The weekend was made more monstrous by my falling sick on Wednesday after 2 consecutive days of swimming + jogging + lack of sleep + donating blood.. Sometimes I ask why I fall sick so often this academic year.. but i should be asking myself why am I not resting enough?
That again.. I should be sleeping now but I need to blog down this monster weekend before I lose memory of it...
Friday 15th Feb 2008 - Chingay Preview While the rest of the dancers had the day off (excuse letters) I suppose that doesn't spare me from project meetings. So with tissue stuck in my nose I had to rush back to hall at 4pm to get ready for Chingay Preview.
Maybe it was just the preview.. maybe it was because of the location of Chingay this year.. maybe because of the participating floats that we were sandwiched in between.. somehow the atmosphere of Chingay didn't feel as exhilarating as the one I participated in (and so strongly vowed to take part in again) 2 years ago. But yeah.. Friday just passed without the pomp and pizazz I had expected. Probably because I was still sniffing through a wet nose.
Saturday 16th Feb 2008 - Chingay Woke up feeling slightly better than the day before.. still don't feel at my peak but at least the tap in my nose had clogged up into chesty phlegms choked amidst my windpipes.
One of the best things about being a Static Performer on the float is that I don't have to meet the rest of the dancers at 11am to begin make up (other than the drastically less number of practices and the exposure on top of the float haha). So I finally made up my mind to go down to SISTIC to get my 五月天-回到地球表面演唱会 concert tickets..
Why not online? Because some smart ass said that we probably can get better seats if we go to the ticketing outlet as at least I can choose my seats.
So I headed my way down to IMM, hoping to settle the tickets in 2 hours so that I can rush back to hall to catch an hour more of sleep. Whoa lao dunno is i sway or what after travelling all the way there that idiot had to tell me that the system was down! KNN!!
Lucky got free shuttle bus to the 'nearest SISTIC outlet' at Jurong Point.
And yes, turns out the smart ass was right. I got front view seats! Woots!! Darn expensive though. But yea.. Mayday Concert is really worth this amount I suppose. The concert better not disappoint as this is the first time I'm actually watching a Pop concert. (All other performances I've ever been to have been musicals. Wa so atas haha).
Yes, mad rush again back to hall, change, makeup and all hyped up for CHINGAY 2008 - Parade of Dreams
Here are some photos of camwhoring before the parade actually started. Hey! That's what Chingay is all about!! And here are the supporters that came. More came though.. just that I only managed to catch photos with Sean, JS, SK, Tricia, Shihong, JK, Abhi... And of course.. the photos taken from the top of the float. I guess pictures speak a thousand words. For more photos click here:
All in all, Chingay 2008 still did not disappoint. The atmosphere was pumped high and everyone had a lot of fun. The audience was as usual spectacular and not to mention the decorations were breathtaking. While Chingay@Padang ended off rather abruptly at the end of the parade circuit where the buses just fetched us back to hall.. Chingay@Orchard ended at River Hongbao where we could continue camwhoring and enjoy ourselves even further before we shagged ourselves out contentedly. That's the only slight regret about this year's Chingay.
Still, I would love to participate in Chingays to come. But.. oh well. All good things must come to and end.
Just like The Cinderella. What a great closure to an awesome float. =)
Sunday 17th Feb 2008 - NUS Biathlon So the night before I was still running a temperature of 37.1ºC and contemplating even whether to take part in the Biathlon or not. After all, I paid a bloody $25 for this stupid event and trained for it. That again, my life isn't worth $25 and a stupid T-shirt.
Thanks to Ivan for helping my buy my breakfast and Red Bull while I quickly went to bed after Chingay.. praying hard that I would recover by the time I woke up.
And i woke up with a temperature of 36.5ºC. Still not in the best of conditions.. but oh heck it! Off to ECP I go!!
Compared to Biathlon 2 years ago.. SWIMMING AT EAST COAST PARK IS DAMN SHACK!! While in Sentosa I just had to swim to and fro (one against the current and one aided by the current).. swimming in a bloody triangle in East Coast was like a neverending battle against the waves for two-thirds of the battle. Doesn't help that my swimming cap came off halfway through the swim and I had to hold it in my hands. But yea.. still completed the bloody swim.
The run was less shag though. Maybe because we waited like damn long for Yaohui to come out of the sea... though in the end Gabe and I pushed off first. The distanced felt a little longer than in Sentosa but the pace was nice so the Biathlon was completed smoothly. =)
Photos! Met Pingyong and Pinghong just before the start of the swim. Interestingly I registered in between them. Interestingly Pinghong and I had the same pair of running shoes we displayed nicely in the square allocated to us in the transition area. Interestingly both of us prepared Red Bull as well haha. Even more interestingly Shengwei, Yaohui, Gabe, Pinghong, Me and Pingyong had consecutive race numbers.. i.e. we registered after each other without any prior arrangement at all! Haha.
Don't ask me why I look fat in all the photos. (Yes I'm still fat. Narbei)
Sunday 17th Feb 2008 - Chingay Heartland Chinatown With weary muscles i dragged myself back to hall to prepare for the 2nd event of the day. Tried to sleep in the afternoon but I just couldn't knock myself out. Too hot? Or my body's too energized? I just laid in bed though.. coz I just didn't feel like doing anything at all.
It was more of Chinatown's CNY celebrations than Chingay Heatland itself. The heartland part was only on the last half an hour of the night while most of the time was spent watching the CNY performances put up by the various invited performing groups.
Again, we had to camwhore when we had the opportunity to.. Photos taken on the float and of the Chinatown decorationsThe most memorable part of the night was that it was my first time seeing firecrackers blasting before my very eyes. Loud, smoky but it was so filled with the CNY festive mood! Firecrackers popping on the top of the building created beautiful red confetti that snowed down the streets of Chinatown that was so so picturesque as well.
And of course.. the best part about any celebrations is Fireworks up close. =)
Now I'm just trying to get my studies back on track.. Do my part for projects.. study what I'm required to study.. FYP Poster.. and of course.. FIND A JOB which I've been delaying for very long now.
But all these are distracted by a so-very-important activity which I rather be doing.. PLANNING FOR GRAD TRIP!! Haha.. Check this out - My Air Ticket and Rail Pass! Well well.. till dunno when till my next update.. Love you all deep deep! =)
Signed off at 3:05 am
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Avatar Withdrawal
Sunday, February 03, 2008
I think I'm suffering too much withdrawal symptoms of not watching this show..
What Avatar: The Last Airbender Character are you?
Your Result: You are Aang
your a very hyperactive, and moody person. Which, isn't a bad thing because you solve every problem with a smile, but your caring and emotion can't be used everywhere, and it is up to you to use it as you can. Yet, your still a kid (more than likely) and you want to enjoy life as it is, not how it will be in the next 5 years, or how it would have been 100 years ago.