Tuen Ng Dragon Boat Festival!

Today was a public holiday in Hong Kong, supposedly a day of rest and relaxation, but thousands of keen paddlers got up extra early to row in the annual Dragon Boat competition held in various bays around the city.

I joined the DBMC (Discovery Bay Marina Club) team a couple months back as they were looking for more people to complete their mixed crew. It was my first time ever rowing in a Dragon Boat but I must say it is really exhilerating and quite challenging to get all 20-22 paddlers in synch. Most of the people on my boat live aboard yachts in the Marina. From the stories they tell, it sounds like a fabulous lifestyle with a lot of work. Maybe someday...

Despite practicing only about 10 times, we were all pumped with energy and in top form on race day. With matching uniforms, we geared ourselves up for a terrific first race. We came second in our heat with an incredible time of 2 minutes and 7 seconds. Our second heat we weren't as quick (we blame it on the sausages and buns we had just after heat #1 which must've weighed us down) with a time of 2 minutes and 11 seconds. Still, we were in 10th standing (out of 28) which was pretty darn good, considering we were all beginners.

During our third race we got sandwiched on either side by the other boats and so a re-race was called. One of the boats didn't stay in their lane and the other boat had a steerer who was under some impression that he was also supposed to row for some strange reason, which basically meant their boat ramming into us.

During the re-race there were 4 boats all competing for first place in order to progress to the finals. We pulled out all the stops and put mind, heart, muscle and buckets of sweat into it, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

I then raced in the ladies race but because i had literally given it my all in the previous 4 races, i barely had enough energy to lift my paddle up from the water. It was also incredible to feel the difference that a few men make in a boat; the finish line felt a lot further away that time.

It was a fantastic experience nonetheless and i hope to do it again next year. It was nice to see practically all of DB out and about despite the rain showers. There were stalls of food and clothes set up in the plaza along with a stage of performers. Everbody and their dog was in a good mood and there was that buzz in the air that i'm told only happens on this special day in Hong Kong. Buzzed out and all, once the races were completed, I went home and collapsed into a vegetative state on the couch.

*pics of our team in action! Note Liz, our drummer, and our mascot (pink dolphin) on top of her hat.