I LIKE.

Losing the tri-virginity

Shape Run 2009 – 10km – Completed!

Exhausted but happy faces: Ting, me, Ling, Cui Shan

And one just of us three girls. Ting and Ling still wearing the bib. haha. Yay yay, more buddies to run with!

It was painful to get up at 5.30am just to run. Picked Ting up, had 2 bananas on the way, and we got ready for the run as the sun peaks out from the horizon.

The run was good. I thought I won’t do well because I hardly trained! But managed to complete it a wee bit faster than my StanChart timing without suffering much. But the big kudos go to Ling, who managed to finish this 10km faster than her StanChart timing, when she didnt run at all for 7 months!

Anyway, this pushing your limits thing is getting addictive. The quest to be challenged is here. So, I signed up for…

a triathlon! The Sprint category though.. not brave enough to undertake the full triathlon yet.

So… hopefully, all goes well and I can complete my virgin semi-triathlon.

Reminiscing never ends

Dan got reminiscing about Alaska,

His msn personal message reads:
A year has passed. My heart is still in Alaska =)

Kat says:
A little bit of an emo eh?

Dan says:
Of course la…
It’s like an anniversary leh..
Still remember
Dan the meat man
Kat the vege and pasta girl
Yukina the salad girl
Bryant the food stealer
Snoring in the tents

And we proceeded on to talking about who snored the loudest (Dan won hands down, by the way).

And then… I got to reminiscing. As I have been doing for this past 2 weeks, thinking: exactly a year ago, we’re already in Alaska. 

It must be the anniversary thing.

This is how our typical day would have ended. A crackling wood-fed fire will be burning somewhere near, tents set up, bikes stowed away and locked up, and all of us will be sitting around, waiting for dinner to be ready and trying to keep warm. Drinking our Gatorade powder + water mix.

Camping outside a backpacker’s lodge because they didnt have enough rooms for us. This was our first hot shower in days. You can imagine how long everyone took in the shower!

It’s not really Alaska that I missed the most, honestly. Alaska won’t be the Alaska to me if not for this expedition. I know, I’ve been going on and on and on about how I miss it, but… I really do!!

It was such great memories, not only of Alaska, but also of our training and planning stages in Singapore; the period when our entire lives just revolved around this expedition alone. Looking at the stillness of the photos struck me as how inadequate a photograph can be in capturing a memory sometimes.

If I close my eyes, and willed hard enough, I see Alaska clearly. It’s like someone hitting the rewind button in my head and I just transcend back in time. I can see the mountainous vastness, I can feel the wind hitting my face and rippling my clothes, I can smell the cold Alaskan air.

I printed our team’s entire blog and binded it as a momento, just in case our blog got closed down one day. Now I know why we wrote, it’s a fantastic way to remember.

An expedition is distinctly different from any other forms of travelling. It blends team camaraderie and, to an extent, a sense of exploration with travelling. It allows you to discover new grounds with the team you’ve been working with for a substantial amount of time.We share a bond, we share a connection. Even though we might have gone our own ways once this expedition ended, we still shared a significant chapter in our lives together.

They say that this is a ‘once in a lifetime’ chance, I’m hoping for this not to be.

So near yet so far

Sometimes I wished I was living in the US so that I can enjoy free shipping for online shopping sales of the brands that I like.

So now, I can only scroll on wistfully, while rake through my brains to recall who is in/going to the USA.

Pfft.

Row, row, row your boat

I haven’t had the chance to shoot in a long long while. Chanced at an opportunity to go for a dragonboat race, and decided to take Dad’s camera out for a spin.

Conditions weren’t exceptional. Heavy clouds loomed over the skies, and there seemed to be some kind of a haze that was plaguing the afternoon, but thankfully the vibrant colours at the race made up for it.

I don’t know why, I’ve always liked to take pictures during dragonboat races. Maybe I take heart in youngsters like us being so passionate about such a traditional activity; although, dragonboating seems to be celebrated more as a sport than a tradition. Maybe, also, because I find dragonboaters especially spirited during the competitions. It’s their chance to shine as a team after months and months of hard work.

White, black, red, and yellow

SMU dragon boat

At the Marina Barage. 
Absolutely beautiful place, especially the green field overlooking Singapore’s city skyline.

See what I mean about being spirited?
Wilson here cheers as the girls’ team fights to get to the finish line

Old birds / supporters

Pep talk

Visualisation

 
Apparently, they have to go through a “visualisation” run before the race, so they will know how it’s like during the actual thing. I wish I could capture the heaves and grunts that they were making, it’s like they’re actually rowing and they’re using alot of effort. May seem ridiculous, but you can see it in their faces – they really want to own it.
See what I mean, again, about being spirited?

Green green grass of home

Congrats after the race

Boys’ team

 
Warm up strettcchhh

Warm up run

(=

Girls’ team getting ready to move off

  Guys’ team locked and loaded

 
All in a day’s work