Sports Day @ SMK Clifford

We missed cikgu on his birthday and was finding excuses to go see him.. and what could be better than the opportunity to  spend a day with him & ALL of his students lol.

Last saturday SMK Clifford had their sports day.  and it was actually a little different from what we're used to here.

We left for Lipis friday after work.  again the car overheated as we went up to genting sempah (so its confirmed that something IS wrong) but this time we were prepared and made a couple of stopovers to compensate for the overheating.  we made it to a late supper in Lipis Club (aaaahhh the cool & creamy air kelapa float was just as yummy as i remembered).

We spent the nite @ Lipis Plaza Hotel and the place was very clean & roomy.  it was also within walking distance to the Clifford field.

I woke up pretty excited bcos theres nothing i love more than watching people in motion, especially if its running.  but i was surprised to see an empty field, almost devoid of activity (i could see the whole school complex from the hotel balcony) and it was already 7.30am.  here in shah alam, the students & teachers would already be bustling madly about.

 SMK Clifford from the hotel balcony.

So we made our way down to breakfast and not wanting to miss anything,  i reminded cikgu to keep us updated on the progress.

"Ma, we do things differently here.  theres no rush la" said the cikgu.

Hmmmm... 'but the sun would be up soon and the poor kids would be roasted in the field', thought his mama.

But the weather cooperated and it was a fine day to be outdoors. there was a constant breeze and clouds to filter out the sun. when we finally sat ourselves down at the podium it was about 8.30am and true enough, things really were done differently in Lipis - there really was NO rush.  the time between events were quite far apart and there was lots of time to mingle and enjoy the day.  oh, all the events that make up a sports day were there and the students were in top form...but everything was done in a laid back manner.  and we found out from cikgu that there was also going to be a closing ceremony on sunday nite.  wow, thats 2 days in a row!!

 Cikgu with his F5 students.

The sport's day food stalls

Putting our thinking caps on while we watched, Missy & i finally concuded that there wasnt any need to rush things bcos they were using their own field and the close proximity to their hostels also lend it a carnival air. whereas here in shah alam, the school usually utilise the matsushita stadium as their sports venue so there is a need to stick to a certain schedule. another factor is probably the stressful city mindset of always rushing thru things... rush rush rush!! sometimes i wander where it is that we're rushing to?!!

Golfman even had the time to squeeze in a ride around the town on cikgu's bike lol.

 Within the compounds of Clifford.

Unfortunately we couldnt stay another day bcos Missy had a gathering with her classmates that nite.  oh and my bongsu drove all the way up the long & winding road to bentong (well, maybe not so winding la lol). and as you can see, we survived lol !!

Waaah, can drive long distance now aah ;p

* AI had his own mass comm. trip to Cherating and couldnt make it to Lipis.  he still owes his bro a birthday hug :D