moments of Jose's life

Stanley Dragon Boat Warm-up Races (2008-5-1)

On May 1st, a public holiday, I turned down my friends' invitation for hiking / shopping / going to movies, resisted the temptation to sleep through till mid-day but got up early in the morning at 6:00am. These were to exchange for all the more important participating in the dragon boat warm-up races in Stanley. (Unbelieveably, with this sport, I could actually call myself an "athlete".)

Time flies, this is my 6th cosecutive year joining the dragon boat race in Stanley. Yet, joining Warm-up Races was my first time. Never had I imagined this was indeed a very seriously run competition with over 60 participating teams and having real trophies for the winners. And same rules apply as in the real race on Jun 8th (Tuen Ng Festival), e.g. disqualify if the drummer falls into the sea, team members must wear uniform, mixed team comprises at least 8 female paddlers, etc. Only that race distance was shortened to 250m, i.e. 20m less than the real race.

Although we practised only 3 times and with novices in majority, our team had excellent team spirit and great team work. In between races (9:10am / 12:00noon / 2:00pm), thanks to the helpers and the company funding, we enjoyed a big feast on the beach together with some team members' families, kids and friends.

張貼者：Jo Fung @ 晚上11:15