Happy CNY everyone!

Hello!

Happy Lunar New Year to all who reads my nonsensical scribbles! :) May the year of the Rat bring you health, wealth and happiness for you and your loved ones. :)

This year chinese new year was especially dull for me. Its the first time in many years where my relatives decided to skip my household on the 2nd day of the new year, which ofcourse is not necessarily a bad thing, but it also means that there will no longer be the usual hustle and bustle of my relatives crowding around and playing cards at home this year. Somehow without that, Chinese New Year felt incomplete.

The first day of CNY was the usual visit my grandpa and get all the angpaos followed by the usual "interrogation" by my aunties on why i don't have a GF as yet, which predictably is followed by my usual answer of "I am too busy for that.". Its the same thing year after year.

2nd day was spent at home sleeping, studying and going for my swim ( to burn off all the BBQ meat and fried foodstuff i had at my grandpa's place the day b 4).

The third day was the most amazing i have ever had! There were a few firsts, let me list them for u:
1. First time i row in a 3G boat in Kallang River!
2. First time i row with the Grey Owl Cub paddle ( blade slightly smaller than the competition grade paddle we usually use)
3. First time i row beside a foreigner!
4. First time a foreigner (non -chinese) greeted me "恭喜发财" in chinese, live some more!
5. First time i carried a 3G boat!
6. First time i get to flip the boat over!
7. First time i think i can row better on my left than my right! ( Although the left side still lacked the power of the right, but i think that will come in due time. :) )

It was truly exciting to be back after so long, in the words of WJ ---- "It seems like it has been a long time..." and i can't agree more. SDBA was unusally quiet on the 3rd day of CNY. Other than NUS, and another poly team i think this was the only other team that was rowing on that day. I could not remember when was the last time i rowed, but it was truly enjoyable and it brought back lots of memories as usual. We did not go beyong Shears bridge but to be back in the middle of Kallang river after such a along time was truly amazing. This image of the surroundings when we are in the middle of the river... its something one will never see or experience unless one is a dragonboater or canoeist (or maybe as a consolation, one can always hop onto the Duck Tour and take a tour of Kallang and Singapore river, but dun expect the boat to stop in the middle of kallang river for you to enjoy the scenery. :P ).

It was a nice 1 hour row, a nice warm up after my long break. The 3 of us tried to blend in by acting as rookies and 2 of us went to the extent as so leave our paddles and live vests at home (i was actually planning on using the SDBA paddle! Can u imagine??? ) but after a while it was more than obvious who was the newbies and who had some experience rowing, but hey, you must give us the benefit of doubt, its really been sometime since we rowed, so our skills may have dwindled to that of a newbie. The sun was kind and we had a cloudy late morning. It was a good exercise and after that we had to transport the boat back to the nursery and flip it over. Then we headed to Suntec to change and had Subway! Finally some healthy food after all the unhealthy CNY goodies.

It was all in all a great day, the only pity is that we did not take any photos for keepsake... haiz. I am still waiting for the day where me and my friends can row together in a boat again. :) I am sure that day will come somehow someway.

After the row I went home to sleep. Was damn tired. Think i "lao liao", cannot row without feeling tired anymore. Later i woke up late evening to rush my appraisal (of myself). Its my first time writing and i think it looks and feels funny, i think asians are not used to this sort of "self-bragging". Remember when we were kids and someone commends us and our parents will go... "No no no, dun say that it will cause him to have a big head, he is not that great....". I think in this society, it no longer pays to be too humble, when its time to brag, go ahead and BRAG! If its right that you or your child for that matter (Pls take note for those planning to have children) to take a compliment, go ahead and receive it! You deserve it, not taking it or watering it down may do more harm than good in the long run.

The fourth day of CNY was Sunday. i spent the morning at home watching the old "Journey to the west" on you-tube. Kinda miss the series, its really a classic. Oh did i mention that i woke up with back pain and muscle soreness in my shoulders??? Think there is no denying the fact that i am no longer young! :( Lunch was spent with Andrew and later coffee at Starbucks with Andrew and YZ. It was a nice chat. Later was home and now here i am writing my blog.

Ok, now that CNY is more or less over, its time to look forward to the next event.... the Ex-rowers-oh-so-sinful-breakfast-at-Tiong-Baru-market gathering! --- consisting of nothing less than the Chwee Quay glistering with oil and the nice nice Chai Tao Quay ( in black or white, but to save ourselves the problem of choosing, think we will just order one of each! haha. :P). Haha. Really looking forward to it! You guys take care and see ya! :)

Happy CNY again!

Regards,
YM