Dear pipsqueaks,
Truth be told, it may have pinched a little, but I really didn’t mind missing out on the World Championships test event in London last year, or the All England 2012. However, I’d never settle if I weren’t able to attend the Olympic Games. In a way, it had been the cherry-on-top for me throughout this whole adventure that unfolded early June last year. At a blink of an eye, I went from totally miserable in Taiwan, to completely clueless in Vancouver, to optimistically functioning in Kuala Lumpur. Yes, the doubt was there when I first entered the office, uncertain whether my position would secure my trip to the Games. Fortunately, within the allotted amount of time, I was able to prove myself. Before I know it, on 25-July, I was boarding the British Airways flight enroute to London!
Yes, I know you’ve probably heard this a million times, but I’m gonna say it anyway: it was an event not to miss. A must, almost, to be there. Feels nice to be able to say that when I’m on this side of the fence :P Okay okay, I’ll keep on with the story. So yes, definitely a different treatment going as a representative than a local organizing staff or etc. They really do have everything quite well prepared. As soon as we landed, we were greeted and led to the accreditation counter to validate our passes. I gotta say, I look horrendous in my photo with a super noticeable farmer’s tan on both arms, but meh. As long as it gets me to where I need to go, no one actually examines them too closely anyway. Following the well-organised Olympic Family arrival scheme, we hopped on the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station, boarded a super adorable London taxi, and shezam! We were at the doorstep of our stay for this amazing journey that is about to light up like a baby fire on a wick of fantabulous firework display.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. Just when you think everything is going according to plan, something falls out of nowhere and crushes your ice-cream sundae. Yup, apparently, Hilton was way above their heads for the amount of guests they are attending to. Some guests got smoking rooms, some guests were requested to switch rooms mid-way, and some guests weren’t even registered in their system. Just a total mess of a traffic jam at the check-in counter. But luckily, I had to communicate with them regarding an extra night’s stay, so I was able to double-confirm my room status. After a long journey from KL, the last thing I wanted to do was stand in the lobby attempting to help our people with their bookings- not that I’m a horrible person or anything, but I wasn’t the one in charge of booking the rooms anyway, so jumping in to try and “fix” things when I don’t even know what the final requests were would be opening another can of worms. Therefore, I marched straight into the elevator and kissed the hectic lobby good day.
Not sure if it’s normal, but I’m always super excited when I get into a new place, whether it be a house, an apartment, or a hotel. Just feels like there’s a lot to explore, and sure enough, this Hilton was almost maze-like. It housed several conference halls, one with the capacity of 1,000 people. Though, now that I think about it, I never got around to finding this huge room. Probably tucked away at some random corner of the hotel. But anyway, by the time I finished unpacking my essentials, it was already close to 9pm, and considering we had to wake up early for a breakfast meeting, I decided to call it a day. After a hot shower and a cup of chamomile tea, I was off to dreamland before 11pm. Definitely not how I expected to spend my first night in London, but seriously, after having sat through an 1hr taxi, 2hr wait, 12hr flight, and another 30min taxi, a good night sleep is just what I needed to regenerate for the days to come.
Maybe I forgot to mention something super important before: in mid-air, I decided to take some picstures of the sunset view just out the window only to find that the screen of the camera was dead. No image display whatsoever. My thoughts? YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS?!?! The one time I cannot do without my camera- the Olympic Games- it had to breakdown on me! It couldn’t have bailed on me at a worse time. So, the show must go on. What does Jessy do? She goes out and hunts for a camera. Of course, these personal activities only took place after work- the preparation and familiarization meetings. Though, as my duties for this OG were primarily to be a “lady-in-waiting” for our president and secgen, most of the time I’m hovering around the lounge or the VVIP seating area keeping an eye out for people. Quite a fun job actually, even though I don’t know many of the VVIPs. Just a simple smile usually does the trick to get them to loosen up and enjoy the atmosphere of our venue. Anyways, back to what I was saying- I went out and bought a Sony HX20V for £300 with £50 voucher and a £50 VAT refund (which by the way still angers me because I didn’t have enough time to drop by the VAT office prior to departure- all pointing to the fault of the airport calling gate closure time 1hr prior to departure. Like seriously…ARG!) Calm. So, armed with a proper camera, I was officially ready for the Games.
Truth be told, it may have pinched a little, but I really didn’t mind missing out on the World Championships test event in London last year, or the All England 2012. However, I’d never settle if I weren’t able to attend the Olympic Games. In a way, it had been the cherry-on-top for me throughout this whole adventure that unfolded early June last year. At a blink of an eye, I went from totally miserable in Taiwan, to completely clueless in Vancouver, to optimistically functioning in Kuala Lumpur. Yes, the doubt was there when I first entered the office, uncertain whether my position would secure my trip to the Games. Fortunately, within the allotted amount of time, I was able to prove myself. Before I know it, on 25-July, I was boarding the British Airways flight enroute to London!
(I know, I love my job too :P )
Yes, I know you’ve probably heard this a million times, but I’m gonna say it anyway: it was an event not to miss. A must, almost, to be there. Feels nice to be able to say that when I’m on this side of the fence :P Okay okay, I’ll keep on with the story. So yes, definitely a different treatment going as a representative than a local organizing staff or etc. They really do have everything quite well prepared. As soon as we landed, we were greeted and led to the accreditation counter to validate our passes. I gotta say, I look horrendous in my photo with a super noticeable farmer’s tan on both arms, but meh. As long as it gets me to where I need to go, no one actually examines them too closely anyway. Following the well-organised Olympic Family arrival scheme, we hopped on the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station, boarded a super adorable London taxi, and shezam! We were at the doorstep of our stay for this amazing journey that is about to light up like a baby fire on a wick of fantabulous firework display.
(they are so ready...so are we!)
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. Just when you think everything is going according to plan, something falls out of nowhere and crushes your ice-cream sundae. Yup, apparently, Hilton was way above their heads for the amount of guests they are attending to. Some guests got smoking rooms, some guests were requested to switch rooms mid-way, and some guests weren’t even registered in their system. Just a total mess of a traffic jam at the check-in counter. But luckily, I had to communicate with them regarding an extra night’s stay, so I was able to double-confirm my room status. After a long journey from KL, the last thing I wanted to do was stand in the lobby attempting to help our people with their bookings- not that I’m a horrible person or anything, but I wasn’t the one in charge of booking the rooms anyway, so jumping in to try and “fix” things when I don’t even know what the final requests were would be opening another can of worms. Therefore, I marched straight into the elevator and kissed the hectic lobby good day.
Not sure if it’s normal, but I’m always super excited when I get into a new place, whether it be a house, an apartment, or a hotel. Just feels like there’s a lot to explore, and sure enough, this Hilton was almost maze-like. It housed several conference halls, one with the capacity of 1,000 people. Though, now that I think about it, I never got around to finding this huge room. Probably tucked away at some random corner of the hotel. But anyway, by the time I finished unpacking my essentials, it was already close to 9pm, and considering we had to wake up early for a breakfast meeting, I decided to call it a day. After a hot shower and a cup of chamomile tea, I was off to dreamland before 11pm. Definitely not how I expected to spend my first night in London, but seriously, after having sat through an 1hr taxi, 2hr wait, 12hr flight, and another 30min taxi, a good night sleep is just what I needed to regenerate for the days to come.
(gotta love the super creative decorations at breakfast!)
Maybe I forgot to mention something super important before: in mid-air, I decided to take some picstures of the sunset view just out the window only to find that the screen of the camera was dead. No image display whatsoever. My thoughts? YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS?!?! The one time I cannot do without my camera- the Olympic Games- it had to breakdown on me! It couldn’t have bailed on me at a worse time. So, the show must go on. What does Jessy do? She goes out and hunts for a camera. Of course, these personal activities only took place after work- the preparation and familiarization meetings. Though, as my duties for this OG were primarily to be a “lady-in-waiting” for our president and secgen, most of the time I’m hovering around the lounge or the VVIP seating area keeping an eye out for people. Quite a fun job actually, even though I don’t know many of the VVIPs. Just a simple smile usually does the trick to get them to loosen up and enjoy the atmosphere of our venue. Anyways, back to what I was saying- I went out and bought a Sony HX20V for £300 with £50 voucher and a £50 VAT refund (which by the way still angers me because I didn’t have enough time to drop by the VAT office prior to departure- all pointing to the fault of the airport calling gate closure time 1hr prior to departure. Like seriously…ARG!) Calm. So, armed with a proper camera, I was officially ready for the Games.
(testing out my new camera)
The Opening Ceremony? Wow. I don’t think there is any other way to describe such an experience. Even though I’ve been to the final run of the Vancouver 2010 Opening Ceremony, it’s definitely different to see it for real live! The whole atmosphere made it hard for one not to want to jump up and down and just have a good time. I do have to say though, it was such a long walk to get into the Olympic Park. Actually, the whole trip TO the Opening Ceremony was long: 20min shuttle bus from hotel to King Cross, hopped on Javelin for 6mins, waited 30mins for our 2nd batch of people on the second Javelin, 45min walk in the crowd to the Olympic Park entrance, 15mins to find our seats, and then another 2hour wait before the pre-show began. So yes, half the day gone just like that, but so worth it! The presentation had the luring effect of keeping us on the edge of our seats wondering what’s going to happen next followed by a big surprise every time. Surprisingly, everyone survived the super “early” bed time- we didn’t get back to the hotel until almost 3am. Oh wells, I think some people actually went out for food and got ready for our first day of competition. Now come to think of it, they’re shuttle was at 6:30am, so unless a 2hr nap won’t leave you craving for more, I’d stay away from the bed too.
(I believe this is the 1st gate of 2 or 3...)
(we found our seats!! not bad at all :) )
(just love the fireworks)
I’ll just let the photos continue the story…
(my power breakfast with all my favourites...sausages, yum!)
(our office for the next 2 weeks!)
(so begins the matches...)
(look at this beautiful lounge by John Lewis collections)
(TPE MD- it's been 8 years n we all still look the same!)
(quick to react before it got worse...)
(look at our cute gifts for our VIP guests~)
(IOC Prez- Dr. Rogge taking the stage at our Function)
(Look at this beautiful lady who shouldn't be drinking!! :P)
(Olympic Park nightmare- the place is too big!)
(look who came to join the Games! 2 of my fave peeps~)
(grew to quite like this one-eyed monster)
(paying a visit to the Athlete's Village, so where are the after-parties?! jkjk)