Day 3 - Oct 17, 2006: Visit to the Shaolin Temple

After a day of competition, we prepared ourselves for the visit to the Shaolin Temple at Shong Shan, located at Dengfeng. Again, we had to get up early because the bus leaves at 0730. Dengfeng is about 2 hours drive away. We're expected to return by 1530 because there will be some events tonight. The 2 gals are competing.

I was told that about 120 buses convoyed that day and with an average of 40 people per bus, that means 4800 athletes, officials, guides, organisers and the interpreters had made the trip. It's gonna be a jam-packed mountain up there. During the trip, when we're still in the city of Zhengzhou, I realised that bicycles and motorcycles outnumbered cars, buses and other bigger vehicle. And 99% of the motorcyclist doesn't wear any helmets. During the whole trip, all I could hear is bus drivers honking at other cars, cyclist, pedestrians etc on the incoming buses. If you think Malaysian drivers are mad on the road, I would say that these people are crazy. Cars were actually seen overtaking the bus without looking at the rear. Fortunately the bus drivers were VERY alert the whole time, unlike sleepy Malaysian bus drivers.

But during the whole time, what impresses me most is that the buses has the right of way throughout the journey. At every junction you'll see some policemen/policewomen. And at every junction you'll see cars lining up, waiting for the buses to pass through. Man, I've never felt so priviledged in my life. We were like VIPs that morning. I would loved to show you some photos but the buses were driven so fast that I couldn't get any clear photo. None turn out nicely.

At the foot of the mountain is the town/city called Dengfeng where many of wushu schools were setup. And every school we drove pass gave some form of performance outside the school. If compared to the events 2 years ago, this time is much more simple and quiet. It was so grand 2 years ago that the roads were flooded with performances, banners and decorations. Because there wasn't that many performance on our way, the bus sort of sped through. These were the best photos I captured. The rest sucks.














Outside the entrance into the Monastery. Just look at the crowd below.














China Central TV (CCTV) made a live coverage of the visit that morning. Reporters and cameras were seen everywhere and a helicopter were circling the area over and over making
the coverage.

The moment we entered the area, we saw numerous performances by the Shaolin students of all ages. Just enjoy the photos.



















Up to this point, we're still outside the temple. If you walk, it takes about 10-15 minutes from the main entrance to reach the temple entrance. Just imagine how big the area is. Just imagine how many students they have there. I'm not sure whether were they gathered from the schools nearby or are they actually students in the Shaolin temple itself. Either way, it's huge, both the place and number of people.

Below: The actual entrance into the Shaolin temple. Being a temple, you'd expect to see shrines, statues of buddha and HIS students etc. Some of these photos turned out blur because there was too many people banging into you. It's difficult to get a nice still shot, especially when the guide kept asking you to hurry up. It's been a day of rushing.














Below: Inside the Shaolin temple.














Below: This is the famous hall where the monks used to train stamping the floor until the floor forms a sunken patch. It's much clearer if you see it in person. We were not allowed into the hall. We're only allowed to see by the doors.
For those who's got 'mata sepet', see the highlighted spots below. You'll notice the area sunked in.
Up to this point, I took no more photos of the area because my camera were already depleted of its battery. We then adjourned to one of the Master's room for tea.

Below: The master who took the photo with us.
He's only 5 months older than I am. He's not a monk but a student who's been practising Shaolin Kung Fu since childhood. When he's outside the temple, he's just an ordinary guy like us.

During the whole time at the temple, a few of us was very eager to leave immediately because we wanted to buy some weapons sold at the shops by the entrance. The rest who were there on leisure just kept taking their own sweet time walking and talking while we who wanted to get the weapons and items feared that we may not have enough time to choose or pick our stuff. Our bus were to leave at 1400 and it was already like 1245.

Still, we had to join them out of respect. And as we were having tea, we were sort of "saved" by one SMS I received from Alex and I used that as an excuse to get us out. Hehehe... if it wasn't of the message, I may not be do daring to open my mouth. No, I did not lie, it was really something related, it was not made up. Ended up, everyone who wanted to buy the weapons or wanted more sightseeing left. Only a few remained in the room.

Anyway, it's another long walk back to the entrance and the whole time I was worried of the gals. Needing to compete that same night, they need to rest their legs so we controlled our pace. At the shops, it was quite a disappointment. We did not get the things we wanted. All the weapons sold were meant for souveniours and gifts. None were proper for competition except for one or two but is of no use to us.

We ended up buying other things instead. And the whole time, we were rushed throughout because the bus were leaving soon. We didn't even get to bargain much which made us buying some items in a more expensive price. Imagine having already bought something only to realised it's sold half the price (yes, it's HALF the price) next door. That's a big difference though the item I bought was really something cheap and I only found out when I was leaving that area.

Finally the bus left at 1430, 30 minutes behind schedule which also meant that we'll reach the hotel 30 minutes later than expected which would then have given us 30 minutes less time to rest for tonight.

Again, on the way back, we had the right of way. The bus was very quiet because everyone's tired and it's now a good time to take an afternoon nap if you could sleep in the bus of course.

After dinner (dinner was served at 1730, as it has always been), we were back at the competition arena. The funny thing about me was that I kept getting the time here wrong. The sun rises very early. By 0700, it's already very bright and sunny. The sun also sets very early. By 1900, the sky so dark I kept thinking it's already 2100.

So while the gals were warming up while waiting for their event, I snapped around. My job now is only to take care of the 2 since my events had finished and I was supposed to be a free man to enjoy myself... so I'd wish. I was more concerned of them that I can't seem to enjoy myself that much. Didn't even get to know people from other countries.

Anyway, it was kind of dark and I'm not good at controlling the flashes. Nevertheless, the
photos:

This gal was so happened doing her stretching in front of where I was sitting. No, it's not what you think. There was no particular reason that I snapped her photo. And I think she's from Taiwan.

These 3 are either from Myanmar or Cambodia. They were practising somersaulting and cup-wheels. It happened so fast I can't seem to capture them nicely.

These 3 are from Ukraine and they were practising a 3 person pre-arranged dual. I got fedup that I could not capture a nice photo of their fight, so I got them to do a pose for me while they were resting. Many thanks to them.

Ah... finally the events done. The 2 gals were competing in the same event. The results, Tiffany got 4th but got gold. YQ was 5th but silver. She got equal score with 3 other gals and was only 0.02 points lower than Tiff's score of 8.68. It's been a wonderful and lucky night for Tiff. YQ was pretty unlucky this time.

The photo of a gold medalist. She couldn't stop smiling after she knew she's getting gold but somehow could not smile for the camera... haiz... but anyhow, well done to our sweet darling here...














The rest of the photos taken during the award ceremony.














The photo of the silver medalist.
This gal had a black face the whole night. It soon turned from a happy bright night for Tiff and I into a dull quiet night because of her. I'd even lost all the mood to snap her photo since she's been avoiding my camera the whole night.

Anyway, another good news was that I got another silver for my second event. I did not see the results myself but Xi Lei (one of the interpreter) saw my result and quickly informed me of it. I could not believe my ears when I heard that. I thought she was joking.

So it's now 2 silver for 2 events for me. Somehow this has broken a trend I long had. I've never gotten a silver medal before. In all the individual events that I've competed in, it's either a gold or a bronze or no medals at all but never a silver. Not only the trend was broken by 1 silver, it was 2. I guess in a way, my collection of the colours are complete though a gold would have been very much better for me. I just did not do well enough.

So things have gotten pretty well today. We have a gold medal to cheer for Malaysia, another silver in the bag and the news of my 2nd silver. I think everyone slept well that night. But I'm sure Tiff had a tough night, especially when her roommate is YQ.

Day 2 - Oct 16, 2006: The War Begins

I woke up at 0530 because breakfast is at 0600 and the bus leaves at 0700. After getting ready, I headed down for breakfast at the restaurant at the lobby. As I entered the restaurant, was immediately given the ticket for the opening ceremony tonight. With the opening ceremony being held tonight, today would be a day of events. In the morning, I'll have my first event, which is the weapons (categorised as "Double Apparatus" because it's a pair of weapons that I'll be playing), the hand form will be in the afternoon and the opening ceremony of the championship in the evening. And guess what... the ticket cost RMB 400 each. That makes up to about MYR 200. I couldn't believe my own eyes when I saw it.

I was in a quite confident mood having already found out from the night before that my first event will only have 6 competitors. I will not do myself any justice if I do not win any medal in the first event.

Once done, it was time to leave. In every competition, we always have our teammates to accompany those competiting not only to give moral support but to help take care of the stuff when competiting. So the 2 gals would have to accompany me eventhough they don't have any events today.

As we arrived, I was amazed with how beautiful the place is. This is how the place looks like.















Believe it or not, this is actually a residential middle school, something like a lower secondary school in Malaysia. And all public schools here are named using numbers. I'm not sure whether all public schools throughout China or is it just this city that has such naming policy. But this is school no. 47. I heard that only private schools are named using names.

The competition arena was held in the gymnasium of the school.

Left: This will be where I'll be competing on. I'll be competing in Arena 2, which is the top left carpet.

My event will be the 3rd event this morning.

The decorations around the gymnasium. I managed to snap a few before I get myself ready.
















While taking these photos, I can't help but felt injustice because the rest of the competitors had a training session the day before while the whole Malaysian team arrived only last night. It didn't seem fair. But that feeling soon went away..... fortunately.

During the whole competition, we will be assisted by 2 volunteers (every competing nation are assigned 2 volunteers). They're the ones who will coordinate and interprete things for us. So in one way or another, I'd like to put it that they're our "baby-sitters" where the championship is concerned (hahaha, I sound so bad and mean).

Left: The 2 pretty volunteers I just mentioned. The one on the left is Liu Jie and the other one is Xi Lei. Both local uni students.

Anyway, I've been mentioning quite alot of the 2 teammates of mine. Here's the photo of the 2. They'll be my little pets... oops, I meant pet sisters for the whole week. Beware of them. They kick asses.

The one on the left is Yi Qian while the other one is Tiffany (our self-proclaimed Crystal Princess, and she acts like one too) Hehehe... she's a real cutie... a really adorable gal.

Being a "princess", she would naturally have an evil side of her. So beware of her sinister smile.

Left: Me waiting for my turn. Photo taken with Xi Lei.

If you notice the background of the last 3 photos, it was where we did our warm up.

The open space covers 6 basketball courts, 3 tennis courts, and further to the other end is a football field with stands. The 2 big buildings behind me are the hostels. You can just imagine the facilities they have there.

The best thing is that the floor covered with the hard rubber like those used in athletic tracks, not cement like those in Malaysia.

For the first event, my turn came, my turn gone. I was the 3rd to enter the carpet for my event. Because I hadn't tested the carpet, I tried stepping at one corner of while the participant was the other end. Getting used to the carpet is important so that you will not slip or fall when you're performing. All I did was to try rubbing my shoe sole on it a little, hop a little and spin a little. That was all I could do.

When the 2nd person entered, I knew from that moment on, my chance of finishing first place is beyond reach. So I could only fight for the 2nd place. But I was quite confident of myself until I saw my score. I couldn't believe it. I only got 3rd. I felt I was underscored but nothing much that can be done. Well, looking on the bright side, getting 3rd in a world event in my first world competition is something I should be proud of. Anyway, time to focus on the next event.

During the gathering for the award ceremony, I was suprised to know that I'll be getting silver. The first 2 is getting gold. Surprised? Myself included. It was then that I realised that the medals are awarded not by the score you got but by the standard you show over the number of competitors. The organisors also want to ensure that everyone returns home with something. So everyone will somehow get a medal. It was pretty even up for my event. The first 2 got gold and the next 2 got silver. Had I finished 2nd, I could have gotten the gold already. I was so looking forward to tell the others, "First event, first gold", but it seems not to be.

I was partially hidden in the photo, but that was me on the podium getting my first medal.














This is me with Damien, who got 4th in my event but also a silver. He's an Aussie. Some of the Australian team had been training in Beijing for the past month prior to this competition and he's an Optometrist by profession.














Other miscellaneous photos.














I could have taken more photos had my camera battery not died.

We had to go back to the hotel for lunch before returning here for the afternoon event. So the routine is pretty much the same. I waited for my turn, I got on the carpet, I performed. And when I'm done, I left the carpet and waited for my final score. But this event had been a long wait with almost 36 people competing. I did pretty well myself, finishing 8th or 9th. I can't really remember what position I got. In fact, after I entered as participant no. 8, I was leading until about participant no. 20 or so before one by one started pushing me down the list.

This time, the award ceremony was postponed so I have absolutely no idea will I be getting a medal. With almost 40 people in this event, I got a pretty good chance for a bronze at the very least.

So we headed back to the hotel to prepare for the opening ceremony. We all wore a batik for the march past but I didn't take any photo of myself because my camera battery has very little left. I did not get the chance to charge them full before I came. So I had to snap with care. You'll see me in my batik when I get the photos from another teammate. He couldn't stop taking photos that night.

I was the flag bearer that night. After marching past the VIP, I had to go seperate ways with the rest because the flag bearers must remain on the tracks while the rest adjourned to their seats. Darn, I had to stand still the whole time for 4-5 people to make their speech. And since I'm already at it, I might as well snap something.

The photos from the flag bearer's view.

Below: The stadium stand. It was a full house that night. But I'm not sure what's the stadium capacity.














Below: The dancers who performed earlier. I didn't get to see them perform. They stood behind
me.














Below: Another group of the performers. They too stood behind me, beside the group of dancers above.














Once, the whole thing ended, I found my way to my seat to watch the rest of the performance. Or rather, one of the volunteer found me and took me to my seat. Hehehe... it was pretty exciting to be part of the march past at a world stage. Just look at the crowd cheering. It's phenomenal.

From my seat, the view of the stage below. Many of the Shaolin temple students and artist from China and Hong Kong performed. The pictures did not come out nicely. It was pretty dark, but you can still the stage. There were fireworks the whole night.















Here's the performers who performed but I could only recognize the Hong Kong duo TWINS.


















And on the way back, we lost our way while looking for the bus. It took us a long walk and our legs were tired, we're all tired and sleepy, and the next day would be a trip to the Shaolin Temple. We need rest, and a good long one too.

End of Day 2