud of my girls, my team and friends who came all the way to support us.
Without these bunch of great people, this would have been impossible.
Tired, was so dead tired. Woke up at 6 in the morning on Sunday and only managed to crawl to bed at 5 in the morning on a Monday. Amazed... by how much leftover/stored energy we still had after spending practically almost 24 hours under the hot sun for 2 days.
Now that I'm back here blogging in my comfy room with darkened uneven skintone, painful butt and at least 5 blue black bruises on my legs, I wished I could somehow rewind back the past 2 awesome days I'd spent with so many wonderful people around me.
I wish I have the time to write more about the weekend's events but unfortunately I don't have the copy of the pictures with me, will have to wait until I get them. Till then I have only one thing to say....
VICTORY IS NOT ONLY SWEET BUT IT'S FUCKING ORGASMIC.....
we may not be the champion but hell we went through the whole nine yards for this, kicking some Sporean as well as local asses for this
Front view
Back viewOur very first pewter medal, heck yea I'm proud! I am so so very proud of my girls, my team and friends who came all the way to support us.
Without these bunch of great people, this would have been impossible.
First day race
Posted On Saturday, December 12, 2009 at at Saturday, December 12, 2009 by Sharon
Tonight's hot shower had never felt better. The joy of finally having that fierce splash of water flowing down the head was just... awesome. I have been longing for a shower since like the whole day.
Another day of running under the hot scorching sun, camwhoring, talking, laughing, enjoying the company of great people and checking out cute/hot guys which unfortunately they have the body but not the looks department (as if we're so gorgeous like that :p) but seriously, I have never seen so many FIT guys all gathered in one place before so it was a good eye candy :D But unfortunately too, most of them are like.. in their teens -_-
Anyway, I thought today will be a bad day. For starters, I had a nightmare, regarding my dragonboat team and a haunted house which I shall not elaborate further because I'm home alone, then when I was about to leave the house, I realized I did not have my purse with me so I panicked and had to rush to office which happily, I located my purse on the table, in one piece too! Then I went to the petrol station for gas and my credit card got stuck in the machine fml and in the end I didn't even fill up my tank and had to drive all the way down and back hoping my car won't fail on me.
As for the race... sigh... I'm ashamed to even talk about our performance. Let's just say even though we lost
like real bad :p
it was definitely a GREAT GREAT experience. I will never trade this experience for anything in the world.
Oh well guess I can't complain much... cause I didn't even row today! Because my back injury was still giving me problems, so I kinda volunteered myself when they were looking for the position of the drummer! Yes, the drummer, probably the easiest role, one that only needs to have a loud voice to motivate the team.. loud voice.. of course I have la! :P
IT WAS FUN! Only had to beat according to their strokes, yell and scream at the team to row faster :p Damn gaya u know :p even though it was kinda like a useless role because I didn't even contribute to the team :( they carried my big fat ass for about ~2000m today and yes I felt a little guilty too :P (500m race 2x to and back)
Well, we have another 200m race tomorrow like real early in the morning, gotta wake up around 6 or so to make it to the place by 8, hopefully I'm able to take part in the rowing tomorrow, as long as I don't fuck up my back injury more.
Wrapped up the day nicely with great fun with awesomest girlfriends and singing together to Jason Mraz's I'm Yours :)
Alrighty, I'm gonna call it a day... I'm tired, sleepy and soooo in need of a good night's sleep, tomorrow is another loooong day. Wish us luck, hopefully we won't lose as bad as today :p
You know, this whole thing is getting kinda addictive ;)
Another day of running under the hot scorching sun, camwhoring, talking, laughing, enjoying the company of great people and checking out cute/hot guys which unfortunately they have the body but not the looks department (as if we're so gorgeous like that :p) but seriously, I have never seen so many FIT guys all gathered in one place before so it was a good eye candy :D But unfortunately too, most of them are like.. in their teens -_-
Anyway, I thought today will be a bad day. For starters, I had a nightmare, regarding my dragonboat team and a haunted house which I shall not elaborate further because I'm home alone, then when I was about to leave the house, I realized I did not have my purse with me so I panicked and had to rush to office which happily, I located my purse on the table, in one piece too! Then I went to the petrol station for gas and my credit card got stuck in the machine fml and in the end I didn't even fill up my tank and had to drive all the way down and back hoping my car won't fail on me.
As for the race... sigh... I'm ashamed to even talk about our performance. Let's just say even though we lost
like real bad :p
it was definitely a GREAT GREAT experience. I will never trade this experience for anything in the world.
Oh well guess I can't complain much... cause I didn't even row today! Because my back injury was still giving me problems, so I kinda volunteered myself when they were looking for the position of the drummer! Yes, the drummer, probably the easiest role, one that only needs to have a loud voice to motivate the team.. loud voice.. of course I have la! :P
IT WAS FUN! Only had to beat according to their strokes, yell and scream at the team to row faster :p Damn gaya u know :p even though it was kinda like a useless role because I didn't even contribute to the team :( they carried my big fat ass for about ~2000m today and yes I felt a little guilty too :P (500m race 2x to and back)
Well, we have another 200m race tomorrow like real early in the morning, gotta wake up around 6 or so to make it to the place by 8, hopefully I'm able to take part in the rowing tomorrow, as long as I don't fuck up my back injury more.
Wrapped up the day nicely with great fun with awesomest girlfriends and singing together to Jason Mraz's I'm Yours :)
Alrighty, I'm gonna call it a day... I'm tired, sleepy and soooo in need of a good night's sleep, tomorrow is another loooong day. Wish us luck, hopefully we won't lose as bad as today :p
You know, this whole thing is getting kinda addictive ;)
What's Next?
Posted On Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at at Tuesday, December 01, 2009 by Sharon
Boss : So how was your dragonboat competition?
Me : It was a great experience! We had lots of fun!
Boss : What did you get? First? From behind? *starts laughing hysterically -_-*
Me : NOOOO.. we got third.
Boss : Oh.... 3 teams compete only is it? *starts laughing again* (yes people, that's my oh-so-funny boss)
Me : No la... 5 teams altogether. So bad la u, think we very char is it? (we are actually but of course I'm not admitting that to him :p)
Boss : Haha no la.. just kidding. No 3 ok wat, not too bad. Good job!
Me : We could have done better.
Boss : Don't worry, you've tried it. You see you gained new experience. So what's next?
Me : What do you mean?
Boss : You know.. now that you've tried one of the traditional sports in Penang, you might as well give others a try.
Me : Hmm.. true. But like what?
Boss : Hahahaha.. like LION DANCE!!!!
Me : WHAT? Siau ar? You want me to clown around in a bunny suit jumping here and there? I think it'll be a very short lion too HAHAHAHA (ok, joke on myself)
Boss : What? Not bad ma, good to learn, not that easy too you know.
Me : It's ok, I'll pass.
Boss : Oh there's another one you can try.
Me : What?
Boss : CHINGAY!!!!
Me : YOU THINK I'M NOT SHORT ENOUGH IS IT? You want me to carry a heavy pole on my head which could possibly stunt my height more!
Boss : Ok ok, stick to lion dance then, I've never seen a dwarf lion before HAHAHAHA =))
-_-" FML
Me : It was a great experience! We had lots of fun!
Boss : What did you get? First? From behind? *starts laughing hysterically -_-*
Me : NOOOO.. we got third.
Boss : Oh.... 3 teams compete only is it? *starts laughing again* (yes people, that's my oh-so-funny boss)
Me : No la... 5 teams altogether. So bad la u, think we very char is it? (we are actually but of course I'm not admitting that to him :p)
Boss : Haha no la.. just kidding. No 3 ok wat, not too bad. Good job!
Me : We could have done better.
Boss : Don't worry, you've tried it. You see you gained new experience. So what's next?
Me : What do you mean?
Boss : You know.. now that you've tried one of the traditional sports in Penang, you might as well give others a try.
Me : Hmm.. true. But like what?
Boss : Hahahaha.. like LION DANCE!!!!
Me : WHAT? Siau ar? You want me to clown around in a bunny suit jumping here and there? I think it'll be a very short lion too HAHAHAHA (ok, joke on myself)
Boss : What? Not bad ma, good to learn, not that easy too you know.
Me : It's ok, I'll pass.
Boss : Oh there's another one you can try.
Me : What?
Boss : CHINGAY!!!!
Me : YOU THINK I'M NOT SHORT ENOUGH IS IT? You want me to carry a heavy pole on my head which could possibly stunt my height more!
Boss : Ok ok, stick to lion dance then, I've never seen a dwarf lion before HAHAHAHA =))
-_-" FML
Penang Beach Carnival
Posted On Monday, November 30, 2009 at at Monday, November 30, 2009 by Sharon
Let me start by telling you how it was BEFORE the competition.
Wednesday, in our usual paddling session, coach was satisfied with our performance. He was almost certain we're gonna bag the gold medal, FOR SURE (yes he sounded damn confident) He made us believed we were already winners even before we compete wtf. Our confidence level shot up high!
Friday, sea training at Golden Sands beach, where the competition was to take place. We went with full confidence. It was hot but thank god for the wind. Sea looked fierce, waves were rough, possibly from the amount of water sports, but we weren't worried..... yet. The first batch of the men went down, they looked like they had a hard time getting the boat to move. We were watching from the shore and thought 'it couldn't be that bad!'
When they came back up, one of them said 'I hope you don't have seasickness'
Then it was finally our turn. Despite dad's reminder to wear life jacket, I decided to go without it. Getting into the boat was... clumsy. Paddling in the rough sea was much harder than it looked. The constant unpredictable waves splashing on our boat made it harder, it's either the water hit the oars too soon or we hit nothing at all. Everyone was so out of sync it's frustrating, we're as clumsy as a baby learning to walk.
The boat's condition was another problem. Unlike our more modern boat which is lighter, this one was made of wood and heavy. Inside, there was no place for leg grip or support. When we paddle, our butts kept slipping off the seat FOL kau kau
In less than 10 minutes, it hit us. Most of us started to feel sick and giddy. Training was too short of a time but we must continue to go on. Paddling with seasickness and trying not to vomit was a hell lot of effort @_@
In conclusion, when we finally got back on shore, our confidence level shot down to 0.
Gold medal my ass. Coach lied to us.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
Wednesday, in our usual paddling session, coach was satisfied with our performance. He was almost certain we're gonna bag the gold medal, FOR SURE (yes he sounded damn confident) He made us believed we were already winners even before we compete wtf. Our confidence level shot up high!
Friday, sea training at Golden Sands beach, where the competition was to take place. We went with full confidence. It was hot but thank god for the wind. Sea looked fierce, waves were rough, possibly from the amount of water sports, but we weren't worried..... yet. The first batch of the men went down, they looked like they had a hard time getting the boat to move. We were watching from the shore and thought 'it couldn't be that bad!'
When they came back up, one of them said 'I hope you don't have seasickness'
Then it was finally our turn. Despite dad's reminder to wear life jacket, I decided to go without it. Getting into the boat was... clumsy. Paddling in the rough sea was much harder than it looked. The constant unpredictable waves splashing on our boat made it harder, it's either the water hit the oars too soon or we hit nothing at all. Everyone was so out of sync it's frustrating, we're as clumsy as a baby learning to walk.
The boat's condition was another problem. Unlike our more modern boat which is lighter, this one was made of wood and heavy. Inside, there was no place for leg grip or support. When we paddle, our butts kept slipping off the seat FOL kau kau
In less than 10 minutes, it hit us. Most of us started to feel sick and giddy. Training was too short of a time but we must continue to go on. Paddling with seasickness and trying not to vomit was a hell lot of effort @_@
In conclusion, when we finally got back on shore, our confidence level shot down to 0.
Gold medal my ass. Coach lied to us.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
After the horrific training the day before the competition, we weren't sure if we can pull it off. It'll be really embarrassing to lose big time to the rest of the competing teams. Like it or not, it's too late to back out, hence, die die also must try.
It was such a lovely pleasant day for a beach carnival,
though I must say I'm really disappointed with the amount of things they had there. Apart from the water sports competition, there weren't much to do or see, unless of course you want to spend the day playing sand and building sandcastles with kids.
Forget bout that part, let's focus on the race itself.
We were one of the last few people to arrive, oh wait I think we WERE the last one. We figured there's no hurry since our race doesn't start until 4pm. When we arrived, everyone was already there, the team manager was already busy talking to the coach on race registration. Some of the guys just stood or laze around talking, some.. splattered sun block and wiped on each others' body hehe
A beach volleyball game was in progress but didn't pay much attention to it.
Since there was nothing much to do but to wait, we decided to fish out our camera and start camwhoring. Man it's good to be women, self vanity knows no bounds or limits.
You see people, don't look down on us, we not only know how to party hard but also paddle hard haha The girl in white is YT, one of our close crazy, talkative, caring buddies. She actually came with us and stayed throughout the whole event with us, that's what good friends are for!
A total of 5 ladies rowers in the team
When the men saw us camwhoring, they started to tease us. We made one of them pose like an Ah Kua (transvestite) which he gladly did. He's definitely the clown of the team
Give us an 'S' shape!
I made Luke pose like a Godzilla about to stomp on the sandcastle
Feeling very much kiasu, we checked out the other competing teams. Look at their team t shirts!
Why so sexy one? Looks at ours! How to show off our tone body like that? Not that we have any to show to begin with but if you're wearing something that reveal your body parts you'll surely work harder to make sure it's presentable, no? No wonder we are all still kinda flabby la, no motivation to show off our body wtf
Oh look who came all the way to show their support! My grandpa and parents! They were very proud of me for doing this lor, and they stayed all the way to the end until I'm done with my race
After what seemed like endless waiting time, the first race finally kicked off. They began with the juniors rowing team. Our juniors, from Chung Ling high school bagged first place effortlessly! Kudos!
Second race was Men Veteran.
Here's our bunch of 'uncles'
M.U.S.T.N.O.T.L.A.U.G.H.A.T.P.E.O.P.L.E
getting ready
Pushing the boat into the sea
Eh don't look down at uncles ok! They, too bagged the first place effortlessly. The picture below showed the boat close to the finishing line and there's no other boat that came close. Bangga bangga~ Huge round of applause for the
old
men!
While waiting for their turns, the other men were getting ready for showdown. Group warmup.
And it's Premier Open category, whatever that means.
I think they came in second, automatically qualifying themselves to the finals.
The winner is none other than these bunch of super fit, super toned guys from Perak Navy.
It was finally our turn! They guys were giving us so much pressure that I started to have butterflies in my stomach. My hands and feet were cold, and to be honest, I was nervous too. But can still smile and pose for the camera wtf
Coach giving us last minute instructions before we start. His last words were 'DO NOT PANIC!'
Calling for help to push the boat
So kua cheong right, so many people 'sending us off' hahaha
We paddled slowly to the other end where the starting point was. All the while, the men in the boat kept telling us not to panic -_- The more they advise the more nervous I got.
The most nerve wrecking moment had to be the final moment waiting for the race to start. Actually it was CHAOTIC, very much so. There was no referee to blow a whistle or anything. We were so blurred out we actually started late! FOLs
The other two teams at the sides started before we did, like WTF right?! I don't know who gave the GO permission, all I knew was my nervousness was all gone when our drummer in the front yelled at us to start paddling. And paddle hard we did.
We paddled with all our might. The butterflies in the stomach were replaced with tiredness and yet I can't stop. Try hard or die trying. I screamed out loud when I'm in pain and continued paddling. My strokes were probably all wrong but I just kept going. It's better than to stop and screw up other people's timing.
More vain pictures of me rowing, marked with star, third in front, left rower,
although you can't see much unless you clicked on the pictures and squint your eyes
Paddling towards the starting line
Alas, we came in 3rd :( Disappointed, real disappointed but our drummer said it was because we started later than the other two teams or else we would have had a chance in first or second... sigh...
Anyway, we still managed to collect RM200 for the team! First place was RM400, second was RM300. Ok la, not too bad right, first time ma.. only train for less than 3 months you know :P
After the race, the girls showing off their so called muscles haha.. eh the one on the right damn skinny must drink more protein powder to buff up.
Prize giving ceremony, FORWARD team very keng lor, these two from the team bagged first prize for kayaking competition
Wendy and another dude from other team bagged the second prize, you see the women in our team can be quite intimidating also ok? haha
Our team manager accepting the prize for Men Veteran
Me, the camwhore queen of the day took the spotlight for our 3rd prize
The medal
Another winning shot of the ladies, yay~!
In total, the team collected RM1200 from the race itself. 2 first prize of RM400, and 2 third prize of RM200, not too bad eh?
The sun was setting, we packed up and got ready to leave, BUT not before camwhoring with the dragonboat itself! Errrmm, please understand that this is our first time racing in a real dragonboat so we kinda got a little too excited.
Being the drummer is damn syiok ok!
The final camwhore pic of the day, our very worn out, tired and ugly faces in our ugly uniform. The shorts!!! OMG like uncle only -_-
We bid goodbye to the place. Needless to say, it had definitely been a fantastic day.
Team picture
Another race coming in December, must not slack, training has been increased to 4 times a week now FML
It was such a lovely pleasant day for a beach carnival,
though I must say I'm really disappointed with the amount of things they had there. Apart from the water sports competition, there weren't much to do or see, unless of course you want to spend the day playing sand and building sandcastles with kids.
Forget bout that part, let's focus on the race itself.
We were one of the last few people to arrive, oh wait I think we WERE the last one. We figured there's no hurry since our race doesn't start until 4pm. When we arrived, everyone was already there, the team manager was already busy talking to the coach on race registration. Some of the guys just stood or laze around talking, some.. splattered sun block and wiped on each others' body hehe
A beach volleyball game was in progress but didn't pay much attention to it.
Since there was nothing much to do but to wait, we decided to fish out our camera and start camwhoring. Man it's good to be women, self vanity knows no bounds or limits.
You see people, don't look down on us, we not only know how to party hard but also paddle hard haha The girl in white is YT, one of our close crazy, talkative, caring buddies. She actually came with us and stayed throughout the whole event with us, that's what good friends are for!
A total of 5 ladies rowers in the team
When the men saw us camwhoring, they started to tease us. We made one of them pose like an Ah Kua (transvestite) which he gladly did. He's definitely the clown of the team
Give us an 'S' shape!I made Luke pose like a Godzilla about to stomp on the sandcastle
Feeling very much kiasu, we checked out the other competing teams. Look at their team t shirts!
Why so sexy one? Looks at ours! How to show off our tone body like that? Not that we have any to show to begin with but if you're wearing something that reveal your body parts you'll surely work harder to make sure it's presentable, no? No wonder we are all still kinda flabby la, no motivation to show off our body wtf
Oh look who came all the way to show their support! My grandpa and parents! They were very proud of me for doing this lor, and they stayed all the way to the end until I'm done with my race
After what seemed like endless waiting time, the first race finally kicked off. They began with the juniors rowing team. Our juniors, from Chung Ling high school bagged first place effortlessly! Kudos!
Second race was Men Veteran.
Here's our bunch of 'uncles'
M.U.S.T.N.O.T.L.A.U.G.H.A.T.P.E.O.P.L.E
getting ready
Pushing the boat into the sea
Eh don't look down at uncles ok! They, too bagged the first place effortlessly. The picture below showed the boat close to the finishing line and there's no other boat that came close. Bangga bangga~ Huge round of applause for the
old
men!
While waiting for their turns, the other men were getting ready for showdown. Group warmup.
And it's Premier Open category, whatever that means.
I think they came in second, automatically qualifying themselves to the finals.
The winner is none other than these bunch of super fit, super toned guys from Perak Navy.
It was finally our turn! They guys were giving us so much pressure that I started to have butterflies in my stomach. My hands and feet were cold, and to be honest, I was nervous too. But can still smile and pose for the camera wtf
Coach giving us last minute instructions before we start. His last words were 'DO NOT PANIC!'
Calling for help to push the boat
So kua cheong right, so many people 'sending us off' hahaha
We paddled slowly to the other end where the starting point was. All the while, the men in the boat kept telling us not to panic -_- The more they advise the more nervous I got.
The most nerve wrecking moment had to be the final moment waiting for the race to start. Actually it was CHAOTIC, very much so. There was no referee to blow a whistle or anything. We were so blurred out we actually started late! FOLs
The other two teams at the sides started before we did, like WTF right?! I don't know who gave the GO permission, all I knew was my nervousness was all gone when our drummer in the front yelled at us to start paddling. And paddle hard we did.
We paddled with all our might. The butterflies in the stomach were replaced with tiredness and yet I can't stop. Try hard or die trying. I screamed out loud when I'm in pain and continued paddling. My strokes were probably all wrong but I just kept going. It's better than to stop and screw up other people's timing.
More vain pictures of me rowing, marked with star, third in front, left rower,
although you can't see much unless you clicked on the pictures and squint your eyes
Paddling towards the starting line
Alas, we came in 3rd :( Disappointed, real disappointed but our drummer said it was because we started later than the other two teams or else we would have had a chance in first or second... sigh...
Anyway, we still managed to collect RM200 for the team! First place was RM400, second was RM300. Ok la, not too bad right, first time ma.. only train for less than 3 months you know :P
After the race, the girls showing off their so called muscles haha.. eh the one on the right damn skinny must drink more protein powder to buff up.
Prize giving ceremony, FORWARD team very keng lor, these two from the team bagged first prize for kayaking competition
Wendy and another dude from other team bagged the second prize, you see the women in our team can be quite intimidating also ok? haha
Our team manager accepting the prize for Men Veteran
Me, the camwhore queen of the day took the spotlight for our 3rd prize
The medal
Another winning shot of the ladies, yay~!
In total, the team collected RM1200 from the race itself. 2 first prize of RM400, and 2 third prize of RM200, not too bad eh?
The sun was setting, we packed up and got ready to leave, BUT not before camwhoring with the dragonboat itself! Errrmm, please understand that this is our first time racing in a real dragonboat so we kinda got a little too excited.
Being the drummer is damn syiok ok!
The final camwhore pic of the day, our very worn out, tired and ugly faces in our ugly uniform. The shorts!!! OMG like uncle only -_-
We bid goodbye to the place. Needless to say, it had definitely been a fantastic day.
Team picture
Another race coming in December, must not slack, training has been increased to 4 times a week now FML
It's confirmed!
Posted On Thursday, November 26, 2009 at at Thursday, November 26, 2009 by Sharon
The team will be participating in a competition in conjunction with the Penang Beach Carnival happening this Saturday, 28th November.
We have been training very hard, I even went for training yesterday despite still recovering from flu and cough and some dude accidentally hit me real hard on my back during the session *ouch* Coach was pretty satisfied with our performance, at least he stopped picking on me to lecture :p and since I was the shortest person there, he made a joke about me bringing a pillow to support my leg so I'll be higher cause supposedly the real boat is slightly higher and wider on the sides and we have to REALLY reach out to paddle, not to mention it's easier to bruise our thumb too FML Fuck la, being short now is also a crime is it? Well in this case, it is definitely a disadvantage :(
I'll show him, he'll see! Will be training at Batu Ferringhi beach tomorrow under the hot scorching sun with the real boat so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully we won't train too hard that our arms will be too painful to row on the real day itself.
If you have nothing to do for the weekend, come support us and see us
lose
win, hopefully not number 1 from the back *fingers crossed* The club will be sending out 4 teams to compete and our Mixed race is the last, which will only start around 4pm and we have to be there by 1.30pm wtf
Anyway, win or lose, this will be definitely a new experience gained. Life is too short to pause and wonder, just do it! even when you're short and ppl make fun of you -_-
After that we're gonna be partying the night away
and try to get someone drunk
YAY~!
Am excited! Wish me luck!
We have been training very hard, I even went for training yesterday despite still recovering from flu and cough and some dude accidentally hit me real hard on my back during the session *ouch* Coach was pretty satisfied with our performance, at least he stopped picking on me to lecture :p and since I was the shortest person there, he made a joke about me bringing a pillow to support my leg so I'll be higher cause supposedly the real boat is slightly higher and wider on the sides and we have to REALLY reach out to paddle, not to mention it's easier to bruise our thumb too FML Fuck la, being short now is also a crime is it? Well in this case, it is definitely a disadvantage :(
I'll show him, he'll see! Will be training at Batu Ferringhi beach tomorrow under the hot scorching sun with the real boat so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully we won't train too hard that our arms will be too painful to row on the real day itself.
If you have nothing to do for the weekend, come support us and see us
lose
win, hopefully not number 1 from the back *fingers crossed* The club will be sending out 4 teams to compete and our Mixed race is the last, which will only start around 4pm and we have to be there by 1.30pm wtf
Anyway, win or lose, this will be definitely a new experience gained. Life is too short to pause and wonder, just do it! even when you're short and ppl make fun of you -_-
After that we're gonna be partying the night away
and try to get someone drunk
YAY~!
Am excited! Wish me luck!
A little strawberry topping
Posted On Monday, November 16, 2009 at at Monday, November 16, 2009 by Sharon
I wasn’t planning on writing this but I was chatting with a friend about the weekend and I was telling her how cool it was to be doing what I did on Saturday and then I thought, hey, since it was an effing cool experience (in my eyes anyway), why not blog about it?
If I haven’t bore you yet with my paddling stories, do read on.
Saturday, 430pm we had the usual physical training in Macallum St. before the paddling session. It was more like a warmup session where we had to jog 3 rounds, some pushups, jumping jacks and a bit of stretching before getting ready for the paddling session.
The weather got darker as we were finishing up the physical part and I thought ‘yay, great! it’s gonna rain, maybe they’ll cancel the paddle session!’ Yes I was secretly hoping that they’ll cancel the training, I was just feeling lazy that day. But I was dead wrong.
Everyone started walking back to the so called ‘headquarter’ (basically just a container storing all the paddle equipments). It had started to drizzle by then. I thought to myself ‘It’s raining, are we still doing this?’ but kept quiet since everyone seemed to be oblivious to the fact that it was raining.
Moments later, I found myself equipped with the usual glove I always use for paddling and a little bit more, a life jacket -_-“ I contemplated in the beginning whether to put it on or not but some guy told me ‘well if you want to stay save and you can’t swim well, I’ll advise you to do so’
I looked out from the container into the pouring rain, more dark clouds approaching, and the dangerous looking sea. Ok, point noted. Strapped on the jacket it is!
By the time we were all seated in the boat, we were half drenched from the rain. I was a little worried if the rain will make the vision poorer, as if getting sunblock into my eyes is not painful enough, I have to squint my eyes, worrying bout the sea water and the rain. Yes, at that moment, it felt like another FML day.
But whether I like it or not, the training will go on. And we paddled into the sea. It wasn’t as bad as I thought, in fact the rain felt like a blessing because it washed away the salt water we got onto our faces. I was beginning to enjoy paddling in the rain.
Being in the sea, drenched inside out under the pouring rain, thunders and lightnings so visible from where we were, the waves in the sea getting rougher by each passing minute and jellyfish sightings every now and then was actually kinda FUN FUN FUN!
picture for illustration purpose onlyThe most fun part was the part where the boat felt as if it was 'flying' when we paddled really hard and fast riding through the strong waves, I had to contain myself from shouting out loud in excitement
yes I'm crazy like that
oh think medium to hardcore water rafting perhaps?
The team too was very energetic, we had better more structured trainings lately with the competition nearing. The killer part was the 500m paddle nonstop, that's like ~300 strokes nonstop @_@ I was really really bad at that, I exhaust myself far too quickly, my stamina was bad, my arms gave up too soon :( as much as I really tried very hard not to stop too often and kept up with the speed. Sigh.. I think I need to drink the stamina powder the guys are drinking at the moment :p
The only part I regretted was putting on the life jacket, I didn't need it because it was hardly that dangerous and it restricted my movement. Nevertheless, it was one of the best paddling session I had, and I definitely want more of those!!!
Maybe my life is getting too mundane that I'm craving for some hardcore adrenaline rush excitement @_@ hence, the post was named as such.
Giving it all
Posted On Sunday, October 4, 2009 at at Sunday, October 04, 2009 by Sharon
Tonight, there was no regret on a single bite of that sinful dinner I had. The fried oyster, fried chicken with lots of mayo and well.. porridge. We thought, after all the effort we've put into the paddling training today, it was worth a little celebration of indulgence.
I didn't realize how much I missed the paddling training until today. Since I was in Singapore last weekend, I was not able to make it for last week's physical training in gym and the paddling session. I heard they made everyone carry 85% of their body weight :S of which in this I was kinda glad I wasn't there to embarrass myself.
Yesterday's training was also intense but too short. I know, I think my girlfriend and I are secretly liking all the torturous trainings they put on us. They were tough but we were pushed to the limits and we liked it. A little sadomasochistic maybe :P
Oh and feeling guilty from the amount of calories from the alcohol last night, I ran 3kms in gym first before the paddling session. Maybe I am that sadomasochistic like that.
We had two boats to paddle today, one lighter one made of some fiber material where we usually paddle in, and another heavier one made of wood. So of course the senior-er guys paddled in the heavier one wherelse the juniors and the ladies paddled in the lighter one.
And we had a small competition, a little race, 200m fast paddle. You can imagine how demotivating it was for our team when the coach told us to race against the other team, I'm talking bout a team of buffed up, fit guys in one boat against a boat full of secondary school students and 3 ladies @_@
Oh well, not that we had much of a choice but to race against them. They were so cocky, so confident that they were going to win. Even set a punishment of 50 pushups for the losing team. Our team was quiet, taking whatever insults or teasing thrown to us. All we ever wanted was to get it over with.
When the coach blew the whistle, I paddled like I've never paddled before. Or actually ALL of us did. I've never thought that the kids can be so determined. They worked hard, and not wanting to let the team down, the women did their best too. Water was splashing everywhere; on my face, arms, legs but the splashing actually got me more motivated. They said if you don't get wet, you're not paddling for real.
Someone started counting loudly as a form of motivation. I did too, although it was tiring but it was a good boost.
"A few more strokes!"
"One more one more!"
"FASTER!!!"
"Almost there! GO GO!"
Before we knew it, the whistle was blown, indicating the end of the race. I looked to my left and found the other boat floating silently BEHIND us.
WE HAD WON!
The guys were silent, not a single word from any of them. In fact, I thought some of them looked rather ashamed haha! It was the best feeling in the entire paddling session :P Ok, maybe it was the fact that we're rowing the lighter boat and we're obviously lighter compared to all buffed up guys grouped in one boat. But still, we won!
We did another 200m and we won again. Then we went for 500m and we won by a tiny weeny bit and another last 500m before we call it a day, the last one, we had a tie. By then we were so exhausted we actually moaned when we had to do the last race. My arms gave up on me in less than 20 strokes but I dare not stop. Tired or not, painful or not, we had to keep paddling. In the actual race, no one will stop and wait for us, every single stroke counts. So by hook or by crook, I had to tolerate the pain and tiredness on my arms and paddled on.
The end result was definitely satisfying. Back in their faces! They were supposed to do 100 pushups back on shore but they bailed out. Of course it was all fun, let's hope the guys won't count their chickens before their eggs hatch next time.
Yes, I feel a big sense of motivation and achievement in me now. Not cocky but it was a good release. I paddled with all I had, all my might, managed to vent out all the anger, frustration I had inside me, basically just gave it all out. And that's what I hope to give the team everytime from now on...
I'm so not looking forward to the body aches and pain tomorrow...
I didn't realize how much I missed the paddling training until today. Since I was in Singapore last weekend, I was not able to make it for last week's physical training in gym and the paddling session. I heard they made everyone carry 85% of their body weight :S of which in this I was kinda glad I wasn't there to embarrass myself.
Yesterday's training was also intense but too short. I know, I think my girlfriend and I are secretly liking all the torturous trainings they put on us. They were tough but we were pushed to the limits and we liked it. A little sadomasochistic maybe :P
Oh and feeling guilty from the amount of calories from the alcohol last night, I ran 3kms in gym first before the paddling session. Maybe I am that sadomasochistic like that.
We had two boats to paddle today, one lighter one made of some fiber material where we usually paddle in, and another heavier one made of wood. So of course the senior-er guys paddled in the heavier one wherelse the juniors and the ladies paddled in the lighter one.
And we had a small competition, a little race, 200m fast paddle. You can imagine how demotivating it was for our team when the coach told us to race against the other team, I'm talking bout a team of buffed up, fit guys in one boat against a boat full of secondary school students and 3 ladies @_@
Oh well, not that we had much of a choice but to race against them. They were so cocky, so confident that they were going to win. Even set a punishment of 50 pushups for the losing team. Our team was quiet, taking whatever insults or teasing thrown to us. All we ever wanted was to get it over with.
When the coach blew the whistle, I paddled like I've never paddled before. Or actually ALL of us did. I've never thought that the kids can be so determined. They worked hard, and not wanting to let the team down, the women did their best too. Water was splashing everywhere; on my face, arms, legs but the splashing actually got me more motivated. They said if you don't get wet, you're not paddling for real.
Someone started counting loudly as a form of motivation. I did too, although it was tiring but it was a good boost.
"A few more strokes!"
"One more one more!"
"FASTER!!!"
"Almost there! GO GO!"
Before we knew it, the whistle was blown, indicating the end of the race. I looked to my left and found the other boat floating silently BEHIND us.
WE HAD WON!
The guys were silent, not a single word from any of them. In fact, I thought some of them looked rather ashamed haha! It was the best feeling in the entire paddling session :P Ok, maybe it was the fact that we're rowing the lighter boat and we're obviously lighter compared to all buffed up guys grouped in one boat. But still, we won!
We did another 200m and we won again. Then we went for 500m and we won by a tiny weeny bit and another last 500m before we call it a day, the last one, we had a tie. By then we were so exhausted we actually moaned when we had to do the last race. My arms gave up on me in less than 20 strokes but I dare not stop. Tired or not, painful or not, we had to keep paddling. In the actual race, no one will stop and wait for us, every single stroke counts. So by hook or by crook, I had to tolerate the pain and tiredness on my arms and paddled on.
The end result was definitely satisfying. Back in their faces! They were supposed to do 100 pushups back on shore but they bailed out. Of course it was all fun, let's hope the guys won't count their chickens before their eggs hatch next time.
Yes, I feel a big sense of motivation and achievement in me now. Not cocky but it was a good release. I paddled with all I had, all my might, managed to vent out all the anger, frustration I had inside me, basically just gave it all out. And that's what I hope to give the team everytime from now on...
I'm so not looking forward to the body aches and pain tomorrow...
Training with the fittest 2
Posted On Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at at Wednesday, September 09, 2009 by Sharon
7am Woke up, dragged myself off the bed to shower and change
830am Met up with friends at the promised place
9am Tough paddling training started, lecture lecture and more lecture from the coach
11am Training ended, went for brunch dim sum with the girls, complained and bitched bout the training at the same time, feeling sleepy and in daze
1pm Drove to the city for eyebrow threading in extreme sleepiness
2pm Got home, showered, got online, chatted for a bit
4pm Done chatting, planned to nap, said screw to hiking!
4.05pm Friend msged asking if I'm going hiking, contemplated the decision since muscles a bit tired and sore
4.17pm Tried to nap for a bit but can't.. too much pressure to wake up on time and the itch to burn more calories was just overpowering
5pm Found myself feeding mosquitoes waiting for ppl in YouthPark
I wondered if I'm overdoing this. On a second thought, I should be happy I finally found people to go hiking with.
Just... not as crazy.
There were 4 of us (we thought the rest fly aeroplane but the truth was they started hiking way before us), 2 guys and 2 girls. Obviously, the leader went first, another guy followed, me third and my friend (who claimed she has never hiked before) last.
As soon as we started hiking, I knew it was a mistake. Hiking had never been such a torture. It wasn't the average enjoy-the-view-chit-chat-laugh-rest-take-your-own-sweet-time type of leisure hike. They weren't hiking, they were basically "running" up the frigging hill @_@ well almost.. this time around they claimed they were already slowing down because of us and by slowing down I mean still walking very very fast! I swear I have never seen anyone going up the hill so fast.
A journey that took maybe 45 mins ~ 1 hour for a normal person to go up was completed in less than half an hour. The longest time we stopped for a break was maybe 2 mins? That was because the leader met someone along the way and talked for a bit but he was in hurry to end the conversation to continue the hike.
We, the 2 poor souls at the back were working our asses off to keep up. It was tiring beyond words.... suddenly I miss those leisure hikes I used to take with the bf, although we still worked very hard, we didn't push ourselves to the dizzy spells limit. But these, these ungentlemen ppl just went on and on and on.. and it was only our first time hiking with them! If they're trying to scare us of, they definitely succeeded!
Spotting the end in sight was like knocking on heaven's door, a few steps away to eternal happiness... ok I'm exaggerating here but at that point, it really felt like that.
Half an hour rest at the top of the hill later, we came down. This time, no one rushed. At the foothill, some "smart" asshole decided that he didn't get enough exercise for the day and he suggested one round of jog! No it's not one round of jog around the field, we're talking bout running another 1.5km! FML!
Back in school days when we had those physical assessments, 1.5km will take us 20 minutes to complete (yes now you know how unfit I was). Their record is 9 minutes. We groaned inside, dreading the coming challenge. The leader assured us it was going to be a slow jog. We played along.
I'm not surprised when we lost sight of all of them in less than 100 metres into the jog -_- Seriously, what are these people made of?!
But yes, both of us were determined to complete the jog even though we're like the last 2 persons trailing behind. When we finally made it to the end destination, the guys were already changed into clean dry shirts, some left for the day. We were complimented for our determination and so called "not bad" fitness level for first timers. Inside we were slowly feeling the pain. Satisfied? Well yea maybe... at least we proved to them that we're not some sissy girls who give up easily. I was glad my friend was a good sport, we motivate each other.
With intense training like this every week, I'd better very fit and tone in no time!
That.. if I can ever survive the training at all...
Gloves to protect my hands from blisters.Just, be ready for a lot of complaints from me in the coming days...
The day when I first row a boat seriously
Posted On Monday, September 7, 2009 at at Monday, September 07, 2009 by Sharon
I feel like a partial cripple today. I woke with pain all over my body, stretching from the side of my neck, to my shoulders, arms, palms, to my upper back, waist, down to my butt, thighs and a little pain on my feet. As crazy as this might sound, I actually enjoy the pain. The satisfaction of working out so much in the past 2 days was just... rewarding.
Let me tell you about my day yesterday. Along with 3 of my girlfriends, we decided it should be quite an experience to go rowing. It wasn't an average leisure rowing type of activity like kayaking or canoeing, we're talking about high impact, intensive rowing where we have to give a 110% of what we have.
Now I wouldn't say no to any form of workout, I'm definitely determined to learn and give it my best. I figured it will be something to blog about and share with the readers who are occasionally stalking my life too haha. As it was only my first time there, I didn't want to look like a complete bimbo camwhorer with her camera who was only interested in taking pictures for the blog. I wanted to be serious, even more to look the part.
Being there on time is essential, at least for me. The training site is at Lebuh Maccallum, a construction side near the sea. I do not have any pictures so I'm just going to *steal* a few from the Penang Forward blog itself.
This is the container where the team store their paddles, life jackets, and other misc items for the members to keep when they go out rowing.
There were about 30 something of us at the training but we had only one boat, that day so we had to share.
This is the glorious boat the team is very proud of, I heard one boat costs about SGD14,000 and it can fit up to 20 people at one time if I'm not mistaken.
Much to our surprise, we were asked to go first. And I thought we will be at least briefed on how to hold the paddle, or work on our strokes. But no, we were thrown into practice just like that. I'm about to brave the sea, those who cannot swim have the choice to wear a life jacket but the stubborn me decided that nothing will happen and I'm pretty confident that we're in good hands.
If I fall, I fall into this greyish looking sea, not exactly a nice sight but oh well...
If I fall, I fall into this greyish looking sea, not exactly a nice sight but oh well...
One by one, we climbed into the boat and positioned ourselves. Since I'm a leftie, I chose to row on my left side. Then we slowly row backwards into the sea.
Our "coach" is a man in his late 40s, standing in the middle of the boat, correcting our sitting positions and how we should handle our paddles. When he blew the whistle, we started rowing.
One, two, SPLASH! My friend who was sitting in front of me splashed me with the dirty water. I didn't expect to stay dry throughout the training so I told her its ok and we continued rowing. It wasn't easy, I was tired in less than 20 counts. Stopped and rowed again, when I'm tired I stopped for 2 counts and started again.
The coach stood in front of us, the newbies and kept correcting our mistakes.
"You're sitting wrongly! This is not an office sitting position"
"You should only sit half of the plank"
"Arms straight, body lean forward, waist supporting your upper body"
"Lean out! Lean out! Lean out towards the sea, you won't fall!" but I was afraid of falling! I regretted not wearing the life jacket! I tried to make a joke or two but he wasn't impressed so I kept my silence and followed his orders.
"Keep your posture straight, don't hunch!"
"Sink your paddle in, almost vertical, raise it to your waist,lift it up and back to position with your arms stretched"
We practiced our strokes, one stroke per one blow of his whistle. This wasn't bad except when you have to return to the initial position to stretching your arms out and wait for the next whistle blow. I totally lost it when they started paddling fast. For one, my arms got tired real fast and once I stop, I totally lost the sync. Two, because the noobies were siting together, our paddles often came in contact and hit each other -_- Three, because we can't master the stroke well yet, we splashed sea water onto each other so much it got into our eyes we had to stop paddling to wipe the water (and sweat in my case) from our eyes.
We were glad to finally made it back to the shore. The guys went down next. It was almost a humiliation to the first team. They were so synchronized, and almost everyone looked so fit it put us to shame. We sat on a big floating concrete resting, talking and watching a dog belonging to one of the men goofed around.
This is probably the most loyal, well trained dog I've came across.
One, two, SPLASH! My friend who was sitting in front of me splashed me with the dirty water. I didn't expect to stay dry throughout the training so I told her its ok and we continued rowing. It wasn't easy, I was tired in less than 20 counts. Stopped and rowed again, when I'm tired I stopped for 2 counts and started again.
The coach stood in front of us, the newbies and kept correcting our mistakes.
"You're sitting wrongly! This is not an office sitting position"
"You should only sit half of the plank"
"Arms straight, body lean forward, waist supporting your upper body"
"Lean out! Lean out! Lean out towards the sea, you won't fall!" but I was afraid of falling! I regretted not wearing the life jacket! I tried to make a joke or two but he wasn't impressed so I kept my silence and followed his orders.
"Keep your posture straight, don't hunch!"
"Sink your paddle in, almost vertical, raise it to your waist,lift it up and back to position with your arms stretched"
We practiced our strokes, one stroke per one blow of his whistle. This wasn't bad except when you have to return to the initial position to stretching your arms out and wait for the next whistle blow. I totally lost it when they started paddling fast. For one, my arms got tired real fast and once I stop, I totally lost the sync. Two, because the noobies were siting together, our paddles often came in contact and hit each other -_- Three, because we can't master the stroke well yet, we splashed sea water onto each other so much it got into our eyes we had to stop paddling to wipe the water (and sweat in my case) from our eyes.
We were glad to finally made it back to the shore. The guys went down next. It was almost a humiliation to the first team. They were so synchronized, and almost everyone looked so fit it put us to shame. We sat on a big floating concrete resting, talking and watching a dog belonging to one of the men goofed around.
This is probably the most loyal, well trained dog I've came across.
We went down for a second round after that, this time we didn't row as much. Again, the coach was busy watching our every step. After 2 hours of rowing, we decided to call it day.
At least, we thought so....
until the leader shouted
"Ok, people! Hiking later at 5pm in YouthPark!"
FML
Training with the fittest - first experience
Posted On Saturday, September 5, 2009 at at Saturday, September 05, 2009 by Sharon
Last Thursday afternoon, I received an email from a girlfriend asking if I'm up for a seemingly difficult challenge, for me at least.
The email said
"Hey, they’re putting up a mixed-team race for pesta dragon boat race.
Do you think you’re up for it? need to train (from the emails I see they got physical training, gym training and also rowing training). They have secured sponsors for the jersey, gym and etc but need commitment from us."
I was dumbfounded, in fact I almost laughed upon reading the email and to think that my friend actually thinks that I'm fit enough for a what? Dragon boat race?
What attracted me to their trainings in the first place is the fact that they train HARD, consistent and push you to the limits, that I like. I figured it's a win-win situation for extra exercises outdoors. But to actually make the team? You gotta be kidding me.
After voicing out my concerns, my friend assured me that there's definitely no pressure on the girls. Basically this was her response, the magic sentence
"I think they need bodies with boobs to make the mixed team."
Haha bodies with boobs, yes boobs I have, but commitment? Errmm we shall see about that.
The team trains in Botanical Garden on every Saturday evening at 5.30pm and goes paddling every Sunday morning at 8.30. Obviously, I am not too excited about the Sunday workout, which means I'll have to sacrifice my Saturday night outings and sleep early wtf but, hey, never try never know.
So today was my first physical training session with them. My girlfriends were as usual, fashionably late and I was left to wait alone at the entrance. The team was there, it's impossible to miss a bunch of toned, muscular guys and some women but I made no contact with them since well, they don't know that I'm the newbie. Then someone walked up to me, someone familiar.. someone I see every week in my gym. He's the steps aerobics instructor in the gym. We talked for a bit and found out that he will be leading the training.
The training started a little past 5.30, right after my girlfriends arrived and I was briefly introduced to some people. From their previous trainings, they said it wasn't that hard, mostly jogging and a some physical exercises after that.
However, today the leader decided that he wanted a different approach. We were to jog from Botanical Garden to the stage in YouthPark. It wasn't that long of a route but the fact that I can still feel my teppanyaki beef from lunch still digesting and I was feeling heavy mattered alot. Not to mention we had to breathe in polluted exhaust smoke from passing vehicles along the way too.
The fitters ones disappeared fast, leaving us, the unfit ones huffing and puffing our ways behind. We gathered at the stage, forming a big circle where Luke, the leader directed us with some warmup exercises. Then we moved on to the field for more physical trainings.
The challenge was to run one round of the entire field but we had to stop at a few "stations" along the way to complete a set of exercises before sprinting (yes, sprint, not jog) from one station to the next.
The men went first. The ladies and some guy juniors stayed behind and observed. Then it was our turn to go. We sprinted to the first station, stopped, got down onto the ground for 30 pushups. Then we ran to the next station, hands on the ground, our legs moving in and out, that's another 30 counts. The next station was a little more of a blessing, at least we got to lie down on the ground. 30 crunches with legs up in the air. I'd rather do this that the others. In the next station, we had to do 50 jumping jacks! Already panting and halfway dead, we tried our best to pull through the challenge. Then we sprinted halfway across the field to the last station where we had to do 10 counts of burpees. And I think I smell dog poo nearby where I did my burpees :S FML
Now it may not sound much, but man it was tiring! Probably the most tiring non stop cardio workout I've had in a while. Everyone does it so fast and efficient that you feel that if you don't keep up, you're the worst of the pack. So by hook or by crook, you forced yourself to do it. No one gives a damn about you groaning in pain, no one waits for you, you just have to get to the end of the line.
We gathered back at the stage area, formed another big circle. Did a little bit of hand exercises for the biceps and triceps, another 30 pushups, 30 crunches, 30 leg presses and we stretched to cool down before calling it a day. We were in a mess, with dirt on our back, pants and little sticks sticking on our hair. We breathed in air like it was precious. The entire ordeal was only about 45 minutes. And we were already half dead.
As we slowly made our way back to Botanical Garden, the woman team leader, sped by in her car and called out to us "See you girls tomorrow ok?"
We looked at each other and laughed, yea, why not? They needed bodies with boobies to make the mixed team right? Sure, we'll do a good deed, but to take us into the team or not, or whether they decide to row the boat carrying dead weights, it's definitely up to them.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go rest these arms of mine for tomorrow's challenge.
More places in Macau 2009
Posted On Saturday, August 15, 2009 at at Saturday, August 15, 2009 by daddy
The next day morning breakfast. A huge and big banana, provided you all the energy you need to row the boat :-) After the breakfast, we went to “test water” again at the Nam Van Lake Nautical Centre, Macau.
After the training, we have our lunch at Hotel then only start our journey to explore Macau World Heritage.
First, we should go to St Lawrence’s Church but these people just gave up on the slope up to St Lawrence’s Church.
However, Teong Ming feel want to continue but just follow the majority toRua Do Lilau
Approaching Largo Do Lilau or Lilau Square
Here is the place, the Largo do Lilau but no body go to drink the spring water
The ground water of Lilau used to be the main source of natural spring water in Macau. The Portuguese popular phrase: “One who drinks from Lilau never forgets Macau” expresses the locals’ nostalgic attachment to Lilau Square. This area corresponds to one of the first Portuguese residential quarters in Macau.
Since no one drink, guess they don’t remember much!
Think this is backyard of Casa d Mandarim. We’re walking at the back street of this Mandarin’s house. A very narrow back street
The location is No. 10 Antonio da Silva Lane and temporarily closed by the time we visit.
Built in 1881, this was the traditional Chinese residential compound home of prominent Chinese literary figure Zheng Guanying. It is a traditional Chinese compound consisting of serveral courtyard houses, displaying a mix of Chinese and Western detailing, such as the use of grey bricks against arched ornamentations and Chinese timber lattice windows against mother-of-pearl window panel of Indian origin.
We’re heading to Templo de-A-Ma
Check out the direction, we’re on the right track :-)
This is it, the A-Ma Temple. This is where it all begin. A-Ma Temple already existed before the city of Macau came into being. It consists of the Gate Pavilion, the Memorial Arch, the Prayer Hall, the Hall of Benevolence, the Hall of Guanyin, and Zhengjiao Chanlin (a Buddhist pavilion). The variety of pavilions dedicated to the worship of different deities in a single complex make A-Ma Temple an exemplary representation of Chinese culture inspired by Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and multiple folk beliefs.
We go to pray pray then they found something very interesting. a bowl of water, some coin inside and there is 2 handles at each side of the bowl. I think it some kind of belief that if you be able to make the water dance by rubbing the handles, it will bring luck. So, ah chew ko try on it.
Batman also want to try but no luck. the water quiet only. nothing happen.
Then Melvin come and try with full focus. start slow and steady….!
eh…the vibration make the water slowly moving….!
and the water start dancing high in the air…..awesome! it is so cool…!
Hun then continue. the water even dance aggressively in the air with sound of the rubbing. I heard people analysis is if you keep the vibration going, the water continue dancing. So, Ah Chew Ko and Batman just warm up the bowl and they didn’t stay long enough to make the vibration continue.
From top of A-Ma Temple, you can see the Maritime Museum.
We didn’t go inside as it require some fees…! After that we took cab to MGM Hotel/Casino
