Belated Knowledge of Singapore Dragon Boat Tradegy

Readers of this blog will notice I tend to record my activies on this blog and not express opinions, feelings etc. But this news affected me so much, I decided I need to write about it.

I was having lunch with a friend today when he asked out of the blue if I still do dragon boat racing. I told him no...I have a schedule conflict with Bay Area Dragons' training.

He then told me about the Singapore National Dragon Boat team tradegy. I found a few links on the web about this story, so will not repeat it here. Somehow, I had missed the news back in November.

I have only paddle a dragon boat 4 times (3 practice and a race), so I cannot call myself a dragon boater, but I definitely feel a little connection with the paddlers and was a little depressed.

As someone who enjoy paddle sports and had even paddle a dragon boat, I was shocked! Dragon boats are really stable(especially compared to kayaks). I don't expect it to flip at all.

Further, I am sure all the paddlers are good swimmers (most water sport enthuse are)and are athletic(it is the national team afterall). It just seemed so unlikely something like this would happen. Maybe they were tired just after the race (I know first hand how tire one can be after a race).

In one of the news article, it seemed like the teams were not required to wear life jacket. I can just imagine in order to gain an edge, teams will not wear life jacket since it is extra weight and is somewhat clumsy.

I guess any water sport is inherently dangerous, and this should be a lesson for all of us. I wear a boatsmarter.com wrist band as a good luck charm when I paddle, and I support their message of wearing a life jacket all the time.

My heart and condolences goes out to the Singapore National Dragon Boat team.

Rock climbing

My friend H joined City Beach and inivited me to go Rock climbing on their free guest day last Thursday day.

I had climb once prior in Planet Granite years ago when they were offering $5 belay classes. Climbed a little after that class, but never got into the sport because I don't know anyone else that rock climb and do not have a belay partner.

According to H, for a second timer, I did quite well. I was able to scale a 5.4 wall and then a 5.6 wall on my first try. Almost made it up a 5.8 wall. I showed decent upper body strength and was able to do "jump", i.e. moving myself up the wall when I have only 2 anchoring point.

Encouraged, I came back for more today. I did a warm up climb on a 5.6 wall, then conquer the 5.8 wall that stump me the last time(albeit with many rest in between). I also got a refresher course from H in belaying and knots, so I can get belay certified.

I am also learning better techniques. "Jumps" should be avoided since it tires one out more compare to regular climbing where one move up using 3 anchoring points. This will help me up more difficult wall.

In my opinion, Rock climbing is a sport which is harder than it looks. I know I am suppose to use my feet more, but felt I got a good upper and lower body workout while climbing. On difficult walls, I even get a cardio workout:) My adrenaline was pumping the whole time and it was an exciting experience.

I hope to climb more in the future.

Happy Chinese New Year!

新年快乐, 万事如意
心想事成, 年年有余

Happy Chinese New Year to all!

I had my co-worker help me take this picture, complete with tradition chinese shirt(唐装), in a conference room:)

Per mom's request, I wrote another copy of the same spring couplet for my brother. I really don't want to write one more copy for myself, so I took this picture to send to all my friends, as the cover for my virtual Happy Chinese New Year card.

Obviously, Chinese New Year atmosphere does not compare with the atmosphere back home. But, as much as possible, I still try to maintian some traditions:

• If Chinese New Year falls on a working day, I would wear my "chinese shirt" to work.
• I typically write a few "Good luck(福) " character on red rhombus paper to give to my co-workers and spread the color around the office a little:)
• I spend sometime cleaning up my place before the New Year and have "reunion dinner"(团圆饭)with family or friends on New Year's Eve(除夕).

This year, with all the time taken to write the spring couplet, as well as procrastination, I did not finish cleaning up my place until New Year's Eve, so no special dinner for me.

I also got myself a webcam this year so that I could have a video conference with the party crowd back home. My mom always have a Chinese New Year Party on the second day of Chinese New Year, where all close family friends and relatives are invited. Each year, about 40-50 people showed up. They were all happy to see me, if only on video:)

Super Bowl 42 Party

I used to be a bigger sports fan. While in college, I would read every single article on ESPN.com and while working on computer projects:)

After I started working, I have been less of a sports fan. But Super Bowl is such a big media event in this country that I almost alway make a effort to watch it, even though most of the Super Bowl games are boring.

About a week ago, during an after dinner conversation with A in his apartment, I commented that A's new 50" plasma HD TV would make his pad the perfect place to watch Super Bowl. A graciously agree to host a little Super Bowl party, inviting S and a couple of his friends from work.

Coincidentally, T called me up on Saturday and ask where I was going to watch the game. T lived in New Hampshire for a couple of years and is a casual fan of the Patriots. He is in the process of relocating, so does not have a TV nor cable service at this time. I invited him along to A's party.

I am actually a closet Giants fan. When I started watching football years ago, New York won the Super Bowl in 1987 and 1990. My favorite Giant is Joe Morris, a 5'7" running back. While he was small in size, he was an extremely powerful runner and always gained the tough yards.

On the other hand, I like Tom Brady. He was the starting QB at the University of Michigan the same two years I was there. Brady was unappreciated while in college, and I always felt sorry for him because of that. Therefore, in most cases, I tend to root for the Patriots. But since the Pats are playing against the Giants, I know who I will be rooting for. My loyalties in sports are always clearly drawn:)

The game started on a high note for me. The Giants had a good opening drive, and while they only scored a field goal, their success in sustaining a long drive gave me great hope. They were able to move the ball consistently against the New England defense, which kept the high power New England offense off the field.

New England came back on a scoring drive of their own, which was expected. Afterall, the Patriots got a good kick off return and their offense too good not to score with such a short field. My main concern was New England seems to be running well.

Then both offense had stalled as both defense heightened their intensity. Since the Giants were the underdog, I was worried they were not taking advantage of their opportunities in the red zone. I had seen way too many games where not taking advantage of scoring opportunities came back to haunt the lesser talented team.

But I was pleasantly surprise the New York defense was able to stop New England offense fairly consistently. The pass rush was getting to Brady and the running game for New England was ineffective.

At half-time, even though the Giants were down 3-7, I felt pretty good about their chances of winning.

Then, at the beginning of the 4th quarter, it seems to me the Giants' defensive line was getting tired. Also, the short passing game of the Patriots was starting to gain momentum and New York looked like it might get scored on. Given Giants' offense did little after the first drive of the game, I was not sure how they would react to being down by 2 scores.

Luckiy, the defense held again and more importantly, Eli Manning led the Giants on a drive which resulted in a touchdown and took the lead. However, with the amount of time remaining on the clock and how tired the Giants' defense were, I was not surprise when Tom Brady marched the Patriots methodically down the field for a score.

With only ~3 minutes remaining in the game, I was not sure Eli could led the Giants on another scoring drive. Things looked shaky when they had to convert a 4th down to keep the drive alive. Then came the biggest play of the game when Eli escaped the entire New England D-line to launch the pass and David Tyree made the catch with his hands and helmet.

Amazing play!

The Giants' confidence seemed boosted by that play and went on to score another TD. New England got the ball back with 35 seconds remaining. At this time, I was 90% certain the game was over, but with Brady at the helm and needing only a field goal to tie, one could never be sure.

I was relieved when the Patriots chose to attempt long passes instead of throwing short pass near the sideline to get into position for a field goal. With a prevent defense, long passes were unlikely to succeed.

Indeed, the defense held one more time and the Giants won their third Super Bowl.

In hindsight, Bill Belichick's decision of not going for a field goal in 3rd quarter was the difference in the ball game. Everyone in our party was surprise by that decision. It was also unusual that decision was not scrutinized much by the media after the game.

All in all though, it was an exciting game. Also, A had a wonderful setup for a Super Bowl party and everyone had a great time.

I enjoyed it even more with the Giants' victory.