::welcome to slow rock::

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Thought of sharing some joy with all of you. AHS Falcon Scouts got 3 GOLDS in the National Pioneering Competition!!! Events are logging, pioneering skills and catapult.

For logging, Kenan "steamrolled" the other competitors, nabbing a time of 22s, whilst the rest were half a minute behind. The objective was to chop a log into 2 using an axe. Haha. And Shih Ying, his partner, just had to stand and watch him chop his way to victory. He didn't even have to takeover!

The catapult event win is regarded by me as the funniest. Guppy was in charge, and due to some fault in the building of the catapult structure, its shot tend to go towards the left. Just as no one would have imagined, the waterbomb released by the catapult went into the crowd, and smacked into the back of this seemingly oblivious person. Of course, he made his displeasure known with some gestures, non-offensive ones though. The second shot was equally, or if not more comical. Waterbomb released, some nudging here and there in the crowd to warn other of impending danger, retreat, and poof! right into a bag forgotten by its owner in the midst of all the "chaos". Now for the third. Pull, nice cruise through the air, equally beautiful descend, and dud... After all the efforts by the crowd to scram, the waterbomb pulled off its final trick of the day to cap an amusing victory for the Falcons! We pulled our way to first place with a distance of 43.15m, way ahead of second place's 37.1m and third's 36.7m.

The pioneering skills team worried me the most. Not because they lacked the skills. In actual fact, I had quite a lot of confidence in their abilities. Rather, they were under the sweltering hot sun for the longest time(from 11am to 4.30pm), and most of them were dying due to the heat. Our water supply wasn't enough to sustain all the teams we sent in(5 in fact), hence, being in charge of logistics, i had to run up and down bishan park filling up water containers and buying water for them. Fortunately, i had junle to do this job with me. Haha. I spent the entire day getting rations for the troop, going from place to place doing so. And bishan park is no ordinary neighbourhood park. It was immense!

All the sufferings aside, I want to congratulate all participants for putting in so much time and effort in their preparation for that day, and thank all who turned up for giving your support in the many areas we needed help! Thank you!

A mini-catapult by another school(i find this design quite nice, but it couldn't shoot far)

A tower and bridge by other schools(we didn't participate in these 2 events)

Labels: scouts

Entered by platinum at 5:46 AM

I'm back... finally! It's been more than 2 weks since i set foot in the compounds of one of Singapore's most famous landmarks, known not only for it's sheer size, but also for being the birth place of the Kallang Roar. Yup, the National Stadium! I've been there a couple of times before, but not in a setting as hyped up as it was on the 25th January. And there are many good reasons why Kallang is so famous.
#1 The Kallang Roar
The sheer magnitude of the roar leaves the stadium rumbling with each go. And with the passing of each one, it leaves you with an appetite for more..... yum yum

#2 The Kallang Wave
Before it even comes within close range of you, you can already sense its presence. A supersonic surge and there you go! A part of this wave and a part of history. Because this wave never fails to come out of hibernation when a major event comes knocking, and all the more so on a stage such as the Asean Football Championship Final. For 32 years it had called Kallang its home, and for 32 years, it faithfully served the stadium, spicing up the atmosphere when it calls.

#3 Fanfare
The good ol' chants of "referee kayu" and "we want goal!" didn't forget to reveal itself on that occasion. I recall when i was young, i had turned up for one or two S-League matches at Tampines Stadium, cheering on the Stags. It was all these chants which had gotten me mesmerised by local football. All the passion and undying love for the game shown by supporters really ate into me. Close to a decade later, i found myself at Kallang, and not only that, but a part of this voice to cheer the Lions on.

#4 Singapore Truly
As the national anthem plays majestically, you finally understand what it truly means to be a Singaporean. When the whole of the 55 000 strong crowd join in to sing this song schoolkids are all well familiar with, you know it is no ordinary song. Deep down inside, you feel your heart burning - burning with pride so overwhelming. Then, do you realise that this Grand Ol' Dame is the place where national pride is born. National Day, Seap Games of old, and the AFC. It never fails to evoke such feelings within the hearts of all Singaporeans. Never.

Of course, there are many other reasons which have been part of Kallang's success story. For that, i left my dad to do the explaination. Haha. The stamping of feet, "currypuff uncle", the Malaysia Cup days.... all a part of Singapore's sporting history. And if there's any sport in Singapore that can bond people together, thre's only football. Because no other sport here has such a rich history, no other sport here has the ability to get everyone talking, no other sport here has given the Kallang Roar and Wave much chance to show herself during competitions, and it is for this reason that the names of these 2 icons are such. Henceforth, we got to change our perpective of Singapore's soccer scene. No doubt Kallang saw a sell-out crowd of 55 000 that Wednesday, however what is 55 000 compared to the 4 000 000 in Singapore? It is not my motive to convince all 4 million to indulge in this sport, but rather, to see more Singaporeans taking pride in local soccer. Not to view it as a road leading to a dead end, but instead, one that opens up to a whole world of possibilities. Winning the AFC twice consecutively is a good signal on the Lions side.

How about you, Singapore?

Scenes just before the game(above)

45mins before kick-off

Labels: soccer

Entered by platinum at 4:34 AM