What Aggressive Skating Means To Me

I've been wanting to find the time to sit down and blog about this, but never really got around to it. And since I do have some time to spare, here it goes..

I started skating again some time last year, when I bought a pair of 2nd hand skates for a steal of $10! The only reason why I didn't skate much previously, was because I refused to purchase a pair of skates. An investment of $200-$300 on a pair of skates did not make any sense to me. It was also then, that I found out that my oldest brother had also purchased a pair of skates not too long ago and had been skating weekly. I really enjoyed skating again but it wasn't long before that pair of skates gave way and after finding too much joy in skating, I somehow ended up purchasing a brand new pair of skates without much thought.

Even though I found joy in skating, I was and still am a terrible skater -.- In fact, there is probably not one lamppost in East Coast Park that I haven't crashed into. The only thing that I was capable of doing was rolling back and forth. I did not know how to slow down, stop or even turn, and it was because of that, that I ended up having a bad fall and suffering from a broken tail bone and torn ligaments in the mid-section of my back and knee.

Still, it wasn't long before I started skating again and this time, I did things the right way, by learning how to turn and brake. I'm still really bad at it, but it is definitely an improvement, comparing to when I first started skating. It was also then, that my oldest brother went back to aggressive skating and it wasn't long before he gifted me with a pair of aggressive skates as an advanced birthday present.

Introducing to you guys, my blue baby, the Valo TV.2.

Although I was overwhelmed with fear (in fact, I still am), I decided to try something new. And honestly, the only reason why I was enthusiastic about skating in general, is probably because it's the perfect excuse that I've got to spend a little more time with my oldest brother. In fact, as time went by, I found skating to be the perfect way to relief stress - on top of the fact that you do get a really good workout from skating as well.

I know that a lot of people would describe me as someone with a really girly personality and find it hard to believe that I picked up aggressive skating. But let's be honest here, the things that I'm doing are the very basic tricks which even I find as an embarrassment, because my fear of falling/pain, is hindering my progress to move forward and sometimes, it really upsets me. Of course it really upsets me even more, when my brother loses his patience and passes off comments like "You're not trying hard enough", "You're stubborn and lazy" or "You are just to scared to do anything."

I believe that everyone progresses differently and that I should attempt things according to my confidence and comfortably at my own pace. With my lack of self confidence, it makes me feel extremely terrible when it seems like my efforts or attempts are not being recognized, especially in comparison to my 2nd brother who has progressed a lot faster than me, after recently picking up aggressive skating.

Still, I find it important to inculcate the habit of never giving up. And although my progress is moving terribly slowly, I find joy in being in the company of the family and friends that I've made (even though they can be really annoying and mean to me) and it has also been a great form to release all that work stress!

So even though my friends have been telling me that it's about time that I hang those skates up and spend a little more time on everything else, I have to say that.. aggressive skating is a blessing to me, because it was an opportunity that reunited both my brothers and I.

Theoretically, aggressive skating has become, part of my heart.

Cityscape Skate

It was a pretty impromptu suggestion, but we decided to head out for a skate session at promenade lawn after work/dinner one evening. I had a dinner appointment and didn't have my gear with me, but my brother went over to my place to pack and collect my stuff!

He actually got me everything that I needed (even my rainbow socks!) but I still don't understand how he confused "orange tank top" with a tee -.- Lucky for me, he brought an extra tank top that I had given to my sister-in-law, so I borrowed it for the night! ;)


Even with my night blindness and fear that comes along with a recovering broken tail bone, I skated on and tried to overcome my fear.. and the next thing I know, we ended up at Marina Bay Sands!

Ahem, don't judge me because I'm wearing make up and false lashes okay!

After all our epic skating sessions, there was simply no way that we were going to stop there, because it wasn't much of a challenge! We skated past Marina Bay Sands and ended up soaking up the cityscape all the way to Fullerton Bay Hotel!

 

And being such geniuses, we wanted to find a great place to chill out but realize that no one had money with us.. We had no choice but to head back, especially since I wouldn't have the energy to make my way back if we had continued moving forward! By the time we headed back, we decided to drop by Avalon to say hi to my cousin, who was just starting work!

Even with our skates on, he is still so much taller than my brother and I :O

By the time we were done rolling around, we decided to push ourselves to the limit and skate back to the car non stop! When we finally arrived in the carpark, none of us could feel our legs and honestly, all I could hear was my thighs screaming for help. Nevertheless, it was a really awesome skate night! After all, a good workout is the ultimate stress buster!

Waterfront Skating

For about more than half a year now, my brother has been organizing weekly skating/cycling session (although we've been slacking off a few weeks now) among our closest friends to encourage healthy living.

It's been too long since our last distance skating session, so we seized the opportunity when we had an extremely long break from work over the Chinese New Year holidays.

There wasn't much response from the invites, so we were really surprised that there were a total of 11 + 1 in attendance!

Previously we've skated through East Coast Park and even Changi Beach (where we skated a distance of 8km). This time, we decided to skate through Promenade Lawn, after discovering it a while back. The view was nothing short of amazing and the weather was perfect, for awhile that is.

My older brother and I were really excited, because my second brother, his wife and daughter had mentioned that they were keen to join us for awhile now and it was finally happening! Mel's (my other sister-in-law) cousin and his family were joining us too! Alongside the usual Madhu and Henry, the rare face Mr Tan also showed up bright and early that morning!

Voila~ This is us in front of the wonderful citiscapes of Singapore!

And with my wonderful brothers, sister-in-laws and most adorable niece ever!

Mel's cousin and daughter were still in the learning stages of blading, and my sister-in-law, Zizi was still trying to get used to my recreational skates, while Henry lost a wheel and my second brother was all about going straight, as fast as he could.

And unfortunately, while we were waiting for everyone to gather at the Marina Barrage bridge, the storm clouds crept up on us, forcing us to head back. While scrambling our way back to the cars, it started pouring and so for the first time in a really long time, I was forced to play in the rain. Every time I get caught in the rain, I get sick almost instantly (like less than half an hour later), but I really didn't have a choice this time.

Since we could not continue skating, we headed to Kallang Leisure Park for lunch at Thai Express!

Thank you Fuh Yong, for the lunch treat! :)

While we lingered around for awhile, both families had to leave which only meant, bowling! We've been bowling so often now, that it's actually starting to get a little tiring :/

After our game, it was still a little too early to call it a day, so we ended up in East Coast Park for a short skate before heading home!

It was truly a wonderful experience, sharing the beauty of the surroundings with loved ones and most of all, enjoying ourselves with our healthy activities. I really can't wait for the next round of bonding, but I'm pretty sure those days are soon to come!