ICE.COLD.COFFEE

I went swimming although I woke up with a slight sore throat. Haven't been going for training for almost a week now, and I used the excuse that I was sick on Wednesday (although I wasn't) so I doubt they would believe me if I said I was sick again. So, I had no choice but to turn up.

Only 4 of us came. I think everyone wants to sleep in to prepare for countdown so there were so few of us. We swam 2.4km in total. And I was the only breaststroker there since the others swim freestyle so they had to keep waiting for me. Not forgetting that the others are all guys while I'm a girl.

For one set, we had to do 4 x 200m pulling. (pulling means you put the pull bouy in between you legs and swim. So you can't kick, you just swim with your hands, without kicking) And obviously, freestyle pulling is like twice as fast as breaststroke pulling so I was lagging behind most of the time.

And they wanted me to lead for the last 200m. Are you crazy?! But it's just for fun la. And since breaststroke pulling is so slow, they asked me to do the freestyle one. The thing is, I don't swim freestyle so I'm really slow. They said they'll give me 10 seconds lead. Oh well... I'll just go then they can overtake me later. So, as expected, the overtook me by the first 100m. Haiz... What can I say? If I manage to hold on to my lead, it either means I'm really good or they have to train much, much harder.

After training, my throat still felt sore. Soemtimes I'll wake up feeling sick when I have to go for training. Then after I swim, my blocked nose, sore throat, etc will all disappear. But today, I still had that nagging pain in my throat.

I went home and had lunch, then I tried to fall asleep while watching tv on the sofa. I sat there for more than 3 hours and watched lots of meaningless shows, but I just couldn't fall asleep. My whole body was aching and I could feel like I was going to fall sick.

At around 5, I went to bathe and got changed for the countdown dinner.

It was at Warren Country Club and the theme is Hawaiian and Brazilian. But my family didn't really dress up to the theme.

The invitation card said to be there by 6.30pm. We turned up at 7pm. But even when we reached there, the restaurant wasn't ready yet and we weren't allowed to go in.

The staff were all dressed in Hawaiian clothes and there were 3 models, 2 babes and 1 hunk, taking pictures with people. The girls were wearing a bikini top and a piece of cloth wrapped around their waists and the guy was topless and wearing a pair of bermudas.

They asked us to take photos with them, but we were too shy.

When the restaurant finally opened its doors, the 2 female models held a stick horizontally in front of the entrance. Seems like everyone had to do the limbo to get in.

No exceptions.

Some people tried to cheat by squatting down but there was this lady who would stop you if you didn't do it properly. Then you would have to do it again, until you got it right. Of course, the bar wasn't too low so it was quite easy for most of us. And for those who look like they can go really low, the models would purposely push the bar lower and for those who look like they haven't done it before, they'll make it easier.

We were quite shy about going in like that so we wanted to wait to see if they would allow people to go in normally and upright later. But they seemed like they'll be there until all the guests went in. So, we decided to go in then.

My Dad went first, followed by my Mum. My Mum was really shy and she tried to cheat. Wrong move!

The lady caught her and she had to do it again, until she got it right on the 3rd try. I went next, followed by my brother. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

The dinner only started at 8pm and at our table, only 6 of us turned up before the dinner started. The other 4 were really late.

We were separated into 2 groups and we had to think of a group name. The theme was movies. Our group came up with King Kong, and upon hearing our group name, the group leader of the other group joked that his group would be named "Chicken Little". Although it was just a joke, the emcee really named them Chicken Little and they earned 500 points for the better group name. Haha.

The show was pretty interesting and the food was fine.

There was a fire and magic show by this magician. He looks really young. In my mind, I somehow think that magicians are always guys in their late 20s or 30s. This guy looks a lot younger. The fire show was quite interesting and he spinned sticks which we were lighted on both sides. The magic show was actually, erm, not very good, because you could actually see though some of his tricks. It was interesting nonetheless.

At about 11 plus, I started to get really cold. I think it's because of the soft drink I kept drinking. I was also wearing a sleeveless shirt and skirt. So I kept going to the washroom because it was warmer there, then I would use the hand dryer to warm myself up a little.

When it was 10 minutes to midnight, I was already shivering like mad. Seriously, I was shivering.

Luckily, we went out of the restaurant for the countdown, to some stage area, without aircon. It was really nice because there was a band performing there and everyone was so happy.

When it hit midnight, everyone was cheering and there was this lady who came up to everyone and said happy new year. I shaked hands with her and wished her happy new year too.

After the countdown, we went back to the restaurant and the disco started. Of course, I didn't dance since my parents were there.

After listening to the music for a while, we went back.

By then, I was already feeling sick because I was having a headache.

After I reached home, I quickly went to bathe and sleep. I was having a fever and a cold and a sore throat and my whole body was aching. What a great way to start the new year. Haha...

It was still a fun party though.