Chapter 23: Yet another..Departure

I hate departures.

Worse if it is a sudden departure.

We have, or should I say, had a team mate. His name is Andraw. Perhaps, since he's no longer present tense, he shd be called Andrew (get d joke? Past tense of "draw" is "drew" -_-^)

I was at Lombok when I received a call from Lisa. We were having dinner by the beach to celebrate d end of our "hens party" holiday. After hesitating if I shd pick up the call, I eventally did. The conversation went like this:

Me: Hey Royal One
Her: Hey..
Me: *wanted to own up to smtg really terrible that happened earlier in the day..*
Her: u noe, I hate to ruin your hols but I don't think it's fair for me to keep u in the dark.
Me: *silence*..what happened?
Her: Andraw passed away. Today.
Me: WHAT!? ANDRAW?? Our Andraw!?
Her: Yes. Our Andraw. Andraw Y*w.
Me: Oh my gawd..how did..what..?
Her: I dunno, i'm very confused now. I dunno where to go.
Me: *hear the sound of engine starting* Are u in the car right now? Hmm, let me try to contact Annie, I think u definitely nd company right now.

Anw, Andraw left us on 5 September 2011. At the age of 33. He committed suicide.

When we touched down on 6 September, I immediately rushed to attend his wake.

It's surreal everyone was caught by surprise. Totally caught off guard. Just a week ago, we were having drinks at a fren's place. Just Sunday (d day before), he was having lunch with a few of my team mates.

Andraw never exhibited any signs tt he was facing difficulties. He never told anyone of us abt his problems, or sought help. He was always crapping with us, laughing at Lisa being fat, Annie being Auntie, me having to quickly find a bf.


I hate departures. Sudden, unexpected departures.

Seems like yesterday that he came for our trg, we were conquering the endless steps at fort canning.

Dere's so many questions left unanswered. Why did he do it? What compelled him to do it? Why didnt we spot anything amiss? Why??

Andraw..u will b missed.

Birthday

I used to love celebrating birthdays. As a matter of fact, I had a bad reputation of doing countdowns close to a mth before my bdae. My frens, well..-_-^ as they probably felt, played along and allowed me to indulge in it. Perhaps it was because I'm d youngest in d clique..or I was jz an extremely well-liked extrovert? Hee, I dunno.

I celebrate my 26th birthday today, in Singapore (not overseas). A peaceful n quiet affair.

Took d day off, cz it can be very damaging (in my line of job) to work on your birthday. Well, you don't want to be someone else's d ＂出气桶＂, aka punching bag, on your birthday, do you?

Well, its a different story if u r talking abt being a "垃圾车" to your frens. For that, I'd definitely b willing and able to!

I stayed up till abt 2am ytd, an amazing feat, cz those who know me well will know I have difficulties staying past 11pm. I prayed d rosary..sincerely n humbly.

For thanksgiving- d things that I'm blessed with
For strength and wisdom- to discern in d path God wants me to walk towards
For my dear frens- who r struggling to cope w their jobs, their family probs

While I'm thankful for the many gd things in my life, dere's probably smtg tt r sorely lacking in me- Contentment. Patience. Trust. Wisdom.

I yearn for a new beginning. A breakthrough in my career. And maybe, just maybe.. Love? :p


(我)值得真正的快乐 (我)应该脱下(我)穿的保护色
为什麼失去了 还要被惩罚呢
能不能就让 悲伤全部 结束在此刻 重新开始活著 「你不是真正的快乐」 :P

Cover Girl :D

Do u remember I blog abt ocbc cycle singapore? Hw I stayed to help Agnes n at d start line, a GCC (Group Corporate Communications) photograher happened 2 b takin pix, of which I noticed n so I flashed my brightest smile, askg annie to do d same too!?

WE ARE D COVER GALS OF APRIL'S TELLER MAGAZINE! :P
4 MONTHS BACK, OCBC DRAGONS WERE D COVER GALS N BOYS OF DECEMBER'S TELLER MAGAZINE :]
Me posing wif d cover gal :p
Annie posing w another cover gal :p

Chapter 22: MR500 -20 March 2011

The importance of being d backstage crew. An SMS reply frm Lisa aft I text to thank her for yet another race tt both of us can look back be proud of..

haha..is this an attempt at knight pts gaining again!? If it is, it worked wonderfully! Haha no la no la, u noe ur backstage comments reminded me of weiyi's autograph bk entry. Sometimes ppl at the backstage r also essential for success! I def exp it this time rd..N yes, w/o the other backstage crew..urself esp (do without complaining), annie (mother of emo boys), doreen (disciplinarian), this wld nt hv been possible!!! (is my speech time alrdy up? Did I hear the backgrd music?) :D I love the fact dat ppl put in effort.. It jz feels appreciated n all worth it. I dn mind being the "slave"..N putting my tears, sweat & blood in it. Even if it means growing super thick skin to ask favours from the organisers n rowers alike!

MR500 race is one that bears plenty of significance to me. I say this becoz I always remember MR500 as a "come back race". I recall the MR500 in 2006. It was our come back race after our painful defeat during the previous race - Regatta. In 2005 Regatta, we came in last. Within a short period of 3 mths under a new coach, Sir-Coach Nasiman, led our ladies team to go frm zero to hero. For that year's MR500, we came in 2nd. Not champions, but hey, it was a something really spectacular for us :] This year's MR500 was also somewhat a "come back race". For 2 years, we never had a men's team. U'd be surprised, perhaps ur jaw may even drop, to know that we do not even have 10 men to form a team for inter-corporate mens event. For the past 2 years, we have been sending only ladies and mixed team down for races.

We decided that with the extra funding we've got frm Rec Club, we wld use the $ to send an all-mens team to compete in our MR500 race. We have 2 newest addition to d team, jeffrey and tyrone. Along the way, royal one shamelessly asked for the commitment of some rowers (staff of ocbc rowing full-time for other teams, but part-time ocbc dragons) for the race. With that, we managed to formed a men's team and it marks a beginning of a new chapter.

Truly, we are blessed.

Oh btw, did I tell u that I'm d drummer? :PLet d pix do the talking..

Introducing..Weggis the golden retriever What a regal, handsome retriever, isnt he?Introducing..Sunny the Cavalier King Charles SpainelCheeky Sunny..eyeing, erm..well, u'd see ltr Damn gross..yea, wad can I say? Sunny's out and proud?Me and WeggisAnnie and SunnyRoyal one, with Weggis and SunnyDoreen and WeggisEugene and WeggisSo the guys were down for 2 events today. Inter Corporate Opens- Heat no. 2, following which Inter Corporate Finals (for 1st 2 teams and 3rd best timing). For the heats, our mens team came in 2nd. Gd enuf to get into the finals. We were thrilled! I rmb drumming and jz shouting as loud as I cld for the guys. From the corner of my eye, a team was clearly ahead of us. It was HP Team B. When we came back onto the pontoon, I was given a warning for not drumming vigorously enuf. Like, wtf?

Coach debrief d guys and then we rested, ate, picnic-ed, and chill until it was time for the Corporate Open Finals.

A race is incomplete without supporters!
Some of our lovely rowers who cheered on our guys!

Ethan: Poor boy! He was supposed to row, but he fell off the pontoon a wk before MR500. D part above his love handles, below his rib cage, hit the gunwale when he fell. He was in so much pain, but only managed to visit a sinseh ytd and has to be out of action for the timebeing..Our foreign talents frm Philippines..Rosiel and Marvin :]Foreign talent no. 2-XiaoPei..frm Indonesia :DCheck out our new cooler box and how royal one took alot of effort to have "OCBC DRAGONS" stenciled to perfection!Soon, it was time for our mens team to go down for the Corporate Opens event. Remembering what they had alr done for the heats, and what cld be done better, our mens team went down with 1 goal in mind- Row 1 GOOD set.

They came in 3rd! Yes, our newly established mens team got a race cookie! The supporters on shore were so proud of us. I was so proud of our mens team!

It was also Jeffrey's birthday today. Apart from getting a nice cookie as present, our guys had something else in store for him..TAU POK!Jeffrey being a willing victim as he obediently lay himself downWhat a nice bdae present~He survived!
Winning carries a lot of weight (wait). So yes, we had to wait for the prize giving ceremony to receive the medals and trophy. What better thing to do than cam-whore?

Lisa and AnnieLisa and MeAnnie, mother of emo boysOur newest addition, jeffrey and tyroneTogether forever..bromance-Kenneth and Bryan We were 2nd runner up, behind HP Team A and Team B. U noe the most ironic thing was that you probably wouldn't be able to find a team who clinched 3rd, yet they were genuinely contented and so happy for themselves. Wanna know why? Ask OCBC..Dragons :DOur Mens Team going up to stage to get the awardDrummerReservesOCBC DragonsMen's TeamWe proceeded back to OCBC Rec Club to shower, following which we had dinner at Golden Cafe. Those who remembered to bring their Adidas windbreaker decided to segregate themselves from those who din bring..tsk tsk, such poseurs! :p Us without windbreakersSomething that was really memorable which I felt was worth sharing was that at din table, we had diz impromptu thing whereby we went one rd and each of us talked abt our post-race feelings. It started with me, cz royal one arrowed! Roarz!

It was a very gd "debrief" whereby each of us shared our feelings and gratitude toward one another for all their effort :D For this race, d ladies were the backstage crew. The ones that quietly fade into the background, but are nonetheless crucial in ensuring the success and smooth-running of the performance.
OCBC SHA!

OCBC Cycle Singapore 2011

Introducing..OCBC Dragons who can row, and ride :]
All right! Before I type further..i wanna say I'm so happy coz I have access to blogger! I'm at work nw btw..and normally access to blogger is denied.

OCBC Cycle Singapore 2011 was held on 6 March 2011, Sunday. This year, we did not have the privilege of opting for bikes, which meant that we have to make arrangement for our bikes to be delivered.

Xiaopei and I stayed over at Annie's place on Saturday nite so that it would be more convenient to go down for all of us to go down on Saturday morning. We woke up as early as 530am and changed into our absolutely cool cycle jersey and tights. This year, we are gonna look professional. 40km Nissan Challenge, here we come! :D

Vincent was really sweet to fetch the ladies down. We picked up CJ along the way as well.

We reached by 640am and deposited our bags into Bryan's car, then made our way to F1 race pit to collect our bikes and get ready for the flag off.

The flag off for 40km Nissan Challenge was at 715am. As usual, we were late! Roarz! I stayed back to help Agnes adjust her helmet strap as it was giving her difficulties. while the rest made their way to the start point. Only Annie stayed to wait for both of us.

Well, guess what? The best things in life comes unexpected! Little did I know that this lil act of kindness reap..fame! LOL. Apparently, we were one of the last few to start the race and I recalled seeing a photography on my right. Hence, I told Annie, "Smile for the camera!"

Next moment, our faces were published for the entire OCBC to see. Wahaha :D

The 40km ride was very enjoyable! We weren't that competitive and all we wanted was to come back in time for the 4km Cycle of Hope, which was an event in support of Cancer patients. The flag off was at 945am and unfortunately, we didn't make it back in time.

It was v coincident that as a cycled past Kallang River, we saw the N team gals getting ready for the time trial. Rang told me the day before that she had a time trial today. Low and behold, she was there, in the "are you ready" position. We shouted, "YIIIIRANNNG!" and yes, she turned and saw us :]

Covering the 20km ECP stretch on wheels, was waaay more fun than completing it on foot.

I completed the race in a time of 2:13:19. Following which, it was lots of camwhoring.

Proper cool down, led by Bryan
We proceeded to Suntec for lunch and I had to settle my big craving. Let me share with u a dirty lil secret of mine. I crave a bowl of yummy laksa after every marathon/race. It is a must have!

Some of the fun we have outside of trg:

Introducing..Bryan. (trying to hump/windsurf the banner)
We were all laughing at his tights coz of this really weird circle design?
Here's Capt- past and present. Lisa (royal one) and Marvin (d one who handed over the responsibility to..the Crecsentians)
Ethan and Bryan
Annie and Doreen
Me..
Lisa, Agnes, Marvin, Annie and me
Top row: Eugene, Bryan, Shinta (netball :), Ethan, Tyrone
Bottom Row: CJ, May, XiaoPei, Me, Annie, Doreen and Lisa
Tyrone, XiaoPei, Annie, Bryan, Doreen, Me, Lisa, Eugene

Preparing..
OCBC SHA!!!