NTU IHCC 2018/2019

Long overdue Inter-Hall Cheerleading Competition (IHCC) 2018/19!

Aaah... the annual hall cheerleading competition where all halls compete annually and takes place around early Jan or late Feb (And also, yes, that is how long I owe this post.. >.<).

Royals 2018/ 19.

This season was very different because I wasn't the head coach for Hall 8 Royals. I had too many things on my plate - what with my Masters and my work obligations that never seem to end. However, I was the co-coach and came for perhaps 1 out of the 3 training days that we have. I helped out in whatever way that I possibly can, particularly with correcting flyers' positioning on stunts and to help them have breakthroughs in their stunt progression. One thing's for sure though, I wasn't as attached to this season's team as the previous years. Nevertheless, it was the last season for many of the seniors and I intend to keep my promise of ensuring that I was there for the seniors who were with me since the start of my coaching journey with Royals (P.S. Royals was not the first team I coached but the team was the longest one that I have been with). Glad that we pulled through in the end! :DDD

With some of the seniors that I started my Royals coaching journey with.

This year's theme for Royals was Ben 10.

We didn't manage to win anything because our team was small and bigger teams often have a higher chance of winning. In addition, many of our team members were new to cheer. The coaching team this year was also new to coaching, in particular the head coach. As such, the team dynamics was not strong. We still pulled through in the end, thankfully.

Royals flyers from Season 2018/ 19.

This would probably be my last season that I am so actively involved with Royals as a new head coach comes in for the upcoming 2019/ 20 season. I would probably come back to help out once in a while but I do believe that once it is time to let go, it IS time to let go, with the caveat that it is handed over to someone else in good hands. I do have high hopes for the new head coach and co-coach next season (I play more of an advisor role now hahaa...) and I will assist them in anyway that I can but of course, many of the decisions and training matters will be down to them to make the final call. 

Thankful for the coaching team this season. And a HUGE thank you for the Hubs, Ian who helped out with crafting the dance routine even though he was highly reluctant at the start. <3

Guojun (bottom middle) will be the head coach in charge for next season 2019/ 20. Shangyang (bottom left) was the head coach in charge for this season 2018/ 19.

Jupeng (bottom right) was the music guy that helped out with our routine :DDD

Many people often ask me these questions: "Am I quitting cheer?" "You still coaching cheer?" and my answer to them is that I am in 'semi-retirement' mode and laugh it off casually. I believe it is difficult to let go of something that you are truly passionate about and after spending many years honing the craft, it seems as if our efforts will go waste if we just simply let go. I likened it to a relationship. We spend so much time and effort to cultivate a good relationship and when it reaches a stalemate, we find ourselves in a similar position of 'not wanting to let go' because - same reasons - we have spent too much time for it to 'go to waste' and then we just keep holding on... 

I believe the answer to finding the right time to 'let go' varies for each individual. It could be when one enters the next phase of life and realised their goals have changed and they divert more of their attention and time to these new goals and their previous passion, in this scenario - cheer, takes a backseat. But 'letting go' could also be about a reset of expectations in terms of our passion, where instead of being a competitive player, we change it to being a coach to train competitive players and guide the future generations. 'Letting go' could also be seen as a personal mission, to which I fall into this bracket, where I believe that before I can officially 'let go', it is my mission to ensure that the hand-over/ transition process is smooth and that the team I guided is in good hands before I leave. 

Having lots of fun post-IHCC! :DDD

The hubs (then boyfiee) looking very comfortable on top while Cindy and I at the bottom practically dying. Thank God for Guojun hahaha :DDD

Post-IHCC pictures with some of Royals bases: With Zhihao who trained with me and Royals for 2 seasons (practically his entire cheer journey). 

Post-IHCC pictures with some of Royals bases: With Hanzu who trained with me and Royals for 2 seasons but quit in between as he trained with Aces and was on exchange. He was also an ex-captain and we had a lot of chit-chat about mindset shift when it comes to cheer training and hall cheer. 

 Post-IHCC pictures with some of Royals bases: With Bryan who trained with Royals for 2 seasons. Very talented but super inconsistent. Still a very good team player. Previously trained with SP Gusto in SP for a while before taking a break due to injury. 

 

 Post-IHCC pictures with some of Royals bases: With Guojun. Trained with Royals and our incoming new coach! 

Post-IHCC pictures: With Chinxian. Trained with me for a short while during a combined showcase performance with Hall 1 and we stunted together on-off ever since. Still close even up to this date. He is also my Psychology junior! :DDD

With Isaac again! Qupie heel stretch! Still got it! :DDD

Some say it's better to do it 'cold turkey' and just totally avoid cheer in order to successfully 'let go'. That is because they see it as a form of addiction, like a drug that is highly addictive. Indeed, on an individual level, cheer can be addictive because you are riding on the 'highs' of personal achievement. However, on a macro level, cheer is ultimately a social sport where it involves people and teams and as such, having a thriving team dynamics is ever so important and this boils down to the coach and captain i.e., effective leadership and team management. And so, I see it as more of  'letting go' in stages. Finding people to take over, ensuring they are right for the job, guiding them where necessary and slowly give them the independence and autonomy to make decisions and grow the team that they are leading. Now that to me entails 'letting go' - with a peace of mind. 

This is still an ongoing process. And so to answer the question of whether I am 'quitting' cheer. No, I am not. But slowly and surely, I am learning to let go and eventually move on to something else in my life. 

Just food for thought.

With the hubs, Ian <3

Lastly, wishing everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR!! May 2020 be a fruitful and blessed one! :)

xx
Loves,
Nices

Travel Diary to Japan - Food and Places (Part II Tokyo)

*Disclaimer: This is not an official travel guide so opinions, reviews and instructions are subjected to biases, memory lapses and the occasional side-track rambling.*

T O K Y O

PLACES WE WENT & WHAT WE ATE THERE: 

1. Disneyland / DisneySea

We left Yokohama in the late afternoon travelled to Tokyo and headed straight for our accoms at MYSTAYS Shin-Uruyasu. We then slept early for the night so that we can head to Disneyland in the morning the next day. 

It was Disney's 35th Anniversary!!

 

 Cinderella's castle 

 So magical. Ice-cream is a definite must even though it is a cold day! :O

<3

The GAP pullover bought from Hakone at the Gotemba Premium Outlets. It is very comfortable and there is a little bit of wool inside to ensure I stayed warm throughout the entire day spent mostly outdoors!

Churros!

 

Fastpasses for the popular rides! We are only able to hold 2 fast passes at a time per entrance ticket. 

Winnie the Pooh ride! (Whilst queuing!)

The Disney castle at night!

Dark Side Mochi! (360 Yen without souvenir)

This cute mochi was bought from Pan Galactic Pizza Port @ Disneyland! I can't quite recall the flavours but they were definitely delicious and chewy! :DD 

Plazma Ray's Diner @ Disneyland

Duffy and Friends merchandise can only be found at DisneySea! We went to Disneyland before going to DisneySea and I saw many people carrying the merchandise when we were at Disneyland and I asked one of the staff members at a random shop where Duffy and Friends merchandise were and he said they are at DisneySea so I was VERY prepared when we went to DisneySea the next day to get the merchandise!! :DD

Such a HUGGGEEEE Shelley-Mae soft toy! <33

Couple wear! Wearing fake University of Michigan long-sleeve shirts :DDD

We did the Tower of Terror and Indiana Jones Adventures for Fastpasses at DisneySea.

Me after purchasing my Duffy & Friends merchandise :DDD

Getting here:
Free shuttle bus from the hotel that we stayed in.

Opening hours:
8 am - 10 pm daily.

Advice:
Go early!

It is recommended to purchase tickets online and collect them from a designated collection point few days prior to the days you intend to go there. You can get your tickets in advance here. This way, you can avoid the long queues and enter the amusement parks easily.

INBOUND LEAGUE: The place that we went to to collect our Disneyland/ DisneySea tickets!

Disneyland and DisneySea tickets have to be purchased separately as they have different entrances. SGD 92 TO 95 per ticket. 

I went to Disneyland first then DisneySea. DisneySea has more adult (thrilling) rides such as the Tower of Terror  while Disneyland is more kid-friendly with parades and fireworks there. I would recommend going to DisneySea if you are a thrill-seeker and are going with mostly adults (friends around your age) and could only afford one day out of your entire trip to visit Disney theme parks.

Do remember to check fireworks timing for Disneyland and park yourself at a nice spot so you can view the fireworks at the Cinderella castle!

Avoid bringing bulky bags as you will be taking rides (mostly queuing) and walking around a lot and remember to bring water and some snacks for when you get hungry whilst queuing! Even on a weekday, the parks are still crowded and on average, a queue for a ride is about 45 mins to 1 hour long.

The highlight of Disneyland was the cute insta-worthy mochi while the highlight of DisneySea was my Duffy & Friends merchandise which I bought hahahahahaha...

These are what we bought in terms of merchandise. Duffy the doll is for Ian's niece and I got Shelley-Mae for my friend, Chris. I consider the rest of the merchandise such as the cute hat and small sling bag as an investment so that I would carry and wear them when I next visit Disney again hahaha :DDDD

2. Gram Cafe & Pancakes @ Harajuku

The rest of the time in Tokyo was spent wandering around the streets. Harajuku is one of the more popular shopping districts in Tokyo and we did some shopping over there. There were a lot of fashionable streetwear and one of which is the highly popular 'hypebeast' fashionwear: Champion. We bought some sweaters and long shirts there. 

We dropped by at Gram because we saw online that they were well-known for their fluffy souffle pancakes. However, you need to go early to obtain a ticket for a specific timeslot in order to try their premium pancakes. The timeslots are 11am, 3pm and 6pm daily. Since we missed the timeslots and each timeslot is only limited to 20 servings, we decided to not wait and come another day but simply try other items on the menu. 

The french onion soup is nubbad (bottom of the picture). That's all I can say. The other pancakes are alright. I guess the premium pancakes is the only show-stopper for this brand. 

Getting here:
Via google maps navigation.
The trains within Tokyo are very convenient to access.

Opening hours:
11 am - 8 pm daily.

Advice:
If you are truly a pancake fanatic and wish to try only the best, I would highly recommend going early to obtain the tickets for premium souffle pancakes. The rest are really just average. There are other websites that mention about these glorious pancakes and would probably give you a more accurate feedback. View one of them here. 

If you do not wish to queue to get the pancakes, I highly recommend to skip this outlet altogether. 

3. Calbee+ @ Harajuku

Potato chips galore located at Takeshita Street!

Fresh out of the fryer! Warm, crispy and yummy! :PPP

 

There are also other potato chips for sale that are already pre-packed.

 Fries that are freshly cooked. Crispy and warm! REALLY WORTH A TRY!! 

Getting here:
Via google maps navigation.
The trains within Tokyo are very convenient to access.

Opening hours:
930 am - 830 pm daily.

Advice:
HIGHLY recommended to get their chips and try their freshly cooked Calbee fries! So warm, crispy and delicious! 

4. HARRY Hedgehog Cafe @ Roppongi

The interior of the cafe.

 Aren't the hedgehogs ADORABLE?! <3

They are kept in huge bins/ baskets like the one shown in the photo. When we were there, most of the hedgehogs were napping, perhaps because they are baby hedgehogs and needed a lot of sleep but also, because it was around 6 pm when we arrived. We were the only ones left at that time. 

 There were other animals as well. And yes, the bunny at the back was particularly curious. 

Getting here:
Via google maps navigation.
The trains within Tokyo are very convenient to access.

Opening hours:
11 am - 7 pm daily.

Advice:
They have an online website to book slots. View it here. 
However, you can actually just do a walk-in, especially nearing closing time because there are fewer people on weekdays. 
The place is sanitary as there are hand sanitisers around and you have to wear gloves when handling the hedgehogs. 
Prior to arriving here, I actually read some online reviews about how some of these hedgehogs are stressed out or the staff ill-treats the hedgehogs but I didn't see any of that. In fact, the staff will swoop in to help if they realise you are trying to play with one but that one doesn't give a single f*ck. So they help you find another one who is more willing to be picked up and transfer the one that didn't wish to be played with to another basket so that it can rest in peace. 
You can also purchase treats for the hedgehogs and some of them are really fat and obviously very well-fed so I highly doubt they are ill-treated.
The other animals like the rabbits are also available but they are on a different floor from the hedgehogs and you will need to pay extra if you wish to feed the rabbits/ other animals there. The other animals are kept in cages but there will be few that the staff will let to roam around freely (as seen in my photos above of that one curious rabbit). 

Online reservation slots are scheduled on an hour basis. 
2800 Yen - 1 hour (with snack) per person

If you wish to only do half an hour, there is not a need to do online reservations. 
1300 Yen - 0.5 hours (without snack) 
1500 Yen - o.5 hours (with snack)

I originally reserved an online slot for an hour as I didn't know that they have a half an hour slot (only available for walk-ins). When I reached the place, I asked if we could drop our reservation and do the half an hour slot instead. They weren't pleased but relented in the end so I do highly recommend being certain whether you wish to do an hour or half an hour. In my honest opinion, half an hour will suffice since the hedgehogs were less active in the evening and all they wanted to do was to sleep and I felt bad for disturbing their rest. Overall, it is a really nice place to visit and recommended to go if you wish to see cute hedgehogs and animals! :D

5. Gotsui Roppongi @ Roppongi 

After playing with the hedgehogs, we were famished and walked to a nearby okonomiyaki restaurant.

 This restaurant is nearby HARRY hedgehog cafe. Check out the cheery and friendly service crew in the background! :DD

 Potato (I think) as appetisers. 

 Delicious and really filling!

6. Tsujuki Fish Market

On a separate day, we went to the Tsujuki Fish Market. The market is known for its fresh seafood daily and good sushi. So here we are.

 The sushi at this restaurant is really good! And quite affordable too!

The chawanmushi was really delicious!

Other foods that we ate there!  

My LOVE for unagi is REAL! :PP

Getting here:
Via google maps navigation.
The trains within Tokyo are very convenient to access.

Opening hours:
9 am - 2 pm daily

Advice:
Good place to go to eat street stall food that are fresh and relatively affordable. It is also a good area to hunt for fresh sashimi and sushi!

Go early in the morning as most shops close around 2 pm. We went there around 10 am and it was bustling with activity and tourists by the time we got there. We also ate lunch there.

7. Nezu Shrine 

This place looks like a mini version of Fushimi Inari Shrine! 

Getting here:
Via google maps navigation.
The trains within Tokyo are very convenient to access.

Opening hours:
6 am - 5 pm daily

Advice:
Not a very popular shrine as it is very small. However, it allows one to have a nice stroll around the area as the place is serene and quiet. 

8. Ichiran Ramen @ Shinjuku

Ichiran Ramen was - in Ian's opinion - hands down one of the better ramen he has tasted in Japan. So good, he gotta have it twice during the Japan trip. Sadly, it hasn't quite reach Singapore yet (there was a pop-up booth once but it was only temporary) though so hopefully it will be permanent in the future so everyone can enjoy the wholesome goodness it is anytime. 

Getting here:
Via google maps navigation.
The trains within Tokyo are very convenient to access.

Opening hours:
24/7 daily

Advice:

As it is open anytime, you can really visit whenever you like. The thing about Ichiran Ramen is that you can choose to sit on a single-seater and open up the side separator so you can eat with your companions or simply eat alone without having to deal with anyone directly. The servers serve the food behind the makeshift cover (seen in the image above) so there isn't any need for direct contact with anybody. Perhaps a good thing for the extremely shy folks but I would say this is encouraging isolation, which isn't really very healthy mentally. 

Regardless, the ramen is really good and the soup is flavourful! Highly recommended!

9. Go! Go! Champion Kanazawa Curry @ Shinjuku

I first ate this when I was at Kanazawa a few years back and really loved it. Well, it finally arrived in Tokyo! I LOVE the dark curry. Highly recommended and a fuss-free fix for a meal!

Getting here:
Via google maps navigation.
The trains within Tokyo are very convenient to access.

Opening hours:
11 am - 11 pm daily

Advice:

Really great curry! Recommended to try!
When you enter the restaurant, you will need to order via the ticketing machine and hand the coupon to the service staff who will then serve the food directly to you. 

8. Shibuya Crossing + Starbucks Shibuya Tsutaya

Us camping out at the Starbucks facing the Shibuya Crossing. You are only allowed to purchase a small cup of coffee there as they didn't want customers to hog the window seats too long since that is a poplar spot for people who wish to see the Shibuya Crossing.

Had to be extra and use my dress front pocket as a cup holder hahahahah :DDD

Took multiple tries to get a good shot!

Getting here:
Via google maps navigation.
The trains within Tokyo are very convenient to access.

Opening hours:
24/7 daily
Starbucks near Shibuya Crossing (630 am - 2 am daily)

Advice:

We went to Starbucks to grab a window seat (You have to wait for your turn. We waited for about 10 mins before there were free seats) and drank our beverage there while taking photos and videos of the crossing for approximately 20 minutes or so. After which, we headed to cross the Shibuya crossing a few times to get good shots like those above! 

9. Watching movie at Tokyo 

We caught Bohemian Rhapsody (English) at one of the cinemas in Shinjuku. The popcorn we bought tasted delicious and what really impressed me was the popcorn/cup holder that they gave so that we can put everything between us! I am still aghast that Singapore cinemas are still not updated with such simple tech ugh.

Anyway, watching a movie in Japan is pretty alright since it is subbed. The funny thing is you catch on quicker than the Japanese audience when it comes to American humour. I remember laughing about something in the movie at certain periods of the time and either nobody was laughing or there was delayed laughter. So it is either my humour is warped or... :X

Either way, we caught a late night movie but luckily managed to catch one of the last trains back to our Airbnb. As you can see, tickets are at 1800 Yen per adult. 

10. Pokemon Centre Mega Tokyo 

We bought some coasters, toys and stickers just for fun!

Getting here:
Via google maps navigation.

The trains within Tokyo are very convenient to access.

Opening hours:
10 am - 8 pm daily 

Advice:

Located at a shopping mall that is quite a bit of a walking distance from the train station.
Regardless, a lovely place to shop for pokemon toys and other merchandise. The coasters that we bought still function pretty okay so the quality of the products sold there are quite alright. 

11. Shake Shack @ Tokyo Dome

 Fries was good but the burger was only average. Till date, I am still not sure what's the hype about when Shake Shack first opened in Singapore Jewel. 

Baseball outlet at Tokyo Dome for baseball fans. Ian went there to get some shirts for his older brother who is a baseball fan. 

Just a sneak peek of our Airbnb at Tokyo where we stayed relatively near to Tokyo Dome.

Additional random shots of the streets.

Okay, so that concludes my Japan itinerary! THANK YOU so much for reading! :DDD

MY PERSONAL AFTER-THOUGHTS:

PEOPLE: People are generally nice but they don't speak a lot of English. It would be good to pick up a few Japanese phrases like Arigato Gozaimasu ('thank you' in English) and Gomennasai ('sorry') to demonstrate courtesy when navigating around.

PRICE: Prices are comparable to Singapore in terms of food but perhaps travel is more expensive. It could also be because as tourists, we travel a lot more in one day. 

Thanks for taking the time to read my post! Feel free to post a comment to enquire about certain details and information (accuracy not guaranteed though heh). 

Follow me on my Instagram: @nicesgjy  to slide me a DM, if you find that more convenient (: 

Link to my Travel Diary Part I (Hakone & Yokohama) is here. Do check it out as well!! :DD

xx

Loves,

Nices