Cheerleading Life for Rent

Moving Soon

2009-07-19T17:58:00.003+08:00

Hav not blogged for so damn long.
Cos nothing much happened.
Now in HK.
Been here since beginning of June, which means I have not been coaching or training for almost TWO months now.
Longing to fly again.

Got performance before coming back to HK.
But din wanna blog abt it cos something bad happened during performance.
Din happen to me, but to my teammate.
Still, it has affected me one way or another.

Anyway, will be ditching this blog, and combining my cheerleading life with my personal blog.
Not easy to maintain two blogs and so ended up neglecting this blog for the past year.
Not good.

Will be back in Spore at the end of next week.
Hopefully can start training soon after that.
Refer to my personal blog for updates bah.

Warning to Outsiders

2009-04-28T12:52:00.002+08:00

To those of you (especially guys) out there who think that cheerleading is a chance for a guy to touch a gal (in the perverted sense that you want to believe in), well, I will not try to change YOUR thinking.

But remember - YOU see it as a chance, not so for our male cheerleaders.
Do not tell me that our male cheerleaders share the same wavelength as you.
Do not even imply anything close to that.

Most of the time, a male cheerleader only get to hold the gal's shoes.
The rest of the time, he is either being elbowed in the face, or kicked in his balls while trying to save the flyer (or flyerS).

As for the looking-up-the-gals-skirt issue, they are most probably too busy trying to stabilise the stunt to keep us safe to take notice.

Don't you dare accuse my fellow cheerleaders for joining the sport with ill intentions, and lower them to your non-existing moral standard.
They are not just my fellow cheerleaders - they are my friends.
So watch it before you open your gap with any accusations.

By the way, we cheerleaders are not stupid.
We gals knows whether a guy is trying to do something more than stunts, so thanks for the concern.
Now go eat your own crap.

Imagination Going All Over The Place

2009-04-16T21:45:00.003+08:00

Edward n I were having some funny discussions some days back.

Me: I wanna buy mats for our home in the future, so that I can single base my kid when she is 5.

Ed: Dun want lar. Dun subject our kid to such things.

Me: Then I single base my best friend's kid instead?

Ed: Ya, can *laugh*

Me: It is so cool! I think I can do toss to hands with my kid.

Ed: Ok, then we have a kid just for that (cheerleading) purpose.

Me: Ok! Boy or gal?

Ed: *laugh* Gal lor. Boy can teach him to play soccer.

Me: So we have 1 kid specially for cheerleading and another for soccer. Then I wanna have one for basketball, and another for netball...

I wander how my kid(s) would turn out to be in the future *think think think*

PS: stil waiting for SAJC's performance pic n video *wait wait wait*

SA's Pre-Sports Day Performance

2009-04-06T19:44:00.004+08:00

The PE HOD assessed my SA kids' sports day routine last week.
The routine was meant for this coming Thursday, and a few PE teachers came to look through the routine.

This is the 1st time the kids are performing for the school after THE accident last year.
So the school wanna make sure everything will go smoothly on that day - so, no wobbly stunts pls.

1 complete routine, within 2 days.
I sure had my fingers crossed throughout the whole assessment.

And the HOD was very happy with the routine *phew*
I'm so damn glad.
Gd job, kids!

Will post video after the performance on Thursday :)

Cheerobics 2009

2009-03-22T22:01:00.002+08:00

Cheerobics 2009 is finally over!

My SA kids joined the open division group cat. as team Spectrum Youth.
The heel stretch din dismount the way I intended for it to, but hey, the flyer din fall and the bases managed to save the stunt and continue with the routine.
'm really happy that they listened and practised what they were taught - the importance of communication during routine.

For a team who had little experience and training time, they did very well.
And I would not expect anything more from them.

To XY, Singgih, Pinky, Bryan, Doreen: 'm really proud of you all.

As for Spectrum, well, we withdrew from the group cat.
Ya, after all the late nites, pain, tears, injuries, sacrifices, effort and hopes, we didn't take part.
It is a long story.
But I think it doesnt matter anymore.
Although we din display the fruits of our labour, what matter most is the lessons learned for the past 2 weeks.

We are 5 cheerleaders who came together with one common goal - Cheerobics.
And we forgot that we are 5 individuals with different skills and abilities, believes and values, and ways of handling stress.
As a result, we misunderstand, and were misunderstood.
Many a times, we almost fell apart as a team.
And it was only after sessions of "serious talk" that we start to see things from each other's point of view.

We still dun understand each other completely, but we are learning to get there.
And with that, hopefully, we would learn to trust each other more during stunts in the future.

Then there are those from Spectrum who came for trainings just to spot our stunts, to ensure our safety, and to support us in whatever way they can.
'm really grateful to them.
Thank you so much *hugz*

I'm (and the rest of the group are also) in pain and covered in bruises.
'm wishing hard for a speedy recovering of our injuries.
Thank you so much to those who showed concern over my injuries.
Something as simple as "how are you now?" and "are you ok?" makes me feel less pathetic, and that there are still some warmth in this world.

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

My right leg is still very much in pain, and I can barely rest my weight on it without feeling the pain.

Hopefully I can recover soon - I miss kickbox and tennis.

Trust

2009-03-12T10:44:00.004+08:00

In the prev prev training, I hit the side of my head, again.
It is still swollen.

In the prev training, I was let free-fall, head down, before being caught by the bases and came to a sudden stop.
Ed said I was inches away from the ground before being caught.
I really thot I was going to hit the ground *touch wood*
The shock of it made me teared, and I couldn't bring myself to do the same stunt again.
Lost the trust, I guess.

Now, I'm covered in bruises.

Ed asked me if it is worthed all these, if this is really what I want.
Honestly, I still want to go for it... to try to improve myself as a cheerleader.
It is what I want.
I'm just not sure if the injuries are justified.

I miss cheering with Eddie, David, KJ, Weida, Law, Isaac and Chuanyan.
And even CR - cos I know he would catch me no matter what.
I miss being able to trust my bases.

Cheerobics 2009 - Coming Soon!

2009-03-09T13:38:00.001+08:00

Cheerobics 2009 is coming soon!!!

Date: 22 March 2009 (Sunday)
Time: 2pm - 7pm
Venue: Zouk carpark

Be there, or be square (omg... this line is so cheesy).

Another Fall

2009-03-07T01:12:00.002+08:00

I had a bad fall during training on Thursday.

I hit my head.
I had many falls before, and this one didn't appear to be serious.
But it was somehow different.

Usually I would try to stand up asap after a fall.
This time, it was impossible.
No one knows how ouch it was, except me.

First, it was a sudden impact on my head.
Then the pain crawled along the side of my head, down to my neck and shoulder, until I could not pinpoint where it was exactly.
The side of my head got so heavy that I couldn't do anything, except lying there on my side.

I heard Ah Feng asking me if I was ok.
I tried to speak, but couldn't.
I saw Veron handing me a tissue.
I wanted to reach for it, but couldn't.
The pain was too much for me to take, and I was trying hard to hold back my tears.

If I had landed on my neck, or the back of my head...
*touch wood touch wood*

I wanted to throw up on the way home.
And I had trouble sleeping cos of my neck and shoulder.
Ed was so worried that we almost went to the hospital for a checkup.
He said he wanna be there at the subsequent trainings leading up to cheerobics to ensure I'm safe.
I feel so bad, cos I know he has lotsa work to do, and he has inadequate rest to match that heavy workload of his.

I finally realised no one is responsible for my safety, except myself.
The shadow of this fall is gonna stick around for quite some time.

I feel so depressed.

Either This, Or That

2009-03-07T01:06:00.002+08:00

It is not easy to be a coach, and a friend at the same time.

Too strict, and I become unapproachable.
Too friendly, and the rules I worked so hard to put in place are taken for granted.

HO 2009

2009-01-18T19:27:00.003+08:00

Have been too busy to write about cheer.
Now that HO is over, I have slightly more time to cheer-blog.

First up, Spectrum secured a third place in HO 2009!
Good job!!!
I cheered so much during Spectrum's performance that I needed to go to the doc the next day.
Some of the Spectrum-X came back to join in the celebrations that night, and we did stunts.
It was like the good old days all over again.
The laughters and all.
I miss training with them so much.

Coached Hall 5 this year, and it proved to be a challenge.

Hall teams generally have committment problem, and given the fact that the team had no prior cheerleading experience, it almost drove me nuts.
I decided to whack routine neatness, instead of working on difficulty level of the stunts.
Their routine was only 2 1/2 minutes.
And half of the stunts didn't go up.
But they ranked 10th out of the 16 halls - they scored high on basket toss, jumps, precisions, and dance.
So happy for them!
Hopefully the cheer spirit continues in Hall 5.

Alrite only have time to update the above.
Will post more pictures soon.

Busy Busy Busy

2008-12-16T15:02:00.003+08:00

Been damn busy with coaching and kickboxing.
And when I'm not exercising, I spend my time rushing around, scheduling training sessions, planning routine, mixing music, resting at home, and sleeping.

My body is aching almost everyday.
And my right thigh and left ankle gave way yesterday.

I no longer have time to go to the library, or do my drawing and photoshop stuff.
And no time to go down to Spectrum's trainings.
And need to shop for xmas presents.
And need to cut my hair before xmas.

So little time, and so much to do.

Class 2

2008-10-09T10:08:00.003+08:00

Hey I wanna go for the IFC coaches course (class 2). Anyone wanna go too?

Scorpion... Almost

2008-09-23T18:19:00.003+08:00

Been working (xtra) hard on my stretching for the last 2 months in order to do a scorpion that looks less like crap.

Can finally do a side split (needs lotsa warm-up before that though).

And I realised I can finally balance myself while attempting the scorpion.
It's a HUGE improvement, from the time I needed to hold on to a wall with one hand, while pulling my leg with the other, and risked hitting my head on the wall when I lost my balance (which I did once, and Regine and Ning had such a good laugh over it).

This time, Ihit my head with my own hand.
Stupid bitch.
Finally, I was away from the wall! Haha!
Realised my back was not arched at all.
So spent some time trying to train my back, before attempting again...

Congyan said my scorpion is in a diamond shape *pout* cos I bent my leg too much.
Hmmm... I think I need to work on the shape a little.

Work it bitch!!!

PS: I told Ah Liang that my ultimate goal is to do a single base scorpion with him.
Think we should work on our lib from next training onwards.

Single Base Lib

2008-09-09T15:07:00.001+08:00

This is amazing ya!!!

Lotsa Updates

2008-08-22T13:25:00.009+08:00

Lots happened and it is time to update, before everything piles up sky high~

Coaching has stopped for the time being cos my kids need to study.
Actually the kids didn't want to stop training yet, but Sam insisted that they spend every Wed (their training day) studying together, to prepare for their promo exams.
Apparently, more than 1/2 of the team are getting bad results.
I had planned so much for them to learn.
Hopefully, they won't forget their stuff, at least until training resumes one and a half months later.

I'm missing my kids.
I'm missing coaching.

Now that I have no coaching, I can concentrate on my new-found interest... being a gal base!!!
Seems like Flinestone is skeptical about my basing ability.
Gotta prove that I can base a gal...

Wenfeng wanna prove she can base too...
Seriously, I'm training with the gals to be a gal base.
Being a midtier is still on the top on my list - in fact, I will never give up midtiering, as long as I'm a cheerleader.
But being a base is a whole different matter.
It brings on a new dimension of satisfaction and thrill.
I miss flying actually, but I dun get to train much, since the team is concentrating on the junior flyers now.
So I guess it is time for me to move on to something else, like basing.

I realised that the best way to sweat it out is to be a base.
Just 30 minutes of basing makes me sweat like mad.
Proves that I put in effort!

Left knee has been hurting a little recently.
Ed said that it happened to him when he was a base, and his knee has been weak since then.
Gosh! I must protect my poor knee!!!

Ankle guard... Knee guard... What's next?
Hopefully I dun need to wear wrist guard.

KJ came to train with us yesterday.
On the way home, I noticed, from our reflections, that he looked real HUGE.
He is huge to begin with, and it is more obvious when we sat side by side.
His shoulders are twice as wide as mine!!! And his arm is triple mine!!!
I bet he can easily break my arm.

Went for supper at Geylang with Spectum Xpires last week.
I miss them so much!
It was totally crazy... like back to those good old days when we trained, crapped and laughed together.

Regine and David looked so happy (Regine was David's gf, or so she wished, that nite).
Jason looked bored.
And KJ napped while waiting for his food.
Ning, Eddie and Edward.
The 3 of them had their heads turned at the same angle.
And their hand positions almost synchronised!
Me and my Ed.
Me and Ning.
As usual, when taking pictures, if Eddie, KJ and David are beside us, there will surely be some floating objects in the pic.
In this case, it's a floating glass (empty and straw included).

One of my all-time fav basket toss bases, Eddie!
Here's another fav basket toss base, David.
I forced David to put his hands around me...
And it caused much jealousy from Regine.
She demanded an explanation from her bf-of-that-nite for his behaviour.
From David's expression, you can expect nothing less than a "DeLan forced me!" from him.
Leaving Regine and David in their bickering, I moved on to find my next pic buddy, KJ, who didn't seem pleased to see me.
I thought I would have better luck with Jason, but dun be fooled by his smile.
He refused to share his chair with me, and it was only after much pushing (on my part) that he let me sit on the tiny edge of the chair.
See how he was pushing me off with his arm, while I was really hanging on for my dear life?!

The trio are still the best pic buddies!
Always ready for any cam-whoring actions.
Tried very hard to get a group pic...
Almost there...
The best we could managed!

Cheerleading Workshop

2008-07-28T14:34:00.007+08:00

Couldn't think of any descriptions to the pictures.
Too much happened lately.
Till I could find my voice, pls mk do with (only) the pictures...

Farewell, SA Seniors

2008-07-25T18:54:00.003+08:00

It was a farewell training for the seniors on Wed.
Got each of the seniors a pair of socks, stuffed with Ferrero Rochers.
Alicia loved the gift so much that she wanna take a pic with me.
I had coached them for about 9months, and I must say, the 7 of them had came a long way.
I'm real glad to see the passion for cheerleading in them.
And because of that, I never felt tired coaching them.

Mingjiang, the (ex)captain of the team, was like a big brother to the team.
He has the strength.
If he continues to work on his techniques, he can go far as a cheerleader.
Being the most accident-prone, he really needs to take care of himself, with/without training.

Peter was the logistic officer, who has lotsa pride.
He worked hard to get what he wanted.
He put lotsa pressure on himself, and sometimes, ended up putting more stress on his peers.
Not necessarily a bad thing, as long as he can control it.

Melvin couldn't join the team for SKM due to personal commitments, but I could see he missed the team lots.
He worked as hard as the other 2 guys, and although he didn't manage to show me his toss-to-hands, he managed to learn and successfully do walk-to-hands on Wed.

Rachel is the tallest in the team, and it was a problem then.
She didn't get much chance to fly, and most of the time, she was the spotter/loader.
But I'm real proud of her, cos she never once neglect her role.
And when she finally got to fly, she worked hard to give the team her best.

Sihua, the "emo-gal" in the team.
Like Peter, she has high expectations of herself.
When she couldn't do well, no matter how hard she tried, she would silently tear.
When the juniors joined the team, she became one of the important midtiers in the team.

Alicia has the never-say-die and not-afraid-to-die attitude.
Together with her gymnas background, flexibility, passion and determination, she has the potential to be an excellent top flyer.
She does need a little control over her hyper self though.
Right now, she needs to ensure she fully recovers before cheerleading again.

Finally, we have Jiawen, the (ex)publicity sec.
They called her the "big-head"...
This gal has the right attitude and the potential to be a great top flyer.
But she always forgot what she needed to do and lost control when doing her stunts.
Work hard and you can do it!

I love you all *muackz*

XY bought a chocolate cake from Jack's place.
And it was real nice!!!
But I guess too much chocolate makes one super-hyper...
And the guys started to play stacko...
And the guy at the bottom happened to be XY.
I bet he would never get chocolate cakes for the team ever again.

SKM Semi-Final

2008-06-04T12:36:00.002+08:00

SKM cheer competition is finally over!

Though SAJC din manage to get into the final, I'm real proud of them.
They managed to run the full routine with all stunts up just the day before the competition.
And the number of guys was less than that in the prelims.
And some of them had never been in a routine before.

Ruilin and I were helping with the sound on that day.
After the performance, when we were putting the CD back into the case, our hands were shaking.
We were both relieved that no one fell.
And we were reali proud of them.

At the end of the day, Sihua and Jiawen were real emo.
They hugged me and kept crying.
Silly gals.

To see them going all out on the mat during the competition was the best gift they could possibly give me.

I won't be able to see them for the rest of the month.
I will miss them like crazy.

2008-05-21T23:56:00.002+08:00

I had never once given up on them.
But I'm starting to lose faith.

Progress

2008-05-20T23:15:00.002+08:00

Saw Alicia at the bustop todae.
Real glad that she is taking everything well.
Her usual self.
Chatty and all.

The team progressed alrite today.
Still need a bit of work for the next few trainings.

One of the midtiers din come today.
So I ended up standing in for her.
Good in a way, cos the other junior midtier learned quite a bit from me.

I stink like a piece of shit now.
Time to shower.

Rash Up

2008-05-17T17:25:00.004+08:00

I wanted so much to go for the combined workshop today.
But my skin flared up after coaching last nite and rashes broke out on my arms and body.
Guess I should have listened to the door and be more regular with my medication.

PS: Saw Jianning yesterday and she is going to TW and then HK today. Too bad she would have left HK by the time I go back, if not, we could go shopping together!

Goodbye Ah Rong (For Now)

2008-05-12T16:41:00.010+08:00

Sirong went to US for work-and-study.
Went to the airport to send her off yesterday.

Supposed to be at the airport at 11am.
I took a cab down cos I wanna be early.
Had not felt the morning sun for a long time.
(frowning from the concentration to hold the cam steady in the bumpy cab)
Reached the airport at 1050am.
Was so pleased with myself... until I called Ah Rong and realised she was still at home.
So in the end, I went to Mr Bean and had my breakfast.
The pancake was HOT!
Nice!
Next time if you wanna eat pancake, make sure you get it in the morning, right after they made a fresh batch! Waited for almost 45min and finally, a familiar face!
The check-in counters were pretty packed.
Luckily we didn't have to wait for long before Ah Rong was done with her check-in.
Ah Rong needed to make sure she got all her travel documents with her (under her dad's watchful eyes).
Her dad actually posed for this shot. So cute!

Ah Rong and her family.
Her brother is so much BIGGER than Ah Rong.
Hmmm... Can ask him to join Spectrum?

Ah Rong busy enteraining her fan club.
Isaac is not the only one with a fan club! I wonder why Ah Rong was frowning at KJ.
I guess she wasn't very please with the fact that he was in her fan club.
Finally some proper shots of her fans.
First up, KJ and Wenfeng.
KJ looked like he got his arm around Ah Rong's waist, and reaching over to touch Wenfeng's hand.

The flyers who had been through thick and thin together.
Note how the height was arranged in descending order, from left to right.

Wenfeng and Ah Rong sure know how to count with their fingers.
Our cheerleader pose.
We were in the right pose for someone to double cubie us.
Ah Rong and her fans (some of them were still on the way when this pic was taken).
One of her late-arrived fan.
Can tell that they were both very happy she made it just on time.
Now for some serious (and sad) moments.
Wenfeng held Ah Rong's hand, and walked her to the check point. Heart-warming hug between father and daughter.

The goodbye waves.
And she made her departure.

Her fans could only looked on with tearful eyes.
End of sad moments.

Back to our crappy selves.

KJ said we must take a pic since the 3 generations of captains were there that day.

We had some time to spare so we decided to take a look at the new Terminal 3.
The trolleys were so NEAT!!!
Looked like a scene from I, Robot.
And I managed to get a copy of shopping guide of the airport!
I must study it so that I know where to shop the next time I have to wait at the airport.

PS: refer to my personal blog for details of the rest of the day.

Give Me a... erm... Miss?

2008-05-06T21:31:00.006+08:00

Din go for training today *sob*
Needed to rush out a presentation *sigh*
Sucky.

Chuanyan said formal wear is a must.
No causual formal, but formal formal.
It means I need to bring a set of formal wear, a set of cheerleading wear, plus the causal set I wear out.
Not forgetting the heels (to go with the formal wear), the cheerleading shoes (for coaching), plus the pair I wear out.

My ass is getting big.
Dun think I can fit into anything tomorrow.

A Flyer's Appetite

2008-05-02T23:45:00.006+08:00

Coaching session today was pretty smooth.

Did a "super combo" with MJ, Peter and XY.
It turned out pretty decent.
And I'm really proud of them.
Happy =)

My only worry is that the flyers are not "there" yet, in terms of strength and body control.
Gonna be tough for the gals for the next few trainings.

Had not "flew" for a long time.
The training today made me real hungry.
I only had kaya toast from YaKun for lunch.
After coaching, Ed and I spent a long time grocery-shopping before going for dinner.
Look at all the bags!
Heavy!

Finally, dinner... Coffee-shop style.
Look at the plate of carrot cake, the chicken chop and the sirloin steak.

No pretence. No gimmick. Just pure indulgence.

Dinner completed with a nice cold glass of barley.
A hungry gal is not someone to be messed with.

Random Thoughts

2008-04-27T21:13:00.003+08:00

Full of cheerleading thoughts recently.

Thought of some stunts for SAJC's SKM routine.
Will have to make sure they can do them.
It's gonna be tough for the next 1 1/2 months.
I hope the kids are ready for it.
Really wanna see them grow as cheerleaders.

Thought of Spectrum.
Nothing in particular.
Just about the different generations and the friendships formed.
I miss them, and the crazy times we had.
Really wanna fly with them soon.

Thought of the stunts that I wanna do, yet I didn't have the chance to.
Like 1-man bear and basket toss kick twist...
I doubt I would ever get the chance to do the former.
As for the latter, I'm pretty sure I wanna try it.
It will not mark the end of my cheerleading life if I manage to master it.
It is gonna be another milestone.

Random Happenings

2008-04-26T00:52:00.004+08:00

Why must people take this as a come-and-go sport?
How can people join and leave and come back again as if it's no one's business?
Dun they know bases have to coordinate and practise with each other for a period of time before a stunt can hit?
Dun they know a routine has to be planned WAY before a competition?
Dun they know that KIV means I can't plan routine?
Dun they know that I need to change stunts if they keep changing their mind?

ARGHHHHH...

Alrite I feel better now.

Anyway, the team's progress yesterday was not bad.
Quite happy.
Had a talk with them regarding what happened that day.
We were training at the netball court and it was pretty breezy when I talked to them.
1 of the junior base almost fell asleep.
H - A - H - A.
I asked him if he wanna go and run round the court twice.
And he thought I was serious and actually got up.
H - A - H - A.

I love coaching this team.
But sometimes, I just wanna strangle them.
Maybe I should take pic of them training next week.
I'm pretty sure I can get some hilarious shots.

Bad Fall: Update

2008-04-23T18:49:00.003+08:00

Update on the condition of the injured flyer:
She doesn't need to go for operation cos she is too young.
Need only to put a cast on.

Good for her. Really.
If it was me, I would need the operation *touch wood*

Bad Fall

2008-04-23T13:24:00.004+08:00

One of my SA kids fell during their sports day performance.
She slipped past the loader.
Spotter didn't react in time to catch her.
It was so serious that Sam and I had to rush to the mat and stopped the performance.

An ambulance was called.
She was sent to the hospital.
A fractured shoulder.
And she needed to be operated on.

Sam and I told the kids not to blame each other.
And most importantly, not to blame themselves.
Since the whole school witnessed the whole accident, I'm sure my kids, Sam and I will have to face lotsa pressure in the future.
Pressure from the school management, the rest of the students, and most importantly, the team itself.

From where I was standing I could see what happened exactly.
(I dun wanna go into the details here)
Nobody wants this to happen.
But like what Sam said, they have to take responsibility.

It was a stunt that had 100% hit rate so far.
Thus they were not ready when the stunt fell.
The thing is, 100% hit rate doesn't mean 0% chance of the stunt failing.
This is something they need to learn.
Complacency can be deadly.

We did provide the necessary safety precautions.
And Sam knew I have been nagging them about safety every training.
But when such things happened, I, as their coach, need to take responsibility too.
I would need to work even more on safety from now on.

This was the first time I sat in an ambulance.
It felt unreal.
But the tears and pain were real.
It was barely 12pm when I left the hospital.
But I was already drained by then.

SKM Cheer Competition Prelims Results

2008-04-15T16:43:00.006+08:00

My SA kids made it into the semi-final!
Can you imagine how proud I am, as their coach?
It also means more hard work from now on!
Jiayou to Ah Teck and PJC too!!!

Some pic (of Spectrum) taken during the prelim.

The chant position was the only neat part of the routine haha. The gladiator on my side din go up... still I gave the typical cheerleader-happy-face.
Luckily the gladiator on the other side went up *phew*
The screwed-up three-men bear. I really miss my two-men bear *sob*
I think this is the best pic Spectrum took on that day haha.

I'm really happy to get to know and be part of Spectrum.

Especially my fellow flyers.

They have injected lotsa fun and crapz into my life!

SR looked so happy in the three pic below.

From meeting her at orientation, to "pulling" her into Spectrum, and then being there as she becomes the midtier she is today, is an experience I will always hold close to my heart.

Too bad not all of my fellow team mates were there that day.

Whatever it is, I hope all of us stay close, as friends, and as team mates.

PS: Regine and Jianning, we must meet up after exams k! I miss you both!!!

SKM Cheer Competition Prelims Updates

2008-04-14T00:23:00.002+08:00

Things went well for my SA kids on Sat.
I was so happy.
Really proud of them.

Although one of the judges was real harsh on them, to me, they were good enough for the semi-final.
The results would only be out in a week.

As for Spectrum, it didn't go too well.
It was easily the worst performance of Spectrum anyone had ever seen.
That was the price we paid for not being well-prepared.
Luckily I didn't join to win, so I didn't really take it too hard.
One of the judges said that she heard that Spectrum is a very good team, but she was disappointed with what she saw that day.
*pout*

Count Down to SKM: 12 Hours

2008-04-12T00:59:00.004+08:00

My kids hit all stunts up today.
Really happy =)
Hope everything goes well for them at SKM.

A very big thank you for those Spectrumites who showed such strong support just now!

Things didn't go too well for Spectrum though.
Guess SR and I had not done backtuck for far too long.
It was better for me, since I dun usually think when I tuck (haha).
But SR has real high expectations for her.
She cried real badly today.
She really wanted to do it, but she couldn't.
Both Wenfeng and I know how she feel, and we feel so sorry for her.
We are flyers who had been through it.
Head-over-heels stunts are really scary, esp when you lost the feeling.

Sucky.

New Waist Line

2008-04-11T00:06:00.003+08:00

I need to wear my uniform on Sat.

I have been doing my work, with my butt stucked to the chair.
And with all the stress, I have been eating all sorta crapz.

Wed nite:
beef noodles (all the meat went straight to my waist line) + Cafe Mocha (non-fat so hope it din do much damage) + ice cream (BAAAAAAD!)

Thur Afternoon:
choc steamed cake (from Four Leaves... damn nice) + veg (good!) + chicken (protein!) + potato (I'm becoming one) + rice (all that carbo!) + coffee (AGAIN!!!)

Thur nite:
Filet-o-fish + fries (without salt... see, I tried) + 2 pieces of nuggets + ice milo

I think my abs had disappeared into my new-found folds of fats.

A Ray of Light

2008-04-09T23:11:00.005+08:00

My kids did well today.

It started off bad.
It almost seemed like Monday was repeating itself.

4hours into the training, I talked to them.
This time, I was holding back my tears.
I was feeling sad.
For them.
For the stunts they had wasted.
I told them PJC can no longer take part in SKM, as much as they want to.
My kids have the chance to do so.
Yet, they did not treasure this chance.
It doesn't matter whether they win or not.
All I'm asking for is for them to show everyone what they had been working for.

And all of a sudden, stunts started going up.
And they managed to run the routine 5times, without NG in between.

Thank you Kangjun for rushing down to SAJC although he only had an hour to spare between his appointments with clients (I list you before CR! Dun be angry liao k hehe).

Thank you CR for the SMS.

Thank you Rachel and Sheryl for coming down (dun worry, u heard how I screamed at them - they dun dare to bully me).

Thank you kids (keep it up).

PS: Dun spend so long warming up stunts on Fri and Sat k!!!

For the First Time, the Taste of Disappointment...

2008-04-08T03:58:00.007+08:00

Monday's coaching session was a little disappointing.
There seemed to be a lot of complacency and (ironically) uncertainty in the air.

I've been repeating the same things for the past months.
"Midtiers must never arch back, bend forward, or bend knees on a stunt."
"Bases must cradle high, and absorb flyer's fall by bouncing."
"Top flyer must never unlock on a pyramid."
"Flyer must never lean forward during a pop down."
Blah, blah, blah...
Basic stuff.

But somehow, I still see stunts failing cos of the things I told them not to do every training.
Serious. I said those things every training.

The thing is, some of them started to be complacent and refused to listen when I point out their mistakes.
They heard me... but they didn't listen.
They nodded their head... but they didn't remember it.

When I was told they talked back to Wenfeng when she went down with me last fri, I was reali disappointed.
Recently, a few started to argue with me.
It is clear to me if stunts are not executed properly, or the timing is wrong.
Cos I planned the stunts, I mixed the music, I wrote out the timing.
And most important of all, I was standing right in front of them, looking at every stunt.
I told them they can argue with me, provided they are right.

I put up with these craps sometimes.
But during monday's training, when the timing was obviously wrong, I kept reminding them the timing.
At their n-th attempt, when I told them the timing of both side of the stunt differ by 0.5 count, they gave each other that I-think-she-is-wrong-and-being-ridiculous-and-I-sure-I-am-right look.
That was when I shouted.
It was so loud, I shocked myself.
I made one of those not involved in the stunt stood beside me, and observed the stunt.
And obviously, the conclusion was, the timing was off.

I really do not wish to shout.
I really do not want to be mean.
I was teaching and joking with them before running the routine.
But once I started being nice, no one took the stunts seriously anymore.
I could see people smiling when a stunt failed.
I could see people forgetting whatever I taught them.

And then, flyers started falling.
Be it the flyers' or bases' mistakes, they started losing their trust in the bases and midtiers.
And they started to hesitate on stunts.
And stunts started to fall again.
That was when I told them straight that I can't let them try higher level stunts until the flyers can trust them again.
And until I can trust them with the flyers again.

At the end of the day, they were tired... yet nothing much was achieved.
They were tired cos they had to do their stunts over and over again.
They had to repeat the stunts cos they repeated their mistakes.
They repeated their mistakes cos they did not remember what I said at every training.

There are those who have been trying very hard.
And it is unfair to them that they have to repeat the stunts just because their teammates refused to concentrate or acknowledge their mistakes.

I have seen the stunts hit.
That's how I know they can do it.
They had done it well.
And when I see them throwing everything away, I feel sad.
Sad that I'm the only one anxious.
Sad that they are not showing everyone what they have been training so hard for.
Sad that the tears they shed in the past amount to nothing.

Still remember what I said when Sam asked me if they can make it through the prelims?
I still wanna believe what I believed then.

The Result

2008-03-31T11:18:00.004+08:00

The result is out... my kids got 2nd.

Yup... though we hav higher level stunts and no stunts failed.
I have to admit that their showmanship was very good.
But in comparison to 2 failed stunts and other wobbly stunts, a milder display of showmanship shouldn't be a losing factor.

Ed said that "the judging very kelong" and that "the judges dunn what real cheerleading is about".
I have to agree.
They couldn't even provide mats; I doubt they have a list of judging criteria.

We are not sore losers.
I just dun think it was fair judging.

SPH Cheer Competition @ Yio Chu Kang

2008-03-31T02:50:00.010+08:00

The day is finali here!

SPH Cheer Competition @ Yio Chu Kang Stadium.

A few of the seniors of SAJC came down to support them.

CR and Uncle Law came down too!!! SAJC's number 1 fans!!!

The day started off bad cos it was raining and the track was wet. No mats were provided so Sam and I had a hard time deciding if we should call it off. But knowing that the kids would be reali disappointed if that happened, we continued with it. Luckily we did, cos the sky cleared about 45min before the competition, and the track kind-of dried.

Generally, the whole event turned out ok. If not for the fact that the organising com was damn disorganised (ironic!), everything would have been perfect.

(Alrite, maybe not perfect, cos one of my flyers fell from her stunt and hit the ground. The team will get it from me the next training.)

Time to warm up... But they din seem ready!

Still dare to take pic when stunts were not warmed up!

Finali I see some stunts being warmed up.

Hmm.. I think I can spot some ppl not paying attention when I was briefing them.

Our supporters had a way of entertaining each other when they were waiting. But CR looked like he rather entertain himself.

Uncle Law took the chance to flirt around a little.

Obviously CR couldn't beat Uncle Law when it comes to that. That's why this face.

Finali, he grabbed some gals, who he claimed to be his fans, and took pic. Good job in faking those smiles gals! And CR insisted he has three fan clubs... Dream on~

Or maybe these three mad nuts are the president of the three fan clubs of CR.

It started to get real hot after the rain. And by the time they performed, it had officially turned into a hot sunny day.

Single bases, torch and shoulder-sits.Couldn't capture the other heel stretch on the right.
The best pic of all, with gd showmanship.
2-2-1.
Three deadman's lifts and thigh-stand.

Here comes some basket toss dance steps...

To the right... Then to the left...

And then back to the center.

Walk-to-hands without shoes was reali uncomfortable...

Finali borrowed a pair of shoes from one of the flyers.

Macho base needs a macho flyer... Actuali I think I looked a little freakish here.

CR and Jiawen on single lib.

The results are not out yet.. Most prob will know it tmr. There were only two teams (the other team was IJC) so they are either first, or last.

More pic with one of the yr2 base. Will post more when I manage to get my claws on them.

Almost There

2008-03-30T02:58:00.002+08:00

In about 12hours time, my SAJC kids are gonna show everyone what they had worked for in the past 1 1/2 months.

The long hours of trainings, the sweat, the tears... in exchange for 2minutes on the competition ground.

Everytime a flyer touched the ground from a fall, I made the whole team do push-ups.
Everytime a flyer unlocked on a stunt, I made them repeat the stunt, until it was perfect.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm too strict and cold-blooded.
The irony is, I do it cos I care about their safety.
I do not want them to go onto competition ground with wobbly stunts.
If a stunt wasn't executed properly, anyone stands a chance of injuring himself/herself.
I know, cos I fell before.
And I do not want it to happen to any one of my kids.

And I need them to take this sport seriously.
In my opinion, a strong foundation is everything in cheerleading. No matter how hard it is, you have to get the basic moves right. That's the only way to reduce the risk of injuries.
I do not want them to think that as long as they can hit lower level stunts, they can move on to higher level stunts, without proper techniques and a strong foundation.
I seldom shout at the seniors now, cos they already have the foundation, and I trust them with alot of stunts. But when they forgot their basic, I would not hesitate to remind them, the hard way.
The juniors still have a long way to go in building a good foundation. But once they get it right, they can learn any higher level stunts fast.
I wanna stay with them till they get it right.

I'm a clown when I'm training with Spectum, esp when Regine is around.
But I have to be strict as a coach.
There might be ppl who do not approve of my coaching ways.
But if they can learn everything that I wanna teach them and grow, I dun mind being hated.

Sam and I talked after training on Fri. She was glad that I can control the guys, cos they are pretty rowdy. I certainly hope they can stay controlled. I'm not as big as CR and KJ. And I'm a gal.

And she asked me if I think they can move on to SKM finals.
My answer?
I told her I've never doubt the team and the kids' ability.
I believe if they are willing to commit, they can make it through the prelim.

I showed Ed the routine just now. He was pretty surprised I could get two single base extensions into the routine. Yes, not one, but two. Not to mention one of the flyers has not even done a proper elevator before, and I forced her onto a single base. I screamed at her for two full trainings, to make sure she locks on the stunt. She cried.

But in the end, the stunt went up beautifully. I'm proud of her.

The J1 guys worked very hard this week. And to be able to do what they are doing within 1 1/2 months wasn't easy for them.

I'm glad I get to coach these guys. I'm proud of them.

The J1 gals started off shy and clueless about cheerleading. And when the hell trainings start, they had to learn body control fast, and overcome the fear of going onto a stunt. It didn't go smooth and easy for them.

But these gals didn't give up. I'm proud of them.

The seniors guided their juniors and took care of them. And I didn't have to worry much about their stunts.

For all the effort they put in, I'm proud of them.

Those Days...

2008-03-27T01:02:00.004+08:00

Chanced upon some old pic today.
These were pic taken when I was an ACES-cum-Hall14 cheerleader. Started midtiering then so these pic mean quite a bit to me.

3-3-2

Split Mount. My arms' size was MUCH bigger back then.
That was the year Hall14 got 3rd in HO.

Intensity: Up

2008-03-25T02:55:00.006+08:00

Coached my SAJC kids till 9pm.
Minimum break time. Maximum intensity.

I screamed at them alot when they were running the routine.
I dun hate them.
In fact, I am proud of them.
The year1s learned fast.
The year2s put in lotsa effort.
I can see that everyone tried.

But I can't relax and put on a smile.
I want to. But I can't
I wanna soften up when the gals cried. But I can't.
I wanna let them off earlier when I saw their tired faces. But I can't.
I wanna lighten their load when the bases' shoulders hurt. But I can't.
I wanna tell them it is ok to make mistakes. But I can't.
Cos they still have a long way to go and there isn't much time left.

Permission Granted

2008-03-23T15:26:00.004+08:00

Hey ppl, I had tightened 'security' on my personal blog so if u hav been reading it, do let me know so that I can add your email to the list and grant you access.

Thank ya!

Silent Vocals VI In Motion

2008-03-22T20:36:00.005+08:00

Went to a dance concert with some Spectrumites on Thursday. Silent Vocals VI In Motion. It was organised by the AJC Dance Society @ the Victoria Theatre. I'm not exactly a dance person, but Jianning was performing so I went there to show her my support.

Supposed to meet the rest @ 545pm but Regine and I both forgot our tickets. So we ended up 30min late. We went to BK at Raffles City for (quick) dinner. Uncle Law looked like he was typing on an invisible keyboard on the counter. Typing has became a part of him already.

Regine and I certainly dressed for the occasion. I like her head-wear that nite. Here are the three guys who joined us that evening. Uncle Law just done with IA so he was dressed up. Edward purposely wore a casual shirt with his loafers. The most informal of all, Mr CR, who simply dressed in his polo tee and jeans.
Here comes the vampire... (with DOUBLE eye bags! OMG!) And then I bit Regine and there were two vampires.
The flowers we bought for Ning.
We were there on time and had to wait for quite a while for the show to start. Uncle looked curious. CR looked sleepy. And Regine looked busty!!!
In the end, Regine was too bored and decided to take my mascara, spread out her tools and doll herself up. Pretty impressive since there wasn't much light in the theatre.
Ning's No.1 fan!!! What he wore that nite was nice, but he did look a little like he just played a game of golf. Me and my Edward. My makeup was a little too thick that nite so I looked real pale. As for Edward's weird expression, well, let's just say that he can never get used to taking pic with the flash light on.
Met one of my SAJC kids there. Regine and I kept taking pic with him, as we tried to suck in more 'youthfulness' from him!
Regine and I did a scorpion outside Victoria Theatre, beside Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles. Couldn't hold the scorpion and my leg bounced back to position before the pic could be taken. So I looked totali insincere in the pic. Regine was complaining her jeans were too tight. Haha. But her scorpion turned out fine!
The night sky outside Victoria Theatre.
Went down to Lau Pa Sat for supper after the concert ended. The ice kachang there is dirt cheap! $1.70 for a big bowl of ice and beans.
Ning and her dude ordered BBQ sting ray. Looked damn spicy!!!

Ning's dude drove Edward and I back to my place after supper. So nice of him =)

Cheer Till I'm 30

2008-03-22T01:46:00.002+08:00

I've always love cheer.
In fact, I have thought of doing something related to cheer for a living, like working in CAS. I would love to cheer professionally, but I didn't think it would happen.

And then, the chance came.

Just now, Zhaoming told me CAS should be recruiting a national team in June.
And he asked me to go for the tryout.

It is like a dream come true.
But like any dream, when it became reality, so did the doubts.

I don't know if I'm good enough.
I'm not a top fly material.
I'm not the strongest midtier around.

And I had promised Edward that I would stop cheering after Cheerobics. I had delayed my 'retirement' again and again. I don't know if it is right to do so again.

I reali wanna cheer till I'm 30!

Cheerobics 2008 (Part 2)

2008-03-19T00:57:00.004+08:00

Just got more pictures taken during Cheerobics.

We are cheerleaders and we are CUTE! Haha.

Regine was suffering from cramp of some sort and I was trying to get her to relax. Somehow the pic turns out kinky.

Team Spectrum and Team Syphors from PJC (before performance).
Team Spectrum's group stunting team on the stage.
Team Spectrum and Team Syphors from PJC (after performance).

Cheerobics 2008

2008-03-17T01:38:00.012+08:00

Cheerobics is over. Team Spectrum didn't hit all stunts up but we were not complaining, since we got the Best Newcomer award (haha) for the open team category and 2nd in the group stunting category.

Here are some pic taken on that day:

Early in the morning (@ ard 2.30am), CR made his way up to Regine's room to pass her some medicated oil. The thing is, he didn't tell us beforehand that he was on his way up (so rude). So pls guys, do ask for permission if you wanna go up to a gal's room so late at nite (or so early in the morning).

Here's CR rubbing Regine's back. Regine commented that CR's strength was not comparable to Veron's and WF's haha.

Here's the competition ground @ Kallang Leisure Park. I didn't even know such a place exists. I think the rent was cheap due to the crowd (or the lack of it), so CAS decided to use this place. We were there early so it was pretty empty. The toilet is usually the 1st stop for the gals. Since I needed to shit (must shit early in the morning and before stunting!), the gals took the time to practise their dance.
The moment the guys found a nice and comfortable spot near the competition ground, they decided that it was time to catch up on their sleep.
Isaac looke like some homeless beggar with his rolled-up pants and sleepy face.
The beggar realised that no one was giving him any money so he decided to give up and get some rest. He even brought his own shade.
The rest of the guys just hang around. I took the opportunity to sneak up on Isaac. He tried to play along. Oh look! So happy together!

In the end, Isaac just couldn't be bothered anymore and just let me do whatever I wanted.While collecting ID for verification, we found that there are two long lost lovers in the team! They look so good together!
Chuanyan tried to dry his socks in the sun. Maybe next time when we have an assignment in the morning, we can all bring our laundry and air it at the holding area to save time.
Zhenda was not shy to show the world his sleeping pose.
Ah Liang made himself comfortable at a little corner and enjoyed his fav tunes. I hope it wasn't the routine music he was listening to.

Junhui and Kinwei lost in their world of comic books. KX, CR and Regine did a final confirmation on their group stunting music. CR looked happy so I guess Regine finally got it rite! (I wonder what KX was looking at?)
Uncle Law waited patiently for his ladies while they do their mkup.
Regine and I in the morning, before prepping for the competition.
Regine and I in the evening, after competition, with melting mkup (but still with the same smile as the morning one)
I can see Ah Liang's tummy!!! In transition...
Yeah, our liberty! Ah Liang been through alot learning this stunt and the timing. Got alot of scoldings from CR, Chuanyan and me. But he didn't give up. And the liberty we did for the actual competition was goooooooood! It was one of his best!
The group stunting team (minus Ah Liang and Junhui in the background). They worked very hard within the (only) few hours they had and created a miracle! You guys rock!
And finally, here I'm with Spectrum's best newcomer award.
Every cheerleader needs a man behind her, to catch her when she falls.
Was having rashes cos I was allergic to the uniform fabric, and I was in it the whole day. Kind-of made me frowned quite a bit. Plus things din turn out too well for Team Spectrum on the competition ground, I just couldn't bring myself to talk to anyone. Ate a Cornetto ice cream to try to make myself feel better, but I still wanna cry the moment I saw our supporters after the competition *sob*

To those who came to support Team Spectrum, thank you so much!

Thank you Edward, for being there to take care of me when things got tough! Thank you Sally, for rushing down after work! Thank you Jason, for being our spotter! Thank you Kangjun, Weida and Munhong, for being there for us, as Spectrumites! Thank you Jianning (and her dude), for coming down, and doing the gals' hair! Thank you my SA kids and Sam, for cheering us on no matter what happened! Thank you to those who came down from hall, for the faith you have in Spectrum! And thank you everyone out there who believe in us and showed support in one way or another.

Home Sweet Home

2008-03-15T14:11:00.006+08:00

Finally I went hm for the nite yesterday after training.

Had a real good sleep! N my bed smells and feels so good!!!

Congyan sent Isaac and I out to take train. Gd thing he did, cos we managed to catch the last train. And Isaac was damn happy that he managed to catch the last connecting train at Jurong East.

We went a little mad on the train (think it was from the pure happiness and relief that we caught the last train):

His leg looks so thick beside mine. And alot more hairy haha.
And of cos, his leg is much much much longer than mine. Just compare the knees.

Isaac shows us the new doggie style.

Isaac has posted alot of training pic on the team's blog, with funny storyline.

This is the one that features Spectrum members: http://justshutupandlock.blogspot.com/2008/03/hey-all-trainings-been-tough-but-hang.html

This is the one with our guests from Magnum Force: http://justshutupandlock.blogspot.com/2008/03/team-spectrum-had-privilege-of-having.html

Bunk-In Experience: Day3

2008-03-14T05:10:00.004+08:00

Regine went to her bf's place so I'm now alone in her room.
It feels weird to sleep in the same room as a friend; it is even more so sleeping in a friend's room when she is not around.

It was pretty fun talking, crapping and gossiping with Regine yesterday. Nothing beats gals talk and snacks after a relaxing bath. There's just something 'magically bonding' about it.

Full-dressed at training just now. So I needed to rush home to take my uniform.
Yup, I travelled 2hours back home to get a top + skirt, and then travelled another 2hours back for training.
And I managed to wolf down a rice burger and a cup of corn soup within a 15-minute bus ride. I know, it is damn unhealthy to be living like that.

I was feeling a little home-sick the past 2 days. After having to return home and then leave after less than an hour makes me miss home (and my bro) even more. I bet my bro misses me too!

Bunk-In Experience: Day1

2008-03-12T15:57:00.004+08:00

Intensive training this week, so I need to bunk in with Regine from yesterday onwards, for the rest of the week.

I brought quite a bit of stuff over. Sleeping bed, training shoes, training attires, pj, laptop... and most importantly, my 'survival kit': makeup remover, facial wash, moisturiser (night), moisturiser (with SPF), moisturiser (for body), toner, scrub, lip balm, blah, blah, blah. Can you imagine the load?! I looked like I was running away from home. It was crazy.

SR and WF came around to Regine's room to work with the ribbons for this Sunday. Actually, I couldn't really sleep very well with the lights and people around, but I feel real bad that I was not showing much interest in the whole ribbon thing, AND I didn't help at all, AND they tried very hard to keep their voices down, AND they were nice enough to off the fan so that I wouldn't feel cold on the floor, so I didn't wanna say much.

Anyway, this is what they came up with (that was before I went to bed, so the final product might be different):

Sick since yesterday. Fever, flu and throat feeling a little weird. The fever was bearable. It was the running nose that kept me up all night. Real uncomfortable.

The intensive training kind-of worsen my condition. Actually training is usually not physically entensive, since we don't train non-stop. I'm suffering from the physical aspect of it. I think it is more of the timing. Training always starts at 8pm. Quite a weird timing to do sports ya? For those staying in hall, it ends only at 12am. As for me, usually I'm allowed to leave at around 1045pm, since I need to catch the last connecting train home. By the time I reach home, it is usually 1230am. And I end up sleeping only at 3am. This is part of the reason why Edward wants me to stop cheerleading. We can both see how it is taking a toll on my health.

Last Week to Cheerobics

2008-03-10T15:16:00.002+08:00

Cheerobics is on this coming Sunday.

That's fast ya.
Intensive training for the rest of the week.

Need to bunk in with Regine. Feel so weird to be sharing a room with someone other than my bf. I see the time after I showered very personal. Usually I wanna have some me-time at the end of the day, when I'm clean and relaxed.

Yup that's me.

Well, I guess I need to get used to sharing a room with someone else this week.

Training on a Beautiful Sat Morning

2008-03-08T16:58:00.004+08:00

Juz done with training. Yup. Training on a Sat.

Actuali, it didn't feel so bad. It was a beautiful morning and Edward was willing to stay with me throughout training.

The only down side was, I needed to take cab down. Costed me 20 bucks.

Thats the price to pay for an extra hour and a half of sleep *sob*

Anyway, training today was fruitful. Not too intensive but at least I didn't have to leave training after two and a half hours to catch the last train back home.

Here are some random pic I took last training:

Ready, ok...

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8...

Regine getting answers on her quiz!

The skin on my arm is peeling off with all the midtiering *sob*

Sirong has LOTSA blue-blacks on her thighs!!!

Hard Work for Cheerobics

2008-03-04T18:24:00.004+08:00

Cheerobics is less than 2 weeks away.

Isaac asked me yesterday if I'm scared. Well, not exactly. Just worried.

Here's something to prove our hard work:

Price to Pay as a Cheerleader

2008-03-01T17:56:00.009+08:00

Cheerleading can be a dangerous sport.

Here's the biggest blue-black in cheerleading history:

Day1

Day2

Day3

Day4

Day5

Here's what I got from catching my (not-so-light) 2-2-1 flyer:

Count Down: 29 days

2008-03-01T16:28:00.003+08:00

Yesterday's coaching session went pretty well.

I paired a junior base with a senior and they seemed to be working quite well together. The junior bases are willing to learn and they are learning fast. Their only shortcoming is their lack of physical fitness and stamina.

The new gal, Jolene, used to do midtiering and loading in her previous team. And her flexibility isn't too bad either. Def a great help in the SPH and SKM routine!

Recently, the Yr2s have quite a number of tests and extra classes to attend, so they sometimes have to leave half-way through the training, and come back only an 45mins before the training ends. It def affects the team's progress. The thing is, I can't do much abt it, except to make the best of the (little) time I have with them.

PS: Alicia and Jiawen were playing with Alicia's cam when I was changing in the toilet. And they sneaked up on me!

Counter Reset to 35 Days

2008-02-23T14:11:00.006+08:00

Both good and bad news.

Good news is, SKM cheer competition has been postponed to 12Apr. So instead of going for SKM first, they will be competing in some SPH Cheer Competition on 30Mar.

And the bad news is, after planning a possible routine, I found out that might not have as many J1s as I have expected.

Let's Go SA Let's Go

2008-02-21T17:26:00.002+08:00

Pretty pleased with the SA seniors after yesterday's coaching.

Peter and MJ can finali do torch (with me), with 90% hit rate. The hit rate is lower when paired with their own flyers, but I'm sure they can get it up real soon.

Rachel and Alicia can finali do the twist *phew* Need more practice though.

PS: Samuel (junior) is being posted back to SAJC! Good! He and Pinky certainly have potential.

PSS: Victor (junior) is staying in SAJC too. Need to keep him in the team at all cost!

The Reali OUCH Fall

2008-02-21T16:47:00.003+08:00

I had a real nasty fall during training on Tuesday. It was REAL nasty.
Basically I landed head first and did a little back flip and landed hard on my back.

Ouch factor 1:
My left shoulder (luckily it wasn't my head) landed first and hit REAL hard on the mats.

Ouch factor 2:
When I was flipped over, the lower half of my body (luckily my body was twisted so the impact was on my left butt, and not my spine) slammed on the ground, hard.

Ouch factor 3:
The part of the ground on which my lower body landed on was not covered with mats.

Ouch factor 4:
I fell near the wall and my legs (luckily not my head or my face) slammed on to the wall.

Ouch factor 5:
The wall surface was not smooth.

Luckily, I didn't get any other gals to do it, so I was the only one injured. I do have to admit that I neglected some safety issues before doing a stunt. You can say that I deserved it. Still, I didn't expect to be scolded, RIGHT AFTER I pulled myself up from that pathetic state I landed into (literally).

Usually, right after a fall, no matter how painful it is, as long as I can manage the strength to stand up, I would do so. If I don't get up, the team will most prob stay around me. If they stay around me, then they will have less time to do their stunts. Plus they will worry. So I always try to get up as soon as possible. But it doesn't mean that I'm totali ok, or that I've recovered from the shock. And it certainly doesn't mean I'm ready for harsh words.

Plus, I didn't think I could do something xtra during training BECOS I'm a certified coach or a senior. And I certainly did not think that I have more rights just becos I have a cert now. It was not as if I constantly have the cert in my mind. It was simply an innocent try of a stunt that we had done so many times (ya I know, I know, the difference was, I missed out a spotter).

My shoulders are still hurting from the fall. And my left butt feels sore. I'm getting old; don't think I can take anymore such falls.

Training with Spectrum

2008-02-19T18:02:00.002+08:00

Forgot to bring socks yesterday and Regine lent me a pair (clean ones from her room). Must wash them real clean (scrap, scrap, scrap) before returning her.

Training last nite wasn't really intensive, which gave me lotsa time to crap around with Regine and the rest of the gals. Gosh, reali can't imagine life without them! And Ning came down in her sexy deep-V top and hot shorts. She said she misses training with us. I miss having her around too!

My partner stunt with Ah Liang was not stable yet. Just some 'gripping' problem. Oh, and he must learn how to pop me down. Last nite, he didn't pop me enough and I slided down. Fortunately (or unfortunately), Chuanyan bear-hugged me from the back... and his arms (luckily not his hands!) pressed real hard on my... erm... ya... you-know-where. I was screaming and laughing at the same time. I had to stand aside to rub them, while the rest of the team laughed. And Regine had to 'visual-check' to see if they are still of the same size! Haha! But must thank Chuanyan, cos he did save my life!!!

Finally, the gladiator on my side is up! *phew* The swedish fall was also almost there. Yeah!

On the way back, Bryan, Edward and I had a good time flipping through CLEO, and commenting on this year's bachelors. AND we spent some time debating if Bryan is gay. I shall not disclose the conclusion here *wink*

Edward stayed over, cos he was worried about me going home so late after every training. Obviously he can't stay over after every training, but he said he wanna send me home whenever he can. Feel so bad that he has to worry whenever I go for training.

PS: Regine said she wanna gain a kg, since she is doing quite a bit of midtiering in this routine. I think I should join her.

Count Down: 24 days

2008-02-16T18:23:00.002+08:00

SKM Cheer Competition (prelim) is less than a month away.

I'm feeling the pressure already. Actually, I felt the pressure WAY back in Jan.

First, there are the J1s.
Foundation takes the longest time. Though I have no time to spare, I have to make sure these freshies, at the very least, master shoulder-sit and shoulder-stand, in order to be able to contribute to the team in SKM competition.

A few of the J1s are learning pretty fast. Certainly have potential.

The J2s might not understand why I'm spending time on the J1s. But if their juniors can't even give them the minimum requirement of a shoulder-sit/stand, then the seniors should just join the competition with their previous strength of 7.

I do have plans for the seniors.
But some of them are not being consistent.
Some of them are not giving me what I know they are capable of.
Some of them think that they are ready for higher level stunts.
Some of them doubt their own abilities.
Some of them are not working hard enough.
Some of them overwork and hurt themselves.

So far, I'm confident that they can give me 1 basket-toss, 1 pyramid, 3 chairs, 2 torches and 1 single base. I'm working on 1 pyramid, and hopefully, 2 more single bases. Oh, and I need them to get the twist right.

As usual, I need them to play with transitions. I have thought of quite a few transitions. Pretty sure they can carry them off. Just need a bit more work.

So much to do, so little time.

My SAJC Kids

2008-02-06T22:18:00.000+08:00

My SAJC kids had their Chinese New Year performance today. And it was the first time I couldn't be there with them.

Of course I was worried.
Would they follow the captain's instructions and warm up properly?
Could they do a proper cradle from 2-2-1?
Did they have enough spotters?
Would they feel lost?

I tried my best to lead the captain via SMS. And at one point, he asked me, "Do you think we can do it?"

The truth is, I KNOW they can do it, with or without me.
That was why although I was worried, I didn't push my work aside to rush down to guide them through the performance. It is a small team, and it was not easy to plan stunts and routine with that number, but to see them running a 2-minute plus routine successfully really makes everything worthwhile.

And they proved me right.
When the teacher-in-charge told me that the performance went real smoothly, I was close to tears.

I'm really proud of my kids from SAJC cheerleading team.

I Love Being a Cheerleader

2008-01-24T18:59:00.000+08:00

I still remembered the first cheerleading training I went for back in Hall 14. I was forced into doing it cos I was in JCRC. At that time, I condemned it even before finding out what this sport is all about. But I started to like it after some time. Even started falling in love with it, and craved for much off-the-ground actions when training stopped in Hall 14 after HO. That was why I joined NTU ACES. That was where I had my foundation corrected. I'm not ashamed to tell my juniors that I spent half a year in ACES getting a perfect elevator, and pop. Cos it helped me in becoming the cheerleader I am today.

I started off as a top flyer in Hall 14, so it naturally became the path that I wanna follow as a cheerleader. I remember there was once, after a BBQ with ACES, when walking back to hall with CR and Regine, CR told me that I had to work very hard if I wanna be the top flyer. And it became the sole item on my cheerleading checklist.

That was before I started trying out midtiering. I realised I dun have to be in the center of attention or the top of the pyramid every time to enjoy cheerleading. Midtiering gave me the same kind of satisfaction as being a top flyer. And I decided to work hard to be a reliable midtier. I still can't do a 1-man teddy bear on a pyramid. But it doesn't matter that much anymore. Cos I know there are a lot more other midtiering I can do, as compared to the past.

Chinatown New Year Celebration 2008 Performance

2008-01-20T19:23:00.000+08:00

Spectrum performed for Chinatown New Year Celebration 2008 yesterday. It was the first time I wasn't in the performance, since we were using the HO routine. Initially, I felt a little out of place. But as the night went on, it was actually pretty fun being a spotter.

Time for some say-cheese actions!

Cheerleaders dolling up by the road.

Two cuties and a hunk.

Isaac and his torch at Outram MRT station.

I'm his general.

The Spectrum Trio.

I think Regine has a not-so-secret crush on me!

Oh gosh, we are so happy!!!

The 1st generation Spectrumites.

The 1.5th generation Spectrumites.

The 2nd generation Spectrumites.

The 3rd generation Spectrumites.

Regine, the midtier-wannabe.

Weida, the team slut.

DeLan, the 1-man-teddy-bear-midtier-wannabe.

We sure know how to pose for the camera.

De-briefing by the road.

My long-legged chair.

Regine and her fav basket toss trio.

Spectrum family 2008.

2008-01-19T13:54:00.000+08:00

He kind of brought up the topic of wanting me to leave the sport some time ago. It wasn't straight on. He just expressed that he is getting more worried with me training and spotting. And I got his hint.

And I couldn't argue cos he had his reasons.

I have been getting more injuries and bruises than before. It is hard trying to hide them from him, since we spend so much time together. I've been trying to hide them from my brother though, cos I know how worried he would be if he knew about the injuries. And I dun want him to approach my parents cos of that.

It is hard to explain to them that I need to spot those kids cos I'm responsible for their safety as a coach. As for my teammates, I'm responsible too as a captain. I can't just stand aside and watch them fall. Esp now that they are running routine and there are only that many spotters. Safety is important, and it is even more so when HO is approaching, and we cannot afford injuries in the team now.

Get Your Choices Right, Doll.

2008-01-12T16:54:00.000+08:00

Chanced upon a blog entry by a J1 in SAJC.

Quote:
"...have just signed up for the sajc (blah) society today ...(blah blah blah)... i aint sure if there would be a trial or anything.but from what i see, theres alot of people who are eager to join this cca as well. So nothing is confirmed yet, but if i was rejected (touchwood), i would have to join cheerleading then.(though their cheerleading team seem to be really amateur)..."

What makes her think that less people were eager to join the cheerleading team? What makes her think that there is no try-out for cheerleading team? What makes her think that she can make it her backup? What makes her think that she is good enough and that the cheerleading team is gonna take her?

I do hope she is not rejected by her first choice. Cos life is hard in cheerleading for someone who see this spot as a backup.

Square One... Not.

2007-12-31T13:41:00.000+08:00

I have somehow lost the body control I used to have. Whatever the reason (be it the hormone cycle or the drop in flying frequency), I can't lock that well on tosses for the past week, no matter how hard I tried.

And it is damn disappointing.

It doesn't matter that I had done nice basket-toss backtucks and pikes before. The fact that I can't do it well now means I'm back to square one. And I'm not going in that direction.

Whatever happened for the past week is not going to be repeated.

I am a Spectrum Cheerleader

2007-12-14T12:27:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was the first training after almost 2 months.

It was great seeing my fellow senior cheerleaders. It was simply cosy, warm, and familiar.
But it saddens me to see the seniors' number decreases as they moved on to other committments and responsibilities in life. I'm sure they wanna cheer longer in Spectrum. I know cheerleading cannot be much of a career in Singapore. I know it is impossible to cheer till we are 40. I know, I know...
I just wish we could stick together for a longer time.

There are, of course, new blood recruited. I'm more than happy to include them into this new family, and teach them everything I know. It makes me smile whenever the juniors improved.
But it also serves as a reminder that I would have to move on soon and leave the team to the new generation.

Edward is looking forward to the day I stop cheering. I have to, sooner or later, and maybe I would start shooting some netballs again.

But until then, I am a Spectrum cheerleader.

I'm a Twister

2007-12-06T12:35:00.000+08:00

I have been looking at kick-up twist on YouTube lately.

toss position...
straight up...
Kick right leg up to 90degrees and turn body to face left at the same time...
hold position till highest point...
swing right leg down to leg side...
twist...
craddle...
(applauds)...

Gotta play the images in my head from now on.

MIA

2007-12-06T12:31:00.000+08:00

I want my feet off the gound soon...

I miss training so much.