just got back from the DB retreat. and gosh, am i aching!

we had water training on sat with the guys, then joined the SIM girls after that and again on sunday. makes me realize that i might have taken the dear guys for granted. when rowing in the girls boat, i was really straining against the water. it just felt so miserable whenever we stop rowing and the boat was obviously not moving as fast as i would have liked it to.

sunday with the girls was better. there was the surge. the after glide when all paddles were taken out of the water. still unresolved worries but i'm just going to the water and do my best. put in 200% and pray that we'll fly. and that i won't puke after the race.

so much for the training. the rest of the retreat was a blast. i found bridge kakis: adrian, ben, bert, debbie and cheryl. ben and bert were just sooo funny. the silly rafflesians. ahahahaha. ok ok, i cannot be mean to rafflesians. i was one for 6 years. and i found ktv kakis: weiling, peiling, zhui, daph and i think weiling mentioned ben as well. and weiling's planning a durian expedition already. let's go!

we talked a lot, played a lot, watched a whole load of movies (i lurve video ezy.) and basically had fun together. think the last night was the most hysterical. after dinner with the exco, gac and james, i returned. ended up fooling around with rosh and lem. fighting over the sleeping bag. i just wanted to warm my toes. and we were laughing at the divine grandmother too. must have annoyed everyone as we were watching GOAL actually. had an hour or 2 of sharing after the movie before we played twister.

the sharing was about turning pts of our life. and that was the time i made a discovery abt the team. our life experiences were different and similar at times. some were more emphathetic, having gone thru the same bull in a chapter of their own lifestory. and as diverse or as identical they were, we all had one common thread running thru that human life coursing thru our veins.

we are all fighters

we all took the same path. one of determination to see things thru and effort to make it work. whether it was making a r/s work or getting over the loss of a love one. or keeping to the beliefs that we cling to so desperately. we all took that one step to wanting to change our lives for the better. to change ourselves. and we made it work out some how. and thru that, we all became fighters.

now i beseech the team, if you are reading this.. let's keep this spirit. this one team, one spirit saki that makes us smu dragons. let's leave the competition with memories of the dragons' combined determination and effort. with memories of our combined bravery. come on, we've got bert. (bert, if you are reading this, i hope your name cards are done up.) but jokes aside, we've really all been looking forward to this day. working towards it. one common goal. to be winners. not in the eyes of the public through the display of badly electrolysized metals. but thru the eyes of any athlete...

by proving that we're the bravest.