Second Place Winner Is The First Loser

The Oxbridge Malaysia Boat Race 2009 was concluded by 1:00pm on Sunday, 29th March 2009. This is the third time TM has sponsored the race and also marked the third time I have screamed and shouted and whacked that drum at the stern of the dragon boat.

Reminiscing the yester-years, we won first place in the the Dragon Boat challenge both in 2007 and 2008. Aaaahh... Those were the days... When the crew were fitter and more muscular and I was slightly lighter. hihihihihi

For 2009, we participated in the "Best of the Best" Double Kayak Race and also the sponsor's Dragon Boat challenge. TM team emerged 2nd in both events. Only thing was, there were 6 kayaks in the first challenge and there were only two teams participating in the second. hihihihi.. Second in a 2-way race, equals to NOT winning the challenge, ye adik-kakak... hihihihi

Am not really gonna dwell on the past. Gotta be a man (woman) and suck it up. Just need to learn from our mistakes and improve in next year's race. Watch out Deloitte, we will be back with a vengence! The Challenge trophy will be ours once again.. (Ish, semangat la pulok... )

Results of the other events?

The Light Blues won the double scull race (Historical moment as Oxford has always won in previous years)

The Dark Blues won the coxed four sweep (as usual..)

Till next year then.. Oh, but the milkshake we had to mend our broken hearts after that was still heavenly.. hihihi

-dillz blogging out-

Row, Row, Row Your Boat!

Ya Ampunnnn!!! This is going to be my desclaimer post - the main reason why I have not been blogging lately.. Wa busy, lah... (lame excuse, I know, but kinda valid, ok?)

For the second year in the running, TM is one of the esteemed sponsors of the Oxbridge Malaysia Boat Race 2008. We were also in it last year, where we really kicked butt! The 29th March event is very much similar to the last:

• The traditional rivals - coxless four skull boat race between Oxford and Cambridge.
• The sponsors' race - dragon boat race between TM and Deloitte.
• The inter alumni - coxed four sweep boat race between Oxford and Cambridge and Harvard.

Kinda stressful for us since we needed to defend the Challenge Trophy we won last year. This year's crew mainly consists of the old folks who are still in TM (we lost Izrin to Bangladesh (work), Muzairy to Germany (studies), Lambert to BAT and Mugun to an undisclosed company) plus new recruits from other 50 Top Universities and not to forget some new (read: young) muscles who are in their early 20s. Yeay! More power to the people!!

Practice was much less than last year since the rental for the boat has gone up slightly. We only managed to go down to the lake 5 times (inclusive a mock race with the good people of Putrajaya Holdings).

The actual day itself was too sunny for my liking. Dang, it was hot!!!! This year the scull and sweep events ran for about 1.5 km and the dragon boat race was only between the two sponsors. I kinda wished that we got to row twice , macam tak puas...

Anywho, the results?? As usual, Oxford won all the university races. And more importantly, we once again kicked butt leaving Deloitte trailing a few boats' length behind. Woo-hoo!!! TM Boleh!! After the prize giving ceremony, we ate lunch and everybody went home a happy camper.

Personally, I am looking forward to a nice lunch with the guys and also the Boat Race Gala Dinner. Till next year then...

-dillz blogging out-

We Are The Champions!!

Eversince 28 February 2007, we (whom will be disclosed shortly) have been diligently practising our strokes and such at the Putrajaya Lake Club. We = staff of my lovely company who once attended Oxford or Cambridge or any of the London schools. (Note the operative word is ATTENDED and NOT graduated. Had it been the latter, I would not have qualified)

The event that we were looking forward to was the Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race 2007 that was scheduled on the 1st of April 2007. There were to be numerous races on that fateful day;

1. The original and traditional - coxed four sweep boat race between Oxford and Cambridge

2. The invitational - coxless four skull boat race between Oxford and Cambridge and Harvard

3. The oriental - dragon boat race between Oxbridge, TM, Harvard and Deloitte.

(note: coxed means that there is another person on the boat who shouts commands and steers the boat while the rowers just concentrate on rowing. coxless just means without the cox, la)

So, our task was to form a winning boat and grab that inaugral trophy back to the office! The practise sessions were rather fun. We were allowed out by 4pm , twice weekly to go to the Putrajaya Lake Club for a little warm up, paddling and some treats (in the form of Mini Milkyway, Mini Mars and Mini Snickers) At least , I thought it was not that tiring, the rowers might feel otherwise. You see, it was my job to sit at the helm of the dragon boat, shouting commands and encouragements (personally, that's what I call it) to the guys. Don't do any rowing anymore -- pregnant, remember?

So, on the actual race day itself, we were greeted by some drizzles here and there, the weather was very cooperative in trying to simulate the actual event by the River Thames.

Unfortunately though for our first race against the Oxbridge team, it was raining cats and dogs and all of us got totally soaked. :( Picked the 10 rowers (we had one extra) and the TM boat made our way to the starting line. While waiting under the bridge, we saw the distant silhoutte of the Oxbridge team struggling to get to the starting buoy. Haa!! Ada can nak makan ni.. heh heh heh Suffice to say, we won that round by a few boat's length and we were through to the FINALS. Now it was down to either Harvard or Deloitte. 

In the second semi-finals, Harvard pulled through and they seemed a little more together than we had hoped. Plus the fact that my Boss was rowing in the Harvard boat - the finals could be a little tougher than expected. The time came for the final dash in front of the Putrajaya Lake Club and - as the post's title tells you - it was no surprise that we emerged as champions! Got the trophy to prove it! heh heh heh

Boss has promised to take us out for a victory lunch soon and there's also the Boat Gala Dinner at Carcosa this Saturday.. Uuuu, I feel very posh all of a sudden..

* Pix courtesy of Shazz. Got more pix to upload later.

-dillz blogging out-