ai ling's first skiing trip! memory of la plagne.

at first i was kinda reluctant to go for it, it was so damn expensive n i was officially bankrupt due to some sponsor-related financial issues. n all the tickets, clothing, insurance were robbing my tiny savings; but now, it's all worth it!

FIRST DAY of skiing. scary. the skis were so heavy. n the damn big shoes were so so so so bulky with pounds of weight. they just didnt seem to be meant for walking. even walking up a small slope was almost impossible. next, the skis, the slippery skis. u just would wonder how would anyone possible like to ski? n u couldn't stop amaze those pro skier while they were speeding down the hills. jealous.

after a lot of bangs and falls, finally could at least ski down the beginner slope. n the instructor allocated us to different groups at the end of the session. ok, of cos, we all belonged to the beginner group. or should i say beginner of the beginner group. zzz. we were seriously pathetic.

SECOND DAY, a new instructor, the charming Charles!!!!! a bit less pathetic and improving, but i started my day banging into another instructor, a cute one tho kakaka. n he picked me up gently, hahaha and all these people said tat was part of the plan. zzz.

then, banged again. into james. our skis were crossed all over. n again, "part of the plan!' they shouted. n while i was busy settling the entanglement, there were some part-time cameraman taking pics of the funny scene when they were supposed to help with the mess. zzz.

THIRD DAY, a much steeper slope. we were all shaking heads to Charles. i mean, no way we could do it. it was just a bit too much for a third day skier. ok, fine, i ended up banging into beetee's ass. right there. i swear i could see stars. so so dizzy. and when i picked myself up together n struggled to the end point, Ang was speeding down relaxingly the second round. argh! tak tahan i wanna do it too. second time, banged into the fence. pathetic. what an ugly fall. without realizing how many attempts i had, finally got the hang of it!!! so so happy except for i banged into a snowboarder. heyy, it was a beginner slope n he was speeding like wind. whose fault?

we were skiing so well we had time even to apply sunblock. haha, never put looks aside. even Charles was shaking head.

end of the day, yiyian and i were so so happy. we might not b the best, but we did not give up! we made it!

FOURTH DAY, la plagne center. steeper n longer this time. the feeling of being able to control your skis was so great. it was like u finally conquered them. n i even started to like the bulky shoes. they made me speed.

i guess this trip i was fated to have some head injury. some substantial ones--i got banged with the ski chair. well i just slipped when i was supposed to get off the chair n the thing turned n just knocked my head. i really had never felt more dizzy before. for a long moment everything was so dark n i couldnt even open my eyes. ok, u gave me two big swellings n tats definitely no way i was going home without taking u down, u dare chair. so i went on to ski again n got up the ski chair again n again till i really knew how to handle it. fuh, even getting off the chair required skills.

anyway, we all conquered the place. a day of achievement!

FIFTH DAY. a day with expectations. for gregory, our charming Charles's tutor, appeared. i guess he must have thought that we were great enough to be under his training by then, which was definitely not true. n so a day of disaster began. we were brought to a really high end. the ski chair seemed to bring us to far far away. it just never stopped. just as u thought u were going to reach, the ski chair went on moving over another n another hills. the altitude must b great, for i could even feel the helicopter gliding so near. gosh, we are we going actually????

ok, finally reached. the view was wow. at the top of everything!

battle started. ahead was all the steep slopes. really steep ones. i just couldnt bring myself to believe we were going to ski all the way back to where the ski chair brought us from. fear. but what else. u just need to ski.

not a good beginning. haih.

the second slope was the funny part. james fell. noreen fell. helen fell. pei fell. menaka fell. i fell, of cos. one by one, we all fell. n i was stuck in the snow. though Ang tried to come to the rescue, i spent like ages just trying to get to my feet. finally, haih, wadever, i just slided down with my ass down the hill like wad pei was doing in front of me. huhuhu. PATHETIC.

i missed Charles. Gregory was a bit inhumane. never came to help. he would rather stand n wait for u when u were struggling to get u

p. argh, Gregory please don come tomorrow n please return Charles to us!!!!!!

with a lot of bangs and falls n bruises production. we finally reached. like i said, a day of disaster.

SIXTH DAY. hi Charles! Gregory must have been so frustrated with us he wouldnt come again. at least charming Charles was back!

high end again. this time i made it a point to not speed at all, to brake all the way. i was planning not

to invest any energy at all in getting up after falling down. i was like a snail till the point noreen was mumbling all the way behing me, "ai ling go faster! ai ling y are u so slow? ai ling go far far away from me!!!" grrrrrrrrr, i was fuming but my skiing capability didnt allow me to throw any temper. but kinda thanks to noreen, i was heated up n just sped all the way. n surprisingly, i reached safely down

the hill, without fallin at all!!! hooray!

i kept following pei. she was good. never really fell. n believe me, it was important to ski behind someone who didnt fall. for if she did, u felt u needed to. and out of a sudden, tat place was not that scary anyway. n i was actually having fun! So I kinda decided I would only ski behind my lucky start pei.

The survisors!

i love skiing!

ok at least it was a happy ending to my skiing trip. at least i could ski down the hills where i initially fell all the way. achievement!

we did it!

since it was the last day. i wouldnt miss the chance to have a picture with Mr Charming. and then everyone rushed to take their turns. he turned into a big star. Commotion.--------------------------->

SEVENTH DAY. i returned the skis n shoes. so sad. now i kinda liked them i had to say goodbye. they gave us bruises and all. but they made me speed. every morning we practically woke up with fear, wondering where we were going to ski that day. every morning we kept fighting to stop ourselves from giving up. and now it was the last day, i missed the

fear and the feeling of uncertainty. huhu.

so we had fun, laughters, sense of satisfaction. And also, collections of bruises.

i miss ucpa. i miss la plagne. i miss charles. i miss the snow

i miss the skis and the shoes. i miss the falls and bangs.

i initially was complaining about buying the skiing outfits, but now i am keeping them. i wanna ski again, if possible.

a trip full of memory. one of the best

trips ever.