end of term

it's been kind of a hectic last week of sch...trying to rush coursework and pack in polo training. 'newae, some nice things to remember of last week:

Prom Praise Sat Mar 21:
chance to celebrate God's grace and presence in royal albert hall. alongside with a full orchestra and choir. the accoustics is just fantastic in that place. and there was such a joyous atmosphere in the place as all the audience got to their feet and sang along, esp to the strains of 'teach me to dance'. really enjoyed it and looking forward to the next one.

Good News Mon Mar 23
my junior who had a relapse of cancer contacted me after 4 mths. and good news she brings indeed. she's on to her last session of chemotherapy and she also did extremely well for her A levels!! yAy..Praise to the Lord for He has been good! =)

'Birthday cum Mother's Day' Wed/Thurs Mar 25/26:
had a mini celebration for kai's bday among the 5 dsta girls. been quite some time since we got together again. and of course, it's always such fun when we gather and talk abt everything and anything. haha...and as always...a particular self destruction button gets set off... hehe... proceeded on to sainsbury for late night supermarket shopping..grabbing reduced price pastry and feeling all happy and satisfied. celebrated 'mother's day' for kai the next day cos she's been such a dear to all of us and taking care of all of us since we came to london =)

Passion of The Christ Fri Mar 26:
been wanting to watch this movie for ages now. and all the anticipation was not in vain. it's a good movie. almost a true reflection of the story of Christ's crucifixion. and so vividly portrayed. enjoyed it cos it made me realize how much suffering Jesus went through and that really, his love is unconditional and all encompassing.

Pasta-ing Fri Mar 26:
dinner at Leanne's place. i'm convinced that i want a small living room area in my house next year. a corner to just sink into the comforts of a cushy sofa or a bean bag, watch some tv, listen to some music or just chill out and unwind after school. we had 3 diff kinds of pasta, blding up on carbo; watched 1 hr of friends! first time ever watching proper tv in london and trying to expand a gummy ring to go over our wrist =) was good fun

BUSA Finals Sat Mar 27:
it's finally here! didn't feel as nervous as i did for the semis. maybe cos getting thru the semis was more crucial to me than winning the finals. true enough. we lost to cardiff, loughborough and warwick. on the whole, the UL team played hard. so although we lost all our matches, our spirts were still on a high. sth to take home from the game is experience. we improved with each game, trying to refine our strategies, being responsible as an individual and as a team.

one of the guys remarked that our 'never say die' attitude was very apparent throughout all our games. it seemed like we got stronger with every quarter even when the scores were way too one sided and there was no chance of turning the situation ard. this is cos we always started out with score lines such as 4-0 or 6-0 in the first quarter, but in the 3rd and 4th quarter, the score lines become like 1-0, 1-2 or end up in draws. think this is very nan de really. just sth special abt the team =)

over the wkend, we also helped to cheer the men's team on. beating drums and coming up with 'london' cheers. suddenly felt a revival of sch spirit....it's been a long long time since i last cheered so hard....started off a bit half hearted..a bit rusty...not sure if i shld scream my lungs out or not...but as the game proceeded and as i witnessed the effort that the guys were putting in, just couldn't help but support with all of my heart. TEAM spirit it's called. we started off barely knowing each other, but ended, coming together through a common link - that we all play for ULU: a team to be proud of. It's a shame that the guys lost to Bristol due to biased refereeing but that will only serve to make success even sweeter next year when they win the finals of which i've complete faith in. =)

overall, throughout the 2 days of watching teams compete. i find it such a pity that ultimately, some teams will emerge winners, and others 'losers'. but i feel that all teams are winners in their own way. for example, the oxford men's team. they lost to london and cardiff by quite a wide margin on sat. yet on sunday, they put up a valiant fight and tied with bristol(champions) at 7-7 right up to the 3rd quarter. in the end, they lost due to biased refereeing yet again. plain unlucky i say. to the oxford team. i truely respect their determination to fight back, to prove that they are not in the finals by chance but qualified enough to put up a battle.

this wkend has been a fruitful one indeed. witnessed a high std of wpolo being played. even the singaporean guys on the ul team admitted that all the women teams were good. =) on a personal level, i went through the most vicious match of all on sat. costume got ripped and was kicked and 'attacked' intentionally, which leads me to wonder if it's really necessary to become 'EVIL' if i want to play at a higher level...hai~more to ponder on.