p a p i l l o n

Training test

2010-02-09T16:21:00.002+08:00

Hi All, would like u guys to test ur individual fitness by doing the 4 stations below:

1) Chin-up ( max reps), Ladies inclined chin-ups.
2) Bench press ( 1rep max ) Ideally should aim to lift 1.5X bodyweight for mens, ladies 0.5-0.8X is very gd alr. ie( 70kg men should lift 1.5X 70= 105kg ) so work hard to achieve this.
3) Deadlift 2X bodyweight ie( 2X70kg=140kg ) mens, Ladies (1.5Xbodyweight)
4) Running 2km test as fast as possible mens >0845min, ladies > 10mins

The above are ideal targets set out, but try to perform to the best of ability 1st and try and track your progress periodically ie every 6 weeks or so. Remember the closer you are to your ideal target the closer success will be. Train hard n have great fun ya! Jon do note down eveybody records for easy reference in future testings.

Rdg,
Patrick.

Pap's 2nd land training after JI

2009-10-05T21:50:00.002+08:00

It started with me arriving on time and in fact 15 mins earlier!!

Yes la I am loooving this...self praise on my first BLOG..hehe

Ok Ok..lets see

Dawn our Cap or Vice Cap (Someone has to clarify to me again if Dawn or Dennis is the CaP) oops ..she had to join Tiger Lilies for a synchro training before the SAVA Compeition next week. Thats helps Tiger Lilies but That does not help us cause now Patrick is putting his full concentration on the 5 of us (name Kenji, Joe, Su li, Jes and me!) Its tough! We need Eileen. Will tell you why in person. heheh

Patrick tried to put Joe and Kenji as pacers and even with Su li's constant support cheering them to be consistent ...they emm...Patrick end up saying " Eh i think you both go back la" ...hhaha they are simply either too fast or too strong.

We learn another new word from Patrick this week...instead of Kia Kia Kia...its Lai ah Push Ah ..Lai Ah PusH Ah....hahaha I am laughing as I am typing this! I tried to say Push but Joe beside me still say Push Ah..OMG

Guys six more training sessions to Regatta. We need to Lai Ah Push Ah together man!

Patrick will be posting some land training regime for us....So Mr very Important for Training you know who you are...now you can change the TABATA..and after your 100% completion please start the gym hor.

Till then Signing out...Dawn with the above ...do you regret asking me to blog for PAPs.

My body aches now!

Training Prog

2009-10-05T16:15:00.003+08:00

Hi all, here are some training prog that u guys can use for land training.. Focus on slightly heavier weights n perform 3 sets 8-12 reps, minimize rest period n complete the wrkout in 1 hr.

1) Bench press (2sets decline, 2 sets incline)
2) Bend over row
3) lateral raises with dumb bell
4) 1 arm row
5) Upright row
6) Seated row
7) Push-ups ( Tabata style jon shld knw 4mins)

For core muscles 3 sets each:
1) Plank (1-1.5mins)
2) Flutter kicks ( Tabata style 4 mins)

Rdg,
Patrick.

15 Aug 2009 - J.I. Race. The day we pulled it off. Alright!

2009-08-16T21:58:00.011+08:00

Yes, we did it! Papillon did it again.
That's thrice in a row -

The 1st time, jostling in the wrong lane;
The 2nd time in the right lane and clearly the winner;
The 3rd time, heartstoppingly close.

Jurong Island Race 2009

Mixed Category

Champions

Heats 1:25:26

Semis 1:25:44

Final 1:26:08

Special note: Believe me - the stunned silence and confusion between euphoria/dread that follows a close finish between the first/second-placed boats is one of those rare, defining moments which one experiences only a few times in life.
(For our own longevity's sake, I do not recommend such exotic sources of thrills. But who cares - Papillon will still rejoice and celebrate, once we get over the shock. Or sooner, when we emerge with the favourable outcome! :)

And celebrate, we did.
The bushed but jubilant Papillon army sought refuge at a cosy home in Ang Mo Kio with the permission of our gracious hosts Su Li & Jui Goy, and fresh water and food supplies promptly arrived in the form of KFC and Pizza Hut. (Nope, this time we didn't have no 933 golden pillows that took forever to arrive. We do learn wisely from past experiences, you know.)

A great race, harrowingly close, but all the same, a triumph that deserves to be celebrated and treasured - for it didn't come easy. There were bouts of uncertainty, major disruption from turnarounds, erratic attendance at trainings (both land and water), rare was the training with all 10 on board, we shifted Paps from left to right to left just to balance the boat, and occasionally even had to borrow supersub rowers (dear Freddy, and also Ben CH(i)ONG-ing between Houston and Singapore but still making it a point to join us whenever he could).

As with all teams, there are bound to be movements and changes - we saw Pierre, Yen Nee, Christy and Marilyn sitting out to pursue various endeavours ; but we also saw our newly-minted Papillons - Xiuhuan, Lin, Kenji, Yan Geow - rise admirably to the occasion.

And that's the true mark of Papillon - though individuals may evolve, but the Team will stay strong, and will collectively give our best fight, no matter what challenges we face.

So be very proud of yourselves, be very proud of Papillon.
As our wise grand advisor Vincent Teo always says (something of the following essence, cannot remember exact words because every time I hear it, it sounds slightly different yet same same),
"If you win once, it could be luck. Twice, people might say you are good. Three times, no need to say already!"

= Chief Editor D.L. signing off =

3 more water trainings - go go go!

2009-07-19T22:24:00.002+08:00

HellOoOo Paps!

Sobering realization and exciting one - we have only THREE more water trainings before SHOWTIME!

Let's keep the gym sessions going - both strength and cardio.

And on Saturdays, we shall gather punctually at Lower Seletar to perfect our team coordination. We will count together, both mentally and out loud.
(Point to note: When we are fit, it's much easier to maintain focus and get our counts right - so again, back to fitness work at the gym.)

Strength + Cardio bursts + Flawless Papillon Coordination = J.I. dream come true.

Remember, we got to do it together. We've come so far and put in so much time and effort - just 3 more weeks to the awesome race of the season.

"Imagine a steel rod, grab it tight and pull yourself and the boat forward."
- Yea let's grab on tight, real tight, cos we're going on a heck of a ride!

= Chief Editor signing off =

27 June 2009 - It's always darkest before the dawn.

2009-06-27T23:53:00.003+08:00

Dear Papillons,

Although we didn't make the cut to the finals, I think today was still a meaningful outing. It's the first ever Inter-Corporate Mixed event for SDBF 800m, and held for the first time at the Marina Barrage too. Weather was good, kites were flying high, race starter was corny - we really can't ask for more. (OK, maybe we'll ask for Ramlee burger the next time.)

Anyway! On a more sensible note...
If you ask me - honestly, I can't think of any reason why we should have won today; but I can think of a number of reasons why we did not win.
Strangely, this gives me hope -
Because we now know where we have to buck up, because competition won't wait for you - they only get stronger.
It also makes me excited -
Because I imagine what we can be, if we train hard, together.

And that's why I'm not dismayed by today's race - because we are now aware that we still have some way to go, and we know exactly how to get there. (Just as well that it hit us now - better now, than at J.I. race! 15 August...)

So... let us get goin, shall we? :)

= Chief Editor D.L. signing off =

6 June 2009 - Counting down... revving up.

2009-06-08T23:54:00.002+08:00

Kallang, oh Kallang - we love you so much, we can't bear to train elsewhere.

This Sat, Papillons were still at Kallang! Where there always looms the threat of an eternally grumpy half-naked man barking at you, for various reasons eg. taking an extra sawed-off mobil1 bottle, taking life vests from other racks than the first, returning the boat 1 second late... blah. Oh well - life is not perfect, so what the heck.

But training was GREAT! Previous Sat we got started on race sets, and this week we continued on that track - and about time, too. We began the season by learning the new core-power twisting technique, spent subsequent weeks drumming it into our muscle memory before working on team coordination.

And now we have reached the stage where we put it all together, in a race set!
So far, things are looking good - but we will never know our true prowess, until we get the boat fully loaded with Papillons.

In these coming weeks, Coach Patrick will continue to try and bring up our stroke rate so that the boat can glide even faster without 'dipping' in-between strokes.
We can only do this, together! So let's all do our very best to make these last few trainings.

The 800m SDBF race has traditionally been an Open category - but this year, they have actually introduced a Mixed Category. Which means that we have a very good shot at it - but only if all of us are of one mind, to want it.

Let's revv up on the gym workouts (but please ah, don't overstrain) and more importantly, water-fitness - nothing beats a good solid rowing session with fellow Papillons!

See yous this Sat,
(The race looms - I am excited and how 'bout choo? ;)

= Chief Editor D.L. signing off =

23 May 2009 - The Awesome ('all-sng') Pyramid /^\

2009-05-24T00:00:00.007+08:00

It was a special Saturday.

Coach Patrick was on special assignment in Malaysia,
Ah Ben made a surprise appearance after an early morning landing from Houston,
And Papillon, being short on numbers and coach/coxswain, spontaneously hijacked a boat as Jon, Dawn, Xiuhuan, Joe, Lin and Ben gleefully hopped in with our friendly guys from the mens + vets teams.
(Must thank the guys for gallantly welcoming us to join the boat!)

But most of all, what made it special(ly xiong/terok), was the combined training led by Wee Kiang and Adrian. After a good warm up row towards Sheares Bridge, we were introduced to... The Pyramid. This endurance training consists of ascending sets of 2-min, 4-min, 6-min rows, before descending symmetrically in 6-min, 4-min, 2-min rows. During the sets, hard10s were freely called, and Papillon limbs threatened to give way. *Oof poof* - This must be the most punishing session so far this year.

And so my memory became a bit hazy. But I vaguely recall that we did two pace sets with the guys, both times employing the hard-30 start - and that worked well to bring the boat up. Although we were tired out by the time of the second set, I must say that our 'cut & paste' combined boat didn't do too shabbily at all! The surge was definitely there, but maintenance could be improved, if we want to keep up a powerful glide.

Overall it was an exhausting session, but it felt really good to work our core muscles hard. Post-rowing, the motley bunch of Paps + Mens + Vets gathered for a mass warm down by Cowan Lee-Gym-Trainer-Wannabe, followed by debrief. Our boat's coxswain Derrick rightly highlighted that we lacked stamina, and this showed in the pace sets when we couldn't sustain the power.

To overcome that, let's maintain a good balance of cardio and weights training in our gym routine! Interval training on the rowing machine and/or running will help alot in building our heart and lungs power, so that we can pull harder for longer without feeling faint during water training.

Build it up, build it up...
And keep the attendance coming!

PS: Please stretch your backs properly and rest well!

= Chief Editor D.L. signing off =

9 May 2009 - I smell blood.

2009-05-10T00:11:00.012+08:00

New blood - that is.

Our EM orientation boat that has been quietly manufacturing future champion rowers the past weeks, has finally finished its run - and the newly passed-out recruits were seeded into our assortment of EM corporate teams.
So this week, we are happy to have Eileen Cai and Tan Yan Geow (conveniently renamed "Yan" / "Yan Dao") join Papillon at training. The two arrived in matching yellow tops - perhaps to highlight "I am new to the boat - please be nice to me"?
No problemo - Paps are always nice to everyone in our company - we all laugh and suffer together! *evil laughter*

(Sidetrack: Earlier in the wee hours, there was a raging thunderstorm which eerily made not a few Papillons smile secretly in their dreams. But the rain stopped, day broke, and the dream shattered - yes, training would go on as usual. Valiantly fending off the sleep monster - Jon, Desmond, Dawn, Jessica, Ah Ben, Yen Nee, Lin, Eileen and Yan Geow turned up to form a good crew of 9.)

Warm up was a friendly 50 push ups after 30 uncoordinated jumping jacks.
While launching, our tipsy boat was observed to be near drowning after excessive water intake from the thunderstorm earlier. A line of 5 boats threatened to break away from the pontoon as our dreamy(dreaming) Captain Jon uncharacteristically flailed in vain to pass the rope over while trying to berth our boat for safe loading. Miraculously, we still managed to eventually load up and row away... (Must be the blessing of Vesak Day.)

Our boat was listing to the right due to an imbalance of yin yang - too many guys on the right and girls to the left. A box of water soon restored equilibrium as it partnered Ah Ben as a silently supportive benchmate.
In between rows, while Coach Patrick imparted the Papillon stroke to our freshies, Jon tried in vain to introduce himself - but nobody seemed to be interested - to the amusement of the very entertained Dawn, Des and Jess who would have rolled on the boat laughing if it were not for safety concerns and space constraints.
Awww... where is the love?? Respect lei???! (HAHAHA.)
Meanwhile, a few of us were secretly happy that Patrick was well-occupied with questions from earnest student Lin! Wah good, can rest more.

Technique and coordination being the order of the day - we did 1-min pair rowing and the 20maintenance-10hard routine. We rowed from bridge to bridge - from 'Suicide Bridge' (aka '奈何桥'), to 'a Bridge too far'. Focus was on pulling hard in the water, not fast. I guess we must be getting it - because Patrick didn't have to correct us as frequently as he did the previous sessions. With the power and glide, when he asked "How do you find the boat movement?" - our answer was unanimously "GOOD!"

60 dips and a customary Papillon whoosh drew a nice (wobbly) fullstop to the session.

Paps - we are picking up now, the power and glide is there, and coordination improving too. Fitness-wise, will be restored with regular gym training. Let's build up to our peak and aim to repeat our feats of last year! As I remember a wise saying (from Crissa): "Winning does not grow on trees." We cannot expect to do well, if we don't put in the effort. I always believe: If you are going to do something - might as well make it good.

Some notes... (not meant to 'scold', but to remind) -
Warm up: If we cannot manage 50 push ups... it's time to hit the gym, really. We will eventually ramp this up to 80 (the number last year) - if anyone really cannot do it, then just stop and step out while the rest attempt to. Let's not stop others among us from achieving what they are capable of.

Punctuality: As a mark of respect for fellow teammates who arrive early (and bring out the paddles/life vests/bum pads for the team) - I'm sure we can all make the tiny effort to come on time so that as a team, we make the most of this once-weekly water training. 7:55 AM is the magic hour for starting warm up.

Attendance: If you are not able to make training - please inform Jon and myself in advance, so that we know the numbers to expect and hence whether we need to book the big boat, how many paddles/bumpads/life vests to take out, who to wait for... etc. Jon always makes the effort to email/sms a reminder to EVERYONE - so let's show him some love and just email/sms your one reply back.

Rest well Paps and have a great week ahead!

= Chief Editor D.L. signing off =

25 April 2009 - Friendly tug of war.

2009-04-26T21:30:00.006+08:00

This Saturday, Coach Patrick was away at PA race, but Papillon continued to train on our own initiative. Jessica, Jon, Kenji, Dennis, Lin, Desmond and Dawn took to the water as usual; little bit of unusualness was the change in the pacing pair! Well actually, it was a familiar pair from before - Desmond resumed the right pacer role from two seasons ago. (Good Desmond, let's try it out for a few more sessions and see how it goes, yea? You and Jon will be great :)

Although there was no Patrick to correct our technique, we did try to execute what he taught, while improving coordination. After warming up, we rowed to Sheares Bridge, and onward towards the floating platform (but alas - no more through-road to Merlion!)

Feeling a little bored by this time, Captain Jon - supported by an equally sadistic captain of vice, Dawn - decided to revive an archaic form of torture... The Dragonboat Tug of War!

The boat floated with trepidation back to Sheares Bridge - the torture site - where rules of the game were laid out. As we divided into two teams facing off on opposite ends of the boat, all that filled our minds was the brutal punishment that awaited the losing team... indeed, who cared about pride, when bowls of fish soup were at stake(!)

With a cry, splashes of water raged as the battle began. It was a fascinating fight - where there was lots of action, but hardly any boat movement. (Something like a thrilling 0-0 draw between two attacking football teams that somehow didn't find the net.)

But in the end, in the end... the side with 4 people emerged triumphant, though the 3-paps team put up a solid fight. We tried it another time and it was the same result - both sides were bruised and battered with screaming muscles and hazy thoughts of "How did we end up doing this?!" Haha. (Okay la it's just for fun and some crazy cardio - promise we won't do this often otherwise Jon and I are gonna get ousted O.o )

While nursing our 'war injuries' and leaking lactic acid, Papillons floated along and found ourselves in the vicinity of our EM Mens teams. Dazed and -maybe slightly- delusional, a couple of us were seized by suicidal thoughts of whether to accept/incite a pacing session with the guys - to the horror of the rest who quickly plunged their paddles into the water and rowed the boat safely away from the line of fire.

At the suggestion of our cameo coach, Zi Chee, we did a few start sets for testing - one, with 10 hard, 20 fast - and another, with the 30 hard. No conclusion at this point, but the 30 hard still felt effective without being overly breathtaking. We then returned to the pontoon.

Key takeaways: While rowing, it is easy to lose focus on the technique; especially at a quicker pace (and current fitness + proficiency at new stroke), the range of motion is compromised as we struggle to keep up the coordination. So we have to consciously maintain a steady rhythm where we can setup, get a good catch, pull through and exit effectively.
Good thing is that, as we rowed on and warmed up, we were observed to be using the trunk/core muscles - which is what Patrick wants us to do - yeah!

Next Saturday we will have Patrick back - anyone unable to make the session (or any other sessions for that matter) please info Jon and me beforehand so that we know the numbers to expect.

Rest well and have a great (4-workday) week ahead!

= Chief Editor D.L. signing off =

18 April 2009 - Whole boat ready? - Ready!

2009-04-21T20:09:00.002+08:00

Woh - This Sat, we actually ran out of seats on the Papillon boat!
Instead of a dragon head, we had our distinguished figurehead - Captain Jon - happily parked on the bow while the rest of us practised our strokes for the first half.

With 10 of us rowing, the surge felt great!
Of course, at this point we are lacking coordination - but that is only normal when we are in transition towards the new stroke. Paddles were entering the water slightly off-timing, recovery and setup too... But fear not! More water training will solve the problem. (Keep up the attendance!)

Desmond was our Model Student as Coach Patrick made him demonstrate the new stroke for our reference. With a steady pace and consistent stroke execution throughout, he was a very positive example to the rest of us. (Des - can borrow your notes to copy?? Heh.)

Then - there was Yen Nee. We welcomed Yen Nee back after a long maternity break and recuperation from wrist injury. But make no mistake - da power is back! Patrick pointed out how Yen Nee used her core muscles to great effect, rotating her torso to achieve each powerful stroke. (All these, on a cold-start engine!! Amazing.)

During a bout of pair rowing, Big Ben (Yes - he's back! For a brief cameo before EM packs him off to Houston again.) and Kenji were like two high-revv engines trying to scoop out all the water from the Kallang basin. Patrick had to "stop stop stop" their "Pace of Fury" as we restarted (and lost) the count thrice!

Overall, I would say this is the most productive training so far. Turnout was good, and we felt it in the boat's surge. Still needs refining of course, as we tend to lose consistency during the latter half of a longer row. Part of that is due to fitness level - at this stage, without regular gym workouts, fatigue sets in faster.

I suddenly recall Captain Jon's nice cheddar-cheesy kickoff slogan last season:

"Have you GYM yet?"

HAHA - love it.
See yous this Saturday!
Look forward to getting better with each session.

= Chief Editor D.L. signing off =

11 April 2009 - Move the right way, do the right thing.

2009-04-12T18:07:00.005+08:00

In true Papillon fashion, we improve by the day - this Saturday we had... 6 (+1) rowers! Jon, Dawn, Desmond, Xiuhuan, Lin and Joe enjoyed a healthy dose of sunshine. (Good for calcium absorption, you know. But also good for pigmentation... bring on the sunblock and shades!)

Anyway, we welcome Mighty Joe Young back to the boat - it's been a few weeks since he got entrusted with night shift duty and it was great to finally have him back! (As it turned out, Joe quickly pole-vaulted up the learning curve - not only did he grasp the new stroke well, it seems we have discovered a new 'wild card' after Christy! Coach Patrick shifted him left and right, but Joe was equally adept at both.)

Focus of training was on technique and stroke correction - as is usual for the beginning stage of every season. Hmm... interestingly, do you notice that, with each training, it takes us less time to 'remember' the stroke?
True, it still took at least half to three-quarters of the session (of individual and pair rowing) for us to put everything together:
Slightly rotate torso for the A-setup, top arm plunge paddle into the water, 'de-rotate' by cranking rowing back muscle, pull until you 'hit the wall' at the hip, elbow out whip out the paddle sideways and torso rotate back to A-setup... repeat.

Then it was about the timing. Pacers Jon and Dawn (very confusing when Patrick calls us. We don't know who he is correcting!). Anyway. Pacers Jon and Dawn seemed to be doing an awkward duet - the timing was just 'off'. And it trickled to the back such that the boat was not gliding too well. So Jon suggested to imagine Patrick's whistle beat. It worked! A strange "hooooooo... peept!" sound started emitting from Dawn, but with that, pacers got their beat together and soon the Papillon boat was cruising down the canal beyond Cosy Bay.

We then did a series of 2 min and 3 min rows, which Patrick observed to be 'much better!' and improving.
The key was in maintaining a steady, powerful pace, with technically-sound execution of each stroke. "Move the right way, do the right thing" - was the order of the day, so it wasn't about how fast our strokes are, but how efficient. We can be tired, but each stroke must still be properly executed, nevermind about the stroke rate at this point.

... I think we're getting it quicker now. When we have the other Level 3s back with us to train as a full boat, we should all be on the same page - and it should show in our glide!

To end off, again, must stress that good attendance at water training is important - we only have that one training, and the key in getting the most out of it, is to turn up and make each training count. As a full boat, the glide is more powerful, we feel good rowing together, and it creates a positive drive for each of us.

Next up would be to restart gym workouts, to get our muscles in tip-top shape so that we don't feel so tired during water training (from lifting the paddle!!) But let's take it step by step. We can start by including push ups before hitting the water, and dips after!

Hope everyone had a nice long Easter break. Till next Saturday... rest up and see yous!

= Chief Editor D.L. signing off =

4 April 2009 - Driver or passenger?

2009-04-05T21:41:00.004+08:00

This Saturday was a record-breaking turnout for this year.

A record Low of 5 (+1) papillons! - Jessica, Kenji, Dawn, Dennis and Jon were the 5 musketeers who came down. Luckily Coach Patrick was back with us and so we spent the session practising our new stroke.

We did pair rowing, individual 1-minute rows, whole-boat rowing. From 1 stroke per whistle blow, we progressed to 5 strokes per whistle blow, 30 strokes per whistle blow... and eventually, 1 minute rows. It was difficult and felt somewhat unfamiliar in the beginning, but as we rowed on - the movement felt less unnatural and gradually we were gliding along quite well... It's all about practice!

Been a while since we saw Vets at water training, but yes, they are back and even floated by a couple of times, wanting to 下战书 to 踢馆。 (What better time than this when half the Papillon boat is missing??) But, being ever focused on getting the new technique right rather than sparring, we humbly declined. The Vets then scooted away to look for kiddos who were learning to paddle. (Well, boh3 hir2 hey2 ma3 ho4, right? - "No fish, prawn also good." Kidding, kidding!)

While resting in-between, we did some reflection with Patrick emphasizing that we need to have better attendance at water training, if we are to regain peak form and retain the gold this year. If we turn up in drips and draps, every training will be spent re-teaching those who weren't around the last time. Those who have reached "Level 3" will be stuck while Coach repeats "Level 1" for the umpteenth time. For the 5 of us who were there, we nodded in agreement and were glad to be progressing towards "Level 3" and beyond!

More reflection: "Are you a Passenger, or a Driver?"

A boat cannot afford to have passengers, who are only there for the ride.
In this Papillon boat, once we have decided to join in, let's all be Drivers, driving our boat forward, together. Anyone who doesn't pull his/her own weight, will only drag the boat down.

I hope that, as we progress through more trainings and finally hit the races - all of us can confidently say this:

"We're Drivers too."

- This is our Esso slogan, let's apply it to the Papillon boat too!

PS: This post is not targeted at anyone, nor is it meant to be a "howler".
(Remember Harry Potter? - http://www.google.com.sg/search?hl=en&q=harry+potter+howler&btnG=Google+Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=)
It is just a call for Papillon to think about how committed we all are, towards repeating the magic that we did last year.
Remember the elation, the cheers from all around, the applause... and most importantly - the sense of satisfaction from our within.

Are you ready to feel that, again?

= Chief Editor D.L. signing off =

28 March 2009 - WIP.

2009-03-29T23:22:00.006+08:00

WIP = Work In Progress.

An apt description of our current Papillon stroke indeed.
Training was like an orchestra learning a new piece, without its conductor - not very impressive, little bit chaotic.

Coordination was lacking in the first half, but after Dawn abandoned the slight-overkill deliberate pause at the back, the boat seemed to glide along better. Which made us a little confused about how/where we should set up the stroke from...

Nevertheless, Papillons can still feel good about the exhausting session - we really pulled and jerked hard for long stretches at a time!
(Vincent must be asking himself why oh why did he subject himself to this punishing session by gatecrashing Papillon training??)

It was also the first time we won a negotiation with our coxswain.
Cameo Coxswain: "Come, let's row to the bridge." (Sheares Bridge, obviously.)
Anonymous Papillon (cannot be named, to protect his identity): "Which one? That one?" (Pointing to the Kallang flyover.)
Cameo Coxswain (overwhelmed by the quickwitted response): "Har?? - Okay la."

After a few uninterrupted long rows, trying to get our rhythm together, practising the pull-through jerk for that extra "nitrous boost" - we truly deserved an early return to the pontoon. Which we did! To wash up and get ready for dear Desmond's wedding to Jennifer.

喜喜 Congratulations to Desmond and Jennifer on their blissful marriage! 喜喜

Paps - I hope you didn't feel that this Saturday's training was 'wasted' because Patrick wasn't around and we got somewhat lost trying to figure out the new stroke. Sometimes we need to take a step back, to evaluate matters - I'm sure we now have some thoughts to feedback to Patrick the next training, and we can progress from there.
(Plus, of course, a major takeaway was the aches... *muscles super snnng arh!!* Who's not aching?)

On another point:

Dear Lin, hope your tummy is feeling much better now!
Get well soon :)

(Note: Your training discount for coordinating our competition outfit has been used up. Hehe.)

= Chief Editor D.L. signing off =

21 March 2009 - Whistle the same tune, Up!

2009-03-22T22:58:00.003+08:00

Practised new stroke. Stroke by stroke, according to the whistle.
From 1, to 2, to 3, 4, 5, 10 strokes per whistle blow, to 200m, to pontoon, away from pontoon, back to pontoon.

TIMING is crucial...

14 March 2009 - The lull... is over! Papillons gather.

2009-03-14T22:44:00.017+08:00

*Blows the dust off papillonem.blogspot.com*

YES. - We are back.

Slightly more than 2 weeks ago, scattered members of Papillon had already planted themselves in various Dragonboat Carnival teams in an attempt to sooth their withdrawal symptoms from approximately 2+/- months of not rowing.
Those who didn't get to row, went one step further by immersing themselves in a frenzy of planning since Dec last year, to orchestrate the grand event on 28 February.
Nothing, however, beats our Captain Courageous Jonathan's (what a long name) dedication to the sport - he donated his birthday to the DB Carnival.
(Happy Belated Birthday, Jon!)

To quickly summarize the above - Papillon was once again a contributor to noise and buzz and whatever action there is. Kudos to Ben (Chua), Jon, Dennis, Su Li and Dawn for taking up the challenge to Connect EM Families; and the rest of us for rallying the EM Families that took part in the carnival!

Fast forward to present...
On another early Saturday morning, Papillon had their very first water training of 2009. Sleepy Heads Jon, Jessica, Desmond, Kenji, Xiuhuan and Dawn successfully dragged themselves out of bed and gathered at the laodifang (usual place).
(PS: It was a very nice feeling to finally hold our competition paddles again, vs the clumsy slabs of wood used during DB Carnival.)

A very auspicious beginning it was - with Dawn condemning her barely 2-weeks old New Balance sunglasses to the depths of the basin right after we rowed away from shore. On hindsight, we deemed it as a generous (albeit very sad) sacrificial tribute to the Water God/Deity to avert all disasters and bless Papillon with a smooth sailing season ahead!

So a new start for the new season - as usual, Coach Patrick had something unusual to gai4 siao3* to us.

*gai4 siao3 = (hokkien) verb. introduce.

Yes, you guessed it - a revamped stroke!
Do not be alarmed - it is actually the same piston-motion stroke, but refined and broken down into steps for execution. The aim is to synchronize all of our movements -
Bring torso into upright position to set up stroke,
Punch down into water (aim for seat in front), and
Pull through strongly until hip,
Exit paddle (with a small twist outward by rowing arm) - tiniest of pause,
(repeat) Bring torso into upright position to set up stroke...

Sounds advanced, I know. (Sounds tiring, too - you're right.)

But it is a powerful stroke, which will be even more devastating once we perfect our movements together.
This is another step in our evolution to become better.
So let's open our minds, unlock our muscle memories, and embark on another learning journey together. The fun is in finding better ways to defeat your opponents, no?

So the 6 of us gamely took up the challenge (what else could we do...)
We beached the boat and casted away some heavy teammates so that Patrick could give individual tutorials by pairs - which involved some masterful puppeteering by him, using the life-vest to tug us into position at various stages of the stroke.
Meanwhile, the pioneer batch of castaways whiled away their time tossing dead nails-like snails into the water while relating some "asking-to-be-bashed-up questions" (ie. super lame jokes disguised as questions). Know the feeling of the lull before the storm? - This was it.

Because when we finally got onto the boat - HWWOAAH. Every stroke was tiring, man! But it was good practice for the new technique and probably felt difficult because we had to wake our hibernating muscles and reconfigure its memory/timing.

A fruitful and spent training it was, but it felt good!
(The aches are already here...)
Let's have more Papillons the next time, shall we?
(So that the boat is easier to row! HAHA.)

The season has started - let's train together, be focused for that short time during training, and have fun after/before! We've built on the past and reached a peak of triumph in 2008 - but there are always more peaks to scale.
The fun is in doing it together, as one, and better.

May our Beat be as One, and Strokes, Mighty.

= Chief Editor d.l. signing off =
(Yes, I'm back too. *wink*)

29 November 2008 - Su Li and Jui Goy's Wedding

2008-11-30T17:27:00.004+08:00

As they say - a picture is worth a thousand words.
For Papillon, as usual, we need many thousands of words to express our wishes and joy for Su Li and Jui Goy's wedding!

Enjoy the pictures - courtesy of the very efficient event photographer, very impressive indeed how quick you see our mugs in person and a few seconds later, straight onto a piece of paper.

Looking back on the things I've done...

2008-08-10T15:56:00.014+08:00

What a tremendous year.

Papillon began the season with an enjoyable family row - where our loved ones got to experience what we subject ourselves to every Saturday morning, namely:

Testing our resolve to wake up ultra early in the morning, trudging our way to a not-very-extremely convenient part of Singapore, embossing our palms with intricate tarmac prints while doing push ups, sniffing lovely scents emanating from the life vests, and finally, getting onto a boat ride where *horrors of horrors* we have to row the damn thing ourselves?!?

Yes, that is what we do. For several months too. March through to July.

But in the end, it all paid off. We achieved what we always knew we are capable of. Amid the oodles of fun doing it.

Make no mistake, there were bouts of uncertainty and of tentativeness, as Papillon faced a myriad of changes:

A new stroke - This was never going to be easy for those of us who have gotten used to the usual stroke of yesteryears.
Role changes - We saw William rise capably to the challenge of the right pacer position.
Personnel movements - Samuel and Freddy moved to our Vets team, a tremendous boost to their firepower, yet, as ever, continue to show Papillon the greatest support in heart and spirit.
National service - Nation being first, we released (albeit reluctantly) our Yen Nee to heed the PM's call for more Singaporean babies.
Trips - Business trips, vacation trips and plant trips were always going to inject some hiccups into our training plans.
Fresh blood - Joe (not -that- fresh but still considered fresh la) and Ben (very fresh) eased into the sport and our team like fish to water.
Changing landscape - Kallang was undergoing major cosmetic surgery, which came with complimentary ruckus, too.
Government intervention - THEY CLOSED THE BLARDY STADIUM GYM.

How Papillon got through all these - I don't know. But we did. It did prompt a little 'wake up email' from Captain Jon midway - after which we rallied admirably to get our act together. I guess it was a timely trigger - for us to dig deep into ourselves and rediscover our movitation for why we were doing this ('this' = refer to blue section in the beginning of post).

The timely moment of reflection took away all the distortions from the changes and uncertainties, and refocused our goal for this year, that is:

To fulfill our potential.

(Which, by the way, would logically result in medals - judging by the quality of our team.)

And that was about 1 month before our first competition - the 800m SDBF race. So our drive was now aligned - GOOD.

But still, there were kinks. For example, our start pattern. 10hard-20fast was proving to be ineffective for our new piston stroke - despite the rapid strokes, we just weren't seeing the speed. Plus, by the end of it, our breaths were literally taken away... and we still had two-thirds way to go?!?

And here's where Coach Patrick came in, again. He just kept tuning. And finetuning. It was always going to be a challenge to introduce a new stroke and have us bloom in time for the races. But Patrick never wavered - he threw in all the tricks - bailers, tyre, Trivium paddle, GPS, his coaching brain - it was as if he had a Doraemon* pouch.

* Doraemon is a Japanese cartoon character with a magical pouch that can give you anything fantastical that you can ever imagine.

In the end, we formulated our ideal start pattern in time - The 30hard. Of course, it took a heck lot of testing both starts, before we concluded without a doubt (nor strength left) that the latter was more suited for Papillon. That, was the week before the 800m race - talk about "Just in Time"...

In that 800m, we did well to beat away many teams - including all-men ones - to land a semi-final slot, in which we finished a commendable third place.

Sounds like a good start to the race campaign.

The CCG was another kettle of fish (shorter fish - only *nervous laugh* 250m niah). Although we bettered last year's result by capturing Silver, a tinge of 'wasted'ness* lingered as the finish was so warrau-eh-close... there was a feeling that Papillon could have taken the gold, if we had that something.

* Wasted - a very Singlish word with no real English equivalent. Chinese equivalent would be '惋惜', which translates as 'to feel sorry over something that should have happened'.

So, what was 'that something'? Papillon spent the next two trainings finding out. Again, the "Just in Time" team shone through - we hunted down that renegade Aggressiveness in Seletar reservoir, wrestled it into submission and shoved the damn thing into our Psyche (then moved it into the Stomach - where it could run amok and - just as well - kill all the nervous butterflies before J.I.).

After that - boy, were we ready to rock and row. Even when we learnt that Patrick wouldn't be able to cox for us - no matter. He had said before that we have already matured as a team - so yes, Papillon would take to the battle, strategy all mapped out and all that's left to do is the flawless execution. Sounds easy huh.

Not so easy.

Post-photo-reviews (accidentally captured by our EM photographer) showed that we were all over the place towards the end of our heat race - kinda looked like a reenactment of the 1000-armed Guanyin (seriously, not kidding). No wonder we didn't feel any surge at all as we charged to the finish (1:22:45). That was why, in spite of the runaway lead, Capt Jon seriously said that we can do better.

Which we did.

Indeed, the semi-final was better (1:21:11). But all that wouldn't matter, if we didn't fly in the Final. So the Papillon boat was remarkably focused as we lined up at the starting buoy for the Final. The Police were in as well, and so was SRC (whom we had to give the gold to last year - compensation for crashing into their vehicle) - but that didn't matter too - for the greatest enemy was ourselves.

It was THE amazing race. By the end of our 30hard, we were flying. Maintenance was a cruise, before we let fly with a ROARING charge to the finish (1:20:38). Blown away - that's what our opponents were. The second placed boat was three-quarter boat's length behind us! And we were in the correct lane - so, no dispute there, sorry, uh-uh, nah, no way we gonna let you have the gold.

ExxonMobil was jubilant. Papillon was jubilant. And each of us was delirious - from both the win, and atomizing every molecule of our energy in the race.

We did it; You did it.

Whatever difficulties and initial tentativenss there were, Papillon pulled through, with shining results.

Individuals with an inexplicable sync - check.
Coach with a kaizen* philosophy - check.
Commitment and determination - check.
Goals and medals - check.
Achievement and satisfaction - check.

* Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement.

Be proud of yourselves, you deserve it!

= Chief Editor signing off =

26 July 2008 - J.I. race - Of gold, ghost, and goals.

2008-07-29T22:44:00.009+08:00

This year, we landed our first-ever gold medal,

An awesome race that saw us banish the ghost of 2007 J.I.

From words to reality - our goals came to life.

Heats 1:22:45

Semis 1:21:11

Final 1:20:38

Mixed Category Champion:

Papillon

Sounds like heck of a season!

= Chief Editor signing off =

19 and 20 July 2008 - This is sheer intensity.

2008-07-20T22:30:00.008+08:00

19 July, Saturday, Kallang Basin

Today was at Kallang as usual. But unusually, we were in our battle gear. Ahhh - it's for the camera. (Everyone now - look cool and row properly - die-die must synchronize ah! Now SMILE and wave!)

Coach Patrick decided to try a new charge called the PRESSURE charge. After a few attempts, we abandoned it. Simply because the phase was too long - we lao4 hong1* in the midst of our charge to the finishing. So we reverted back to the good old 'hard-10, kiyah' charge. With the distinct preparation and execution phases, it showed better results.

* lao4 hong1 = punctured.

With Pierre cameoing as our coxswain of the day, steering was done with great precision - afterall he is the most expensive imported coxswain in Singapore (for the day la). Estimation and instructions were excellent - most importantly, we didn't notice his presence much - which is good! (Like referees, the good ones are those who stay unnoticed while facilitating a smooth flow - ie. no zigzagging, no crashing, etc.)

Cosy Bay was not so cosy today with the tremendous atmospheric noise from nearby construction work. Our lip-reading and God-of-Gamblers-style 'ear-twitching' skills were put to the test as we strained hard to hear Patrick. (Guess it's good practice for our ears to listen out for charge calls next Saturday!)

Our favourite sparring partner - Vets! - then floated alongside to bask in the noise and challenge us in three pace sets. (Excellent neck to neck stuff! - Well done to both teams.) In our desire to win, everyone pulled out all the stops - but Ah Ben wins hands down for maximum effort - he collapsed in the back seat with a little toe cramp.

During this time, we found ourselves in a unfamiliar area towards the Aljunied/Geylang side - it was quite a peaceful scene except for the occasional dragonboat scurrying by in the canal.

All in all, there was good pace and progress, though something seemed to be missing. Nevermind... we'll look for it tomorrow. Sunday at Lower Seletar Reservoir - preparation at the actual battle ground!

_______________________________________________

20 July, Sunday, Lower Seletar Reservoir

Today, we turned out in our finest too - but there was no camera crew. (What the..!?) To think Christy went to set her hair and we all secretly did 500 push ups in the morning to improve muscle definition just for the camera.

The place was much better than yesterday - it was an idyllic sight with sprinklers creating dancing mists at the golf course in the distance, and bright orange slimy algae on the pontoon and boat hull - which Dawn gleefully scraped off amidst exclamations of "grossss..."

We rowed towards the starting buoys, rehearsing what to expect next Saturday for the Jurong Island race. We counted the buoys, marked out where the alert zone for charging was, and did many MANY starts and race sets. Searching for that 'something missing' from yesterday - aha - it's the aggression during charging. Strangely, with each set we did, it seemed to pick up. By the final few sets, Papillon was roaring with each charge we did. "YES! - that's what I want to see." - Patrick.

Friendly Vets were again out in full force today. So we paced with them, with good result. Could have something to do with imagery - we imagined them as our No.1 opponent - the Police, with very muscular and intelligent* ladies.

* High forehead = intelligent... (Note: This is extremely disguised humour for the select few who get it.)

Finally achieving what we had set out to do, and finishing strong, Patrick decided to release us. Papillon whoosh and paddles/life vests/bum pads all packed into Ken's car (Thanks Ken!) - we were finally off for the weekend!

__________________________

Paps - remember - although Patrick might not be in time to steer us for the first 2 races, it doesn't matter - we are ready.

In fact, we have already done everything that we could have done - build up of race experience in the weeks before, gym, water training, final recce and practice at the race site - we cannot be any more prepared.

So, have great faith in yourself, in us - that Papillon is ready for the big one.

Rest well and recover by Friday. And most importantly, let's be mentally strong. I know you will be feeling a tingle inside you from now until race day - but fear not. For that is not nervousness - that's Excitement.

Make it happen.

= Chief Editor signing off =

12 July 2008 - CCG Dragonboat

2008-07-13T20:19:00.017+08:00

Yes - the day has finally come. After a week of killing stomach butterflies, Papillon (oh, the irony!!*) gathered at Bedok Reservoir this Saturday for CCG dragonboat.

* Irony because, if you recall, 'papillon' = 'butterfly' in french.

We were in good time to catch our guy teams in action during their semi-finals, doing well to secure 3 of out 6 slots in the Final and eventually emerging proud winners of the Silver and Bronze medals. Congrats all around!

With the Men's category done and dusted, it was now Show Time! for the Mixed cat. The opening ceremony was made more lively by some Rather Boisterous Spirits amongst the teams, and it was with good cheer we dispersed to get ready for our events.

Papillons warmed up for the heats (haha), listening intently as Coach Patrick quickly schooled us in the art of 'Drifting to Victory'. We were duly confused; but Ah Ben, with his extreme intelligence, condensed all that into a simple: 'Ah Beng Ah Seng Start' - in other words, no room for gentlemanliness. Ah... understooded.

Time's up - off we went - Initial-P* drifting smoothly down Lane 1 in Heat 1. When the command was given to 'GO!', we burst off to a good start with our gears nicely engaged. After the 30 strokes, we maintained a strong rhythm before launching into a short charge towards the last 50m. Video replays captured a phenomenal surge that pulled us clear ahead of the other boats. What a finish! - 1 min 18 sec - NICE.

* P for Papillon la.

Next up - Semi-finals. It was to be... a heartstopping race. Having been very prim and proper all our years in EM, Papillons were not used to the 'Ah Ben Ah Seng' start and were flummoxed by the not holding water during 'Hold water', paddling during 'Are you ready', etc. When we finally shot off, we were not able to gain the edge like in our heats. It was a nail-biting race to the end, but we managed to edge out Citibank by a whisker, to book a slot in the Final.

A serious debrief awaited us - which we solemnly absorbed and resolved to do a Perfect Start in the Final. By this time, limbs were limp and lactic acid was oozing from our pores. But we steeled ourselves for what was to come.

The start of the Final was a noisy affair. Loudhailers blared away with new rules and warnings and blah blah... but Papillon was focused. Focused on Patrick's calls.

This time, it was Perfect.

We got off on a good start and rowed hard. A charge was called in the middle, and we squeezed out 10 hard strokes to try and pull ahead. (What seemed like) mili-seconds later, came the final charge. The feeling was incredible - it's like your head, lungs, arms and muscles were gonna burst. Crossed the finishing line, we finally looked up and around. It must have been very close, because there was an uncharacteristically subdued moment - much like when a striker that looked offside scores a goal and everyone is wondering if it would stand.

Credit to OCBC (haha!), they were the faster team and deserved the Gold.

But let me say, my Papillons - You can hold your heads high, with your valiant effort that has brought us one better than last year's bronze. I know each and everyone of you 'hocked' out everything you had, so there is no shame in that - be proud of yourselves!

CCG now over - let's look ahead to the J.I. race. There is still room for improvement - and that is in pulling our efforts together when charging. Remember I said that we all threw in everything we had? - Yes we did, but if we can time our gut-bursting strokes together even better... oh, what terror we would cause!

So Paps! Let's all work on that during next training. Build the habit of listening for and echoing out the charge calls - so that during the mayhem of actual races, we are alert and ready to charge together - RAAARRR!

Last but not least - a Special Mention to: Eddie Tan! who gamely took up the highly dangerous position of Papillon drummer, quietly stood by us throughout the races, and did a swell job each time without falling into the water.

PS: We had a little celebration at Pierre's place, where helicopters flew the national flag in our honour and the RSAF Black Knights did a nice air show for us (loop-de-loops, 'arrow in apple' [off-spec heart, actually], and the works) before they popped by the NDP rehearsal. How nice. Dinner was a tad late as the four Golden Pillows had to be constructed from scratch - waiting for the chicks and lamb to grow before they were qualified to be cooked as our dinner, collecting the charcoal to bake the bun, etc. Luckily, the food was GOOD and it was great fun. Thanks Pierre for hosting us! And Ben for ordering the food!

= Chief Editor signing off =

05 July 2008 - Bang4 zai3 zai3 *.

2008-07-05T21:19:00.008+08:00

* Bang4 zai3 zai3 = 'BE STEADY' in hokkien.

Right - quick summary.

Basically we did a good long warm up row, then went in search of the Vets to do pacing. It was a difficult rendevous, because whenever we rowed towards them, they rowed in the opposite direction. BUT but, finally finally, all our EM boats gathered and it was a nice heartwarming scene which would have been even better if we had sung "I lub choo, you lub meee, we are happy familyyyy..." But no, we replaced that with an "Are you ready. Attention... GO!"

So off we went. It was a breathtaking race (literally, too) which saw Papillon in a photo finish with Vets, Blades and Ace. Our adrenaline was bursting through the roof so we went for another round. This time, Paps were BRILLIANT.

Key takeaways:

We're sticking to the 30-start.
Although it is a sprint distance, let's not work ourselves into a frenzy by rushing the strokes - instead, focus on catching the water well then pull hard to the hip.
During maintenance, catch our breath and recover quickly as it won't be long before we go on our final blaze to the finishing line..!
Finally - above all - Let's work the perfect Paps coordination.

Coach Patrick's words to remember:

Other teams do not matter.

You are your greatest enemy - can you focus enough to row your best?

Looking back, we saw how we have progressed since training started in March. We used to struggle against Lilies... now we give our mens teams a run for their money.

Let's maintain that strong, unwavering determination that has brought us thus far - in the next two races it will lift us to greater heights.

Finally, Paps: Gym this week to be no later than Wednesday. Leave Thurs-Fri for recovery and we'll be in good shape to swipe some serious water this Saturday at CCG.

= Chief Editor signing off =

29 June 2008 - SDBF 800m semi-finals

2008-06-29T22:04:00.009+08:00

Paps,

Today was the first time we appeared in the 800m semi-finals. Let me say this - we rowed like we were regulars in this competition. Against all-men teams, we showed what we're capable of - that we're not a 'bao1 jia4'* team. Yep - whoever wants to proceed to the Final, has to get past us first okayyy.

* 'bao1 jia4' = 'guaranteed to eat' = easy meat

This weekend was an awesome start to our race campaign! So let's keep the momentum going and push hard for a few more weeks. Our spirits are high, knowing that coming races will provide the stage for us to shine.

But make no mistake - Papillon will not be complacent. For CCG and JI, we will respect our opponents - that none of them are bao1 jia4s - and we will train well to win by being the better - no, make that BEST - team.

Papillons... are ready. ATTENTION now...

= Chief Editor signing off =

28 June 2008 - SDBF 800m race heats

2008-06-29T00:14:00.006+08:00

Today... was just like training.

We arrived, milled around, did a quick warm up, and rowed - just like we trained the week before.

What a simple game plan - a game plan that worked.

Timing: 4min 51.46sec

Let's bring it up another notch tomorrow - and shoot for a slot in the Finals.

May our beat be as One, and strokes, Mighty.

= Chief Editor signing off =

Blasts from the past - 2007.

2008-06-26T21:16:00.004+08:00

Paps,

As we enter the Race period of this season, thought it'd be apt to recap our exciting exploits last year as a reminder of what we are capable of. (Good timing too - I've always wanted to post up my earlier summary masterpieces but Blogger.com doesn't support backdating.)

We were good last year - this year, we will be GREAT.

= Chief Editor signing off =

'Flashback' Episode 3: J.I. race - 04 August 2007

2008-06-26T20:56:00.005+08:00

There wasn't any summary for this eventful day due to Chief Editor's memory crash. However, let me share some of the afterthoughts by then-V.Capt-now-Capt Jonathan and Coach Patrick (typos and all retained for original flavour - heck, it's the content that counts!)

_____________________________

(Email from then-Vice Capt Jon)

Dear Team,

As I reflect on the race that was over a couple of hours ago, how we would have gotten the long awaited Gold Medal and the Champion Cup for Mixed category, something popped into my mind which I will like to take a moment of your time to share with.

For many of us, today's loss was unbearable. It was an exact replica of disappointment and low morale that surfaced during our defeat in JI '06. As the saying goes "so close yet so far" . This statement is only half right.

If we ask ourselves truely, what drives us? What's our source of motivation? The answer to the questions cannot be found in medal chasing. The answer lies in our beliefs in one another, in that Papillon can surface as a true medal contender and win races. To prove ourselves! This driving force had fuelled us to continously challenge our limits and to scale greater heights.

Papillon had always been the underdog in races. For the whole of 2006, we were medal -less, only there to make up numbers. The wake up call was in JI'06 when we lost what could have been ours. We trained hard consistently over the next 12 months and achieve what we had thus far: Bronze medal in CCG and Silver medal just 2 weeks back.

In retrospect, Medals are only a token and a form of official recognition. Ask ourselves, had we not already attained that? The timings had shown it all. The photo finish had proved it all. We had fellow rowers telling us that we are the rightful champion in their heart. What else do we need to convince ourselves we had beat the rest? Are we going to dwell into not getting another piece of token?

Objectively , we had met what we set out as a team to achieve. Over the past few races, we had proved ourselves continously. We had came in 3rd position in CCG, 2nd Position in Charity Race and 1st position in JI race. 3 wins in 3 weeks. This is the testament of our achievements. In fact, we had obtained the recognition from our peers in the dragonboat community. In a short span of one year, we have became one of the top teams in the inter-corporate mixed category, a team not to be reckon with. For this, I am proud to be part of.

Here, I will like to thank Patrick for his time and effort in bringing out Papillon's true potential. (with our consent to the suffering of course). Papillon Unite, let's get over this episode and look forward to our nextrace.

Papillon ReadY~ Kiyak!

Your Humble Vice Captain,
Jonathan Yeo

_______________________________________

(Email from Coach Patrick)

Dear Pappillon,

We went thru a really pressing time last weekend, the scene of us being DQ at the finish line kept flashing thru my mind. I kept asking myself "Why did it happen?"

The whole course of the race seems to keep replaying like a tape in auto replay mode, then i started to collect myself n see things in a positive n constuctive manner. Yes i made a mistake by overlooking the lane marking n caused the team to be DQ. Such a small detail n it caused us the trophy we really wanted i kept brooding n blamed myself, but i realised i'm just stuck at the same point n not moving forward. The race can'nt replay again, what i can do is jus make sure of the lane marking before the start of any race set. This kind of mistake did'nt occur to me in my years of rowing before, i paid my dues n will learn from this painful experience. On hindsight, i'm glad it did'nt happen on a bigger stage like regatta or jun race where the loss would be more unbearable.

Overall the team is really showing depth n heading in the right direction we have proven to the rest we came in 1st the timing can'nt lie, the same cannot be said if we came in at the bottom n argued for bragging rights to be the top team. The faith n belief we have in Papillon is what really comforts me, where everybody stick thru highs n lows together always encouraging. Like always this experience makes me wiser n spur me to bring Pappilon to the next level for more success in the challenging races ahead. A very successful entreprenuer once said :'' It's ok to make mistakes it's how fast u learn from it n pick urself up that is of outmost importance."

Rdgs,

Coach Patrick.

_______________________________________

= Chief Editor signing off =

'Flashback' Episode 2: Charity Race - 29 July 2007

2008-06-26T20:43:00.007+08:00

Papillons were once again very active on a Sunday morning. This time, the stage was set in the classy CBD, with Singapore River and the majestic Fullerton Hotel as our backdrop. The atmosphere was carnival-like with tents and milo goodie bags and people all around.

Papillons, by nature, can be categorized into two basic groups: one – the Punctuals; two – the Delayeds. On this day, the early arrivals blinked and yawned, struggling to not fall asleep. However, nothing beats a good, loud, totally unexpected last-call from the organizers to fall in: “… EXXONMOBIL, please gather at __ and get ready for heat (7?)” In a flash, everyone was wide-awake – AARH??? SO EARLY??!

The bunch of frantic Papillons scrambled for their life vests and paddles. Summoned by a phonecall, Ah Ben teleported from the nearby McDonald’s and was thrown straight into battle, ignoring his body’s calls to poo first then row. Due to the limited supply of EM beings around, we enlisted the help of Yew Thong to be our drummer – which the good fella gamely agreed to.

More drama was to follow – just as Papillon was about to push off, our Vincent Teo, Minister-of-Defence-Teo’s-possible-seventh-cousin-twenty-times-removed, appeared! A personnel overhaul ensued – Jessica swapped to be drummer just as Yew Thong managed to squeeze into the impossibly tiny life vest; while Vincent took Jessica’s position on the left.

With all stars in place, the troop of Jon, Desmond, Christy, Dawn, Freddy, Marilyn, Vincent, Ben, Ken, Patrick, Jessica drummer and Jackson coxswain set off for the starting line. Having switched on our Race-mode, the bump boats and tourists faded into the background. “ARE YOU READY. Attention…BORRRH” later, Papillon shot off to a pulsating good start. Seat by seat, we gradually pulled in front of our nearest competitor, finishing strong with half a boat length lead to book a place in the final.

Papillons disembarked feeling a little “high” and woozy after the overdose of adrenaline attributable to the chaotic pre-race happenings and the race itself. Shaking and stretching off the lactic acid and any residual shock, we were joined by a gleeful Dennis who exclaimed that the race was super exciting man!!!

After settling down, hunger pangs awoke and we heard random orders of “tau huay chooi” (soya bean milk), duck rice, “char siew rice” and “chwee kuey” to no one in particular – we -must- be woozy from that energy-sapping race.

The Sun then decided to take urgent leave without notice and went MIA as dark clouds rapidly descended upon us. The subsequent downpour created a very despondent sight indeed – a bunch of cold, hungry and pooped-out Papillons huddled on the floor.

Eons passed. We stared blankly at each other. Some chit chat. A giant can of Milo danced. …and finally, time for the finals, yipee! As usual, a couple of us dashed to the toilet. It was then, that Ah Biow appeared. I couldn’t quite remember what transpired; all I knew was - we all started chanting “Ah Biow, AH BIOW, AH BIOW AH BIOW…”, then Vincent stripped, Pierre swapped his top, Christy transferred to the right, and Papillon was all ready for the showdown against Tanker Pacific. As we rowed off to the starting point, in the distance, we saw that our Captain Su Li had arrived right on time and was on the river bank waving and cheering us on.

Perhaps overwhelmed by the sheer presence of such a large audience along the Singapore River, our coxswain attempted tricky maneuvers just to get our boat oriented correctly.

With all teams in place, the air-horn went again. Flanked by Stanchart and Tanker Pac, the pressure was on for Papillon. Nevertheless, we never wavered; we kept our cool and fought all the way to a photo-finish, capturing the second place! Pats on backs for yet another super performance, Papillons were jubilant as we achieved another significant milestone in the short span of two weeks. It was also a great experience having Coach Patrick row with us instead of coxing, as well as the cameo by good ole Vincent, and last but not least – great effort by Ken and Dennis!

Despite the long wait to get our medals, Papillons cheered wildly when Derk went on stage to accept a token for ExxonMobil’s sponsorship of the event, and went delirious when Jon claimed our medals. “Go GO GO! ExxonMobil GO!”

Couple of photos-with-medals later, we trudged to Han’s in search of our delayed lunch. The famished gang went on an ordering spree of steaks and salmon fillets, chicken chops and pastas; then wiped out the food almost as soon as they landed on the table.

Pierre then negated all the efforts of our gut-busting, fats-zapping 1min44sec and 1min32sec rows respectively by introducing sinful cakes and ice cream. Strangely, the desserts seemed to gravitate towards Dawn and Co’s table as many plates of cakes suddenly materialized from nowhere.

With the hearty lunch as a superb way to end off the day’s events, the team dispersed; no doubt with each and every Papillon harbouring a deep-seated conviction and determination to complete the three-week-trilogy with a Gold medal in the J.I. race the following Saturday.

= Chief Editor signing off =

'Flashback' Episode 1: CCG Dragonboat - 21 July 2007

2008-06-26T20:28:00.012+08:00

It was a glorious Sunday morning. At 11am, most Papillons were fluttering around in the ExxonMobil tent at Bedok Reservoir. Something(s), however, felt amiss. AH – we were missing parts of our head and tail. Ah Jon (head) was still turning the refinery around and Ah Ben (tail) was simply MIA. Not to worry, we boast of a squad with depth – Freddy-ever-Ready would take us through the first race. (And fortunately, a flurry of phonecalls later, Ben-the-Man appeared from nowhere.)

After eternity, it was time to warm up! Led astray – sorry, away – from the hustle and bustle of the tents, the troop flipped-flopped-jogged along a lovely track that showcased intricate wooden architecture among the trees.The steps, burrows and whatnots suspended by ropes reminded one of some kind of SOC (standard obstacle course) – only, for monkeys.

Some side shuffles, back paddles, touch-the-ground-without-kissing-SuLi’s-ass-s and leaps later, we did a solid 2-minute drill of simulated rowing. With stinging palms as evidence of our superb coordination – never missing a slap - we were ready to rock.

And rock, we did. The boat was very rocky indeed when we boarded for our heat, threatening to spill a few Papillons into the water. With Jon appearing in time to cheer us on, the team was raring to kick some ass. Bearing in mind what Coach Patrick said earlier when educating us on the finer points of not losing out in a race, Marilyn was trying hard not to fall into the water as she reached for some imaginary buoy.

Holding our breath in anticipation of the air-horn after the call of “ARE YOU READY. Attention...,” we almost died of asphyxiation because the air-horn never came. Luckily our common sense kicked in and we rowed away on hearing “GO!!!” half-a-retard-second later.

Hard 10, fast 20… maintenance… “Hard 10 ready”, “READY!”, “GO NOW” – “one, two…nine, ten. Ki yah, KI YAH, KI YAH, KI YAH…!!!”

… with that, Papillon glided into the semi-finals with half-a-boat-length lead over the second-placed team. One down, two to go.

Feeling all confident and good, Papillons gathered under the trees, stretching and shaking the lactic acid off. In particular, one newbie was observed trying to fling her arms off. Anyway, Coach Patrick did a post-mortem and concluded we could do an even better job in the subsequent race – to which we agreed. The team then topped up themselves with some high-octane Redbull and H2O and bananas that appeared from nowhere - courtesy of the mysterious reservoir elf (Freddy!)

After forever, we reassembled again for warm up as semi-finals approached. After more stretches and smacking each others’ palms, we did deep-breathing exercises to calm ourselves down. It was obviously something we badly needed – seeing how most of us piew-ed to the toilet every 5 seconds.

With Jon and Freddy swapping the roles of “fervent supporter” and “superpacer”, Papillon did not miss a beat and confidently headed out towards the starting point. This time, the eagle-eyed officials spotted our drummer Marilyn without her white buoy, and we gostan-ed the boat a little to hand it to her.

“ARE YOU READY. Attention…” “BORRRRRHHH” – the air-horn went. Papillon did a good start set and finished off equally strong – way ahead of the rest. And hence a place in the finals was booked.

With each race, the tiredness started creeping in… fortunately, with our morale bolstered by the two good performances, Papillon oozed sufficient adrenaline to overcome any signs of fatigue.

More Redbull and bananas later, it was Showtime!!!

Papillon cruised to the starting point with William and Dawn frantically bailing to relieve the boat of any unnecessary weight. The officials’ eyesight was getting better with each race, so we did not try anything funny.

… for a final time that day, the air-horn went and Papillon rowed like there was no tomorrow. Unfortunately, the Police and OCBC rowed like there was no today, so they clinched the first and second placing respectively. Third place was secured by a relatively dark horse, which had never tasted medal before. It could only be… the one and only Papillon!!!

Slaps on the back for a good job done, we brought much cheer to the ExxonMobil tent with our star-shaped medals. Then it was off to Pierre’s palace for a joyous celebration!

The swanky place rocked to the beat of Queen’s – to which Christy delightedly grooved along. Pierre eventually decided to fast-forward a few tracks to get to the one he –really- wanted to hear. “Weeee are the champions, my frie-ends... and weeee… go on fighting till the end… We are the champions, WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS; no time for losers, cos we are the championssss… of the world…”

Dinner was a feast of 2 delicious deep-fried sambal-chilli fish, 2 grilled frozen pizzas, and approximately 4 CEUs (chicken-equivalent-units), accompanied by beer, Pokka green tea and/or Sprite. Yes – we were HUNGRY. Meal time entertainment consisted of the interrogation of Coach Patrick and it was certainly a quick and efficient way to learn about our coach. Newbie Dawn was then showered with the same rapt attention as the whole team-minus-Dawn suddenly resembled a grand panel of matchmakers.

All in all, it was a fantabulous full-day affair which, I would think, totally made everyone’s weekend (and month… and 3Q07 YTD!) Well done Ah Ben, Desmond, Freddy, Jon, Su Li, Jessica, Christy, William, Yen Nee, Ah Biow, Dawn, Marilyn and Patrick! And not forgetting our trusty video-grapher Ken! And Samuel who was there with us in spirit! And Dennis too!

Papillon has come some way and we’ve entered a new era of title-chasing hopes and ambition. Seat by seat, race by race, medal by medal… we’ll get there. Let’s strive for a GOLDen era ahead!!

Next up – J.I. race – BRING IT ON.

= Chief Editor signing off =

21 June 2008 - Found the elusive groove.

2008-06-21T21:48:00.006+08:00

What can I say - it took us some time to get it. But when it arrived, it was SWEET. After weeks and weeks of tweaking and finetuning, we have finally discovered our very own Papillon... pace!

The day began with our usual warm up and the familiar sight of a frantic Joe bursting into the scene. Somehow, he always manages not to miss the boat - talk about uncanny timing. With Joe, we had a perfect 10 lineup for today's training in preparation for next week's 800m race.

Apparently, there were 战书s* issued among Paps, Vets and Lilies, to do pacing. There was some miscomm. about timing, so Paps set off to find and update the Vets. But, they were nowhere to be found. Conspiracy theorists speculated that it was a ploy to tire us out with an extended warm-up row. (Not true - they were just secretly practising in Cosy Bay - fair enough.)

*战书 = noun. 'written challenge to war', or, 'letter to challenge'

Just as well - in the distance covered to find the Vets, we practised our special-30 start introduced by Coach Patrick just the previous session - looking good. But the test of the mettle came during the 800m pace with Vets and Lilies...

Conclusion: It's good. We made our best timing and were way way ahead in the finish. (To be fair, our boat was at full strength while our worthy opponents were missing a few.) MOST importantly, we didn't collapse and die at the end of it.

Ever the thorough coach, Patrick wanted to double-confirm the 30-start's effectiveness, so made us do two 300m race sets with different starts, to compare. Again, 30-start showed an advantage. So... I guess - this is it! We have found our groove. Well, at least for the coming 800m race.

In such a long race, we need to stay fresh - the 30-start gives a steady and powerful start and allows us to breathe and recover well during maintenance in order to charge again near the end. Also, unlike with fast-short strokes, the chance of incoordination is lower.

The key lies in maintaining focus and keeping to our own pace with long, strong pulls, even if other boats press ahead at the start. We will definitely catch up - seat by seat, stroke by stroke - that's for sure. So Paps, just be cool, stick to our game plan - and things will pan out fine.

It's going to be one hard race... but when we hear that 'ARE YOU READY' next week - you can betcha we are.

= Chief Editor signing off =

14 June 2008 - The wonders of technology.

2008-06-17T20:09:00.002+08:00

Yep, Coach Patrick has got a new toy.

It's a neat little gadget called GPS, which he proudly snapped onto his wrist and eagerly shooed us into the boat to test it out.

Today we were going to row full 800m sets in preparation for the SDBF race come June 28-29.

Coach also tuned the new stroke to become even newer - but more importantly, to suit our pace. Results from empirical tests showed that the slower but longer pull (now to the hip instead of mid thigh) allowed us to catch our breath while achieving similar speed to the fast-short strokes that make us woozy and lightheaded after each burst.

With this improved energy efficiency, Papillon should be better-prepared to take on one of the world's toughest energy challenges - the 800m DB race - without going kaput halfway through.

In between short sets of 30 strokes, we did 3 full 800m race sets, with Coach monitoring the speed gauge and prodding us to keep the pace up when the boat got sluggish.

Key takeaways:

We agreed that the slower/longer/stronger stroke is better for the upcoming 800m race.
Continue to 'kiyah' to the finishing line, but alternate the shouting so that we can still exert strength optimally (don't 'kiyah' and lose your breath!)
Training with GPS is useful for tracking and optimizing our pace at different phases of the race.

Thanks to Patrick for introducing innovative ways to enhance training and always looking to make Papillon better. Paps - together let's keep moving forward!

= Chief Editor signing off =

OUR BIG DAYS.... Photo Uploaded (some)

2008-06-03T22:37:00.001+08:00

Dear folks,

I have upload some of our recent photos... mainly of our folks and their BIG day... Going forward, I will try to upload as frequent as possible. ^.^ Enjoy...

31 May 2008 - A dash of poop.

2008-06-01T11:08:00.007+08:00

This Saturday, Papillons were early and we did proper warm up complete with 80 push ups. When Coach Patrick arrived - surprise, surprise! - we already had our life vests on, all ready to board.

Dennis was promoted to the front left pacer seat for the day, after Jon was urgently called back to the plant.

While resting after a long warm up row, a most curious thing happened. A patch of creamy white was discovered on Dennis' bermudas as he was saying to Su Li "Can you talk to Emily... WHAT-THE-HELL?!?" Yep - Dennis has been struck by the poop bomb from a terrorist bird. In typical Singaporean fashion, the eagle-eyed ones among us immediately spied the bright yellow width/height limitations (15m, 26m) on the Sheares bridge: "Eh look - 15 26! Buy 4D ah!"

(For info: 1526 did not strike anything on Saturday evening.)

In a pace set with Lilies, we pulled away from them very quickly in the front and maintained our lead all the way. Seems like the new stroke works well! - We just need to work on the optimal pace where we are able to catch the water quickly and pull the boat forward, but not rushing and tiring ourselves out prematurely. Comes with more practice.

Pierre set a more specific goal for us for the SDBA 800m Corporate Open race - We will not lose to the NewUrbanMale team this time. A fair enough challenge I would say - let's do it!

All in all, it was a fruitful training - we rowed hard, no complaining, covered good mileage while working the stroke... Like the true Papillons we are, we're showing excellent positive attitude - great stuff!

So Paps, the fire's lighted now - let's keep it burning!

= Chief Editor signing off =

random quotes from the Pensieve...

2008-05-27T23:53:00.009+08:00

Heads up Paps! Let's keep moving forward. Go go go!

the best inspiration is not to outdo others ,

but to outdo ourselves .

i fear not the shame of losing ,

only the regret from not trying my darndest .

What are you made of ?

24 May 2008 - When the cat is away...

2008-05-24T22:51:00.015+08:00

... the mice still train! - Strange, but true. Papillons hauled themselves outta bed early Saturday morning as usual for water training.

Nevertheless, some chaos was to be expected when the cat is away getting married. The situation was made worse by an influx of primary school children in the compound, which made it difficult to find a patch of ground for warm up. So we jumped right into the boat for a warm up row instead.

Our cameo coxswain-of-the-day - Freddy! (whom we stealthily koped* from Veterans for the day) - decided to put a twist in the concept of 'warm up row' (and maybe our muscles too) by introducing a couple of hard-10s while we rowed towards the Sheares bridge. Not to worry - our muscles did not spas up, even as Christy lamented the lack of push ups and land-based warm up.

*Koped = poached

From there we headed to our favourite destination - the mysterious supposedly '300metres away' yellow buoys. Our boat was feeling alittle groovy, so it 1, 2 stepped to the left, then 1, 2 stepped to the right. (Of course, it was unintentional laaa.. Alright, next time I'll cox.)

So anyway, we reached the buoys, then decided to let freshie Ben Chua try his hand at coxing. The boat did the 1, 2 steps left and right too, but not a bad attempt - we didn't crash, did we?

This was followed by an attempted boat chase - we wanted to qie4 / 切 / overtake a nearby boat which, in Jon's humble opinion, was moving very slowly (yes - we're suckers for cheap thrills). So off we went! BUT, just as we engaged 4th gear... the other boat stopped rowing. What a downer - cheh.

I think I have yet to mention any break - let me assure you that we did pepper our training with sufficient breaks and boat stretches. In fact, we found some time to do ambassadorial work for Singapore Tourism Board by waving enthusiastically to the tourists (or locals?) onboard the Duck tour boats that passed us. (Tour guide to tourists: "To your left - you can see dragonboat rowing along the Kallang river. *Spies Papillon waving excitedly* Look! - Singaporeans are such friendly folks.")

A few start sets (10 hard - 20 fast - 3, 2, 1 - 10 maintenance - easy) and pair rowing thrown in, we then took a well-deserved break during which we observed hilarious antics by kiddos learning to row dragonboat. Paddles literally up overhead, at various angles, lovely wavelike incoordination and plenty of splashes amidst friendly paddle fights - what great fun they had! *Brimming with cheap thrill ideas again* - How nice it would be if all our J.I. race competitors rowed like that!

Snap back to reality - we returned earlier to the pontoon to wash up and make our way to our favourite cat's ROM lunch.

喜喜 Congratulations to Patrick on your marriage! 喜喜

喜喜 Wish you and Geraldine happiness forever after. 喜喜

Papillons - good effort at today's training. I don't think we let up on the intensity even as Coach was not around. (*Conscience-stricken* Okaaay... maybe there was no tyre. Alright, alright - I confess we skipped the push ups too...)

Anyway - let's keep it going! With gym and all - build it up!

= Chief Editor signing off =

17 May 2008 - Pap_ _ _ _ _ ('illon' missing)

2008-05-19T14:35:00.013+08:00

This Saturday, Papillon's 'people-to-boat' ratio was unusually lower as we missed a number of folks mainly due to trips - business trip / honeymoon trip / plant trip.

With 8 instead of the usual full load of 11 (sometimes 12!), Coach Patrick thoughtfully decided to spare us from the tyre - the boat itself providing enough resistance for 7 rowers.

Our plan for the session was simple enough: Technique.

With plenty of seats available, Coach was able to move around to observe closely and correct our strokes as we rowed individually. In particular, Dawn's movements have been looking unnaturally awkward and finally Coach couldn't tahan* anymore and came to the front to adjust her arms (much like twisting the limbs of an action toy figurine) - Ah, much better!

* 'Couldn't tahan' in this context = 'couldn't take it'

After the individual tuning, we rowed towards imaginary buoys in the distance. Due to the heat, Pap____s were inflicted with the same hearing problem:

Coach said: 'Row to the yellow buoy, U-turn row back to Sheares bridge and rest.'
What we (in our delirium) heard: 'Row to the yellow buoy ...(we zone out here)... and rest.'

So we cheong-ed* all the way to the yellow buoy (near the dam construction) and listened eagerly for the 'Easy' (while still rowing). But when instead we heard 'Now little bit more to the Sheares bridge' - we all collapsed and died.

* 'cheong'-ed = forged forward with great effort

Later resurrected by a break, we made it to the bridge, and then headed back to shore. The curse of bad ears struck again as we neared the pontoon - not hearing the 'Easy' and 'Hold', our boat executed a smooth drift-like manoeuvre which was breathtaking if not for the final bang onto the boat in front. We were duly reprimanded by the guy-in-charge - so much for 'Initial-P'.

(Folks, for Safety - next time do make sure the commands are passed down well and quickly. On our part, let's also exercise common sense to hold the boat if we realise it is going too fast when berthing or nearing other objects/structures.)

Hope everyone gained something from this Technique session - let's keep it with us for next training, the one after, and forever more.

Keep plugging away, Paps!

= Chief Editor signing off =

Technique check

2008-05-15T22:16:00.014+08:00

Thought it'd be good to note this down and track our progress thereafter...

During the pacing session with Vets et al the previous week, it was observed that our surge was not as powerful as it could be, mainly because we were pulling at half-blade. The coordination was perfect though.

On hindsight - as 'right pacer of the day' for that training - I think it was because we were going too fast, mainly during maintenance. When that happens - either coordination gives, or power gives (ie. row at half-blade in order to keep up with the pace). So that's why we were 'punctured' by the latter half of the race.

Nonetheless, a silver lining in this - I am glad we are all aligned that Coordination is of foremost importance.

If there ain't coordination - there ain't nothing.

So! No worries - we'll find our pace as a team. Steadily and surely - it will come. In the meantime, let's keep them blades fully in the water!

= Chief Editor signing off =

10 May 2008 - Play time. Not!

2008-05-11T12:23:00.014+08:00

This Saturday, we started off with a fitting session to try on our war armour for this season. Singlets, shorts and polo tees were pulled on and stripped off with much efficiency. No doubt, let's make those clothes look good again this year!

On to a quick warm-up - jumping jacks, a quick stretch and 50 push ups later, Papillons were boarding the boat when they heard a splash! We turned and saw our Joe suspended thigh-deep in the water, holding up his crocs - for a moment, I was amazed by this unreal gravity-defying act, until my dull brain registered that the tide was very shallow - chey... Fortunately Joe was okay, except for some skin-nourishing mud and algae smears on his shorts and feet.

So off we went, in seek of the Tyre again. Heaven tried, in vain, to help us by running the boat aground under the Nicoll Highway bridge, in waters much resembling the river Styx (black, foul smelling and leading to 'hell') - alas, a feeble attempt it was, and we still kena* the tyre after doing a detour.

* Kena (in this context) = got 'bestowed' with

Coach Patrick brought a couple of new toys for us this week - we took turns to 'play' with the pro-looking black Trivium paddles. For some reason - could be the hyper-extended shaft or more likely because we aren't used to it - it feels to require more effort for each stroke. So after everyone had a stint and realised 'eee-urhh... not nice to play one!', the toys were duly abandoned.

The girls in front also found time to play 'mini musical chairs' amidst the warm up row, 50 strokes pair rowing and some race sets. Too bad Dennis... who ask you sit so back. <- PG note: bad English (but good Singlish).

Papillon then engaged in a friendly pace with our Vet boat, and a mystery other boat. We fared not too bad! - But Coach rightly pointed out not to rush and burn ourselves out prematurely, especially during maintenance. OK Coach, noted.

After that, it was back to the pontoon! Stretches, 70 wobbly push ups and a Papillon whoosh later, we were dismissed.

Key follow up items are to:

Continue the good work at gym.
Keep finetuning and focus on executing the piston-stroke correctly during water training (until it becomes second nature).
As a team, find our optimal pace - this will come as we do more race sets.
Send your race indemnity forms to Jon.

Yet another muscle-screaming session... well done! Rest well folks and have a good week.

= Chief Editor signing off =

26 April 2008 - It-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named.

2008-04-27T21:21:00.025+08:00

Yes - It's back. Just as Papillons were happy to note the single bailer this Saturday, the original instrument of torture - whose name strikes terror into the heart of anyone who has ever experienced it - has returned.

Soon as we hopped into the boat, Coach Patrick steered us away from the usual direction of row. We crossed under Nicoll Highway and rowed along Kallang Riverside Park. As it became apparent that Coach was going to beach the boat, there were flashbacks not unlike those that happen to people who have near-death experiences - only, it was merely the mind zipping through the possibilities of:

Beach push-ups *NOoo...*
Stationary pair rowing *shudder*
10km beach run *quick, faint first*

... and that was when we saw It. Which-Must-Not-Be-Named.

The boat (and our hearts too) sank as Coach unearthed the Tyre from among the parked boats and hooked it up. Patrick has managed to outwit us once again! - We solemnly surrender.

With the draggy tyre, our muscles were made to work harder. We still needed Coach's reminders on the piston action, where our outer shoulder should be rotating in a circular motion. (When you look at your rowing shoulder, should be rotating anti-clockwise for right rowers, and clockwise for left rowers.)

After a masterful display of negotiation (10 Papillons vs 1 Coach), we did 5 sets of rowing with the tyre, and then 5 sets without. It was so poopifying that I can't remember the details, only bits and bobs:

Our 3-2-1 transition from the fast 20 to "stretttchout..." was there.
Before starting on one of our sets, Coach: "If you can row until we crash into the wall, better!"
The boat was unusually quiet for periods at a time, as we paused to catch our breath in-between sets.
For best results, Coach recommended a dosage of "one time maximum chin ups and 100 push ups", twice daily - in the morning after waking up, and at night before going to bed.

The next thing I remember, was us rowing back to the same place to return the tyre, and then back to the pontoon. We then finished the session with 40 push ups, and of course, our customary Papillon whoosh!

Needless to say - it was a tough training, and we were given a heads up by Coach to expect more of the same as we build up to the races. Now, though we may moan and groan, I know that inside each Papillon - we know what we're capable of achieving, and along with that, is a strong desire to win back what is ours.

So let's channel that unshakable determination into training - make every training count. Ki-yah!

= Chief Editor signing off =

19 April 2008 - a tail of two bailers.

2008-04-19T19:37:00.013+08:00

This Saturday morning, we showed a little more initiative in warming up before Coach Patrick arrived. Nevertheless, our attempt to hoodwink him was exposed when Coach took one glance at our arms, saw the total lack of perspiration and muscle definition, and concluded that we hadn't done any push ups. Such sharpness!

Today, we welcome a fresh face - Ben Chua - to a first session with Papillon!

The boats were so flooded by the flash showers early this morning, an electronic pump was used for a massive de-ballast exercise. For that same reason, Papillon was armed with 2 bailers. On hindsight, we should have thrown them far far away after scooping out the water - only because Coach, in all his ingeniousness, had grand plans for them as replacement for The Tyre (which he now cannot fit into his compact coupe). Dang.

Rowing in the strangely 'teh si'-like ('milk tea'-like) waters with 'tea leaves' floating about, we were treated to pair-rowing of 100 strokes to fine-tune the new piston-stroke!

We then rowed toward an imaginary 50m mark (that was really more like 1km) in the direction of the under-construction dam. Coach might seriously want to consider Lasik or something to correct his abysmal judgment of distance.

It was a long, long row... made more challenging by the 2 bailers dragging behind. "You are not tired, you are fresh!" - Coach's words echoed in our ears. Though not exactly sashimi-fresh, we didn't let up either, and kept going. Good job, Paps!

Then, heading to the 300m race mark, we were greeted by the cheery 'Vet-Rookie' boat and decided to pace with them. Though we finished ahead by a distance, Coach observed that we were all over the place - in particular, during the pace transition in our start set. Quick to rectify that, we paced again, and was much improved this time around. Remember: 10 hard, 20 fast, 3-2-1-stretch out...

Finally it was time to head back, and Coach slyly slotted in one more start set along the way. But hehhey - it was not bad! (Always - most motivation when it's the last stretch back.)

During de-brief - good news! - seems like we're getting the hang of the new stroke. Coach commented that it was much better than the previous training. Maybe the draggy bailers helped - to prevent us from going too fast and losing focus on technique. Well done, Paps!

Now we just have to make sure we stick to the piston-style, work on coordination and practise our race sets, build up strength at the gym... and we will be on course for a smashing season!

Special mention to William, who has stepped up to the plate to become our new right pacer. It's not easy, so let's give him our greatest support as he grows into the role. Go William - we're behind you! (Literally, too.)

And kudos to Ben Chua - it seems we've got a natural rower! Hope you had fun today and we certainly look forward to you joining us for future trainings.

Finally - just want to commend our guys on their dedication to gym sessions! Good organization by Jon and Ben to make it happen. Keep it up, guys. But take care not to burn yourselves out - suggest the 1st session be the punishing one (ramp up the weights and cardio), and 2nd session more for recovery (run off the lactic acid, and lighter weights if you want). Keep some strength for the 30 push ups on Sats!

Another good session today - rest those muscles and see y'all next Sat!

= Chief Editor signing off =

12 April 2008 - ... and the training resumes.

2008-04-13T15:34:00.017+08:00

This Saturday, the Sun was great, no "pissing down" from the heavens above (much to our dismay...)

Attendance was good as we welcomed back Christy and Desmond from a long-missed absence.

During the recent lull, Papillons have not been idle - in fact they dispersed temporarily to form various teams that took part in the annual ESRC Dragonboat Carnival, bombarding others with their boundless energy.

Someone made an enlightened observation that most of the folks in our boat today actually won some medal in the carnival! (Or well, at least appeared on the stage - HOR, Jon?)

On that point, i BET all of us are happy to be swiping water with our pro-paddles again - what heavy stubby pieces of wood we used during the carnival! Bum pads are a boon too - yes, we are a pampered lot.

Warm up was a lethal cocktail of jumping jacks and push ups. Fwah - 30 push ups was never more difficult when it's on a "team count".... especially after a 3-week break.

The agenda for today was simple enough - we focused on technique again, to get the new stroke right before we try adventurous patterns that might break our arms.

So we simply rowed, and rowed... and rowed somemore, while Coach Patrick observed and corrected us.

With Pierre on vacation, "backpacks of the week" were Ken and Ben. However, all the 'Ken, Ben', 'Ben, can?', 'Ken, bend', etc. were confusing the hell out of our backpacks and everyone else - we should never put them together again.

There was a period during training where everyone was mesmerised by a peculiar sound that reverberated from the stern of the boat. That was actually Coach demonstrating the new stroke, and we witnessed the power that it can generate, as long as we master the correct technique.

It was a Piston-like action - throw your weight forward, controlled punch of the paddle into the water, keep shaft straight as you pull back to mid-thigh, torso restored to upright posture... (and repeat) throw weight forward, controlled punch...

Not easy. But hey - we made good progress and will definitely get better as our muscle memories get recalibrated. Remember - practice makes perfect!

Learnings:
1. With a higher stroke rate, consistency becomes more crucial in order to be effective as a team - this demands fitness - Hint: cardio training.
2. For now, the shorter strokes makes it harder to feel difference in power (think: hard 10) vs a longer pull. Perhaps the difference will become obvious when we build up strength, giving us more control over how much power to exert - Hint: weights training.

Conclusion: Time to hit the gym!

Rest up everyone - and welcome back to the serious stuff. Are you ready, for the new season?

Let's rock and row!

= Chief Editor signing off =

15 March 2008 - sunshine after the rains...

2008-03-15T20:43:00.010+08:00

After many days of showers, the sunny island of Singapore was finally blessed with agreeable weather on this Saturday morning. How nice!

Everyone reached on time today, and after a quick warm-up, it was time for Papillon to hit the water!

(Folks - in future please arrive earlier at 7:45am to do our own warm-up so that once Coach arrives we can jump right into the action. Need to maximize the use of precious water time, yea?)

The boat was noticeably lighter with the absence of a few key members - Ben, Pierre, Christy, Desmond and Yen Nee. (Un)Fortunately, THE key person was back - yes, PATRICK RETURNS.

During the warm-up row, eagle-eyed Coach constantly checked if we were executing the new stroke correctly. Apparently not - so we were brought to Cosy Bay for pair-by-pair rowing where he could sit closer with a cane and 'soot' us if our arms were slightly out. Nah, just kidding. It was in fact a very effective session for us to finetune the newly-learnt technique.

Just to recap the stroke:
With arms positioned 'one-fist' distance out from the gunwale, throw your weight forward aiming for the front seat, dip the blade straight down (perpendicular to the water surface) and pull your torso back into upright position, bringing the blade along (maintain perpendicular) until mid thigh - blade out and pause - then repeat (throw weight forward... ...)

A few choice quotes of the day:

1. Coach: "Tired must practise until not tired."

2. Coach: “容易的东西都是不好的。”
Literal translation: "Easy things are all not good."
Polished translation: "Good things don't come easy."

3. Coach: "You need to control your weight." - Too brutal...

4. Dennis wisecracks: "Haha, eh - stop throwing your weight around ah."
- So punny it's funny.

After all pairs enjoyed a dose of personal attention from Coach, Papillon once again loaded up and rowed away from the 'billions of blistering barnacles'-infested steps of Cosy Bay.

We moved towards Sheares bridge, then back towards the pontoon - doesn't sound like much, but the difficulty rating was up a few notches as Coach called for an increase in stroke rate after every couple of minutes. By the end of the session, we were totally pooped-de-pooped.

In conclusion:
Much work to be done on fitness to keep up with the high stroke rate.
The new stroke is actually more energy-efficient once correct technique is mastered.
Need to consciously pay attention to own stroke to make sure you don't lapse into the ingrained old style - in other words, keep finetuning!

Have a good weekend everyone - and stretch those muscles! (Will teach y'all how to stretch your backs properly the next training.)

= Chief Editor signing off =

08 March 2008 - a water training without coach.

2008-03-10T23:41:00.008+08:00

This Sat was very special - in more ways than one:

First of all, it was William's big day! - Which was certainly a good enough reason to be exempted from training. Afterall, Papillons like their grooms (and brides) to look good.

Second of all... Captain Jon was super early for two weeks in a row! Everyone was impressed with his newfound punctuality which could be attributed to the weather forecast-cum-alarm clock-cum-missile detector(?) that Pierre brilliantly suggested for Jon's birthday present this year.

Thirdly - Coach Patrick was MIA! Woh - how the mice danced with glee when they learnt the cat was away coaching NYP in the MR500 race.

ANYWAY. Training still did go on... sans the warm up press-ups and chin-ups (better discounts than the IT show.)

Joined by our lovely Papillumni - Sam and Freddy - Papillon boasted depth in strength as we managed to rotate FIVE coxswains and row without crashing into the wall and exploding into flames. WHAT a feat.

And the kopi-licence coxswains are (in no particular order of improficiency):
- Ah Ben
- Freddy
- Joe
- Jon
- Dawn
(All were granted licences for the sheer garang-ness exhibited.)

Special mention to the "utterance of the day":
With Dawn at the rudder, Papillon rowed like an army possessed and were finally stopped in their tracks by a mindblowing:

"Where are we going arh?" - Woh. Classic.

Putting that aside - oh, how we rowed! We dutifully practised the new rowing style that Patrick taught the week before - considering nobody paddle-smacked anybody in the face while executing that, I conclude it was a good session.

Towards the end, Capt Jon showed good initiative in rousing his troops to do some race sets. Coach would have been proud of the good coordination in spite of the still-unfamiliar stroke. The starting acceleration was also significantly faster than before. However, overall, more work has to be done on improving fitness so that the rapid strokes can be sustained for the entire race.. something that we struggled with, as fatigue set in with each race set.

No fear! As long as we keep our eye on the ball (ie. JI gold, and whatever other golds along the path to glory) - do our gym work (at this point in time -still Work in Progress for HBF folks) - practise as one during Sat water trainings - the championship is well within our sight.

Keep up the Papillon spirit and let's go for gold this season.

Go go go. Papillonnnn... GO!

PS: For closure and completeness - yes, we returned safely at the pontoon, washed up and were dismissed.

= Chief Editor signing off =

25th Singapore River Regatta 3-4 Nov 07‏

2007-10-29T22:06:00.001+08:00

EVENT TIME LANE TEAM31 (Yellow) Time: 11:57am
1 Royal Bank of Scotland
2 Papillon
3 MG&G
4 SIA
5 MediaCorp

Dear team,
Our last race of the year as Team Papillon, let's gear up and give our very BEST.
We can do it as a ONE!! Let's row for each other once again!!
Papillon Kiyah!!

*See ya all @ our last gym session @ kallang on Tue...

NB: Meeting time n place of race to be send out in email.
Su Li

23 Oct 2007 - Gym Training Summary

2007-10-24T10:13:00.002+08:00

This evening, everyone arrived a little later than usual. The strange thing was – Coach was still nowhere to be seen! We were openly secretly happy for a while, before Coach appeared – too bad…

And thus we began with a warm-up jog, followed by 4 x 40m sprints. First-appearance Dawn shocked the socks off everyone with her speed and everyone, feeling a bit mutinous today, egged Coach to race with her. Coach upped the stakes by declaring he would relieve us of the 100 push-ups if he lost – GAME ON.

On Christy’s sexy flag-off, Dawn piew-ed off, but a “wait wait wait” was heard – wah lau, FALSE START by Coach. The 2nd time, both shot off and Dawn led the initial distance before Coach overtook and alas, we were doomed to do the 100 push-ups.

Then it was off to the gym. We did just 2 sets of the 5 weights exercises – only because Coach had something more exciting up his short sleeves – we were going to play a real-life, arcade-style rowing game. With 4 in a group, the team which logs greatest total distance on the rowing machine wins a dinner!

Line-ups:
Team A – Freddy, Christy, Jon, Jessica
Team B – Desmond, Ken, Dawn and Su Li (almost disowned by the team cos she offered to surrender – before we even started?!?)

With such an attractive proposition, Ken was all psyched up and everyone gaped in awe as he rowed like a man possessed and threatened to yank the chain off the machine while falling off the seat – a formidable backpack indeed. In other news – Jon was put to the test rowing beside Dawn as her power hamstrings propelled her to achieve good mileage.

It was an exciting game where everyone threw in all the energy they had – well done Teams! Spent and delirious, everyone collapsed with their limbs splayed all over the place. Coach whipped out his trusty handphone to tabulate the total distances (whatever happened to good old mental sums??) And the winning team was… *DRUM ROLL…* Team B!

YAY very good can go for dinner already.

As we sauntered out of the stadium, Jon was observed to be woozy and sat down to rest. Diagnosis by medic-wannabes concluded it was due to: Insufficient warm-up before plunging into the rowing game – resulting in a surge in heart-rate and breathing, causing lightheadedness and a puke-ish feeling. But not to worry, nothing a good meal can’t solve! So we ended with a trip to Coach’s family restaurant where we cleaned up a good deal of the food.

Good workout today and a great makan session after!

=Chief Editor signing off=

Training Summary 6th Oct

2007-10-08T20:17:00.000+08:00

This morning seem different went I arrived at the Kallang Carpark, the whole place was so empty with only Uncle Reh's car.
Anyway, make my way to the training center, only a couple of people turned up......... Then I realised that a big parts of the Papillons are on vacation for various reasons:-
Ben, William, Chirsty, Dennis, Yen Nee, Jon n Desmond are enjoying themselves in Vietnam
Dawn - on national duty(Rugby World Cup....???)
Su Li - continued to skive from last week (attend Church Wedding)....hahaha
Joe - suffered from over enthusiastic rowing from last week.

Well, only 6 brave Papillons - Pierre, Jessica, Ken, Marilyn, Wee Keong and myself reluctantly dragged ourselves to the warm-up ground. Uncle Fred came over to say halo and steered clear from us to join the oldies boat.

After warm-up, we take our time to board the boat, surprising the Coach didn't scold us ...... . Ah Piow decided to sneak into the pacer sit with only Jessica complaining.... and off we go for the warm-up toward the race area. Well today we don't have the long distance row as coach decided to do race set since the nos of rowers are small. We go for a couples of race set.... 300m , 250m, 200m, 150m...... guess how many set did we do..................... closed to 10 sets, this was worse than distance row. By the time we finished the 10th set which is the pacing with Aces and Veteran.... we are already so tired and energy all spend, we are lacking behind but our coordination are still good, we didn't rushed to catch up (because we are too tired to catch-up), stay composed and finished the race with applause coming from the Aces and Veteran.

To our surprise, coach said let head back to the pontoon ( the time is 0945am), we thought coach "liang xin fa xian" for working us too hard!!!!!
Happily we rowed towards the pontoon and suddenly coach shouted "easy"..... everybody was puzzled?????

AS USUAL, since when our coach got "liang Xin"... signed..... we are make to do individual row for unlimited strokes until coach lost count of how many stroke had we rowed...... Finally, Wee Keong individually rowed us back as close as to the pontoon as he could and quickly we joined forces to row home.

Finally we are on land , warm down and time to go home.

P.S: Lesson learnt, next time we should not grant vacation leave for too many member on the same day.

Next Sat Public Holiday day - no training, but don't be too happy..... training changed to Sunday.

Best Regards
Samuel Yeo

Training Summary 29th Sept '07

2007-10-01T00:11:00.000+08:00

At 7.45AM sharp, a crowd of keen rowers gathered. Although Capt Ong and a few familiar faces were missing (Pierre, Ben, Desmond, William, Dawn - the formidable backpacks), there was still a decent turn up of 9. Among us were new members like Wee Keong and Mighty Joe Young who were given quick guidance on the papillon style of dragonboating.

Training begins with tyre strapped to our boat and we did about 10-15mins rowed as warm up. Afterwhich speedwork of 4,3,2,1 and 3,2,1 were done to pump up our heart rate. Like a engine fully warmed and lubricated, we did abt 2 sets of 400m race simulation to glide between floating platform to sheares bridge.

At 930am, we answered the call for pacing. Aces, Lilies and Veterans were in sight and we did 2 race sets. In case you are wondering, No~,by this time we had our tyre lifted for obvious reason. However, the absence of our key backpacks were clearly felt. We could have done better considering our gym trainings. In between the sets, we found time to celebrate Ken Lim's birthday with a simple cake and mass birthday song combined with other boats.

Before I end this, Papillon, let's stay focus in the remaining weeks to Regatta. Remember all glory comes from daring to begin!~we had already begun, so March On!~

Jonathan

Papillon Sea training change to Sun 23Sep @ 7.45am + min summary on Tue gym

2007-09-19T23:53:00.002+08:00

Dear folks,

As we all know or is participating the sat run, the normal sea training is
changed to Sun, same time, same place.
Anyway, my legs is aching terribly from the 50 squats @ gym yesteday.
hahaha... Hope I can still jog this sat....

We did 5 station yesterday with guys weight = 10kg, female weight = 6.5kg

Coach came with new pattern again.... we were make to stand in a row to
queue for our turn (did I say queue, it's like 2 person to 1 bar lor) and
we ended the session with ROWING machine!! As usual, coach showed us that
with optimal. speed of 31/32, he is able to achieve a far longer distance
than all of us. Same goes to Yen Nee also, she was able to go for a
furthest distance among the ladies with a min speed. So it's works not just
on Coach. ^.^

Anyway, hand aching, can't type much. LOL.... See ya on Sat & Sun!!

**Hydrate yourself before the sat run*

- Su Li

01 Sep 2007 - Resumption of training / First training (in a long time) with tyre

2007-09-06T00:18:00.001+08:00

(finally getting up to speed)

After a good month-long hiatus, Papillon was starting to turn mouldy. YES, it is time to resume training.

Warm-up was a tad late and lenient, so everyone was secretly happy, but who knows, this happiness was but a short-lived smokescreen. The actual water training was FWAH LAU EHHH... (We all wonder if Coach knows that tyres are actually meant for land / road use.)

The arduous journey out towards the endless bridges (arh?? which one!?) seemed awfully far with the excess baggage weighing us down. But like Coach said, although the coordination was good, our consistency could be better and we need such training to build up our endurance and power. Okay, point taken (and swallowed). *GULP*

We then beached ourselves and did the hardest 20 push-ups ever, on the sand. By the end of this, most arms were just dangling from our mortal bodies, with exception of a few superbeings.

Papillon then headed back and was greeted by a welcome party of one man - dear Freddy! A brief de-brief and Papillon whoosh then capped a most tiring but fulfilling session.

(See y'all Sat!)

=Chief Editor signing off=

29 Aug 2007 - J.I. Race celebration + 6-year anniversary dinner

2007-09-06T00:12:00.001+08:00

Briefest summary ever:

dinner @ Safra Pioneer Spring restaurant.
celebrated all of EM's triumphs and cheered each other on.
papillon was presented with surprise award.
watched video of how the EM Dragonboat family has evolved.

26 Aug 2007 - Yen Nee's wedding photoshoot @ Kallang River.

2007-09-05T22:37:00.001+08:00

dear diary.

i haven't been good in keeping up with my entries. before i grow old and forget, here's what happened -

A neat-looking dragonboat was adorned with a golden drum (plus XXL “喜喜” stickers) and a bunch of people who dared the grey skies above to not rain. It worked - the rain never came. Instead, the sun was out in its glory, illuminating the beaming faces and rippling muscles of the (c)hunks of us who were out in full force.

After putting the boat in the water, the guys decided to congregate at the back of the boat - much to the disgust of Pierre ("Why can't a lady sit beside me for a change?!") - while the girls occupied the front. Papillon started rowing towards the wall to meet Yen Nee and hubby. When nearing, everyone looked high and low for the bride (eh?? where ah?). THEN we noticed something in white striding purposefully towards us, with a spiffy groom in tow. Ah - it can only be... Yen Nee!

Bestowed with brand-new white nike caps compliments of the lovely couple, Papillon gamely circled a few rounds in order for our photographer to capture the perfect shot(s). To that end, "mountains" were also shifted, shirts were also stripped off and kawaii-act-cuteness was all the rage.

Our antics were not un-noticed by some other boats who cheered when they saw us. The icing on the cake however, came from a surprising source - an "uncle" on the bridge who shot us (with our permission of course) turned out to be a "STOMPer" and promptly posted a couple of our photos on the Singapore Straits Times website... Papillons have become accidental celebrities.

kawaii-act-cuteness overdose

picture purrrfect!

After this leg of the shoot, we bade farewell to the happy couple who moved on to other locations while Papillon rowed back to shore. The boat was returned with some difficulty after executing a highly tricky 100-point turn in order to stuff the boat back into the deepest corner of the dragonboatpark.

The eventful morning was ended with a trip to good ole Kallang Airport food centre where Papillon finally ID-ed the correct fish soup stall with some help from Samuel. (HAHAHA you mean y'all eat so many months already still don't know which is the original best-est one meh?? *!unbelievable!*)

(And, as we learnt on Monday, Papillon became the toast of the (dragonboat) town as news spread of our "newspaper" appearance ;)

=Chief Editor signing off=

=reminder= Yen Nee's photoshoot

2007-08-24T23:23:00.001+08:00

You are wanted!

What: Dragonboat hunks and babes posing for part of dear Yen Nee's wedding photoshoot.

Date: Aug 26, Sunday

Time: 9.45am to 12pm

Venue: Kallang

Attire: 2007 competition kit (NB shorts and red singlet)

Instructions: Meet at Kallang riverside park at 9.45am looking good.

waterless saturday

2007-08-11T11:03:00.007+08:00

it is strange... a saturday without rowing! somehow, something feels amiss. ah well - gotta get used to it.

those aiming to conquer the marathons - go for it! train well, and safely, too.

remember:

the best inspiration is not to outdo others -
but to outdo ourselves.

as for those of us who still feel that niggling bit of heartache for J.I. - here's another quote for you:

今天的痛会比昨天的少一点，明天的痛会比今天少更多。

[today's pain will be slightly less than yesterday's; tomorrow's pain will be much lesser than today's]

haha. nah, more importantly, take this away:

a trophy carries dust; but memories last forever.

wokay?

=Chief Editor signing off=

first post

2007-08-09T15:01:00.002+08:00

understand that this is yet another significant milestone for papillon, and indeed it is my great honour to launch this site. knowing how drama we can be - this might well have warranted the slaughtering of a suckling pig on a carefully chosen auspicious date before i click "publish post" for this very first post to appear.

but what the heck - i can't think of a better date than today - a day that coincides with our Nation's Birthday!

Happy National Day, Papillons!

(Yes, to Pierre as well - you have makan-ed [eaten] enough local food to be at least a bit Singaporeanish.)

okay that's it for now - i'm waiting for the slew of info and photos which i can abracadabra to form a full-blown blog.

disclaimer: timeliness and quality of updates will depend on -

1. my work load,

2. the completeness of submitted articles,

3. how much i like you.

=Chief Editor signing off=