petanquers' gossips

The Sins of Petanque
Saturday, December 30, 2006
12:44 PM

now, it's time for a short petanque lesson. haha. i found a few articles on the sins of petanque by ray ager. and i find them quite useful. i did not copy & paste hor. i copied & edited it, before pasting it. haha.

sin no. 1: not playing as a team

playing as separate individuals, rather than working together as a team is the worst & one of the most common deadly sins to commit.

where should we throw the jack? the correct answer is to a distance that best suits our team and disadvantages our opponents. this means that we need to talk to our team-mates, consider different options, evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of both our own team and the opponents, the score, etc, and then make a team decision about how far to throw the jack.

if we are good team players, we should also be asking where to throw the jack- on a smooth area, on a slope, on deeper gravel, on a stony area. again, these are all factors that should be taken into account.

we also need to practise. throwing the jack, something often neglected but it's something that can be a vital skill to give us the edge in a game.

so, now we've thrown the jack- better, our team has thrown the jack. one of the most important principles to learn is to think & behave as a team.

we should always discuss tactics & hopefully take a team decision on what shot to play & who is going to play, e.g. when pointing we should decide:
- what type of shot? rolling, half-lob, high lob
- what line to take?
- where to land the boule?
- are we trying to get as near the jack as possible, tap a boule out, play onto another boule?

think positive, don't say let's try one shot, implying doubt and uncertainty. it's much better to say let's take out the holding boule, a positive statement that says what we're going to do.

when we've played our boules, don't walk off the terrain taking no further interest or part in the end. instead, stay together as a team & help to advise the other team players on what shot to play.

if one of us is the pointer & pointing well, he or she can help our team by indicating the best line to take, the best landing spot, etc. although he or she has played the boules, he or she is still part of the team and he or she should be involved and play an active part in team decisions.

if we stand together, we're showing that we're together as a team. if we've got one player behind the circle, one behind the jack and another chatting to players on the next terrain, this is showing that we're not together as a team.

another related sin to poor team work is the frustration shot. the pointer points a couple of boules in quick succession & fail to beat the opponent's holding boule. or, without thought and consultation, the shooter fires off a few wild rolling shots that end up off the terrain, missing the opponent's boule by a mile!

what sins were committed?
- failure to consult and agree which shot & who is to play.
- playing too quickly.
- probably not filling in the last hole, then complaining about a bad bounce.

are you guilty of the 1st sin? i don't know who is ray ager. he also said that most of us are multiple sinners. i think there are about 5 more sins. so look out for them. haha.

posted by zhi qin

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Petanque Express: Movie Outing!!

Monday, December 25, 2006
1:10 PM

14 of us watched night at the museum in plaza sing yesterday. when zhi qin & zhi ming reached plaza sing, they saw gordon outside. he told them that it was very cold inside. but plaza sing wasn't snowing that time. hmmm. who was he waiting for leh? haha.

"yesterday, i should have waited for you people outside cafe cartel. i shouldn't have walked around." gary is regretting being upstairs at the cinema counter when zhi qin & zhi ming arrived. because their sister also went to plaza sing to shop. haha.

ruo ning & jye ning reached plaza sing not long later. they brought their sister along. so we were one ticket short. 14 of us tried to sneak in. but that guy at the entrance found out & wanted us to buy another ticket. so yee wee rushed over to buy another one. but his seat was at the last row.

before the movie, zhi ming announced to everyone the secret that gordon & jye ning have told him that both of them like each other. 14 of us occupied 2 rows. it was just nice that 5 girls & gordon sat at the front row. the rest sat behind. everyone was teasing gordon & jye ning, asking them to sit together. and the 2 of them obliged! it was a while before the movie started. so playful gary & zhi ming (who were right behind them) started to push their heads together. but gordon & jye ning looked as if they didn't mind. they had the expression of "push more, push more." haha. but everyone settled down when the movie started.

after the movie, zhi qin left early to go to his secondary school buddies' christmas party.

during dinner, everyone asked gordon & jye ning to sit together but they refused. the main actor of the dinner was star pang. the cleaner auntie said that he was so fat & he was sitting at the walking path. star pang argued back & told the cleaner auntie that she wasn't thin either. so "polite".

after the dinner, all of us went to the arcade. zhi ming, gary, ruo ning & gordon played a mario car racing game. but it was not fair to the others as gordon had a spectator behind, supporting him and she was none other than jye ning. the power of love was so great that gordon came in second & nearly won the race. then naughty zhi ming pushed gordon to jye ning and they hit each other. whoa!!

we want to say THANK YOU to yee wee. he helped us to book the tickets online, rushed over to buy the extra ticket & gave us christmas presents by treating us the movie.

this is a memorable outing. it would be more fun if wee teck could go to the outing. what a waste. haha. the last movie outing involved soon wee & christine. this outing involved gordon & jye ning. haha. will there be more sparks? stay tuned to find out. bye.

reported by gary, shi jie, zhi ming & zhi qin

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Ah teck here

Sunday, December 24, 2006
12:41 AM

k i nv posted any thing before in this blog so this will be my first post... MY FIRST TIME..... Virginity.... Lol... Upon hearing zhiqin that he hope to have song in the blog i have decided to add one... So he reccomended me this song by the era named the mass... This is one of uncle eddie favourite songs... Is it nice? Not bad right? If u all not feel that it is not nice, voice it out and give me what u like and i will change the song... But must have 5 votes or more, then i will change... If u wan another song voice it out if 5 people agrees then i will also change too... K its getting dark le... Wanna go sleep... Bye... Take care petanquers....

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who is who?

Thursday, December 21, 2006
10:52 PM

michael loy

he's the coolest player i've ever seen. maybe it's because of his few strands of purposely-dyed hair at the front. his skills will stun whoever who watches him play. he can squat & high lob his balls about the height of a 2-storey house. and his balls will always land & stop close to the jack, either in front or at the side. he's the anchor of the french team & has won 2 world championships (2004 & 2006)

philippe quintais

i don't know much about him. he retired a few years ago, when i just started playing. i only know that he's one of the most successful petanque players in history. he won 8 world championships & 4 world shooting competitions. he's also the world record holder in shooting with 62 points.

phusa-ad

most of us must have seen him before. he won the last 2 world shooting competitions (2005 & 2006). he was 3rd in 2004. he's my favourite shooter, i guess. i think he's a specialised shooter that he's so good in the shooting competition & he's not as great when it comes to the actual game. this year, he shot 4 jacks to beat the mauritius shooter in the final of the singapore international shooting competition. at the world championship in grenoble, he came from many points behind & shot 4 jacks again to beat the shooter from argentina. after his victory, the crowd of at least 5000 was so impressed that they gave phusa-ad a standing ovation. he's an incredible shooter!

posted by zhi qin

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12:57 PM

posted by wen rui

hello everyone.. i am here to share about the Bintan Camp..
the first thing i must say is that the camp rocks! frankly speaking, i was a little apprehensive at first(for what reason i dont know) and i was hesitant whether i should go for the camp and i am glad i made the right decision..
among all the activities we did, the most enjoyable one had to be the coconut tree climbing although i ended up with some minor scratches.. i kept wanting to give up during the climb and i am glad i didnt and made it to the top.. however i couldnt get the stupid dumb ass coconut down..
on the first night, i slept above gary,wee teck and zhi qin and it was quite fun listening to their conversation although i didnt understand some things that they said.. wee teck and zhi qin slept after a while but i couldnt sleep so i looked down and saw gary also couldnt sleep.. then i tried to sleep again but couldnt.. i looked down again and saw gary sleeping on the chair.. after a while i fell asleep and slept for around 1 hour then i woke up and then gary and me went to visit the others' bunk and jye ning got up and became cranky and shouted and woke the rest up..
the second night was wonderful as we saw many shooting stars.. jowie saw many but i only saw one:(.. nevertheless, it was a mesmerizing sight.. that night, i was touched by what gary did.. he helped us cover blanket.. i nearly fell asleep but when gary was trying to search for my spectacles i woke up and couldnt fall asleep again..that night gary was very caring towards jye ning and me and jowie kept making fun of him but he didnt seem to care.. glad a got to see the softer side of gary..at aroung 8 in the morning i was very tired and dozed off..
overall the camp was a fantastic one as i really feel closer with everyone after the camp and i felt i could speak up more and i didnt feel as shy as before..hope there will be another camp like this in the years to come..

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11:53 AM

gossip by ruo ning

Hmm... The petanque trip to BintAN wAs very Exciting and interesting !

Before the trip i was like "..ah another camp again ... sure got those same BoNdInG gAMeS and maybe gg to have the sAMe activities with no cReatvity in it ...shld i go ???"

Lucky, i choose the right choice and was really diffrent from other camp !

It was MoRe relax and let the PETANQUERS to know each other better and to Test Our Guts ( Especiallly ZHI MING ...GALVIN..SIJIE )

nOT ONLY THAT ...dURING the nite walk we can see which guy is the most caring and dare-ing one to protect the girls but in fact i thk the guys can't even take care of themselves liao lol !

Even some activities all the girls except one ( injuried ) can't play .... we had past the activity and get to the top ! ...not like some Useless Boys !!!! nxt time how to protect Singapore ??!!!

That's during the dAY activities LAH ! sTill Got the nite.. tht's when all kinds of Rumour was spread ...people Involved are GARY..JEFF..GERALDINE..JYENING.... this is not a square or rectangle LOVE !!! tHis Is Jus a Simple Love btw to Pair of Lovers .... which pair u wld need to guess urself ...

Besides that i think that the view of the stars was very nice and is quite Romantic for the lovers to be there for the whole nite till morning ...and someone still went to the bedrooms to steal pillows and blankets for the girl who was sick and keep Touching the forehead ... asking whether is she alright ( cus got fever ma ) !!! ...So sweet ... wad a caring man - gArY and.... ( guess )

There are more surprising "HAPPENINGS" at BintAN ... This Jus 1 / 4 of it ...more to go ....TO BE CONTIUNE !

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Tuesday, December 19, 2006
1:16 PM

me to post my thoughts about the camp liao.......and 4 ur in fo me is STAR PANG!!!!!...

anyway....the camp was a fun one...more fun than any other camp i visited...oso did some other stuff that ihave never done be4....

the 1st day

went to tanah merah mrt and waited 4 jeff and jowie...and found out i was there 1 hour be4 time...maybe i was too excited...at around 730...i saw weeteckj and wen rui..jeff came about 745 and jowie!!!! late.......went to take 35 and meet the rest of the gang at tmft...pass jyening her balls and found out that i did not take ruo ning ball..and gossips start comming in too...

around 2 or 3++ we reach...allocate our hut and then our grouping...

team 1:...........................................
team 2:...........................................(the rest mention liao)

after that we went 4 flying fox...is really a very diff one...we flew in to the sea which is dam fun larhz...then later rock climbing...really need thank my team 4 giving me the courage to carry on cause i gave up twice and they gave me the 3rd try and i succeeded...thanks team....
obsticale course.. kind of fun but i failed the last one...cause me hand got blister...so i gave up...and poor geraldine fell on the second last obsticale....then later....is i duun noe...have a 20 min petanque cause too dark then dinner...some team bonding games..and then de breif

we played daidi bridge and many more others...and then the two girls came to our room cause their room got no more space...and me and gavin got to sleep on the floor...and got feed by the mosqitoes....

2nd day

wake up cuase of jye ning...so noisy lah...but partially gary fault...wahahaha....woke up at 6 then chat till 7 or 8...4 got liao...then eat...eat fininsh then activcities again...kayaking....kayak til the sea then go to a boat to do boomnetting...is very fun

then lunch...after lunch is to find poles...very fun....then to get a bucket out using 2 strings...thats need skills and team work de...and then the worseeeeeee but most challenging of all...climbing coconut tree...fun but i got cramps so i did not complete.....

then beach volley ball....fun fun fun....still got dinner....after that night walk...anthony told us not to talk when we are alone but i got a feeling that thats not the main purpose of the night walk..then camp fire....

although i was a little angry with the comments i recive but after thinking about it...its true...and i will try to change....and got to say sorry to all of u

then free and easy....we slept at the platform...then chat...fell asleep at 4 then gary show us the other side of him...he bcame very caring...find blankets 4 us...erm...thank you.....

3rd day

petanque then home!!!!!!!!went shopping and then home...but be4 that we went to eat...then home i come...1st thing i do is bath and then SLEEP!!!!cause haven been sleeping well....

thats all...and this post might be a little confusing...and so sorry

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My Thoughts about the Camp

Monday, December 18, 2006
6:03 PM

posted by zhi qin

hey all! how do u guys find the new look of our blog? it took me a long time to change & edit it. haha. do u all have any suggestions to make it better? yes. credits must go to star pang who started the blog. and he burned the photos into a cd for everyone.

ok. i'll only share what i feel about the camp. as what we did at the camp was mentioned in the earlier posts. it was one of the most enjoyable ones i've been to. it was definitely better than npcc camps. npcc camps suck ok! sorry jeff & shi jie from the uniformed groups. haha. the npcc instructors kept shouting the whole day. they did not let us sleep at night and we had no free time. at the petanque camp, everyone was joking. wee teck & me could "snore" throughout the two nights, although jeff took my pillow on the 1st night & gary took my blanket on the 2nd night. we also had free time to play volleyball, bridge, dai-dee & more.

yes. the team bonding camp helped. we talk & joke more during trainings now. after the last training session, we had a great dinner. haha. hope that we've more people to join us for dinner, so that we can flood whatever places we go.

yup. the last dinner was one of the longest ones in history. why leh? haha. we were talking about many interesting things that happened during the camp. these include helpful gary taking care of jye ning the whole night, jye ning saying something about gordon during nightwalk & more..
we talked until jye ning's face turned red. hope jye ning don't mind.

hais star pang. i think he knows many more things than us. but he doesn't want to share. cannot blame him la. haha. at least we know that he can keep secrets.

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5:48 PM

gary was here

our group fotos b4 we set off for our destination... loola resort

the ferry which will bring us dere!!!

what a scenery...

the ppl there were very the frenly sia... better than we had expected and so is the food and the place where we stay...

two groups were form... team 1 : zhi qin, ms heo, qing le, ruo ning, geraldine, wen rui, star pang and gavin
team 2 : gary, wee teck, zhi ming, coach eddie, jye ning,jowie, jeff and yuan song

our coach eddie lim suan showing us the way to climb a coconut tree...

star pang seems to have
difficulty climbing...haha...

many other things oso happen during the camp... thru the camp i oso found out that little things may lead to many other bigger things and gossips... haha... ppl closer to me will know wat i means... lolz...

shall end here le... will update when there is other gossips...

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12:50 PM

extracted by gary from jye ning's blog

Tell u all something very interesting,I enjoyed myself very much during the 3 days camp in Bintan... On Sunday,the first day, I went to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal to board the ferry to Tanjung Pinang, excitedly...When i reached the campsite, upon seeing my bunk that was located in the middle of the sea like a kelong, i was on cloud nine...Wow!I can feel the sea breeze brushing against my face and brushing my hair back...What a wonderful place! The first activity i did was the flying fox...It was a little different from the normal flying fox...I climb up to the platform through a very, very long wooden ladder...I grabbed onto the rope and jump down, i glided through the air and went straight into the sea...It is something really different,yea?Next i did the rock climbing...Without any hesitation, i climb to the top of it...Then,i finished all the obstacles and we had a game of beach volleyball...FUN!At night, we had some small games...END OF DAY 1DAY 2I woke up early in the morning, ' and i woke the boys up...The morning activity was the kayaking to the middle of the sea, we went up a boat and did boom netting...Boom netting was to jump from to boat to a net when the boat is moving...FUN! Den i kayak back to my campsite...AFTERNOON ACTIVITY We did some challenging games and we managed to do it...Then, i climb the coconut tree,i climb to the top but did not plucked any coconut down as i did not managed to turn the coconut...That's the end of the Afternoon Activity...AT NIGHTWe did some crazy thing...WE went into the jungle and did a different kinda night walk...We did not walk at all but we stayed in the jungle one by one...the first person and the second person location was about 30 meters away, no talking allow...I was freaked out, and i was the only one that cry... so embarrassing...everybody stood there for 10minutes...something really shocking...my friend saw those kinda supernatural thing...Then, we had our campfire and some little games...END OF DAY 2DAY 3I went to shop then i came back to singapore...Haiz... i actually never tell u all alot of things...I really enjoyed very much sia...

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12:46 PM

extracted by gary from jowie's blog

hooray!! here i am back safe but mayb a little not as sound. some injuries here and there but not as serious as gary or gavin or geraldine or wenrui. the 3 days 2 nights spent at Bintan Loola Resort was simply fantastic.. Team Bonding Camp as it was named, sure it does help to team bond especially with the last game we had that is to collect back all our eggs. there was a conflict there but it was a lesson worth learning and experiencing. i love the entire camp except for only one thing. the MOSQUITOES!! they love attacking me for don't know what reasons la..i think i killed at least 20 mosquitoes in two days. for the whole camp, i think my only regret and wasted chance is to do flying fox into water..well, an unspeakable reason which matured ones will understand. take it as i have water phobia ba. haha..n the one i felt most satisfied is i guess coconut tree climbing. 3 coconuts i plucked. but with bruises n scratches on hands especially. =P overall, i shall give a summary on the official activities we had for this camp per day..

Day 1
meet at TMFT, my first ferry ferry ride ever, reach resort, short briefing, choose room, settle down in room, lunch.
flying fox, obstacles [walk across a log with nothing to hold, then walk horizontally lying position across two rope for hands and legs, swing across via sitting on log, walk across a rope holding a rope, walk frm log to log with increasing then decreasing height, hang across a rope. climb over wall. spider web.], rock climbing.
petanque
dinner
indoor games [form the longest line, charaid (dont know how to spell), someone with...(which means like they say need someone with the longest. then you send sme1 n they will announce the thing like longest yam seng, step, etc etc.)]

Day 2
breakfast
kayaking, broom-netting
lunch
get the bucket out, trail to find poles with words to form a sentence
coconut tree climbing
dinner
night walk
campfire, team games [form the tallest tower with what u can find in 3 mins, charaid, someone with... (but cuz it ended with a tie, the last thing was to find as many eggs. but sad to say, both gavin n gary got injured cuz of miscommunications on the rules of play.]
debrief

Day 3
breakfast
petanque
lunch
shopping
ferry
reach singapore at 6++

for most games we play in our 2 teams. Team 1: zhiqin, gavin, geraldine, ruoning, wenrui, shijie, qingle, ms heo. Team 2: gary, weeteck, jeffrey, yuansong, zhiming, uncle eddie, jyening n myself.

during the debrief, mr ho chose some ppl mainly newcomers to like use a word/ words to describe everyone. i was the third being asked n was shocked tt i need to also. so i find an excuse n didnt. but here i am, i would like to give my words.

geraldine-tough on the outlook but soft on the inner
wenrui-intelligent boy who is trustworthy and easy going
qingle-quiet and shy
shijie-very entertaining and fantastic in heightening a person's mood
ruoning-outgoing and acceptive to challenges
gavin-straightforward and logical in his child-like thinking
zhiqin-a gentleman who is mature even in having fun
ms heo-very caring and gentle lady
zhiming-funny person who do not fail to make one laugh at his actions
gary-a sweet guy on the covered inner but on the outside is a tough young man who is a quick thinker especially in shooting people
weeteck-understanding and matured thinking person who is enjoyable to talk to
yuansong-sporty and able to push himself on the inside but tends to give up easily according to his words
jeffrey-like giving a piece of his mind although sometimes not relevant
jyening-a girl who has not been exposed to tough times very much so tends to be softer in her ways
uncle eddie-logical person who is easy to reason with

had so much fun for those little break times we had in between..especially love the second night which i stayed awake at an open area with some others who slept halfway, leaving only me, gary n wenrui who lasted thru. saw 14 shooting stars at least. so nice!! probably wont forget that scene. simply lovely. but mayb cuz of the extreme strong wind, i felt abit sick for the rest of the day, like going to have fever liktt..so not nice sia. felt so weak inside. but was much btr aft sme rest on bus n ferry. went dinner with a few of them, uncle eddie, ms heo, zhiqin, zhiming, gary, geraldine, gavin, wenrui, shijie at bedok interchange there. n left by mrt thereafter.

overall, i muz say the team did bond in some ways. surely get closer but there's still a long way to go. n on the mrt, cuz me n uncle eddie go same way, we talked about ny petanque team which may b dismissed by nxt year. i am so fearful of that, but looking at the conditions now, its really hard to measure. i hope miracles may happen. i really do not want to see petanque lose another source to get people to continue playing.

shall end here. got some things to follow up with now. hope all who went enjoyed the camp.yet another love story is coming up. what will the ending be?
god bless all.

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Friday, December 15, 2006
2:28 PM

shi jie here

created this post just 4 fun and ++ we can chat here and let the others know what they feel about a certain person so we could improve oursleves...like the teambonding camp...i will talk about my camp experience next time...

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