Can't believe an hour an a half badminton session could be this painful! Aching all over, especially my right butt cheeks, even climbing over the bridge to the office was rather embarrassing (stiff like some toy soldier!) Not sure how I had been able to play for 3hrs n be completely okay...when I was a junior! Age's catching up *gasp*. But, it was definitely a good turn out, or at least I think it was. Honestly, I didn't think it would that difficult to plan a Staff Day, but u know how it is with a group of people: u can never make everyone happy. So, the effort should be finding that balance so that everyone's relatively positive.
The schedule for the day was a quick lunch followed by a 2hr baddy session at the Sports Arena Sentosa (aka. LeeChongWei Centre- no wonder I couldn't find it online because it wasn't officially called LCW Centre. Though, once u walk in, u'll be able to tell that it was LCW as his face's plastered on all walls. I wonder if he felt a bit overwhelmed the first time visiting). Initially, I heard a lot of blah-blahs as many people thought the whole process of making the trip there, playing, showering, n being stuck in traffic upon return a tedious one. Nonetheless, everyone seemed to enjoy the friendly competition. It was good to see some people finally PLAY some baddy after being here for so long, n of course, to see the "retired" in action for a day.
I must say, some of the guys here can sure play, especially my danish ex-world champion boss! (he does hold me solely responsible for his aches this morning, but it's all worth it, lol). I mean, we all agree u don't have to be an expert to enjoy the game as it's meant for people of all ages and levels. Once we got some even-out teams, the matches went rather well! Some good laughs n competitive roars- overall, a good experience for the team to get out n enjoy the sport together for once (can't believe the office has never spent a day on court together, but glad that everyone was willing to give it a try!)
(moments before I flick-serve my boss...)
Side note: due to traffic worries, we had switch the time from 4pm to 2pm, which coincidentally was the time of Dato ChongWei's book signing on the 3rd floor. It was cool that the centre was hosting his event, but a little awkward when people dropped in to check out our office peeps playing baddy (yes, it is THAT rare of an occasion). Let's hope they took it positively that we were enthusiastic enough to brave the chatters n hit some birds. If anything, everyone deserved a round of applause for effort as some people don't like to exercise or rarely played baddy, but were willing to come out for some fun games. I have to say though, ChongWei was such a trooper. He actually signed n took pics until the very last person with a smile. U wonder how I knew? Because our communications officer/media liaison decided these limited edition hardcover autographed books would be a good prize for our events, so we lined up like all the other giggly exciting fans to get autographs that she could've gotten at All England next month- except I figured she wouldn't want to bring up all 3 sets as we wouldn't be using them all there. Oh wells, u never know what we'll need n why pass on a limited edition? I wouldn't mind entering our contests just to win it, but I don't think my coworker would let me! Lol, what a tough cookie!
Then, we were to return to the office for some short presentations after a quick shower. Instead of bringing all the Dirty Secret Santa gifts to dinner, we had decided to duke it out at the office. By the sound of the laughters, I guess everyone enjoyed the battle of gift-stealing! Although, I do have to say that everyone was playing a little to clean- no stealing- so I decided to spice up the game as there was a gift that I quite like. No surprise, it got stolen from me again, but my next steal was even better! It's a music speaker that supposedly lights up and dances. I'll have to test it out later, but I'm quite happy with mine! Even so, I could tell some people weren't as excited about their gifts, but it's the first year of such a game n everyone was still a little confused as to what constitutes a good secret santa gift. So hopefully, next year'll be better. Side note: it's only "dirty"because the gifts can be stolen from one another- NOT because of the kind of gifts ur supposed to get. At first I was a little worried of the kind of gifts people might bring to the table, but good thing it was taken with a "clean" mind. (Yes, as oppose to what u naughty ones were thinking! :P ) Overall, a good laugh.
(What a good steal, Jess! :P )
We had dinner at a chinese-muslim restaurant that had a decent Chinese New Year menu. Of course, u can imagine already the difficulty in choosing a cuisine to which everyone would take, then particularly, the dishes that everyone would like. Luckily, the selection was relatively enjoyed n everyone went home with a happy tummy. Surprisingly, my first time trying a Yee Sang wasn't with my "family" family, but u could say, I got to try it with my family in malaysia? For the new year, we mixed n chowed down all the good luck together!
What began as a day of uncertainty turned out quite well. Possibly because I don't expect any response in particular that the impact of any lands acceptably. As long as everyone had fun, that's all that matters to me. Cheers to a successful Staff Day!
If u'd just let go of all that ur expecting, then maybe- just maybe- what u'll receive has a chance to impress.