boy i never knew canoeing was chockfull of sexual innuendoes and double entrendres! till yesterday. when leqi related a conversation she had with marcus and leslie that had us in stitches, while leaving weiqi in mock horror. (c'mon wq i know you're as corrupted as us all so quit protesting your innocence)

marcus: i love fengyi!
leqi: i love fengyi too! she's my partner! (she meant k2 partner, you freaks.)
leslie: errrr. partner? so how often do you do it?
leqi: well we go at it twice, maybe three times a week. depends on how things are. not under our control.
leslie: so how do you both do it?
leqi: hmmm one in front and one at the back...
leslie: so what's it like?
leqi: we start real fast, like real hard and fast, but things mellow down after the initial high and we keep it at that rate, constant and steady for the bulk of the time, but towards the end we go all out again!
leslie: and so do you like it?
leqi: it's fantastic! i love doing it!

and so the conversation went...

ugh we were all just thinking of other ways we could well, sex up the image of canoe practice and someone came up with the idea that yeah, we even use protection all the time! (in the form of life jackets, you jerks). if i remember correctly, gs was rather animated and lively during this conversation. well it's normal, since this IS her element after all. and who else could be half as experienced but her?

well yes and i guess canoeing DOES get you all hot sweaty and bothered. not forgetting the incredible wetness. and the glorious thrill of skimming over the water coupled with the adrenaline rush of rowing and winning every race... does it deserve to rank up there with "orgasmic"? hmm.


god i can't hardly wait till the next time. we could just keep going on and on... ;)



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
hey
if we can't find a way out of these problems
then maybe we don't need this
standing face to face
enemies at war we build defences
and secret hiding places

i might need you to hold me tonight
i might need you to say it's alright
i might need you to make the first stand
because tonight i'm finding it hard to be your man

hey
more than angry words i hate this silence
it's getting so loud
well i want to scream
but bitterness has silenced these emotions
it's getting hard to breathe

so tell me isn't happiness
worth more than a gold diamond ring
i'm willing to do anything
to calm the storm in my heart
i've never been the praying kind
but lately i've been down upon my knees
not looking for a miracle
just a reason to believe

i might need you to hold me tonight
i might need you to say it's alright
i might need you to make the first stand
because tonight i'm finding it hard to be your man

do you remember not long ago
when we used to live for the nighttime
cherish each moment
now we don't live we exist
we just run through our lives
so alone
that's why you've got to hold me

hey
if we can't find a way out of these problems
then maybe we don't need this
standing face to face
enemies at war we build defences
and secret hiding places

i might need you to hold me tonight
i might need you to say it's alright
i might need you to make the first stand
because tonight i'm finding it hard to be your man

savage garden :: hold me
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
to you: well i don't know if you know how special you are to me. and i don't dare to find out just yet. i guess some things are just better left unsaid. i don't want to ruin the thing we have going right now...

okay i've linked leqi's album containing indoor rowing photos!
check it out on the right column under "snapshots!"


RJC 01 team photo. from right: shuyi, me, philip, leqi.

[RJC 01] national indoor rowing c'ships 2004


WE DID IT!


WE ACHIEVED WHAT WE SET OUT TO DO FROM THE VERY START.
WE SAID WE WOULDN'T SETTLE FOR ANYTHING LESS THAN FIRST PLACE
AND LOOK, HERE WE ARE.
=============================================================

to my first rower and newfound friend, shuyi:
thanks dude! you were awesome! it's been a pleasure getting to know you too. now you're no longer one of the faceless, nameless entities of rj but someone i actually know and appreciate. you provided our team with a great start and hey, you didn't fall off your seat either! thanks so much man.

especially for my second rower, beloved k2 partner and fab pal, leqi:
oh god what can i say. you were wonderful. thanks for the psychological and physical support! you're always there when i need you. i absolutely love rowing with you. let's translate our success here into similar ones on the water! sdba in three weeks let's show the world what we're made of. we can do it we're gonna thrash nj. have faith (and more protein bars haha). i love you.

and this goes out to my fourth rower and great friend, philip:
hey man! okay there's nothing i can say that you don't already know. you were fantastic. you single-handedly maneuvered us into first place. i admire your fighting spirit! and thanks for getting us all so psyched up. you're the one who had the belief that we'd be able to clinch the title and not just settle for second best. thanks for the motivation. keep the spirit alive for sdba and nationals!

well,RJC01, we truly lived up to our name. it's been an honour rowing with you, shuyi. you, leqi. and you, philip. thanks once again.




=============================================================

man i'm dead on my feet after an entire day of machine rowing! only found out that i was entered in the indiv1000m race at 4am this morning. not surprisingly, i was unable to go back to sleep after that. wasn't really prepared for the 1000m as i hadn't rowed anything close to that amount since the totaldefence day race. and i only realised that i hadn't adjusted my resistance until 4 seconds to start! awful! was leading for first 500m but wasn't able to sustain and dropped to 3rd. oh well. anyway i managed to better my timing by 4seconds, to 4:04min. wasn't really chionging for 1000m, conserving precious energy for the mixed relay later.

which was a good idea.

heats were not bad. we managed to sustain a pretty decent lead throughout the race which was good. finished with a timing of 7:08min. managed to slash our previous timing by 22sec! marvelous huh. and gao shang took nice pictures of us rowing! woohoo.

finals were awesome, courtesy of philip. in second place throughout from the start, till the last 500m where philip just gave it his all and shot us past the throwers to first position. we definitely couldn't have done it without him. the feeling of capturing the title was exhilarating, pure ecstasy, something i want over and over again.

leqi and i were absolutely euphoric! took lots of pictures that i'll post someday when she sends them to me. great day. got so much more than i bargained for. rj totally dominated the entire competition haha. i mean, 16 rj teams contrasted with a smattering of teams from other schools! rather amusing, really. makes us seem super-enthusiastic.

well it was a great time to get to know others better as well as a time to bond with the canoeists. thanks everyone who was cheering us on, and huilin i admire your strength and tenacity to row out that agonizing 2000m! wonderful senior you are. thanks especially to qing and xy who came down to support us! gosh i owe you two a big treat! hey tell me when you guys are free yeah. we need to do a spot of catching-up as well! went out with brandon chengshi shuyi and leqi after that, caught "along came polly" before leaving for home.

good job to all the fellow rj rowers! the trackers, throwers, shuttlers, air rifle ppl, odac ppl, ssc ppl and all else... and in particular the canoeists, the people i've truly gone through thick and thin with. let's go all out for SDBA! three weeks to the championships. only a couple more trainings left... let's make the most out of them!



we're not just going there to compete
we're going to WIN!

there used to be a greying tower alone on the sea
you became the light on the dark side of me
love remained a drug that's the high and not the pill
but did you know that when it snows
my eyes become large and the light that you shine can be seen

baby i compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey
ooh, the more i get of you
stranger it feels, yeah
and now that your rose is in bloom
a light hits the gloom on the grey

there is so much a man can tell you
so much he can say
you remain my power, my pleasure, my pain
baby to me you're like a growing addiction that i can't deny
won't you tell me is that healthy, baby
but did you know that when it snows
my eyes become large
and the light that you shine can be seen

baby i compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey
ooh, the more i get of you
stranger it feels, yeah
and now that your rose is in bloom
a light hits the gloom on the grey

i've been kissed by a rose on the grey
i've been kissed by a rose
i've been kissed by a rose on the grey
and if i should fall along the way
i've been kissed by a rose
been kissed by a rose on the grey

there is so much a man can tell you
so much he can say
you remain my power, my pleasure, my pain
baby to me you're like a growing addiction that i can't deny
won't you tell me is that healthy, baby
but did you know that when it snows
my eyes become large
and the light that you shine can be seen

baby i compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey
ooh, the more i get of you
stranger it feels, yeah
and now that your rose is in bloom
a light hits the gloom on the grey
yes i compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey
ooh, the more i get of you
stranger it feels, yeah

and now that your rose is in bloom
a light hits the gloom on the grey
now that your rose is in bloom
a light hits the gloom on the grey

seal \\ kiss from a rose

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

weiqi, this song's for you! you're right, it IS a unbelievable song. i can't stop myself from playing it over and over now.

shall blog about the events over the past few days.

fri
total defence day celebrations! was too psyched up the whole day over machine rowing which was only going to take place in the afternoon. quite nervous initially, because of the throwers we were up against. seeing aaron having to be helped off the machine after his 2000m race kind of made me wary of what was going to happen later. gosh i died rowing 1km. i guess you don't really feel it when you're on the rowing machine pulling like hell on the cable, until you get off, or try to get off. the four minutes eight seconds i was on the rower felt like an eternity. the figures went by so slowly i could have given up any time. i'm thankful i didn't or i would never have forgiven myself for that. i guess i was in a trance-like state for most of the race, eyes fixed on the mini lcd screen, not even bothering to look up at the projection screen where you could see computerized positions of the boats, that i didn't even know i was catching up with audry.

anyway i just died totally after the race. couldn't even drag myself off the machine, gao shang had to somehow unentangle me from the seat and manouvre me off. couldn't move for a whole five minutes after that. now i know what it's like to have leaden legs. and apparently my lips were blue during and after the race. man. after i finally got up i wobbled downstairs to the canteen (backwards down the stairs, it's easier that way) and up again. anyway i'm totally in awe of michelle! she beat me by an entire ten seconds. nothing but total respect. anyway i'm glad that i managed 2nd.

relay was good too! i was just raring to go and you could just see the look of intense concentration of aaron's face just before the race started. he handed us a good lead that we managed to maintain and that philip even widened. i think i much prefer sprinting over shorter distances like 500m to stupid 1k races. we were so happy with our time of 7min 30sec and our 2nd position again. (as expected, the throwers were in a league of their own). thanks aaron, leqi and philip. you guys were great! canoeists' never-say-die spirit. look forward to next sunday's relay! let's make sure we get something out of that. oh and kudos to all the other canoeists who were cheering us on during our relay! we were doing the same for you too. let's keep the team spirit going.

sat
training in the morning which i always look forward to. k2 with leqi, extremely good as usual. challenged to a 250m race with a j3 in a t1, whom we promptly beat by a substantial distance. hope he got a kick out of that, because we sure did. hey canoeists check this link out... there's a picture of jiao4 lian4 and his full name! haha the fact that nobody ever seems to know his full name dawned on us the other day.
anyway we had a blast after training at kenny rogers' at suntec... pictures speak a thousand words, so wait for me to put pictures up when sheryl and zhen send them to me. let's just say some of them are rather dubious photos that will have you doubting our principles (or lack thereof). and many of them feature someone's ample assets. *wink gs* i think i shall sign off now. eyes are killing me.

till then...

think i better leave right now
before i fall any deeper
think i better leave right now
i'm feeling weaker and weaker
somebody better show me how
before i fall any deeper


i think i'd better leave right now.

as usual, leqi, it was a pleasure rowing with you today. thanks partner.

leqi and i both agree wholeheartedly that there should be a 2km event. it's fabulous on the return 1km leg. indescribable feeling- the adrenaline rush and being secure in the knowledge that you'll be able to catch any boat that's in front of you, given the 1000m leeway you have. but too bad that there isn't 2km! so we'll just have to settle for shorter distances. water was pretty bad today, wind so overwhelmingly blustery, that we found it extremely difficult to paddle, but it was a good chance to get used to inclement weather conditions. you'll never know what raceday conditions will be like. the 500m practices and starts were good too. it was one of those training sessions that i felt were very fruitful and worth the while. anyway we can only get better. mag, weiqi, hope you guys get well soon. and don't worry too much, there's still time.

i'm really psyched up for sdba c'ships. gunning for the title.
i'll give it all i've got. i'll train till all my strength's drained.
i'm not alone in this.

it's a beautiful feeling, knowing the whole team's with you.

|[raffles canoeists :: 2003-2004]|

man i haven't heard this song for ages! was doing weights in bishan gym on monday when i heard the familiar strains on perfect 10... it's a pretty nice song.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
constantly girl you're on my mind
girl i think about you all of the time
and even no words are hard to say
girl i miss you, never thought i'd feel this way

if you keep on taking
my heart you'll be breaking
so why do you do this to me
you know how i'm feeling
it's you i believe in
baby can't you see that i need you

you know that it's true
every time i see your face i miss you lady
you know that it's you
i wanna let you know you're driving me crazy
i'd do anything to help you to see
i don't think you understand what you're doing to me
you know that it's true
every now and then i wanna call you lately
you know that it's you
i send a prayer that you'll come back to me lady
oh yeah
i feel anything alone, can't you see
you're an angel in my eyes
everyday you're closer to me

nobody's there when i call your name
and nights are cold girl without your flame
nights are cold girl without your flame
but if i could girl i'd make you see
i'd make you see, yeah
that i'm sorry
------------------------------------------------------------------------
five closer to me

just finished my econs essay on market failure, and i realised i didn't lose my notes after all! they were just filed away somewhere under "mathematics", which is probably why it took me so long to find them. weights training today (what's new?), pretty uneventful, and intervals after that. i was down with a bout of flu (sore throat, one blocked and one runny nostril, quite disconcerting really) but still did the 2 x 2.4km with 12min rest in between. haha was quite worried initially about all those horror stories where fit people just drop dead because they overexert when they're sick, but still pushed myself to run anyway. managed 13.04min for first 2.4 and 13.20min for the next one. at least i didn't feel too sick when i was running. hopefully i can slash my timing when i get better... was far from top form! i guess i don't ever want to miss training because every session really counts a lot, and i'm perpetually afraid my standard will deterioriate (it's so much easier to lose it all than build it up) if i miss training. it's become an integral part of my life. i could even go as far as to say that i absolutely love training, but then people will just think i'm weird, which is what they probably already do. well perhaps they're right. i was just thinking to myself that canoeing's such an important part of my life that i just want to continue even after As. oh and besides, i never want to hear stray whispers from my juniors "hey look! she's gone all fat and pasty!" if i come back to visit. NEVER. pasty is disgusting. eurrgghh. i don't want to be reduced to a pale, viscous, gently pulsating glob of lard. gross.

well anyway, as i was saying, training's extremely important to me! i love pushing myself to my limit. it just gives me that adrenaline rush and immense sense of satisfaction which is irreplaceable. i'm looking forward to SDBA invitationals. let's go all out and thrash everyone else man. everyone says gold for nationals isn't attainable, that nj's too strong. well they might be stronger, but we're not going to give up without a fight. raffles all the way man! let's prove to everyone that we can be as good, if not better, than them. why can't we, anyway?

man i'm all psyched up, and it's the middle of the night.

hmm. better go sleep now. long day tomorrow with soccer practice!

blog sometime again haha.

to my utmost horror, i've realised that i actually think the song "toxic" by britney spears is damn good! well okay maybe not damn good, but still good! ah whatever.