Singapore joins the ISU

Latest news: Singapore has been granted provisional membership to the International Skating Union.

This was announced in Channel News Asia's article "IOC president to visit Singapore for update on 2010 YOG plans".

This is a major milestone, and will certainly give the sport a boost. Next month, another rink is scheduled to be open in E!Hub at NTUC's Downtown East resort. One day soon, we will see Singapore being represented in international figure skating competitions!

[Afternote: the Downtown East rink is a synthetic ice rink.]

[Update: Singapore's ISU provisional membership is recorded in ISU Communications 1492.]

Six weeks...

My little one is now six weeks old. This morning, I went skating for the first time in a long long while... I had to, firstly, find out if my boots still fit (or if they were still there), secondly, figure out whether I can still skate, and thirdly decide when I would like to start coaching again.

It was a nice surprise to see that the coaches' room had been nicely re-organised. One of my friends had moved my boots in there, but I couldn't find my guards. I "borrowed" my coach's guards - without his knowledge, since he wasn't there.

Hurray my boots do fit, though they felt a little tight. I suppose it would take some time to get used to them again. It would also take some time getting used to skating again - when I stepped on the ice, my left blade felt like it was slipping!

I can skate! Yeah! I started with just stroking, then crossovers and some edges and turns. It did feel strange, but again just some getting used to. I then tried spins - just upright ones, backspin and forward. I could center the backspin but not the forward one. Somehow, my weight just felt too far to the right and too far forward - that affected my exit as well! I also had to remind myself to stand straight!

It was a good 15 minutes before I felt brave enough to try a Waltz jump. This felt totally weird - there was no spring, and wobbly landing. I tried a few times, and it began to get better. I later went on to try the other single jumps. Yes, I can jump, but I had no spring and no landing. I do need to train up!!

I stopped after half an hour. My legs were starting to feel like jelly. Must be the result of not having exercised in so long!

As for coaching, I will start with just one day a week for 2 hours, probably starting mid-April...

Youth Olympic Games: Singapore 2010

The news is out:
Singapore to host the 1st Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2010 (from www.olympic.org)

Of course this is old news... Waaaaay old - I am almost one month behind!! BUT for good reason - as the rest of Singapore was celebrating the winning bid, I was celebrating the birth of my little girl!

So, what lies ahead for Singapore?

The new Warren campus that the National University of Singapore (NUS) is building will become the Youth Olympic Village. Details are proposed in Theme 9, "Youth Olympic Village". Suddenly this project has taken on additional significance, and I'm sure construction will be expedited!

There are also other projects targeted, for example Marina Bay Sands will be the Media Centre, and of course some new sports venues will be built. We will see much construction over the next few years!

Also, on the official website, the organising committee is being formed, and once it is in place, it will be recruiting volunteers, full-time staff and engaging business partners. At the moment, though, there is a place to register interest - if you're interested, that is!

Singapore 2010 Official website