Thankfully I was able to have a bit of a lie in this morning though, which made a real difference compared with getting up at 7am yesterday.
I spent most of the morning working on some things for English Soccer Schools, a few ideas for a website that needs creating, and I have been put in charge of pretty much all the writing that needs putting on there due to my journalism 'skills' (I knew that degree would come in handy one day!)
It felt relatively cool this morning again, but at least it wasn't raining. After last night's shower, I think I had more than enough wet weather. Perhaps I brought some of the English climate with me!
The journey of about an hour allowed me to listen to come music and people watch as I made my way from the north.
Today's journey had me taking a new route across the country using three different lines, and stopping at more stations that had previously not been visited.
Once I got to my location I was meant to be meeting up with another coach, but decided I first needed to get some energy in me for a busy afternoon of four coaching sessions ahead.
I have been doing my best since I keep here to try and avoid 'westernised' food outlets, but often when you need a snack or a sandwich they can be the best place to head. Like many other Asian countries, 7Eleven has invaded from the US so I managed to pick myself up something to eat.
Attempting to keep it relatively simple I went for a sandwich which contained the strange combination of egg and cheese..... Even more oddly the woman behind the counter asked me if I wanted it heating up.... each to their own.
Anyway, after meeting Coach Matt, we began a ten minute walk to a place called Kew.
Just like the similarly named location in the UK, it's fair to say that Kew is a relatively wealthy place. On the way, Matt explained that we would actually be teaching a number of residents from a block of condos in this area. Each session was of different lengths, starting off from 3 and going all the way until 11.
The area we would be using for these sessions was a small piece of public land in between all the condos that we were able to set up on and use for our sessions.
Working with children of such a young age, reminded me of the days of working at schools across Nottinghamshire, so I felt relatively comfortable about doing it. But after working on Sunday in a public park, and today in somebody's garden it felt a bit weird!
Typically just as we'd finished setting up, the rain started to fall with increasing rapidity, and we contemplated running for cover, Singapore-style.
As kids started to turn up, it eased a little, but decided if it became any heavier then we would go inside to a function room.
The first group of children we were working with were mostly aged three. The session was only twenty minutes, and involved very little football as the kids spent most of their time being distracted by things going on around them or by clinging to their parents. That was over before we knew it.
The rain then decided it was going to come on a bit stronger so we headed up to a room, which wasn't an ideal space, but allowed us to play a few games with the next group of kids we had who were aged between 5 and 6. Having worked with only four children before we were faced with 9, not all of whom liked the change of scenery. The room was relatively small and extremely echoey so after a while my ears started to ring from the loud din of kids running around and their parents conversing in the background!
Back outside for the third session we were at least able to have some more room, but for the 7 and 8 year old session we had only 4 kids so we had plenty of time to do lots of different things. The fourth and final group we had was also only containing three groups, but at 9 and 10, we were able to go through a lot more individual skills, and having started work during the day with children much their junior, it made a nice change!
Having spent most of my time concentrating on the sessions, I had little time to worry about the fact that it had been raining for the last half an hour, so the walk back to the MRT station mostly consisted of willing my clothes to dry!
I bid Matt farewell when changing from the East-West Line to the Circle line and set about heading home to get some dinner. Although I had coached for only three hours today, I was still feeling pretty tired. It seems to take a lot of concentration to work with younger children, and using my voice all the time soon gives me a sore throat. That combined with the heat seems to affect me pretty badly some days, and I have to say that this is the most tired I have felt since arriving in Singapore.
Currently I am working on a few articles and pieces of writing about my time here, and I think even days like today, when I don't get out much, I learn a few new things, and experience life as a Singaporean.
I think that if I came on holiday to Singapore as a tourist my experiences of the country would be very different.
Most people consider Singapore to be a financial superpower with plenty of skyscrapers. I think that there is certainly a lot more to any place than you see from the exterior or when you look on the Internet, but Singapore, more so than some of the other locations I've visited, is like that. I feel more like I am in the 'real' heart of the country, and I hope that my time spent here will be valuable in the future.
A busy day should mean an early night, and I plan to get up early in the morning to get some work done so that I can have the afternoon to myself. I haven't decided where abouts to go, but I feel in need of a break from computers, websites and football is much needed!
Chucky: We're friends 'til the end, remember?
Andy: This is the end, friend.
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