Biking welfare

True to a biking event, even the welfare gathering saw SMUXies turning up decked in skintight jerseys and rigid soled biking shoes. Close to 20 loyal spinning-happy people huddled round a long table laden with a plethora of yummies waiting to be dipped into the steamboat. There was the traditional table of mahjong (led by none other than chief mahjong man Wei Bin), vicious table tennis matches, poker table dealings amidst girly giggles and cheery chatter.

The night peaked in true Mt Faber fashion when 6 seemingly unfamiliar faces popped in. They turned out to be our seniors. Seniors all the way from the first batch of SMUX biking. Seniors all the way from the Class of 2006. It was most heart-warming to find out that all 4 Biking Team Managers there ever was; was present in the room that night. We spent an amazing hour being introduced to one another, 5 generations of the SMUX family catching up and getting to know one another. The awe-inspiring passion of the seniors definitely left a lasting impression on each and every one of us, and hopefully our zest for the team and the sport would be as enduring.

By Lin FengRu

Ride of silence ‘09

An estimated 500 riders turned up at the Merlion, near the Fullerton for the Ride of Silence 2009. All sorts of bicycles could be seen making up the crowd, from sleek carbon road racing machines, to cute foldable bikes, to garish neon fixed gear whips. While it took some time before the SMUX biking team contingent was dispatched, we were immersed in the mood of the impromptu crowd, tempered by patience and consideration for others as befitting that of the silent theme of the mass ride. Many had simply turned up on the spot and signed up there and then for the ride.

It was amazing to see riders of all stripes and ages riding together in a pack strung out along Singapore roads to commemorate the safety of cyclists on the roads. While it was an initial nightmare trying to organize a pack of strangers to ride together with any semblance of discipline, it turned out to be a non-issue. The ride turned out to be slow and controlled enough such that no riders were left behind or forced to ride dangerously. To me this reinforces the message that riding a bicycle on the roads should be (is) safe. By riding safely, we can get to ride again another day.

By Su JunJie

Kukup 2009

Many Kukup-ers would totally understand when I said that none of my friends deem a 200km ride by bike as normal.

Well, their negative response did discourage me a little before leaving my house at 1am on Saturday, a day when you would not want to get out of bed before the sunrise, especially when the drizzling rain cooled the whole atmosphere.

My energy and enthusiasm started to pump in upon seeing 50 other “crazy soul mates” at the optical shop excitedly moving up the bikes to the lorry to go to Kranji.

The feeling of sitting on the lorry flashing through the roads in the middle of the night was just simply awesome. The cool breeze swirled my hair and flattered my skin.

Starting to cycle from Kranji MRT, I began to worry about the sun heat as well as the enticingly challenging and seemingly endless roads that I had to cycle through the next day.

Initially, it was exciting. The drizzling, to me, was like a special treat; honestly, I would rather choose the rain over the scorching sun. I kept counts of how far we cycled every time we stopped for a short break. But slowly, when we cycled upslope, I started to feel the strain and my legs just refused to pedal. It was so disheartening to see myself further and further away from the rest of the group while pedaling uphill…

I had little mental and physical strength to continue. But cycling is never about fighting the tiredness alone; it’s about having company to motivate one another, to multiply up whatever little energy left in our “fuel tank”. Having in mind that my GLs would be waiting for me in front, my teammates behind who kept on cheering “jiayou, a little bit more”, I knew I could overcome it by just keeping keeping on.

At times when all encouraging words seemed to have little effect, I reminded myself of this beloved teammate, small in size but exceedingly full of mental power and abundant with determination, Jingmin. Knowing how to ride not so long, she never fails to challenge herself to achieve what we might think as “mission impossible”.

When we were at the prata place, 37 km away from Kukup, never in my life had I declined to try delicious prata, because I just wanted sleep more than anything. Once we reached, I almost fell dead on my bed after my shower and lunch was just like quick bite so that I could get back to my dream land.

In spite of how sleepy I was, after lunch, it was immensely hard to resist the heart-to- heart talk that my roommates and our guests of honor, some uninvited guests (haha joking) were having in my room. I guess that is the trademark of SMUX events, we challenge ourselves and we share the experience as one family afterwards.

The night spent at Kukup was memorable too. Dinner was great. If anyone had not eaten the stingray that day, you really ought to really go back to Kukup next year. Oh also, if you want to go walk-walk around the neighborhood area to get the juicy and mouth-watering mango ice blend, you do it before 9 pm. It’s a small town and people rest early after all.

Talking about food, there is also the “cannot-be-missed” chendol on the way back to Singapore. The trip back was of a slower pace and going down the steep slope was so shiok!!! It was more dangerous, more safety caution needs to be taken, but definitely adventurous too.

Finishing Kukup was like conquering another limit that I hadn’t imagined before. Besides the personal sense of accomplishment, Kukup also gives me many meaningful lessons; about how to look out for safety concerns for one another, like the GLs and the seniors always did, about how to care for your whole team’s welfare, to boil water for the team to make sure everyone is hydrated, etc. At the same time, no one should be alone at any point of time, for any reason, so sounding out for your team to wait for you is a simple and effective solution.

I remember once Junyi said that Kukup is his favourite ride. Admittedly, I never enjoyed biking as much as I did at this trip. When I came back alive with my tan and my cheery face, my friends, being inspired, changed their opinion thinking that maybe they should try it one day too!

By Emily Pham

Biking Admin IC

TOUR DE SINGAPORE (TDS)

Feb’ 09

TDS was a fulfilling night ride that took place during the midterm break in February 2009. 120-odd participants began their journey at East Coast Park through the heart of the city to the West and back to the East of Singapore again.

Like what the theme suggests, the aim of this ride was to bring participants on a tour of Singapore, and to explore the different areas in Singapore through biking. The various food stops along the way were specially designed to introduce the different delicacies in Singapore to the participants. Some of the places visited were Macritchie Reservoir, Bishan Park, Thomson Prata House, and Simpang Bedok. The whole planning process was a hectic one, as the organizing committee had to run through the route many times over, conducting recces, planning the games, and also ensuring that safety was in no way compromised both during the recces and the actual event day.

During the event, it was a grueling yet fun 70 kilometres for the participants as they biked through the night together. New friendships were forged and existing friendships were further strengthened. Participants gained not just the sense of achievement of being able to complete 70 kilometres, especially for new road bikers, but also the bonding and company of their friends.

Being part of the organizing committee for TDS has been an awesome and refreshing experience. The days leading up to the event might have been hectic, but to see both SMUX members and new participants enjoy the ride thoroughly was in itself, the most rewarding of all. This was indeed the greatest takeaway for all the members of the organizing committee.

By Tong Ling

TDS Admin IC

Summer Expedition 1 : 8KM ECP Food and Paddle

Happening on the 14 June!

Expect a nice relaxing expedition plus a great lunch at the ECP food center! ;D

Interested Parties fill up this form!

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=cmlDcUlxb1NVZ0ctbm5jMEpPLWpxeVE6MA..

Mount Rinjani ‘09- Reflections

The rehearsing of script lines for a play and the countless practices for a debate competition was ‘my kind of world’. The summit of Rinjani certainly did not fit in my little world of the arts. Before the trek to Gunong Rinjani, neither did I nor most of my peers think me fit or cut out for the rough tumble of Mother Nature. Well, I certainly surprised myself and shocked a lot of my friends when I returned a week later having completed the trek. Although I looked 2 to 3 shades darker, endured several grand falls while descending Rinjani, and injured several toes, it was worth it!

The Rinjani trek has become one of the best experiences of my life. It is something I would want to relive again. Initially, I was apprehensive about joining the trek especially since I could not persuade any of my friends to join me for it. However, the fun I had with my new friends far exceeded my expectations. At every point of the trek I felt as though I was reliving some part of my favorite fantasy book as the scenery at Rinjani was surreal. I will definitely be a regular on treks and hope to see all my new trek friends with me in the near future.

Talisa Kaur Dhaliwal

Skate Day ‘09

Skate Day(20-March) is annual SMUX Skating Team event aims to promote skating as a means of transport within SMU campus and at the same time, it also helps to promote a healthy lifestyle. “It’s my day my way” is our marketing campaign message aims to boost awareness and catch interest in skating. Initially, skaters only skate on normal Friday skating session. Skating around the school is not recognized by the school. Skate Day makes skaters eligible traveling around the school on skates everyday(approved by OFM and OSL). Nonetheless, we have to ensure that skaters is proficient is enough to skate around the school without endanger him/herself, public and school properties. Assessment is implemented to test proficiency of every skater. The assessment includes braking, going up and down escalators and stairs and maneuvering (going through obstacles and cones). Skater who fails any of these assessments is not eligible to skate around the school. However, he/she can still skate on Friday skating session at concourse. On Skate Day, all eligible skaters will be skating around in school the whole day. Activities are planned out which include skating tricks and stunts performances and the finale of forming the longest skating chain followed by urban skating.

ADEX ‘09

“Save the sea, be a diver!”

That was the message being brought across to divers and non-divers alike at the Asian Dive Expo (ADEX) 2009, held at the Marina at Keppel Bay from 23^rd to 26^th April 2009. As the diving exhibition placed particular emphasis on marine conservation, the SMUX Diving Team was given a platform in the Environmental Quest Corridor.

The team used this platform to educate the public on the impact of neglect on the marine environment, on how our actions adversely affect the ocean and their marine life, and how dependent we actually are on the oceans. Another feature was the reef checks that we conduct in Reef Alert, our team’s annual conservation project.

ADEX also had various operators exhibiting, varying from Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), diving operators, diving magazines, and dive sites being featured. It was a good experience walking along the aisles, talking with divers with similar interests, ranging from conservation to photography, or even the basic enjoyment of underwater treasures. This was definitely an event not to be missed by divers!

Open Season Dive ‘09

TIoman dive was an excellent get away trip from school. Although the journey there was cold as it rained during our boat ride, the Ramly burgers awaiting at the shore made up for it.

The first day of dives ran rather smoothly. I took the openwater course and was pleasantly surprised to discover that diving turned out to be easy! It was even easier then stepping from boat to boat at the jetty. Furthermore, it’s possible to dive with a semi-blocked nose and ear. Submerged underwater allowed me to perceive reality differently – time seemed to stand still, everything seems so near, but when you reach it and turn around, the people you left behind look really small.

However, it was annoying to have other people landing on you when their buoyancy control goes haywire in the quest to attain Floating Buddha status. Nonetheless, it was easy and definitely fun to take revenge on others!

The second day of diving was interesting. Beginning with the fresh faeces on our first dive to the stormy conditions we faced when diving to our dive boat abandoning us due to unforeseen circumstances, it was one great adventure after the next. Sadly the time came when we all had to leave Tioman, but not before ??-ing (taking away) the legendary roti bomb of Tioman.

The best part about diving is that I didn’t feel tired in between dives, perhaps a little cold, but nothing a little sunshine on the boat deck couldn’t cure. However, I was extremely exhausted the morning after returning from Tioman, but that’s probably because there’s no more dives. For now.

By Hu Jinjie

Open Season Marketing IC

SMUX Movie Screening!

Movie: Transformer
Date: 14 July 2009 (tentative)
Time: TBC (after 7pm)
Venue: Vivocity GV

Please fill in your particulars to indicate your interest for the event!
Details on payment will be sent out later.
Movie tickets will be allocated from the back to the front, once payment is received (on a first come first serve basis).

For more information email SuXian at suxian.soo.2007@smu.edu.sg.

Click here to Indicate Interest!