MR500 2009

Made our way to Bedok Reservoir in the morning .. for the first dragon boat race event of 2009 ..


A kayak doing its practise sliced quietly across the calm water surface .. the lanes were laid .. the stage was set ..


the event .. MR500 2009 .. a dragon boat race of 500m .. there was also kayaking too ..


Booths were set up selling food .. event t - shirts ..


.. visors ..


Spectators watching on as a boat of the first heat rowing towards the starting point ..

Elsewhere, teams were busying preparing for their own race ..


.. going through the race mentally in their mind .. everything from the starts to the finishing charge were revised ..


.. others were doing their warm up ..


.. strategies were discussed ..

Slowly, the people started arriving ..




along with the logistics .. the paddles .. life vests .. drinks ..






Each of us were given an ID tag .. maybe they scared mas selamat was among one of us ..


Our "shop" was set up pretty fast ..


Its actually a lot of waiting to do .. bringing newspapers and story books are a good idea ..




He sure came prepared ..


Sharing some 好料 ..


A must for some of us .. sunblock lotion ..


Our own warm up started in no time ..




Briefing on the race later ..


Our team cheer ..

All the while, others were also busy doing their own preparation ..








Photo from Dawn
Fooling around at the waiting area ..


Photo from Dawn
Mixed 20 Crew


Photo from Dawn
Making our way to the boats .. we were boat 5 ..


Photo from Seow Yen


Photo from Dawn
Rowing towards the starting line ..


Photo from Dawn
The rest stayed at the side of the water to support us ..


--- Race Results ---

Lane 1 - Nanyang Technological University 'B' - Position 1 (2.09.56)
Lane 2 - Nanyang Junior College Team A - Position 2 (2.11.03)
Lane 3 - Hewlett-Packard Pte Ltd - Position 3 (2.12.97)
Lane 4 - Filipino Dragons - Position 4 (2.15.59)
Lane 5 - KRC Dragons - Position 5 (2.22.75)



Photo from Dawn
Coming up from the boat ..


Having a debrief for the race ..

A fellow team mate told me the other 4 boats were very fast. On hindsight, its not that they were fast. On the contrary, we were slow. The finishing timing of our boat compared to the other boats said so.

Truth bites, reality is always cruel. Its reflected by the figures on the score sheet. We were not good enough. There is a lot to be done.


We had lost .. but the main thing is .. we need to adsorb the lesson .. every failure needs to be a lesson learned ..


Finish off with a good cheer ..


A group photo to commenmerate the occasion ..

The heat is over. While waiting for the next heat, its back to fooling around again ..


Photo from Dawn




There is always games available ..

Meanwhile ..


People were trying on the products available..


This is the MC of the event .. the whole day he goes like: "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is an incredibly urgent announcement to XXX team, please report to the waiting area .. riiight neow!!"




Checking the race results ..


Some were given a hero's welcome cos they finished first ..


Its their turn ..


Tools of the trade ..




The time keepers ..






Colourful K1 being laid out on the ground ..


sssssshhhhhhh .....


At the race, we can see all sorts of different designs for the team singlets .. some used the chinese character of the dragon .. some tried their hands at having dragons drawn out .. yet some turned out like snakes or lizards .. this is ours .. some say look like mooncake .. up till now I still cannot figure out what is the symbol in the middle ..


The mens team wasted no time in preparing for their heat ..


.. getting into formation and did a dry run .. doing the actual rowing .. calling out of the commands .. it can be tiring .. we can break into sweat after a session ..


Inter - corporate 12 Crew (Men)


Strategising ..




Awakening the dragon ..


Our coxswain ..


Our hard work paid off ..


His hand sign said it all ..


--- Race Results ---

Lane 1 - Jurong Port Pte Ltd - Position 2 (2.36.72)
Lane 2 - Standard Chartered Bank - Position 4 (2.38.20)
Lane 3 - Hewlett-Packard Pte Ltd 'B' - Position 3 (2.37.40)
Lane 4 - DSO National Laboratories 'B' - Position 5 (2.45.13)
Lane 5 - KRC Dragons - Position 1 (2.33.60)



A job well done ..

The mens team made it to the finals. Come tomorrow, they will clash with the other 4 teams and clinch silver.


--- Race Results ---

Lane 1 - Hewlett Packard Pte Ltd 'B' - Position 5 (2.28.78)
Lane 2 - Jurong Port Pte Ltd - Position 3 (2.27.13)
Lane 3 - Hewlett Packard Pte Ltd 'A' - Position 1 (2.21.24)
Lane 4 - KRC Dragons - Position 2 (2.25.49)
Lane 5 - Prisons Sports & Recreation Club - Position 4 (2.28.47)


This is our first medal since 2007 as we were clean in 2008. A good start for the dragon boat calendar in 2009. This silver medal will definitely serve as a motivating factor.

Some of the people who were around ..