In the first weekend of May, I was privileged enough to be invited to the ONE Fighting Championship Asia Mixed Martial Arts Summit in Singapore. It was a three-day, two-night event, which started with a cocktail event, and ended with an awards ceremony. It was pretty exciting for me cos it was my first time actually attending an MMA summit where the who's who of MMA would be there.
The first day of the summit started off pretty well, with the Malaysian contingent piling on to the bus to head down to Sinagpore :D Everyone was pretty stoked, not to mention the bloggers!
So who's the most excited? :p
It was a long ride, and by the time we arrived at the Tuas Checkpoint, most of us were pretty beat :p But the sight of the SCS made my day :)
The organisers put us up at the Grand Park City Hall Hotel, which is one of the better hotels in Singapore (in my opinion). The room was amazing, and I loved the King Bed :D
Check out the room!!!
The Summit featured various speakers from various value chains of the MMA sport, from fighters, to sponsors, to organisers, to the media, all the way to the fight associations themselves. It was really an eye-opener for me.
The welcome pack that greeted us when we entered the room, all neatly tied up in a bow :)
There was a cocktail reception that night, but I didn't join the rest as I was feeling a little weary and still had work that needed to be done before the next day.
le bb posing outside Clarke Quay
Welcome Game Changers!!!! This is a phrase I see all too frequently nowadays, and I wouldn't hesitate to use it over and over again, because I believe it's really true. We are all game changers in our own right, and we have to work hard to ensure our dreams are met and fulfilled :)
On the day of the summit itself, we were shuttled from our hotel to the actual location of the summit, Marina Bay Sands Resort. By the time we arrived there, there were already a lot of people milling about and networking with each other. It was truly a sight to behold, so many people with the passion for the same sport, MMA.
I would think we are overseas delegates, but no we didn't get our tags from this booth :p Jack handed it to us personally :p
Got my name tag! so a selfie is a must :p
My trip to Singapore was made all the more possible by this little lady, Tammy Chan :) If you heard her speak about MMA, you can see the passion in her voice :D
Rich Franklin is the embodiment of what the movie "Here Comes the Boom" is all about. He used to be a teacher, and gave up his teaching job to pursue MMA, and ultimately, he became UFC's Middleweight Champion :)
There was also a talk by ONEFC's sponsor, Tune Talk, and none other than Jason Lo was there to present it. Being his cheeky self, I think he would be one of the few out there who can openly criticise their competitors and get away with it.
Taken during lunch, I managed to get a pic with Rich, who I think looks like Jim Carrey, btw. I think this is the closest I will get to taking a pic with the great actor lookalike :p
Oh look, le bb was there in Singapore with me too!!! :p
Our speakers: (L-R) Loren Mack (ONEFC), Wesley de Souza (The Fight Nation), Lili Lee (MMA in Asia), James Goyder (Combat Asia)
After lunch, we had a breakout session where I was divided to a session with the other journalists. The title of this breakout was "Trends in MMA Journalism", moderated by Loren Mack.
It was an interesting session for me as I heard it straight from reputable MMA journalists how hard it was initially to get their stories printed by different publications, and also the challenges they faced when dealing with the sport and the people involved in it. Being a PR practitioner myself, I understood completely what they meant.
The day ended with photo taking of the entire delegation, and also some of the ONEFC Network Groups. After everything, we got on the shuttle and got home to finally rest our tired feet and minds.
That night, being in Singapore, and staying so near public transportation, it would be a shame if we didn't make that short trip to Orchard Road :p so, Orchard Road it is!!! and I got my favourite Walls Wafer Ice Cream :p Not necessary to show here, but I want to :p
After Orchard Road, we made our way all the way back to the Esplanade (with a lot of walking), and got ourselves to the Merlion!!! Yes, even though I've been to Sg quite a few times, it's still nice to do the touristy thing once in a while :) After all, it's not like I can go sightseeing all the time :D
us with the Marina Bay Sands and Science Museum as the backdrop :)
Standing (L-R): Iris, Tony, Elwyn, Joel, Benjamin, Hui Min, Me, Henry
Seated (L-R): Marilyn, Joanna
A little pic of all the bloggers who went for the Summit
On the third day of the summit, we had to check out early and place our luggage at one of the rooms in the Centre, after which it was bye bye for all of us as we headed back to our beloved nation, Malaysia to vote!
Psst: Another post will be up soon, featuring the highlight of the event, involving one of the greatest MMA legends of all time (even though it wasn't called MMA yet at that time), Bruce Lee!
xoxo,
yin
4 comments:
Woah. That's a boat load of people in that last pics.
hahaha yea...that's why the photographers are elevated :p
Cool! Looks like u guys had a good time :) And LOL that lil toy is adorable!
they must be all very muscular! haha
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