All At Chong Pang

My first kompang performance.

It wasn't actually the perfect first time I'd imagined, but it was fun nevertheless. It started out in the morning. All of the boys planned to meet at Yishun MRT Interchange at about 7:50am. At about 7:55am, me, Bukhari, Syakirin, Ali, Feriza and Zulfaqar had all arrived. Fierdaos then gave us a call, telling us to meet at the Community Centre in the area. Oh by the way, we were performing for an MP in that area.

Anyway, all of us arrived at the place. Fierdaos hadn't arrived yet. We started to panick. We called him again and again, but he kept answering, "On the way..". That helped.

Soon, the people in-charge began asking us if we were ready. We were all getting worried and pissed. To our dismay, the MP arrived and walked right in front of us. We couldn't do anything. Our instruments were with Fierdaos. As the MP made his way into the tented area, we walked away, frustrated at the morning's event.

Finally, Fierdaos arrived in a car, with Pipi and Johan, Fierdaos' other kompang friends. The moment they got out, we explained about the opening ceremony and how it had been a disaster. I was already thinking of what to do for the rest of the day. To settle things, Johan and Pipi went to the organisers and tried to negotiate. Thankfully, they gave us a slot to perform, just before the MP left.

When the moment came, it felt great. All of us sang and played like we'd never done before. The few minutes up there felt like hours. When we got back down, we were all sweating. Happy, and sweating. But that wasn't the end. We had to escort the MP as he shook the hands of the visitors. 20 whole minutes, we walked and played our kompang. 20 whole minutes!

At the end of the day, we all bade our goodbyes. It was my first time ever playing kompang for any official event. And I admit, it wasn't all too bad. The $15 tip wasn't too bad either ;D

EPIC GROUP PHOTO ^^.

Irsyad's Sports Day

21st April 2011. Inter-House Sports Day.

The above statement says it all. The long-awaited event of the year. Coupled with the fact that it is my last year in Irsyad, it just made this day all the more memorable. To add to that, it was my first time taking part in ANY athletics track event.

The day began with the sun welcoming everyone with its radiant shine. Bishan Stadium was the setting, and its seats were filled with hundreds of students, all clad in their own House shirt; Water, Wind, Fire and Earth. For the first half of the day, Irsyad held the Inter-House games for the primary level.

Bishan Stadium ^^.

It was only morning and my heart was already beating fast. I was running for two events; the 100m solo and the 4x100m relay. Ignoring my weak limbs, I dashed to the field and began to take pictures.

The hours passed and bit by bit, the continuous sweating slowly sapped my energy. Fully exposed to the sun's glare, it was impossible not to feel tired and weary. I was hoping with all my heart that the primary level events would end soon. Sure enough, at about 12:30pm, the games were ended and the prizes were given. Water House won 1st place for the primary level^^.

That spurred me on.

After a mass Zuhr prayer at An-Nahdhah Mosque, the secondary girls events began. Us boys were locked out, with good reason. Seeing as we had about 2 to 3 hours of free time, Danish and I rested at the mosque. It was a moment of peace, away from the cheering and the shouting. Then, I had a quick shower, just to freshen up. True enough, the shower did wonders.

Both me and Danish walked back to the stadium, myself feeling very weak. I didn't have much to eat. As soon as we got back to the stadium, it was announced that the secondary boys' runs were about to start. I was almost shaking with fear. I went for my bag and took out my can of Red Bull, something I bought the previous day. Just something which I thought might help.

As soon as I got to the tracks, I was escorted to my racing team. The nerves began to work its way through my body. There weren't just butterflies in my stomach. I think a whole ecosystem of bugs and insects were crawling everywhere inside of me. I started coughing. What a time to get sick, huh?

"The 100m singles event..", went the commentator. I was on the verge of exploding. Gosh. We all lined up at our respective places. I was on Lane no. 1, the farthest away from the spectators. Hah. Not that it mattered anyway!

BANG! The gunshot was fired. I was shocked and for a moment, I couldn't move. Then, my instincts kicked in and I began to put one leg in front of the other. Hanafiah, who was running beside me, literally fell. That was another reason for my state of shock. I was like, "Ugh, run, you fool! Run!". I started off bad and in the end, I got 7th place. I was very demoralised. But nonetheless, people cheered me up, saying it was okay.

My second event was the 4x100m relay. This one, I thought, I had to give it my best. Again, I stepped up to my lane. I was the first runner, by the way. So, in the few moments I had to relax, I just threw away all thoughts of pain. BANG! Gunshot; 4 runners moving off.

I pushed as hard as I could. My left thigh began hurting again, but I just kept on pushing. Until about a few seconds, I made it to the second runner, Syafiq. Gosh, after releasing the baton, all the tension was gone. I ran back to the starting line to accept Danish in my arms when he crossed the finishing line. Well, we got 2nd place! Good enough ;D

Too tired to pose? :3

At the end day, the only thing I felt was comfort. I felt comfortable and also happy that I participated. And even though I didn't win any gold medals, I was glad to know that people still supported me even after the results.

Irsyad family moments <3

The Nerves

I'll be running in the 4 x 100m senior athletics event.

Am I excited? Definitely. Honoured? Quite. Nervous? Very. Any doubts? Yeah.

Apparently, I'm not exactly the fastest runner. Just today, we had our last practice as a whole. Seeing that everyone wanted to pit their own strength with everyone else, all the 4 houses competed in a pre-athletic games. Sort of.

So anyway, I should mention that I'm the first runner. Usually, it's these people that decide the positions of the race; more or less. I wasn't too keen on running. After just suffering an asthma attack just a week ago, AND coping with the never-ending production of phlegm in my throat, AND suffering a thigh injury, I wasn't at full strength. It didn't help that the other first runners were Bukhari, Hanafiah and Helmi. Experienced runners.

All the other competitors sat down to watch the spectacle. I thought to myself, "I can do it. I can do it". Others comforted. Haziq reminded me again and again, to focus on the race and no one else. Farid, out of sympathy and care, gave me a hug. I was, if not a bit, very much elated.

Mr Izzad signalled the start. All four of us got to the starting position, breathing slowly. "Ready!", shouted Mr Izzad, and my heart beat so fast it nearly stopped. As soon as he said GO, I ran. I ran as much as my muscles would take me. In agony, my thighs buzzed with pain. I was way behind. My spirits faltered. I felt like crying.

The other three were ahead of me, already passing the baton. I was still a few metres away, trying my best to keep up. As soon as Syafiq, the second runner received the baton, he sped off. I breathed in large amounts of air, only satisfying half of what my lungs desired for. Oh, the heartache.

I felt like a loser. A useless nobody. My gaze followed the remaining members of my relay team. They ran like it was something so natural. In the end, Water House got 3rd place. I looked at the ground and bit my lips. I was the cause of the defeat. I, inevitably, cost the gold medal, or at least, could. I don't want this to happen on Thursday. I don't want the Sports Day to be a memory of a loss. I want something more.

Everyone returned to their Houses. I was too ashamed to face my other members. Out of shame, I darted into the toilet and washed my face. I felt so.. weak. When I left the toilet, I walked towards an empty side of the stadium, laid down and just looked at the skies. I'm small. I know.

I just hope with all my heart, that God-willing, I will win it for my House this Thursday. Amiin.

Hello Again, IBN.

We went to IBN. Again.

IBN, you know, Institute of Biomedical Nanotechnology. < Is that right? I don't really remember much. But yeah, we went there again. We went there last year. By we, I mean me and my school batch. Having been there last year, I was prepared for the talks, those long, confusing talks. With the long-winded terms and the lengthy explanations. Gosh. *shudder*

So anyway, we had a short talk, as expected. It was all about trying to make cells work to heal a specific organ. The way they talked, it was like Science was their language. That was the one thing that captured me about them. It was that they were so interested in their work, constantly studying by trial and error to find out more ^^.

Afterwards, we were all separated into groups, where each group was led by a volunteer. The volunteers brought us around the different lab rooms, which I found, were the same lab rooms we went to the previous year. But seriously, it was sooooooo tiring having to stand for nearly an hour. Maybe even a bit more. But hey, it's supposedly interesting, which it is. Only to people who are curious about these stuff, I guess.

No more IBN excursions, that's all I hope for.

The only excitement was taking photos in the loo. Lol.

'Twaaaang!'

Picture the 8th storey of Irsyad crowded with students and teachers. People bustling in and out of their classes, getting last sips of water from the water cooler. Others, doing some business in the loo. And there I was, just in front of my class with some of my classmates. Suddenly, Ilyas and Umar came out of nowhere and started tickling me.

Now being me, I am a VERY ticklish person. The moment Umar and Ilyas went for my stomach, instinctively, my body bent back and I accidentally fell back. Unfortunately, I fell right into the metal railings outside my class. With a loud 'bang' which echoed throughout the corridor, I hit the back of my skull on the railings.

A wave of pain engulfed me, particularly in my head. I just dropped to the ground. All the guys around me stood shocked in awe at the loudness of the 'bang'. Well, it's wasn't actually 'bang'. Just something like that. More of a 'twaaaang!'.

Immediately, Ilyas and Umar dropped to my side and started soothing my head. Gosh, that was some lunch activity. Soon enough, the aching in my head stopped. But occasionally, I could feel a slight jolt of pain. Hmm, what a way to wake up, huh? I wasn't even asleep then.

As the hours passed, and the afternoon glow started to appear, I started to feel irritable. I felt was if everyone around me was pushing me away, making me feel unwanted. I don't know. These moments keep coming more and more frequently. Sometimes, I just feel like shouting at everyone. But hey, I don't think it'd help at all. Maybe a bit.

After school, I went to athletics training with the guys. Since Ruzaini rarely came to coach the Water House track team, me and Haziq coached the boys. For a moment, it felt like everything was nice again. Meh. My feelings change that quickly. After training, I went home with Abd Rahman Aziz, Farid, Helmi and Luqman Hakim. We laughed and made jokes on the journey to the MRT station.

Aaaah, these short moments. They really make life worth living for.

"Busy"

SA1. The second season of exams for the year. You'd think I'd be nervous. Well, I am. Though not to the point where I may just fade. Just nervous enough to make me worry and revise for my SA1's.

I always try to remind myself that all this studying will soon benefit me in the future. Sure, easy enough. But getting myself to do work, now that's the hard task. Specifically, Chemistry. I actually dislike it, not because I hate the subject itself, but because I'm terrible at it. Heh.

Some people say I'm the language and humanities kind of student, not the maths and science type. I can accept that. But I still love all my subjects nonetheless. I just wish I could do better at it. Aaaaah, work harder, yes? I KNOOOOOOW ~

Busy busy busy, that's me. "Busy" indeed.