HANNAH! I'm so proud of the both of us! Expected nothing out of today's race, but look at what we have achieved! (:

Reached MacRitchie at around 7.30am this morning and met at the other canoeists at the pavilion. By that time, all competing schools were all picking the best spots around the reservoir and camped near the finishing point. Walked walked walked and who was the first person I saw? My dear K2 partner Hannah! (just like what I saw during visualization on Thursday) Went up to carry RJ20, took RJ40 lifejacket and then went out to row 3km for warmup! gosh, the water felt amazing! And somehow today we felt really stable and "uncappable" Seriously, I think that canoeing is very much a mental sport too. You've got to feel good and think positively+ strength (of course) in order to row better than your opponents! After warmup the both of us just sat in the pavilion trying to keep warm and conserve energy! haha! Well, we did leave the pavilion to support xinmiao and amanda who were rowing in the Women's K1 1km event. What xinmiao said really impacted me: "Although I didn't clock my best timing, I felt great. That's why we row" (:

Weather conditions were pretty fine. There was a left wind+ headwind which made it quite tough to row. We were the second boat to reach the starting point, after GESS so we decided to row in circles and take the opportunity to enjoy the scenery way past the 1km mark. hahaha! After making one whole full circle, we decided to align our boat one boay behind the starting line and wait for the other competitors to make their way over. All along the little conscience in my head just kept saying "think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts. Everything will be fine"
"Boats row to the starting line... Boats Align... Boats hold, HOLD, HOLD. PADDLES UP! *HORN. I reckon that was the best ever starting burst I've ever done with hannah. We managed to break the water pretty fast and concentrated on our maintenance. At first GESS was just speeding ahead of us, but after a while we managed to catch up. I guess that's the advantage of rowing in a 1km race, it gives you sufficient time to catch up with your opponents. So yes, according to the race plan that hannah and I agreed on. We'll keep chasing the immediate boat ahead of us. Fight to the finish. Oh goshhh, I can still remember the last 250m of the heats. 2 words to describe the feeling, nerve-wrecking. Honestly, no one had ever cheered for me in any competition. Not even in swimming competitions (okay, maybe my mum did. But I couldn't hear it in the water) ANYWAY, it was a great feeling hearing the whole team screaming their lungs out for you, but at the same time you felt as if you had the responsibility to row the boat right past the finishing line and clocking in the best timing that you ever could. The weirdest thing occurred, it never happened to me before during trainings, my left hand slipped and I totally let go of my paddle. Thank goodness for the good grip of my right hand, I managed to recover quickly and finish off the race. YES! Clocked 5:28.98min (: that was our P-V-B: Personal Very Best. haha! Total exhilaration. It felt pretty good hearing the competitor's steward at the pontoon calling RJC for boat weighing for coming in top3 positions. yayyyy! we qualified for the next round!

LUNCHTIME: Ate spaghetti! haha! good job kenneth. It was actually edible and ermmm YUMMY! (: haha! Future ambition to be a cook huh. Rested in the pavilion again and tried to keep warm+ stretch. Wanted to listen to my "pumped up" music, but my ipod just had to fail on me at that moment. bleaghhh I'll make sure that it's fully charged next time!

SEMIFINALS. By that time the sun was shining directly above us and it was just scorching. Put on my lucky brown cap, grabbed bobo and paddled out (once again) with hannah to the starting line. This time round we were the very first school to reach, but yeaa this time round we decided to just float around cos' I guess we were feeling a little lethargic already. But that didn't hinder us from racing a pretty good semis! (: Although we clocked a slower timing for the semis, jiaolian and a few other seniors told me that our coordination was way better this time round and
we actually glided nicely! (: YAYYY!

That was the end of our time rowing together as k2 partners hannah. It was really fun rowing with you! Especially with your obsession over pinky-ness. hahaha! Have fun rowing your k1 alright! Jiaolian has seen much potential in you so JIAYOU! (: Maybe you'll get to row pinky! haha!

A BIG THANK YOU to all supporters who came down today! Your encouragement meant a lot to me (: I'll definitely remember this experience. To all those who are competing tmrw in the 500m races. DESTROY the other schools! :D Leave them in the wake of your backwash! hoho. I'll be there to support all of you!

<3 LET'S GO RAFFLES LET'S GO!

P.S: yay. My kor just agreed to treat me to sakae sushi if I manage to do my 10 pullups by JUNE! haha!