let's keep this long entry as short as possible.. ahahah.. i know how much some of u readers just love the detailed accounts of my life.. but.. i'm like too lazy.. ahaahhhah..

Friday..

top it up.. a bad day on the left side..
was suppose to help out with the preparations for SP Open.. did this.. did that.. why a bad day on the left side..?? Coz i lost $7 that i suppose have fallen off from my left pocket.. secondly.. i cut my middle finger of my left hand while carrying one of the boards and my finger grazed thru one of those split edges.. *ouch*.. then.. i got splashed with mud water on the left side of my body while carrying the goalpost.. walao.. ryan.. damn u lah.. ahahahhahah.. then. lastly.. i poked the same middle finger while pinning up the target papers.. ahahah.. shot at night.. made my decision to join the competition..

Saturday..

SP open.. was rather messy in the morning.. people coming late and people not co-operating with each other and all that sort of stuff.. kancong here.. gabra there.. well.. after some things were laid out straight.. the shoot finally commenced..

Standard Open..
I was out helping my fellow year 1 archers.. helped out with nadiah, rachel and esther.. rachel seemed to be performing well.. hah.. eventually she won the category.. SP’s female archers seem to always own this category.. hahahahh.. it’s nadiah’s and esther’s first competition.. and a job well done to them considering their performance in their first external competition.. well done.. well done.. I was standing by the waiting line.. telling them.. reminding them of their form as well as give them moral encouragement for every shot that they made.. the sun was sweltering hot.. damnit.. introduced some of the seniors to the infamous lim chee wee.. ahahahhahah.. HanRui was here too.. shooting for PJC.. friends I made in the SAFSA and sembawang compy were here as well.. but KangRui from RJC wasn’t here.. nice guy.. great archer.. chatted with Brandon from FAAC.. realised that he lives in jurong after seeing him at JP on Wednesday..

Lunch break.. then it was my turn to get prepared.. My first c-class/recurve compy.. nervous..?? not quite actually.. I knew my standard of shooting.. I knew how disadvantaged I was in terms of equipment (eg.. untuned bow.. long arrows and my so famous scotched-taped rest).. and this having my first recurve compy.. I didn’t know how the competition was like.. I mean.. back in standard class.. I always knew who to look out for.. the old uncles of PREAC.. as for c-class.. I didn’t know who to look out for.. there was our greatest rival TP.. PPCC.. and not to leave out.. National Archers.. it was a nervy moment for me.. but with the late additions of glenn, tsyr harn and woei perng.. the comfort of a large number of SP recurve archers in the competition relaxed me for a moment.. as I stood in the common room.. all around me.. my seniors’ bows.. glenn’s.. woei perng’s.. sam’s.. yazid’s.. and of course the owners of the bows were in here as well.. the other recurve archers clement, BK, derong, tsyr harn, jack, my teacher GuoLong and shwajuan had already set-up their bows downstairs.. come to think of it.. it’s also shwajuan’s first recurve compy.. so it might have been a nervy moment for her too.. back in the common room.. we just stood there and waited.. as if waiting for an impending doom.. yazid was like telling me.. “relax lah.. get the experience first.. boleh lah.. ”.. finally.. we went down.. like a bunch of soldiers marching.. with our bows held up in the air.. put our bows down by the other archers then did some warm-ups.. filled water bottles.. put on our necessary gear.. checked our equipment.. then the whole thing started..

Recurve Open..
As I got my bow up and trudge thru the muddy soil and light rain to my board.. Board 4 detail D.. damn.. my waiting line area was damn muddy lah.. wth.. but I find it fun.. ahhahahha… realised that I share the same board with the other Eclipse user.. Gerald from NTU.. oooo.. interesting.. it’s rather rare to find another eclipse user.. and come to think of it.. I think there are only 4 eclipse users in Singapore.. Me, shwajuan, gerald and an asshole.. well.. introduced ourselves.. talked about our backgrounds in archery and such.. what unnerved me was the fact that I share the same detail with guah lih.. a former national youth archer.. oh wtf.. ahahhahah.. I didn’t give a damn.. the PM’s son was shooting in the board 3.. and he did something which I deem as a-thing-never-done-by-a-recurve-archer.. he dry fired his bow.. ooooo.. he was pulling it to full draw.. seemingly stretching.. so I watched him.. then he released it.. ooooo.. *bang!*.. ahahhahahah… wth.. he was using a black agulla.. oooooo.. shooting with prime minister’s son.. cool.. he was in the same detail as me.. so couldn’t at all watch how he shoots.. but one thing’s for sure.. he doesn’t check his equipment after every detail.. so every shot he made would be accompanied with a clanging sound as his stab system or sight screws loosened.. then me and guah lih would turn back to look at him.. ahahahhaha.. and to the left in board 5.. was benny from TP and woei perng.. chatted as we waited for our details.. and woei perng was going around yosh-ing.. ahahhahahha.. then glenn who was at board 6 would go laughing.. my rest was ripping off so I frantically taped it down with masking tape.. ahahahhaha.. Ok.. enough with the general out-of-shooting experience..

My shooting.. my shooting.. dunno how to describe it.. come to think of it.. the mental part wasn’t that bad.. it was fine.. not thinking crazy thoughts.. not thinking about my form or anything.. just not thinking at all.. it was great.. may be the fear overcomed.. may be the home ground.. or may be the fact that I told myself my aim was to achieve that last spot for the recurve category.. ahahahhaha.. my first round was considered okay.. but it was my last end of the first round that fucked everything.. I M-ed..!! wth.. M-ed..!! I bloody hell M-ed.. and that end.. I scored 9pts.. wat the fucking hell..!! I got an M.. a 6 and a 3.. wth.. wat the hell..!! my second round improved abit.. was having an orchestra time as every time I pulled my arrows out of the board.. my arrows would make a high-pitched sound.. I didn’t care so much about how much I scored that I even totalled them up wrongly.. ahahahahha.. wth.. but totalled wrongly in 3 to 4 pts difference..

I knew I could have performed better if I had the proper equipment and I wasn’t thinking much about my rest flying off.. I knew I could have performed better.. I can do better.. this was my first competition.. the atmosphere and environment wasn’t that bad.. it was totally fine.. I know I can do better.. I can do better.. I know now where to concentrate on.. I know now whr my problems are and the solutions to it.. i know now my stable form.. I know now everything that would see me succeed.. oh the iron resolve in me.. I can do it.. aahhh.. it hurts… the drive to perform better hurts.. aaahhh..!!! I wanna perform..!! I wanna make a name for myself.. I wanna relive the feeling of self-satisfaction again… aaaarrrggghhh..!!!

After the whole thing ended.. everyone was like coming up to me and asking me how I fared.. the reply.. “I totally sucked..!! zheng my bow with masking tape… aaahhhh..!!! I suck..!!”… aaaahhh..!!! aahhh…!!! I dunno how to describe the feeling I felt after the compy.. it was like.. “I failed just now.. bring it on.. I wanna give it another go.. bring it on.. I can perform better.. c’mon.. just bring it.. bring it on.. I wanna go again.. aarrgghh..!!!”.. I clenched my fists and clenched my teeth to restrain the drive to do things better now.. so after every other non-sp archer left.. I had a go at the target boards.. the others were practicing for their team events at boards 18, 19 20.. I plonked myself at board 6 and shot.. shot and shot.. mistakes cleared.. form ever so stable.. was putting my focus on the right things.. worked on my expansion.. the expansion.. the thing that makes up the release and followthrough.. the thing that is the cause of all my problems.. expansion.. I shot and shot till the dead of night.. there was no tiredness.. no exhaustion.. no fatigue.. it was the iron resolve to do it all right.. stopped myself around 9pm.. packed up my bow and went off home alone.. with the iron resolve in me unwavering.. still burning with it’s desire..

Sunday..

I dreamt a weird dream last night.. it was so real.. it was about the past.. the future.. and the present all at once.. weird dream.. must have a meaning to it.. oh well.. leave it to another entry..

Team events and IKOs..
Standard IKO.. didn’t watch most of it.. coz I was busy at clementi running around searching for a photocopying shop to photocopy score sheets..

Recurve IKO.. stood by wymer as he shot.. when he saw me he was like “wah.. come to support me ahh..??”.. ahahhaha.. I smiled back.. well.. unfortunately.. he got knocked out.. he lost to one of those Gurkhas.. Oooo.. Gurkhas.. they make great archers coz of their strict disciplinarian mindset.. now.. archers to look out for.. GC archers.. so I went over to derong.. who was competing against tohjin.. Ooo.. tohjin.. national archer.. but.. one thing very interesting.. shimin was sitting by the DOS tent.. ahahahhaha.. there’s this rumour that tohjin has a thing for shimin.. so I went up to GL.. “ehh.. shimin sitting there lehh..”.. then GL.. “yah.. tactic.. shh..”.. aahhahhahahahahha… derong eventually defeated tohjin.. distraction..?? luck..?? or pure skill..?? ahahahahahha.. derong defeated the following national archer Henry Ong.. in the end.. it was an all SP final.. derong vs clement.. clement won eventually.. it was down to team events now..

Line judge for standard U-12 and U16.. damn tiring lah.. damn hot also.. walao.. well.. that was done.. standard team event..

Helped out with SP5.. rachel, nadiah and esther’s group.. rachel needed the confidence boost after her failure in her IKO.. nadiah and esther having their first external team event.. esther having her first ever team event thing.. it was hard.. having to keep up with their form.. and also to give them the moral encouragement for every shot that they made.. their first round was astounding.. thrashing FAAC by 20pts.. Oooo… their second match was bad I have to admit.. guess it’s the fatigue setting in.. nonetheless a valiant effort.. and we soon came to realise that both SP teams were vying for bronze.. ahhahahah.. the recurve men’s team got knocked out of the first round.. due to a rare mistake made by Guolong.. well shit happens.. cheer up GL.. so.. it was like damn funny lah… I was the only one there.. cheering on for both teams.. giving both teams advice and moral encouragement.. hah.. damn funny.. and so it ended with SP4 winning the bronze.. so adelia, kailin and Christine took team bronze..

There was once.. Clement came up to GuoLong.. apparently.. the wind.. blew Guolong’s arrow of the rest while he was at full draw.. clicked and that arrow M-ed.. gosh.. shit really does happen.. not his fault what.. wth.. so that arrow saw SP1 crash out..
Clement: Ur fault ahh we all lose.. ur fault.. u know why becoz u lousy..
I knew clement was fooling around.. but wat the hell.. no need to rub it in lah.. totally unhonourable and undignified.. so I butted in..
Hafiz: walao.. say my teacher until like that.. how can u say that..
Clement: teacher lousy.. student also lousy..
Hafiz starts to fume..
Hafiz: wah.. one day clement.. I’m gonna make u eat those words.. one day.. u wait and see.. one day..
Clement: how can eat words wan..??
Hafiz: u wait one day.. I’ll show u how to..

Well.. it ended.. prize presentation.. and the whole shoot ended.. saikang time.. all of us had to clear up the field.. unset the speaker system.. unset the field.. the unsetting of the field part was the nicesest.. I carried the boards.. but there was one time.. where albert called me over.. and guess wat he did.. he asked me an we yong to stack up 3 boards.. then 3 of us carry it.. walao.. damn hiong ahh.. I realise now.. I’ve acquired much strength.. and can now carry a boardstand (one of the big ones) without much effort like I used too last time.. Oooo.. small and skinny boy got strong muscles okay.. ahhahahahha… we all retreated back to the club.. crapped around.. I was busy scrapping of the mounting tape of my arrow rests with my penknife.. next thing I knew.. I was falling asleep.. and I was rudely awakened with people screaming.. “ehh..!!! Hafiz..!! Why do u have a penknife to ur throat..?!?!”.. I looked at them.. then went back to sleep again..

Woken up by shwajuan with a kick to my ankle.. *OUCH*.. it was night time.. so went off home.. came across Precious Emuejeraye in th train.. shwajuan was having a bad time with phonecalls from her father.. tsk tsk.. oh well..

SP open was a major success.. I’ve learnt a lot of things from this event.. and a new experience.. marking my entry into the world of recurve..


That dream still runs on in my mind.. I can see it clearly.. what is it trying to tell me..??