Youth Olympic Torch Relay-7/8/2010

Hey wassup peeps!


By looking at the title, you will think that I'm talking about other torchbearers running the Journey Of The Youth Olympic Flame (JYOF)


You're half wrong then.


Tell you what, I'M A TORCHBEARER. 


Yep.


You don't believe me?
Oh well just go to http://www.singapore2010.sg/public/sg2010/en/en_youth_olympic_flame/en_singapore_leg_intro/en_route_map_day1.html and check out my name under Day 1 scheduled torchbearers. I'm running between 11.00am and 12.00pm, just at the junction of Marymount Rd (Sin Ming Ave is just before that).


You should be surprised. Yay.


Ok, enough nonsense. Let me share with you the experiences on that special day. 


So it started out on a rainy Saturday afternoon. I was too excited on the previous night so unsurprisingly, I didn't oversleep (which I usually do). After having a hurried breakfast, I made my way to the CHIJ St Nicholas (Toa Payoh), where the start of the journey of the Youth Olympic Torch will begin. That morning's torchbearers were numbered #1000 to #1253. I was actually a bit LATE, due to the drizzle and the fact that I didn't plan my time well. However, I still managed to get there in time (MRT to Toa Payoh, then transfer to bus). Even though I was in the morning schedule, it was still divided into 2. I am #1135, in the later part of the morning leg. It's lucky, I didn't have to wake up even earlier and get drenched in the rain.


So we had this briefing while we tagged on our number tags. They were actually quite cool, I never seen them before. As we waited in the porch of the school for the shuttle bus, we chatted among each other and made some new friends. That was when I found out that the person after me was not here. That means I'm running 200 metres instead of 100! Yay! What a coincidence! I didn't know where we were really heading to, until the friendly helpers told me that we were heading towards MacRitchie Resevoir, where the later half of the morning torch relay started. There was quite a lot of Mediacorp stars around, so I got some of their autographs. They were Shan Wee from 98.7 FM, Daniel Chia from CNA and Zheng Geping from some Channel 8 show. The torch started off at MacRitichie and we went back into our respective buses. There was quite a jam around that area, because the roads inside the resevoir was not big enough for this mega-big celebration. I also got some bottles of free Coke. NICEEEEEEEE!


Slowly, we went along the roads of the scheduled torch relay and started dropping torcbearers off one by one.There was quite a din wherever we passed, as the two Samsung and Coca-Cola buses were playing loud music and the people standing on the top of the buses were shouting stuff that I couldn't hear. Anyway, time flew past and I was also dropped off. The torch was still quite a distance away from the drop-off bus, so I took some photos with my family, before the moment of my life happened. I was given some quick instructions from the support runners, before running my 200 metres. 


Yah I waved at the random crowd which were 'situated; at the pavement and on the overhead bridge. They clapped and cheered, and it was simply wonderful. However, the 200 metres was over in an instant. I passed the torch on to the next torchbearer, #1137. Then the pick-up bus picked me up at my finish spot. We wrote our thoughts and feelings on this special guestbook, hoping that our legacy would be passed on to our future generations. After arriving at Raffles Institution (afternoon launch site), we were handed our badges and certificate. Then it was farewell time. We took some group photos before we left, and promised to keep in touch with Facebook.


That was only in the MORNING.


Evening, I went to Nanyang Polytechnic for the community celebration. When I got there, I realised it was jam-packed with people, there were not enough seats and even not enough standing space. Nevertheless, I found a suitable spot for watching the celebration and took some photos too! Basically, there was a few celebs present at the celebration, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. He made a speech before the torchbearer ran into NYP and lighted up the cauldron. Then some mass dance party, some YOG songs being played. This particular ' Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah , Oh Yeah, Hey.....' thing made me feel sick. I've heard this like numerous times over the radio and the crowd were also 'taught' to do the handsigns. Ok, that wasn't very bad. It didn't really end actually, there was two DJs blasting out some random tracks and then the people wearing the Samsung blue shirts were dacing madly. I soon got bored of it and went home. It was about 10pm already.


Yep! A great day happened! I wil remember this glorious day forever, because there won't be a second chance like this ever again.
:)