The celebration
Posted On Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at at Tuesday, July 13, 2010 by Sharon
And the result of the dragonboat race was...
TADA!!!
If you look carefully at the trophy and you can read Chinese, it says '6'. Ok, so we didn't win first, second or third placing but hell did we put effort into the race! It didn't matter though, we still have a trophy to prove that the team was in the finals!
Group photo at the lobby before departing to the celebration dinner the organizer held for us.
Everyone wants a piece of the trophy after putting much effort into the race :D well duh!
We were brought to a very lavish looking hotel (sorry it totally slipped my mind to take picture of the hotel from the outside) and entering the ballroom where the celebration dinner was held just blew all of our minds. According to some of the guys who had been out racing for years, this was possibly the best celebration dinner they've ever had.
Where's our table?
Every table was nicely setup fine dining style, with local products given out for free on each table.
We have milk of different funky flavours
Red wine and packets of ciggies
VERY very tasty vinegar
and free beer :D
Now altogether now YAM SENG!
Needless to say, it was an affair to remember by all that night. We rowed, we laughed and we got drunk. Ok, not me, I mean the guys. I stayed away from alcohol that night. Ok, so I may have a glass of beer and a sip of red wine but that's all. It was truly a celebration enjoyed by all.
Great food = Happy stomachs
Great people = Lots of fun and laughter involved.
Let me talk about the food.
The organizers made sure all of us went back not only with full stomachs but STUFFED as well. Have you ever had a 14 course dinner? Not me, definitely my first time.
Our first dish, oh-so-orgasmic plate of pork! It's so good everyone fought till the very last piece! @_@ Confirmed the best plate of pork I've had ever.
Prawn with pepper, pretty tasty too
After the second dish, rice wine was served.
and so did the alcohol binge! Yuck the taste of the rice wine was too strong for me, I don't have to taste it to know how strong it was :S
Next is the sliced conpoy or dried scallop in sweet corn soup
and bak chang! (glutinous rice in bamboo leaf) It's sweet.
Next in the list we had fried cashew nuts with 2 kinds of meat
Deep fried crisp chicken, loved it!
Pork ribs with ginger
Fried fish with special sauce. I think the special sauce was the vinegar. Didn't like it, it had too much of the vinegar that the dish sucked to the max.
Stir fried beer with black pepper and onion
Fried rice with egg and ham. At this point, I can only stomach the peas and pieces of ham.
Pan fried onion cake, normal and bland
Braised mushrooms with vegetables
Fried noodle... bleh~
Last but not least, the final dish, fruit platter
Our steersman lived up to his reputation as being the last one standing when all of us couldn't go on anymore! He kept eating!
There were performances from different teams throughout the night. Teams from England, Australia, Macau, Hong Kong and even the host country gave performances; be it drama or singing.
As you can see, it was indeed a happening night for all. Performers as well as the audience.
He's not a local celebrity but he acted like one! Ok, so he's a hot fireman from Macau.
One of the many things that happened in celebrations like this is...
Jersey exchange between different teams.
Yes yes, we know you have muscles too!
That's right, if you like other teams' jersey you can just approach any one of the member and ask to exchange jersey with them, on the spot! But not before you're forced to take picture half naked!
Sigh, they all looked like they were molested LOL
After the celebration dinner, the night was still early so the guys decided to take the party down town to a club called Babyface.
In the cab, where you can catch World Cup matches live at the back of the taxi on the tv screen!
The following pictures are self explanatory. All of us had great fun that night! :D
And the peace sign is so overrated -_- It practically appears in 7 out of 10 photos -_-"
This is how much the team manager was "loved"
It was our last night in Guangzhou and all good things must to come an end. We decided to go for another round of 'makan' session (god bless our tummies) for a good end.
It was possibly one of the best supper I've had in my life.
This grilled mackerel dish smelt a little foul when they first served it, I was qite hesitant to try it in the beginning but after much persuasion and convincing from the rest of the people, I gave it a try. The rest was history, I can't stop eating it.
Roti canai, China style haha. Crispy.
Grilled brinjal, awesome sauce but we have this here too.
Mutton satay, omfg so thick and juicy!
Steamed dumplings, best eaten dipped with vinegar, 2 thumbs up!
Grilled 'ku chai', I think it's called garlic chives in English, the kind you normally find in your plate of char koay teow. Who would have thought it could taste this good? It had to be the seasoning they used.
This wraps up the report on our Guangzhou trip. Like I said, I didn't enjoy China in the beginning especially after the stories I've heard of the public toilets but the great company and food made up for everything else. It was too bad I didn't spend more days in China for more sightseeing but I know this will not be my first and last trip.
Thank you, for the patience in reading my long winded stories. Again, I hope you've enjoyed reading my travel stories as much as I've enjoyed writing them :)
Till then, cheers~!
TADA!!!
If you look carefully at the trophy and you can read Chinese, it says '6'. Ok, so we didn't win first, second or third placing but hell did we put effort into the race! It didn't matter though, we still have a trophy to prove that the team was in the finals!
Group photo at the lobby before departing to the celebration dinner the organizer held for us.
Everyone wants a piece of the trophy after putting much effort into the race :D well duh!
We were brought to a very lavish looking hotel (sorry it totally slipped my mind to take picture of the hotel from the outside) and entering the ballroom where the celebration dinner was held just blew all of our minds. According to some of the guys who had been out racing for years, this was possibly the best celebration dinner they've ever had.
Where's our table?
Every table was nicely setup fine dining style, with local products given out for free on each table.
We have milk of different funky flavours
Red wine and packets of ciggies
VERY very tasty vinegar
and free beer :D
Now altogether now YAM SENG!
Needless to say, it was an affair to remember by all that night. We rowed, we laughed and we got drunk. Ok, not me, I mean the guys. I stayed away from alcohol that night. Ok, so I may have a glass of beer and a sip of red wine but that's all. It was truly a celebration enjoyed by all.
Great food = Happy stomachs
Great people = Lots of fun and laughter involved.
Let me talk about the food.
The organizers made sure all of us went back not only with full stomachs but STUFFED as well. Have you ever had a 14 course dinner? Not me, definitely my first time.
Our first dish, oh-so-orgasmic plate of pork! It's so good everyone fought till the very last piece! @_@ Confirmed the best plate of pork I've had ever.
Prawn with pepper, pretty tasty too
After the second dish, rice wine was served.
and so did the alcohol binge! Yuck the taste of the rice wine was too strong for me, I don't have to taste it to know how strong it was :S
Next is the sliced conpoy or dried scallop in sweet corn soup
and bak chang! (glutinous rice in bamboo leaf) It's sweet.
Next in the list we had fried cashew nuts with 2 kinds of meat
Deep fried crisp chicken, loved it!
Pork ribs with ginger
Fried fish with special sauce. I think the special sauce was the vinegar. Didn't like it, it had too much of the vinegar that the dish sucked to the max.
Stir fried beer with black pepper and onion
Fried rice with egg and ham. At this point, I can only stomach the peas and pieces of ham.
Pan fried onion cake, normal and bland
Braised mushrooms with vegetables
Fried noodle... bleh~
Last but not least, the final dish, fruit platter
Our steersman lived up to his reputation as being the last one standing when all of us couldn't go on anymore! He kept eating!
There were performances from different teams throughout the night. Teams from England, Australia, Macau, Hong Kong and even the host country gave performances; be it drama or singing.
As you can see, it was indeed a happening night for all. Performers as well as the audience.
He's not a local celebrity but he acted like one! Ok, so he's a hot fireman from Macau.
One of the many things that happened in celebrations like this is...
Jersey exchange between different teams.
Yes yes, we know you have muscles too!
That's right, if you like other teams' jersey you can just approach any one of the member and ask to exchange jersey with them, on the spot! But not before you're forced to take picture half naked!
Sigh, they all looked like they were molested LOL
After the celebration dinner, the night was still early so the guys decided to take the party down town to a club called Babyface.
In the cab, where you can catch World Cup matches live at the back of the taxi on the tv screen!
The following pictures are self explanatory. All of us had great fun that night! :D
And the peace sign is so overrated -_- It practically appears in 7 out of 10 photos -_-"
This is how much the team manager was "loved"
It was our last night in Guangzhou and all good things must to come an end. We decided to go for another round of 'makan' session (god bless our tummies) for a good end.
It was possibly one of the best supper I've had in my life.
This grilled mackerel dish smelt a little foul when they first served it, I was qite hesitant to try it in the beginning but after much persuasion and convincing from the rest of the people, I gave it a try. The rest was history, I can't stop eating it.
Roti canai, China style haha. Crispy.
Grilled brinjal, awesome sauce but we have this here too.
Mutton satay, omfg so thick and juicy!
Steamed dumplings, best eaten dipped with vinegar, 2 thumbs up!
Grilled 'ku chai', I think it's called garlic chives in English, the kind you normally find in your plate of char koay teow. Who would have thought it could taste this good? It had to be the seasoning they used.
This wraps up the report on our Guangzhou trip. Like I said, I didn't enjoy China in the beginning especially after the stories I've heard of the public toilets but the great company and food made up for everything else. It was too bad I didn't spend more days in China for more sightseeing but I know this will not be my first and last trip.
Thank you, for the patience in reading my long winded stories. Again, I hope you've enjoyed reading my travel stories as much as I've enjoyed writing them :)
Till then, cheers~!
Guangzhou - Race Day!
Posted On Thursday, July 8, 2010 at at Thursday, July 08, 2010 by Sharon
Quoted from the official PFSC blog on drummer:
The question then arises: “Why do we need the Drummer?”
- Very simply, because a Dragon Boat without Drummer is no longer a Dragon Boat and because we do need someone to throw into water after racing and - finally we all want our fun! It is fun to take the person who has been yelling at you during all the practices and races and throw them into the water.
Ok, so maybe not all stated in the above is true, we don't have a drummer during practice sessions, the drummer will have to be part of the rowing team as well, which means he/she will have to row together with the rest.
I have to be honest, I am not a good rower; my strokes are probably still out of sync and my stamina runs out fast (the consequences of skipping too many rowing trainings) but if there's one thing for sure I can contribute to the team, it's my loud chi cha voice haha
And that's what they need for a drummer; someone who can shout out loud and non stop. Sharon is just the perfect candidate (or so she thinks) *ehem* and when the team manager asked who would like to be the drummer for the race, she was only more than happy to volunteer.
3rd day! Finally the real race day.
Due to the high capacity of participants, judges and supporters staying in the hotel, breakfast was chaotic. And bland too.
I took a bite of everything just to get a taste of it and left the rest uneaten :p Now now don't lecture me on food wastage.
By 830 in the morning, we were all gathered at the lobby waiting for our transport to take us to the race location.
Australian supporters with their super big thumb!
Our tai kong (steersman) proves that he can sleep anywhere, anytime!
It was again raining! The bleak wet weather did not prevent these old ladies from getting their foot massage.
The weather was just so discouraging but sort of a blessing in disguise. No need for sunblock or sunglasses!
The one and only team representing Malaysia, aiseh...
First picture of our new jersey! Say it's nice! My boss saw this picture then he saw
this...
and he asked,
"How come you guy wrap yourself up so much? After all those gruesome trainings you've been through, don't you want to flaunt your bodies?!"
Ermm we're not that confident with our bodies... yet!
Main sponsor for the jersey ;)
Bored of waiting so we camwhored for a bit...
So cold the nipples are showing LOL
The chairman being interviewed by the local media
The race was officially started with long decorated dragonboats cruising down the river with people drumming in the boat. I don't know if they have a certain rhythm to abide to but it was kinda fun to watch :D
Video below if you're interested.
More 50 people boat, lots of them...
Dragon's head, somehow it sounds kinda vulgar addressing it in Hokkien, if you know what I mean lol
Opps, too heavy the boat actually sunk! No casualties tho :)
Team banner
Paddles
If-you-die-its-not-our-problem form
And how can we not take the obligatory team photo!
Our team was to compete with the other 5 teams; 1 from Canada and the rest of the 4 from HK if I'm not mistaken at 10.50am.
Here's the assistant coach giving last minute instructions and motivation to the team! I love how everyone looked so serious and concentrated! Go team!
It was my second time being a drummer and despite the fact that it was drizzling and I was a little panicky sitting at the edge of the boat feeling insecure, I love EVERY MINUTE of it.
I love the adrenaline rush prior to the start of the race, it was like I was almost as nervous as the rest of the guys though I don't have to work as hard as them except to scream my lungs out with words of encouragement. The advantage of sitting a level up higher than the rest is that you're able to see how hard everyone is working. The scream of pain on their faces as they pushed themselves to the limit, putting effort in each and every stroke pushing the boat forward was just... exhilarating.
And it just makes you want to work and scream HARDER! I don't know, I was like a crazy woman screaming nonstop on the top of my lungs the moment the race started. To the extent that I got carried away and the beating of the drum was getting faster with each passing second that it almost screwed up the timing of the first guy sitting in the front of the boat HAHA and he claimed that I scared the bejesus out of him for screaming so loud WTF ermm come on.. I have to scream loud enough to encourage the whole boat right? :D
The comments were that I screamed loud, like loud enough to give good motivation and encouragement - GOOD.
BUT the problem is, I screamed and talked too fast that they don't know what the hell was I talking about - BAD
We ended up second in the first heat, automatically qualified straight to the finals!
When we were back, it was time for lunch. A Chinese lunch box! It was surprisingly good :D
After lunch, we had more time to fool around before the finals.
We then walked around the place for a bit
hoping to spot hot guys
This was where competing teams enter and received life jackets and paddles (if you don't have one)
Guangzhou team banner
The Aussie women back from race
This was where we got onto the boats
The final race was at 2.50pm in the afternoon. We gave it all our best alright, only this time I toned down a little on my screaming after the feedback I received on being too loud and too distractive :p but the spirit cheered on~!
And the final result is....
to be revealed in the next post... eh writing long entry is effort drenching ok? Gimme a break!
The question then arises: “Why do we need the Drummer?”
- Very simply, because a Dragon Boat without Drummer is no longer a Dragon Boat and because we do need someone to throw into water after racing and - finally we all want our fun! It is fun to take the person who has been yelling at you during all the practices and races and throw them into the water.
Ok, so maybe not all stated in the above is true, we don't have a drummer during practice sessions, the drummer will have to be part of the rowing team as well, which means he/she will have to row together with the rest.
I have to be honest, I am not a good rower; my strokes are probably still out of sync and my stamina runs out fast (the consequences of skipping too many rowing trainings) but if there's one thing for sure I can contribute to the team, it's my loud chi cha voice haha
And that's what they need for a drummer; someone who can shout out loud and non stop. Sharon is just the perfect candidate (or so she thinks) *ehem* and when the team manager asked who would like to be the drummer for the race, she was only more than happy to volunteer.
3rd day! Finally the real race day.
Due to the high capacity of participants, judges and supporters staying in the hotel, breakfast was chaotic. And bland too.
I took a bite of everything just to get a taste of it and left the rest uneaten :p Now now don't lecture me on food wastage.
By 830 in the morning, we were all gathered at the lobby waiting for our transport to take us to the race location.
Australian supporters with their super big thumb!
Our tai kong (steersman) proves that he can sleep anywhere, anytime!
It was again raining! The bleak wet weather did not prevent these old ladies from getting their foot massage.
The weather was just so discouraging but sort of a blessing in disguise. No need for sunblock or sunglasses!
The one and only team representing Malaysia, aiseh...
First picture of our new jersey! Say it's nice! My boss saw this picture then he saw
this...
and he asked,
"How come you guy wrap yourself up so much? After all those gruesome trainings you've been through, don't you want to flaunt your bodies?!"
Ermm we're not that confident with our bodies... yet!
Main sponsor for the jersey ;)
Bored of waiting so we camwhored for a bit...
So cold the nipples are showing LOL
The chairman being interviewed by the local media
The race was officially started with long decorated dragonboats cruising down the river with people drumming in the boat. I don't know if they have a certain rhythm to abide to but it was kinda fun to watch :D
Video below if you're interested.
More 50 people boat, lots of them...
Dragon's head, somehow it sounds kinda vulgar addressing it in Hokkien, if you know what I mean lol
Opps, too heavy the boat actually sunk! No casualties tho :)
Team banner
Paddles
If-you-die-its-not-our-problem form
And how can we not take the obligatory team photo!
Our team was to compete with the other 5 teams; 1 from Canada and the rest of the 4 from HK if I'm not mistaken at 10.50am.
Here's the assistant coach giving last minute instructions and motivation to the team! I love how everyone looked so serious and concentrated! Go team!
It was my second time being a drummer and despite the fact that it was drizzling and I was a little panicky sitting at the edge of the boat feeling insecure, I love EVERY MINUTE of it.
I love the adrenaline rush prior to the start of the race, it was like I was almost as nervous as the rest of the guys though I don't have to work as hard as them except to scream my lungs out with words of encouragement. The advantage of sitting a level up higher than the rest is that you're able to see how hard everyone is working. The scream of pain on their faces as they pushed themselves to the limit, putting effort in each and every stroke pushing the boat forward was just... exhilarating.
And it just makes you want to work and scream HARDER! I don't know, I was like a crazy woman screaming nonstop on the top of my lungs the moment the race started. To the extent that I got carried away and the beating of the drum was getting faster with each passing second that it almost screwed up the timing of the first guy sitting in the front of the boat HAHA and he claimed that I scared the bejesus out of him for screaming so loud WTF ermm come on.. I have to scream loud enough to encourage the whole boat right? :D
The comments were that I screamed loud, like loud enough to give good motivation and encouragement - GOOD.
BUT the problem is, I screamed and talked too fast that they don't know what the hell was I talking about - BAD
We ended up second in the first heat, automatically qualified straight to the finals!
When we were back, it was time for lunch. A Chinese lunch box! It was surprisingly good :D
After lunch, we had more time to fool around before the finals.
We then walked around the place for a bit
hoping to spot hot guys
This was where competing teams enter and received life jackets and paddles (if you don't have one)
Guangzhou team banner
The Aussie women back from race
This was where we got onto the boats
The final race was at 2.50pm in the afternoon. We gave it all our best alright, only this time I toned down a little on my screaming after the feedback I received on being too loud and too distractive :p but the spirit cheered on~!
And the final result is....
to be revealed in the next post... eh writing long entry is effort drenching ok? Gimme a break!
