Tuesday 31 January 2017

Memorable Monday

Khai Yi Khor

            On Monday, January 30th, a group of friends, Wei Sing Goh (12), Jessica Ross (12), and I went to Gurney Plaza to watch Split. The actor, James McAvoy, was remarkably good in acting twenty-four characters who have different personalities. The cinema was full of laughter as Hedwig, one of the many characters, resembled Wei Sing in many ways. All in all, the movie was an emotional rollercoaster that made the audience gasp and tense up.
            After the movie, we went cafe hopping in George Town. Famous for its live music at night, we went to Micke’s Place that is located on Love Lane. The ambiance was astounding, as it attracts some very talented musicians from the local and tourist pool. The live band was blasting out pop music that could be heard from afar. As Ross and Goh said, “I've never seen Penang more alive,” and “Although I’ve been living in Penang my whole life, I didn't realize there was an entirely different side to it.” Moreover, we could see workers from different cafes standing outside the street to attract customers to their establishments. Again, this was an eye-opener to us because we have never seen this sight of Penang before.
            Next up, we walked to our favorite burger shack, Junk, which is located two streets away from Micke’s Place. Compared to Micke’s Place, the atmosphere was exotic; for they had a peculiar taste in music that captivated youngsters’ attention. As we were excited to explore more cafes, we stopped by Chulia Court, which is famous for being the only heritage fusion restaurant, music bar, and boutique guesthouse in George Town. Although they played trendy music that stole our hearts, the service was a little unsatisfactory compared to the other two cafes.
       With a delightful heart, we ended our journey in hopes of continuing it some other day. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience; and it would remain as a memorable moment to us all before our high school journey ends.

Tuesday 24 January 2017

ISKL Invitational: Balls and Giggle

Felicia Teoh

At approximately 8 o’clock on Friday morning, January 20th, the girls’ and the boys’ varsity basketball teams boarded the bus to Kuala Lumpur. During the six-hour bus ride, some people watched Korean dramas, some played cards, some listened to music, some talked, and others slept. The students arrived to Flamingo Hotel at around 2:30p, where they rested for an hour before the girls’ game at 4:30p.

After the first game of the ISKL invitational, with an 11-48 loss, the girls showered and then cheered on the boys, who had a 54-38 win against ISKL. A little discouraged by the loss but mostly famished, the girls then headed on to dinner at Suzy’s corner, which served wonderful steak, curry, satay, naan, and much more. Stomachs filled and satisfied smiles on their faces, the girls trekked back to the hotel, depantsing each other and shrieking along the way. 

The girls had an hour till curfew, so they all gathered in the freshmen’s room. After going through some pertinent information about the day ahead, Coach Steinkamp left the girls to their own business, saying, “Remember, with girls, one giggle leads to another giggle, which leads to a whole mob of giggling girls.”

Inevitably, fits of giggles and muffled shrieks erupted that night. What else could you expect from a group of girls locked in a room together? Even through the one hour of bonding time, the girls grew a lot closer to each other. After all, teams who fart together, stay together—debunking all the myths that girls do not fart.

The next morning, the girls had a quick meal at McDonald’s before heading to ISKL for their morning game against ISKL. The other basketball club team had dropped out of the ISKL Invitational, so the girls would face the Panthers for the next two games yet again.

During the first game that day, the girls were able to practice running the play that they’d been working on for the past two weeks and take more shots in that game than they had in any other game of the season. Even though they lost to ISKL 25-61, it was the first game that the girls’ varsity basketball team had broken through 20 points.

In the following game, the Dalat girls ran a high-press defense against ISKL, which worked successfully for the first quarter. Dalat Eagles were able to hold the ISKL Panthers at 4-6. Unfortunately, the girls didn’t make any more baskets for about two quarters and ended the game and tournament with a loss.

“It was really fun to get to practice things we’ve been working on and to bond with the team,” said Mikaela Steinkamp (10). Even though the weekend consisted of loss after loss for the girls, they were not completely disheartened by the score and were, instead, motivated by the skills they had learned and the improvements they had made in their defensive and offensive plays. Not being bogged down by the losses, the girls were able to joke around and have fun with each other, which is the core of building strong team chemistry.

Monday 23 January 2017

One Last Ride...to Kuala Lumpur

Sheldon Ang

The International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL) hosted their annual basketball tournament. Both the men’s and women’s basketball team traveled to Kuala Lumpur to compete in this two-day event. This trip was my last time traveling with the basketball team. 

The “tournament” was frustrating for us. We went to Kuala Lumpur, expecting to play 2-3 different teams. However, some problems arose, and ISKL could not find any other team to participate in their tournament. In the end, we played three games against the same team.

During our last matchup with ISKL, we easily blew them out by 30 points. We came into the first game feeling very confident. We were ready to play and had sufficient rest in the hotel room. However, we were wrong. By the time the first quarter ended, we only scored 12 points—which is unacceptable to our standard of play. In the end, we played an awful game. We were not focused, and nothing was going our way. We won the game, but we certainly did not deserve it.

At night, we had a team meeting which motivated us to do better and take care of business the next game, in which we did. The next two games we came in focused and had the hunger to succeed and improve as a team. Wei Sing Goh (12) had an impressive game. He finished with ten rebounds and 12 points, a double-double. We, as a team, took care of business and finished strong that Saturday. 

Apart from playing basketball, the bonding time among teammates is what made the trip so enjoyable. I was very grateful to be able to spend my last ISKL trip with my friends. We are not just a team comprised of different players; we are a family who holds each and every single member accountable for every action done. Having this opportunity to bond with the team helped us understand each other better. Daniel Kang (10) said that “it was a good experience because you can spend time with the squad.”

I am grateful to be able to participate in this event. This trip made me cherish all my friends and teammates even more, as I finish off my last months of high school. 

Truly a great adventure with the birthday bo

Hasung Cho

On Saturday, January 21st, the birthday boy, Mathias Maurin (12), led us through a set of exhilarating experiences, ranging from taking a bite of scrumptious, succulent steak to exploring a dark gutter filled with suspense.

It was around 4 when we, a group of invited senior fellows, gathered at the pool, not knowing of the imminent adventure. All of us merely came with an expectation to participate it a normal, chill birthday party, but none of us imagined the birthday party to bring out such joy in us. Our little adventure started off with barbecuing a huge slab of red meat on a grill, along with some sweet potatoes and potatoes. The beef's savory aroma made us clench in hunger, but there was absolutely nothing we could do but patiently wait for the meat to be done.

At last, our dear birthday boy announced that the dinner was ready; and all of us jumped in excitement like little kids. With a delicious steak on our plate, we hurriedly gulped down the birthday dinner to relieve our insatiable hunger. The steak was purely marvelous. As Noah Graves (12) exclaimed, “Wow, Mathias! This is done really well!”

After a slice or two of cake, most of us pretty much assumed the party to be over, but we were definitely wrong for assuming this. Led by Mathias, we left the pool to head towards the nearby waterfall. I was speechless at how beautiful the waterfall looked. We took photos and enjoyed the coolness of the evening air until an idea popped into Mathias’s mind. Mathias wanted to show us where he took a photo of him swinging “the flaming stick.”

The place he took us to was rather peculiar because we had to go down a 2m deep gutter. I was rather shocked at first. As we walked deeper and deeper into the gutter, we could see less and less of our path. As the path got darker, we were accompanied by lizards, toads, and even heads of dead, putrid fish.

A tour around the gutter took us about 20 minutes, and our little adventure finally came to the end. Maybe being adventurous sometimes is not so bad after all.