Stop looking at my Profile

The Man Who Finally Moved

2011-09-11T19:46:00.002+08:00

Yes I've finally restarted my blog, at Tumblr.

But here still remains my good old archive posts.

Cheers! (Don't drink to that)

Revive?

2011-06-15T21:26:00.002+08:00

Maybe I should revive my blog to solve the lack of outflow of brains and creativity from me instead of letting my 12 plus years of education decompose in the totally mindless state of army.

How?

2011-02-09T22:08:00.001+08:00

TEKONG BABY WHOOOOOO!

And so it ended

2010-11-07T22:15:00.015+08:00

No of papers completed: 12

No of papers left: 0

Tue 9 Nov: Chemistry Paper 3 (2.00 pm, 2 hr)

Wed 10 Nov: General Paper 1 & 2 (8.00 am, 3 hr)

Thu 11 Nov: Mathematics Paper 1 (8.00 am, 3 hr)

Fri 12 Nov: Mathematics Paper 2 (8.00 am, 3 hr)

Tue 16 Nov: Chemistry Paper 2 (8.00 am, 2 hr)

Thu 18 Nov: Physics Paper 2 (2.00 pm, 1 hr 45 min)

~~Fri 19 Nov:~~ ~~Economics Paper 1 (2.30 pm, 2 hr 15 min)~~

Mon 22 Nov: Chemistry Paper 1 (2.00 pm, 1 hr)

~~Tue 23 Nov:~~ ~~Physics Paper 3 (8.00 am, 2 hr)~~

~~Tue 23 Nov:~~ ~~Economics Paper 2 (2.00pm, 2 hr 15 min)~~

Mon 29 Nov: Physics Paper 1 (2.00 pm, 1 hr 15 min)

- END OF A LEVELS -

A week before the battle

2010-10-31T21:35:00.006+08:00

Yesharrr one more week!

This last week of mugging will be dedicated to a final full revision of content as well as practicing timed papers.

Wake-up: 7-8 am

Morning Session: 8-11 am

Afternoon Session: 2-5 pm

Night Session: 8-10pm

Sleep: 10-11 pm

Monday (GP)

Morning: Intensive GP content
Afternoon: Hwa Chong Paper 2, Essay revision (memorise useful points)

Night: Read through tips and tricks

Tuesday (Chemistry)

Morning: Full Revision of Organic Chemistry

Afternoon: Full Revision of Inorganic Chemistry, Do a Paper 3

Night: Full Revision of Physical Chemistry

Wednesday (Math/Rest Day)

Morning: Do a Paper 1

Afternoon: Do a Paper 2

Night: Full Revision

Thursday (Physics)

Morning: Full Revision

Afternoon: RI Paper 2, 3

Night: Definitions Test

Friday (Economics)

Morning: Full Revision of Micro (including questions)

Afternoon: Full Revision of Macro (including questions)

Night: Math Stats

Saturday (Buffer Day 1)

Morning: Do one micro essay and one macro essay

Afternoon: Missed Chem Topics (Transition, Organic Nitrogen, QA, Planning, Ksp)

Night: Buffer Zone, else watch soccer

Sunday (Buffer Day 2)

Afternoon: Buffer Zone, else go JYM

Night: Chem Organic and Inorganic Revision

*In the event I do have spare time, though unlikely, practice papers, unless it's wednesday.

EXAM PERIOD

First week

Tue (PM): Chem Paper 3

Wed (AM): GP

Thu (AM): Math Paper 1

Fri (AM): Math Paper 2

This week has four consecutive days of papers, which leaves little room for revision in between. Luckily the two math papers are my most confident papers so I'm less worried, and chem is the first paper which allows me the Monday to revise. This week is awesome because two subjects are down.

Second week

Tue (AM): Chem Paper 2

Thu (PM): Physics Paper 2

Fri (AM): Econs Case Study

A rather spread-out week with Monday and Wednesday free, which allows for rest and revision. Particularly Wednesday for Physics and Econs. My aim is to keep my sanity and not get sian, like I did in Prelims.

Third week

Mon (PM): Chem MCQ

Tue (AM): Physics Paper 3

Tue (PM): Econs Essays

A very tough two days of papers. Love the fact that Chem MCQ is in the afternoon. Hate the fact that tuesday has two of the more tedious papers. My weekend will have to cover all three subjects and practice all of them. Good thing though that the content should remain fresh. After Tuesday it's PARTYYYY for one or two days.

Final week

Mon (PM): Physics MCQ

6 days break should be sufficient to practice until sian. I actually consider the third week to be the final week because 6 days for a MCQ is retarded. Nevertheless, many warnings not to slack too much and work hard for this paper.

And in one month, it'll all be over.

What a waste of a month haha.

Things to do after A-Levels

2010-07-18T21:05:00.008+08:00

Hello everybody!

I shall be forward thinking and compile a list of things that I shall, will and must do after the end of A Levels (assuming I survive). Free time is a very valuable resource which must be used to ensure productive and allocative efficiency. Therefore to prevent me from forgetting all the things that I want to do after A-levels and end up rotting my life away, I shall keep and update this list to remind myself.

Of course, suggestions are warmly welcomed. But of course, subjected to availability of free time.

Last Updated: 25/7/2010
View the latest list at my blog

1) Learn the 'Gee' dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7mPqycQ0tQ
I've already learnt the chords and lyrics o.O (evidence that I'm not a closet mugger)

2) Play 'Knights Of Cydonia' entirely on an acoustic guitar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8WP7aOD_9Q
The lead electric, bass, drums, trumpet, loops and sound effects all on an acoustic guitar (in separate recordings duh).

3) Do the 'Moskau'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPvNlU11VBI
And attempt to play this song entirely on my noob digital piano.

4) Build a Jenga Tower up to the ceiling
Oh I just realised I did it back in my old house, but now my room's ceiling looks a lot higher. So new record on the way!

5) Play 'That's Not My Name' with stuff in my pencil box
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxbwEVgF1zo
The most unmelodious song I can think of currently. All this song requires are the drums.

6) Learn how to play 'Croatian Rhapsody' on the piano
Don't laugh, but I've been hoping to play this for a couple of years, just never got down to it.

7) Wear a 'Pikachu' Costume to Prom
So much for High Voltage. Yeah I'm dead serious.

No, not my hair.

MD Online

2010-06-10T22:35:00.003+08:00

http://mdonline.x10hosting.com

It seems that every holiday I must be doing something related to website programming. It certainly cured my boredom for those few days and well.. helped me a lot in math. Just as well I've been doing math these few days.

I must say this was a really tough project for myself because first and foremost I don't even own a set. So I had to refer to Google and Google Image to find out everything.

Secondly there are so many possible actions. Actually this could be done in one full day, but while doing this halfway I actually forgot a few things that made me go backwards and replan. And the biggest one was on arranging property.

And thirdly, it was tedious. There are 106 cards to deal with, which I had to arrange by type. And there're 10 types which I had to individually code. And there're 4 players. Didn't want to do five.

But it really got me in touch with PHP MySQL, which is what I use for the backbone of the JYM Website, and it really helped me consider cases (in this case, many many cases) which.. will help me in PnC. Starting this whole thing, and even for the JYM Website, was the hardest because you start off with nothing and you can't possibly envision the outcome. So there were glimpses of what I wanted to put in but piecing these pictures together is a whole new story.

And then the hard part where you have to use the code available to do all the actions. It's like every other chemistry, physics and math question where a few values are given, and some formula in the back of your head, and you have to calculate values. So yeah I'm justifying that doing this is a form of mugging.

And then of course there will be errors and careless mistakes, which I had to look through line by line to see what's wrong. Pretty much like any science or math subject.

And then of course, like Organic Chemistry, everything is interlinked. One player affects the other. I was only doing coding for one player, and then I realised I needed to code for another player to test out certain moves.

So after planning, putting everything together and then beta testing (sounds like PW), tadah.

Yep. Doing this really takes the stress out of me. Studies ain't the most important thing in life..

but yeah it gets you the furthest.

I desperately need someone to take over the JYM Website because I have to step down soon and then after that I gotta move on.

If I had Wings, I would fly

2010-02-26T20:59:00.004+08:00

And I don't want to run tomorrow.

Endangered

2010-02-23T21:43:00.002+08:00

Well yeah, my blog is on the verge of extinction. I'm trying to save the earth here.

And it's always the case that when i want to blog about something, i always get too lazy to blog it, and when the next blog-worthy thing comes, i think about blogging both items, which makes me even more lazy to blog them, and it goes on and on and on and on... (strangers, waiting)

It's a summation thing: the more things you feel you have to blog about, the more lazy you are to actually blog them. Wonder.

And as always, all the things you wanted to blog about will be summarised by a single line: life has been great! And it's great because you feel like you're no longer obliged to post all the things you wanted to blog about.

Of course, that brings your blog rating, if there is, way down. And people put pictures to make up for it, often with random tags that make sense but are completely irrelevant. So,

If you want a boring but realistic update of my life, .

If you want a more exciting but unrealistic update, :D.

If you want an emo and an even more unrealistic one, :(.

Choose. I'm democratic.

And my legs are seriously dying. As in no energy that type of dying. Good news to all ye who are running the shortified road run. May ye grow Wings the next day.

God Bless Ye => Good Bless Ye (since God is Good) => Good BlessYE => Good BYE.

It's less confusing than electrical vectorial carbonyl inflated field.

URGENT: RedBox Project

2010-01-24T22:09:00.002+08:00

Hey all!

The RedBox Project is a project which aims to bring smiles to 700 less-fortunate children around Singapore this Chinese New Year, by giving them huge angbaos in a form of presents in wrapped shoeboxes.

They have reached their last week of collection, and there are many many more shoeboxes to fill. So the project needs a lot more gifts!

Here are some things you can give:

- Stationery, Crayons, Colour Pencils, Markers

- Notepads, Notebooks, Sketch Books, Writing Pads

- Toys, Soft toys

- Any other thing costing less than $20 for children (12 yrs and below)

The items should preferably be new, but unused items which you haven't touched around the house are also accepted (such as Christmas/Birthday presents which you haven't used).

You can pass them to me anytime during the week. The items need not be wrapped or anything.

Also, if you have spare shoeboxes, please donate them too.

Yeah it's really urgent because they want to meet their target so that all the children they're reaching out to can receive a present. So I sincerely hope you can help by donating the gifts.

Thanks!

More Info: Website | Facebook Group

Make someone smile this CNY!

2010-01-14T22:57:00.003+08:00

The RedBox Project

Do you have a shoebox that you aren't gonna use?

This Chinese New Year, save that shoebox for something special! And you can spread the Festive joy to a child!

All you need to do is:

- Wrap the box nicely (does not need to be red wrapping paper)

- Add in gifts around $15-$20 (your angbao will compensate that amount)

And drop them off at these locations from 19-30 Jan!

- Jurong East MRT

- Tampines MRT

- Holland Village

- Parkway Parade

- and various schools

You can also become a volunteer to distribute the gifts (CIP hours unknown).

To view more details, visit the website or their facebook group.

Make someone smile this Lunar New Year!

This NTU project is supported by National Youth Council, Young ChangeMakers, Quirk and Oneink Pte Ltd, and is in aid of The Salvation Army, Beyond Social Services and Children's Cancer Project.

Lazy Physics People Take Note

2010-01-10T23:34:00.003+08:00

Compilation of Physics formulas and definitions.

I haven't add in AC Circuits, and it is not one page long.

It's a bit late to upload now but i don't think anyone would want to carry such a big bulky file to school on the first day, especially when you don't know your timetable.

So here it is: You owe me drink

2010 starts with 10 chem questions done

2010-01-01T23:47:00.005+08:00

Well it's 2010 already, and I've not touched this blog for two months. Looks like it's time to update.

I guess 2009 has been a wonderful year for me, going through boreding school life, J1 life, PW, Chinese, Promos, Track, Mission Trip, Camp etc etc. Sometimes we just fail to look back at a year and see God's amazing wonders in every minute of our lives. In short, last year was an eye-opener. And last year, through PW, I learnt amazing lessons on giving, which really impacted me.

And this holiday season, though largely filled by endless track trainings, have been quite fulfilling because I have a chance to rest and relax after a such a packed school year.

Holiday homework update: Done 5 math papers, physics data analysis, half of chem holiday package. I've never done so much homework during the holidays.

---

And for an amazing rubberband trick, discovered in the depths of boring lessons, presenting to you a double star with one hand in 30 seconds.

lawrenceisthebest.net@Old Trafford

2009-11-06T18:29:00.002+08:00

While technology is revolutionizing the world, influencing the generation day by day, it seems it has now touched down on football stadias.

Football stadium branding is nothing new, the more famous ones being the Emirates Stadium (Arsenal), Reebok Stadium (Bolton) and Kit Kat Crescent (York City). But this latest branding comes in a form of a joke: it resembles an email address.

For over 100 years, Newcastle have been proud to play in their stadium, where Alan Shearer and Sir Bobby Robson once stood. A controversial decision came lately when owner Mike Ashley decided to rename the historical to St James' Park to...

sportsdirect.com@St James' Park

It could be a twitter or internet joke to name it such a way but Newcastle are sticking to this name. I pity the commentators, who will have a mouthful saying this stadium's name. Not surprisingly, Newcastle fans are outraged, not only at the hilarious looking stadium name, but that Mike Ashley has named his company in the stadium's name.

Will other historic stadium names suffer the same fate?

Chelsea's already looking for one. They could very well rename their stadium to Samsung Stamford Bridge. Liverpool would certainly need one to cover their debts, maybe Adidas Anfield. How about the City of Etihad Manchester Stadium?

Or Lawrence Rocks in Old Trafford.

I come from terrywong.com@St James' Church. My school is Bibi & Baba National Junior College.

Noise Pollution

2009-10-29T21:14:00.001+08:00

I'm really getting really irritated by the extremely loud "concerts" occurring downstairs at the open area. I have no idea what the occasion is, but I know that this is the period where people prepare/study for O and A levels and university exams.

This is a residential area and is a highly built-up area, in terms of height of vertical residential blocks, and the sound echoes off the buildings, amplifying the music/noise. Also, this area has a variety of religions and races; while it may be music to one, it is irritating and unpleasant to another. With the high emphasis on religious/racial tolerance these days, not that such things should be banned, but they should be really mindful that not all appreciates the music (and at least turn down their volume).

That being said, I have heard numerous open area concerts since my family moved here. Most of which are really loud, and some lasted till 10-11pm. These area has a good number of school children, judging by the number of schools around. Some school children sleep as early as 9 pm. I'm living on the 23rd storey, the concert is probably 100 m away in terms of horizontal distance, and I have closed all the windows. And their music is as loud as when I play music from my own laptop. If I can hear them loud and clear, I can't imagine how school children who turn in early actually can sleep with such loud music.

This time, the concert, or whatever you call it, contains the drums. Which makes it all the more noisy due to the constant banging of the bass and snare. I cannot imagine how the residents living in nearer HDB blocks, some just meters away, can stand such noises. The nearby CC, which is further away, also have such concerts, which I can hear them loud and clear from my room.

Worse of all, this is a weekday, which means people have to work or go to school the next day. I won't be too agitated if it was on a weekend or public holiday, but to have it on weekdays is really annoying. I really don't know what the police or the authorities are doing but to let them bang the drums and shout into the microphone at 9pm on a weekday night, in the middle of important school exams, meters away from residential blocks is totally absurd.

LATEST: I heard they have the right to play this until 10.30pm. So much of religious and racial tolerance, there is a limit. They passed this limit by a mile. I can't reason this out.

I am going for a run

2009-10-07T17:19:00.003+08:00

The new bejewelled is hard to see, and its too easy to get a high score with all the new features and everything. I had 150k in a few tries, and this is a few more tries.

When Promos are getting harder and harder every year, these games get easier and easier. The world is imba.

One last paper

2009-10-05T22:23:00.001+08:00

First stanza of Muse's MK Ultra from the album 'The Resistance':

"The wavelength gently grows,
Coercive notions re-evolve,
A universe is trapped inside a tear,
It resonates the core,
Creates unnatural laws,
Replaces love and happiness with fear"

Matt Bellamy knows his physics, but doesn't mean he needs to put it in lyrics.

Viewing Pleasure

2009-09-29T21:55:00.001+08:00

Chemistry Equilibrium, Ionic Equilibria, Solubility Product and Reaction Kinetics Quick Summaries
Summary not complete: Include pg 21 of Chem Eq, pg 11 of Ionic Eq, pg 13 and 30 of Rxn Kinetics notes.

GLHF.

Rate of Reaction was high

2009-09-26T16:20:00.002+08:00

Read this or miss it!

2009-09-26T00:44:00.001+08:00

When you've got 4 days, not minutes, to save the world...

Downloadable Notes:
Compiled Economics Notes (.docx version)
Compiled Economics Notes (.doc version)
List of Physics Formulas
List of Physics Definitions

© Copyrighted Lawrence Kam 2009. All rights reserved.
And of course, a lil fee is much appreciated. And help me check for errors.

To download, scroll down till you see "File URL". Below it there is "Save file to your PC". Click the "click here". Downloading may be slow. Live with it.

A-Muse-Sing

2009-09-21T16:56:00.003+08:00

Thanks Brandon for this video. Simply amazing stuff.

Video Background: This is a "live" performance of Uprising, a new single from Muse. And you should have taken note of the drummer at 0:19. Familiar? This will provide you a clue. Also, the intro riff of the song is played on an electric guitar, not a keyboard. If you still don't get it, look at the drummer throughout the whole song, or go watch this.

And lastly,

Picture Perfect

2009-09-21T01:02:00.002+08:00

I'm now at Inequalities for Math Rev Package

2009-09-19T21:34:00.002+08:00

Stress Relieving.

Imma turnin mugger. I betta spuck gud engwish. I go boomz with leperd preens and zebbra.

I Finished my Chinese Essay

2009-09-12T21:26:00.003+08:00

In the midst of a busy holiday (yeah the irony), I forked out some time to check out some youtube videos. Here's a recount of my youtube adventures.

Okay fine. music-videos-in-you-tube adventures.

1) Muse
Someone posted a video of their live performance in Facebook, and got me watching more. Not that i'm unfamiliar with Muse, but I've never watched their live performances. Now they're ranked as the second band to watch real life, the first being Coldplay.

Undisclosed Desires (Live at Teignmouth) - Muse

Mind the cheesy keytar first part. Song only starts at 1:28. This is a new song from their new album, and this is a good typical Muse song.

Knights of Cydonia (Live at Wembley) - Muse

One of the rare songs that sound better live than studio. Must admire the drummer for being able to last through this song. Not surprising this song made it into Guitar Hero.

Uprising (Live at Teignmouth) - Muse

Another new single from them. Gotta admire their weirdness in their songs.

It's a great wonder on how a 3 man band can come with some creative riffs and solos. And of course their music sounds great. Too bad their music videos are ultimate weirdness.

2) Cobra Starship
Introduced by the lovely singer who sang in physics lecture. They sang this funky song which despite her lovely voice, I took note of the weird chords and arrangement. And I came across this 'unknown' band.

Guilty Pleasure - Cobra Starship

Yeah and the lead singer can contest for the highest-pitched voice. The song's got a great deal of energy and it's fun to listen to... but the lyrics and the end of this video...

Bring It (Snakes on the plane)

Yep theme song for the movie Snakes on the Plane. A joint collaboration with Gym Class Heroes, The Academy Is and the Sounds. Good song, minus the annoying girl in the video. The acoustic version for this is not bad as well.

Billie Jean (acoustic Cover)

Not bad for an acoustic cover. Song only starts at 1:24. Lead singer's voice can't match Michael Jackson though.

Sadly, the rest of their songs aren't good.

---

Long post. But check out the music video for Strawberry Fields by Coldplay if you haven't done so.

I Finished my COE Tutorial

2009-09-11T15:37:00.001+08:00

I was trying to look for a "Fakebook" bookmark in my toolbar, when I realised the bookmark was actually named "Blog". I've also been clicking links inside without realising it isn't Facebook i'm staring at.

For those who don't have a clue what I'm talking about, there's something called my blog.

The Banana is Ripe

2009-09-10T17:48:00.011+08:00

Ahh the joy of finishing Integration III tutorial. Now moving on the feesicks.

That's how holidays are meant to be.

No, I don't use the banana to solve Maclaurin.

http://apps.facebook.com/areyouagoodhelper/

The Banana is Ripe

Mr Banana sat on the wall
Mr Banana had a great fall
Who would have thought that anyone would
Refuse to clean up the mess when they could

Mr Banana is face-flat on the ground
He cries for help with a great sound
But not the able nor the fit
Would stop to clean up his yellow meat

Mr Banana rots on the floor
Mr Banana is becoming a sore
Everyone who walked past that yellow goo
Expected someone else to clean up the poo

Mr Banana sat on the wall
Mr Banana had a great fall
No one knew, or rather no one cared
To clean him up, the choice which they always had

Container Houses

2009-09-05T21:12:00.005+08:00

You've gotta check this out: The Interlace at the former Gillman Heights Condo. Forget container classrooms. This brings in a whole new level of container living.

Going Global, Forgetting the Local

2009-09-03T23:23:00.004+08:00

Struggling Singaporeans and lucky Kiwis

AS THE parent of a rower from the victorious Singapore junior dragon boat team, I was glowing with pride - and gratified - to read Tuesday's report, 'Dragon boaters roar in Prague'.

For the past year or more, my daughter trained seven days a week and squeezed in additional time and labour between training to scour housing estates, collecting old newspapers and drink cans to help raise money to fund the trip to the Prague meet. She lugged these items from home to school as well. All this in addition to keeping up with her school work. My home was turned into a karung guni depot, stocked with old newspapers and drink cans.

Relatives chipped in by collecting these items and passing them to us during weekend family gatherings.

My neighbours must have thought we had financial problems.

I had to sacrifice my sleep to drive my daughter to training to save travel time and so she could get as much sleep as possible. She missed most weekend family gatherings around the dining table because of training or she was simply too pooped.

She - and we - made these sacrifices with one aim in mind: to send a national team to Prague and do Singapore proud. And it was mission accomplished for the 49-member squad of students who won four gold medals, three silvers and a bronze.

But here is the ironically disappointing postscript: My daughter and the team discovered that the national team from New Zealand which took part in the same championships was sponsored - by Singapore Airlines.

Dennis Tan
The Straits Times Forum, 3 September 2009

Twenty-three storeys up

2009-09-01T22:57:00.002+08:00

What you won't be able to see at Farrer: Clouds hovering above the hill.

Took this picture after the rain. Looks like Singapore's high enough to reach the clouds. Or maybe the trees were smoking. Yeah, everything is possible when you have buildings glowing at night.

Have you seen the new SJI canteen toilets? It's world-class I tell you. And that's the only thing that changed other than a new fence, new gantries, new vending machine, new container classrooms and a new principal. Ceteris Paribus.

Brighty Brighty Night

2009-08-28T21:30:00.003+08:00

Night scene from the window. Taken a few days ago.

It was a cold and chilly night, around 8.30pm. The sky was supposed to be dark, but look at the glow from the buildings. It seemed like someone was shining a giant white light into the sky. There are two likely reasons: the bright ghosts flew to Jurong or the haze was just too bad. Either way, this is a bad case of light pollution.

For a country with 5 stars on the national flag, and one NDP song on looking at the stars, it's ironic that we don't see any stars in the sky or in Singapore Idol.

Maybe buildings glow in the night because concrete is a light-dependent resistor.

The Tale of Two Wallets [Part 2]

2009-08-24T23:04:00.006+08:00

Past the Fashion Gate, beginning of a brand new fate. Billabong enters his first day at work, full of energy and stamina. Yet as every minute goes by, he slowly loses his pace, and now finds himself at the bottom. His hopes and dreams vanished like a PW strategy, and he wonders how long he can last. He notices his balding, and knows one day he will end up like QuikSilver. He needs an energy pack.

He carries more than he could, dragged down with every name card and every silver coin, every Ringgit note and every ticket stub. And he knows that if the NJC attendance card wasn't so thick, he would be very much better off. He enters the cycle of dread, the pain and agony of work life. It hurts, but he cannot stop. And it hurts even more.

It's only the beginning, yet the end seems eternally far away. Worst of all, he knows that despite his acts and achievements, his reward is to join QuikSilver in the Valley of Trash, otherwise known as the Great Barrier Grief. He is young and able, but with his energy-sapping work, he wonders whether he can find meaning in Wallet life. Even good-sounding things like spas are now evil.

He thinks of people that changed the Human World. Martin iDream Luther King (MILK) changed the history of the subclass in American forever. Wayne Rooney, even though he looks like a bulldog, has reassured his fans that squirrel-faced Ronaldo ain't a Real loss. Big names, big dreams, but he knows he is only a wallet. He is only one of a kind.

It is hard for him to look beyond himself to see the bigger picture. He is in pain, yet he has to continue working hard, for what gain? There is no reward for him at the end anyway, so why should he perservere? Every wallet knows that life is a misery, yet they refuse to admit it. And life never changes for the Wallets. And Billabong knows, unless he does something, he will end up like the friend he met down the road. What's the point of servant leadership, then?

It is said, "History remembers the heroes, the rest are losers." Judging by the response of 'save the cheerleader, save the world' and the ever-confusing plane crash plot, he sadly knows the quote is unfortunately true. His life needs no reminders, even Viva la Vida was written for wallets like him and QuikSilver. As da Silva lies beneath the Valley of Trash, almost forgotten by the world, Billabong lies in pain and efforts in vain. It hurts, but what can he do? The more he does, the more it hurts.

If you read up to here, you will find that the point of this is that I've got a headache.

The Tale of Two Wallets

2009-08-23T22:38:00.004+08:00

One fine day, Billabong and QuikSilver were walking down the street. Billabong said, "Hey Silva, you look old today!" QuikSilver nodded in agreement, replying, "Sia la Bong of coz I noe tat!" Billabong scanned QuikSilver from head to toe, noting all the scratches and skin peeling, and thought to himself, "One day I'm gonna be like him". QuikSilver on the other side, scanned Billabong from head to toe, noting his smooth complexity and perfection, and thought to himself, "Did he undergo plastic surgery?"

You see, everything around QuikSilver was old and dirty. His neighbours, Mr Nokiaa, had many more great falls than Humpty Dumpty, and Mr Creative MuVo needed to cover himself up using unwanted plastic. Billabong on the other hand, was not fresh off the shelf, but instead remained stagnant in the shelf for a long time, singing the album 'It won't be soon before long'.

QuikSilver was a Malaysian. Though his name boasts of great fashion and admiration, he was a cheapo pirate. He was only in fact worthed the 10 Ringgit note that is now carried by Billabong. QuikSilver had served his master for a long time, thus explaining his current looks and experience. Yet as the Wallet World is as cruel as the Economic World, the old has to go; the new has to come. Yes, wallets practice the end part of 2 Corinthians 5:17 very faithfully.

Continuing down the road, it came to a point where only one could pass the 'Fashion Gate'. The answer seemed obvious, Billabong being more good-looking than Dr Leo J. And it is always such a pity that the old and experienced ones often have to chuck themselves away for new ones to enter. QuikSilver knew his time was up, and had to be separated with Billabong, a friend he met down the road.

As they said their last goodbyes, both knew life afterwards will be a challenging journey ahead. For Billabong, it was the start of worklife, being around with new friends and enduring rough treatment in the dirty grey compartment. QuikSilver, on the other hand, begins his new journey with an end. A long and faithful servant, he will be dearly remembered. His new home is now the great Valley of Trash, an unfitting ending for his life.

That was how the Wallet World is, cruel to those who burn out, gracious to those who fit in. Yet sooner or later the new will grow old, and the whole vicious cycle repeats. The life of a Wallet had little purpose, to do their job and receive no reward, only to be cast out at the end. Such pity, such agony, for they provide much and gain nothing.

For QuikSilver, his time is fast running out. But for Billabong, marching past the 'Fashion Gate', he starts the ordinary worklife of a Wallet. However he is new and young. There are things he could do, changes he could make, and plenty of time to find his meaning of Wallet life. But, as we reach the tail of this tale, will he?

For those who are reading up to here, you should realise that the whole point is that I've gotten a new wallet.

That's why we could put a man on the moon

2009-08-22T21:47:00.003+08:00

Introducing man's greatest invention

Background: My mp3 player has its on/off buttons exposed and there is no lock function. Thus whenever i put in my pocket it may accidentally on and drain all the battery.

What you need:

A mp3 player, a used contact lens case and a rubberband

Fit them together...

Tadahh you've got a mp3 cover which now covers the stupid buttons!

And you can flip it up to press the buttons anytime you want!

No wonder we can put a man on the moon.

2009-08-08T21:43:00.001+08:00

With SuperBrie, what do you See?

[Verse 1]
Caught a Foxy with a DeathBot, at the Great Gnarled Tree
And with it came another loot, a dozen of Swiss cheese
I could make a trap if I am keen or get a new map piece
or travel to the Mountain top and maybe catch Zombies
With SuperBrie, with SuperBrie

[Chorus 1]
Gone are the days of Cheddar, look how far I have come
Now here at the Whisker, it is time to have some fun
With a bait and trap, catching the mice in Calm Clearing
With SuperBrie, with SuperBrie

[Verse 2]
Now the time has come to craft out, the best trap you'll see
The Arcane Capturing Rod Of Never Yielding Mystery
As thoughts of reaching Tribal Isles, as hard as it may seem
With hope and desperation, I will catch a Nerg Chief
With SuperBrie, with SuperBrie

[Chorus 2]
Bought hundred more Gouda, look how far I have come
With all my successes, I will sure be number one
With an ACRONYM, imagine all the mice it may bring
With SuperBrie, with SuperBrie

[Bridge]
And life makes you climb up a mountain
You'll see that hunting's gonna brighten your day
Together we can clean up S.S. Huntington
with a group of a million more

[Chorus 3]
Caught my hundreth Hydra, look how I far have come
Been to all the places, there is nothing I've not done
With my horn and calls, imagine all the rewards from the King
I've been sounding the hunter's horn since the day I was born
With SuperBrie, with SuperBrie

2009-07-21T13:48:00.001+08:00

THE OLD MANCHESTER ARMY
Charaterized by Players above the age of 25

GK: Edwin van der Sar (age 38)
DF (L-R): Patrice Evra (age 28), Rio Ferdinand (age 30), Nemanja Vidic (age 27), Gary Neville (age 34)
MD (L-R): Ryan Giggs (age 25), Paul Scholes (age 34), Michael Carrick (age 27), Park Ji Sung (age 28)
ST: Michael Owen (age 29), Dimitar Berbatov (age 28)

THE YOUNG MANCHESTER ARMY
Characterized by Players below the age of 25, with the exception of Ben Foster.

The Older Youths
GK: Ben Foster (age 26)
DF (L-R): Ritchie De Laet (age 19), Jonny Evans (age 21), James Chester (age 20), Danny Simpson (age 22)
MD (L-R): Nani (age 22), Darron Gibson (age 21), Anderson (age 21), Antonio Valencia (age 23)
ST: Mame Biram Diouf (age 21), Wayne Rooney (age 23)

The Younger Youths
GK: Ben Amos (age 19)
DF (L-R): Fabio Da Silva (age 19), Cory Evans (age 18), Craig Cathcart (age 20), Rafael Da Silva (age 19)
MD (L-R): Zoran Tosic (age 22), Rodrigo Possebon (age 20), Adem Ljiajic (age 17), Danny Welbeck (age 18)
ST: Federico Macheda (age 17), Gabriel Obertan (age 20)

2009-07-03T22:23:00.001+08:00

Real Madrid is crazy. I know my recent posts are all about soccer cos that's the only thing I want to talk about. Yangon is prohibited, so are exams.

But yeah never felt so relaxed after my common tests because I know God was and is with me throughout the week.

Anyway Real Madrid have an overload of stars. Here's how their lineup might look like next season:

GK: Iker Casillas
DF: Gabriel Heinze, Raul Abiol, Fabio Cannavaro, Sergio Ramos
MD: Franck Ribery, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo
ST: Raul Gonzales, Karim Benzema, David Villa

Big-name substitues available:

DF: Christoph Metzelder, Michel Salgado, Pepe
MD: Guti, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijer, Rafael Van der Vaart
ST: Klass Jan Huntelaar, Javier Saviola, Ruud van Nistelrooy

Even though David Villa looks like he's staying at Valencia, Real Madrid still has a plenty of players to replace him.

Comparing the Spanish Giants to the English Giants:

GK: Edwin Van der Sar
DF: Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, John O'Shea
MD: Park Ji Sung, Michael Carrick, Anderson, Antonio Valencia
ST: Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov

SUBS LIST:
GK: Ben Foster, Tomasz Kuszczak
DF: Wes Brown, Gary Neville, Fabio and Rafael, Jonathan Evans
MD: Nani, Paul Scholes, Darron Gibson, Darren Fletcher, Zoran Tosic
ST: Michael Owen, Danny Welbeck, Federico Macheda

The difference in quality is simply, huge.

2009-07-01T21:05:00.001+08:00

On second thoughts, I think the Manyoo kit looks like an Asian club jersey, or a racing car.

---

100 years on: At its peak, now set to fall

The kit is a special commemoration of 100 years in Old Trafford, and when they won their first FA Cup in 1909. Since then, Man Yoo's had their ups and downs, but have remained England's greatest club in history, winning a record number of titles including the most number of league titles. Manchester United of 2009 has shown truly why they are simply the best, by winning the Premier League yet again. But at the top of the world, there is no where to go but down. The world champions could not fend out the mighty Barca from stealing the Champions League Trophy from their hands. And in the midst of a major global financial crisis and a flu virus outbreak, Manchester United have just found themselves in a crisis of their own.

With two magical players gone, one who propelled himself and his club to the highest, the other whose workrate is simply amazing and has gotten goals for his club, Sir Alex Ferguson now finds himself with a shortage of stars. Not a Manchester fan can doubt Ronaldo's contribution at his time with the Red Devils. His ability to create chances, score from seemingly impossible positions and terrorize both flanks is irreplaceable. He was too important for Fergie to let him go, after building a club around him and gaining success after success. But 80 million pounds was more than enough to persuade his boss to let him join the Spanish giants. Tevez, found more often on the bench with Berbatov's arrival, has decided to leave after a painful season. After a two season loan spell, a new contract came too late as Carlos is set to move to the other side of Manchester. His goals will never be forgotten by the Manchester United faithful, as he contributed to two winning season in two short seasons.

The void left empty by the two departing players seem impossible to fill unless Ferguson splashes his money on some big signings. However, it seems the void won't be the only thing that will pull Manchester United down like gravity. A lack of a proper right back, ageing players, inexperienced youth players and goal-empty strikers are just examples of Manchester's woes on the pitch.

Manchester United's pride is usually the defence: the brick wall of Stretford. Over the years Ferguson had a steady line of defence, with confident hands covering the goal. Since the departure of Schmeichel, they brought in a number of keepers, mostly were flops. Edwin van der Sar now covers the goal, and his commanding aura has strengthen the defence. Vidic and Ferdinand now seem inseparable. Evra is now a regular feature on the left but the right has recently become a problem. O'Shea's appearance in the final against Barcelona shows his weakness, Wes Brown has not appeared in a long time, Gary Neville's over-aged and the Da Silva's are inexperienced. Ferguson would love to sign Glen Johnson, which have already been snapped up by Liverpool. Van der Sar's set to retire soon, and Ben Foster's lack of match experience means United will need another established keeper. Hopefully the center backs, with Johnny Evans rising up, will cover up the frailities of the sides of the defence.

Ronaldo's departure has left a deep hole, which Rooney is reluctant to cover. Park Ji Sung and Nani are possible replacements, but both don't possess the magic of Ronaldo and his free kicks. The new signing of Valencia may sound great, but Manchester United fans won't be too pleased that their star for recent years have been replaced by a Wigan winger. However, Ferguson would hope to develop this 23 year old into a global star, similar to Ronaldo and Beckham. That would take a number of years, and in the meantime United will need to find new inspiration. The left side is also a problem, as no one has been able to fill the shoes of Giggs. Park and Nani are uncomfortable on the left, and a left footed winger may just fill that spot well. Right now, Ferguson needs to be more active in the transfer window, before all their targets get snapped up by Real Madrid and Manchester City.

Berbatov's unimpressive debut season has raised doubts over his record transfer fee. However it's good to note that not everyone Manchester United signed for such a fee impressed in their first season. Ferdinand, for a similar 30 million found transfer fee, did not impress at the start and it seemed like a waste of money to have bought him. Now he's forms the rock at the back. Ronaldo took a while as well, so did Carrick, and many other Manchester's current regulars. Rooney's tendency to play as a out-of-the-penalty-box striker leaves a space in front of goal, often filled by Ronaldo, Berbatov and Tevez. With Tevez gone, United's back up strikers are now Macheda and Welbeck, who are still too young, even though they have shown what they are capable of. Still, a fearsome striker is now needed - one who can score goals.

The 09/10 season is set to look disappointing for the Red Devils, a common charateristic following their peaks. It might take another Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy or Ronaldo, whom all were sold to Spain, to fire up Manchester United. For now, Ferguson has the monetary power to choose his players wisely.

2009-06-28T00:27:00.001+08:00

Sorry for slow update heh.

Looks like i can't post anything about Yangon except that it is really a beautiful city with beautiful people.

This june holiday, i must say, have been one of the most productive holiday i've ever gone through. I've compiled one whole set of econs notes, studied econs to the brim, created self notes for chem energetics, created formula sheet to remember for physics, completed a large percentage of math revision package, did one full physics paper, gone through all my physics notes, did chem bonding III tutorial, read up a tweeny bit on GP but nothing on chinese. Looks like I won't hand in my chinese book review on time. Other productive stuff include a one week break in Yangon, getting highscores in Crazy Taxi, Waka waka and Typing Maniac, and reaching Master rank in Mousehunt.

Okay the last sentence ain't really productive stuff except yangon.

Exams are just 2 days away and i guess i did as much as i could during the last week of june, considering that i'm the type who can concentrate on studying and homework for one hour maximum. Somehow i'm not so worried about the exams anymore, somehow i feel that God will bring me through this period in some way. I've already prepared to fail most subjects so if my results are poor I won't be too bothered by it. I guess I'll just be thankful in all the small things in life rather than base my happiness on the results i get.

The new Manyoo kit looks quite cool. It's got a black chevron at the chest level. The kit's meant to commemorate 100 years or something like that. Anyway I've seen through some new jerseys from other teams and here's what i feel:

Arsenal: Home jersey remains the same, and that's good, while away jersey looks better than the yellow one.
Chelsea: I really have no comments on their outfits. It looks like a bare-chested man.
Liverpool: Home jersey doesn't change, again, while the away jersey's much better than their grey one. And it's nice.
Newcastle: I've never liked black and white stripes but that can't be changed. What can be changed is the banana stripes of their away jersey.
Aston Villa: Away jersey is plain white. Reminds me of Leeds.
Real Madrid: No changes, maybe no money after buying ronaldo.
Barcelona: Back to striped blue and red, sadly. Away jersey looks like an orange vested traffic controller.
Blackburn: The away jersey is white, but i guess they'll need to use their third kit more next season.
West Ham: Away jersey's a dark navy blue, but could do much without a light blue stripe vertically across.

Overall Best: This is gonna sound biased, but the Home jersey award's to Manyoo. Not too fanciful but a very classic outfit. Away jersey goes to Liverpool, for their blackish grey with gold crest, stripes and adidas sign. Way better than their grey outfit last season.

Overall Worst: Chelsea. I don't know what adidas is doing with their design of Chelsea home shirt. Looks awfully weird with most clubs going for classic and simplistic designs. The away jersey no better, but I wouldn't call it the worst. The banana stripes of Newcastle's away jersey reminds me of holiday in bananaland. But honestly yellow jerseys look good on the pitch.

I can't wait to see Chelsea play at Stamford Bridge. They look like blue robots with padding on their chests, and with the samsung sign, they look like handphones.

2009-06-02T23:39:00.001+08:00

Forgot to mention one thing: don't enter the church/jym website for the time being. The website has been infected with a virus. So if you visit the website now all you'll see is blank pages. Don't worry I've backed up the jym side of the website. Just don't visit the website as the virus might infect your computer and may not be easy to remove.

In the meantime, enjoy videos that KennY has kindly put up in the jym Facebook group. Cheerios.

2009-06-01T21:30:00.002+08:00

The free medal. It's bronze not gold btw. It's such a nice medal but pity i didn't have to do anything for it, cos there were only three people in the race.

---

Monthly update hmmm? Too many till I can't remember.

Let's start with the more pressing issue of why Manyoo lost to Barca. Well at least the deserving team won a side which looked messy and out of place. Manyoo's lineup weren't complete enough and inexperienced young players like Anderson failed to perform. O'shea was particularly weak at his flank and the strikers didn't get much of the ball. Bringing on Tevez did not help either. Ultimately the two goals came from careless losses of the ball from Manyoo.

The midfield might have been more stable with Carrick and Scholes, more chances could have been created with Tevez playing from the start and a proper right back is sorely needed. Looks like Manyoo may need to do more work in the transfer season to bring players who create magic (eg Messi and Ronaldo) for a team in mess.

But anyway Manyoo showed the world who the bosses of England were. Strangely, Manyoo's the World Champion, English Champion but not European Champions.

Good thing there was rock band to drown all my sorrows in.

---

"During the past century god has been trivialized, packaged for entertainment, presented as a sort of psychological panacea, as heavenly glue to keep happy families together, a celestial slot machine to respond to our whims, a formula for success, a fund raiser for pseudoreligious enterprises, a slick phrase for bumper stickers, and a sort of holy pie and ice cream." - Dr. John White

I went to Khai Soon's church for his baptism last sunday, and I must say the style of service is very much different from St James. It is more of the traditional hymn singing which I got pretty used to quickly (ain't the first time I've been to such a church). The sermon was on spiritual discipline, and the quote above describes how the present generation has lost it's awe of God. Has God been a god of convenience, or a help-machine? It seems like there's nothing to fear about the phrase 'fear God' anymore. Are we able to 'stand in awe of God'?

---

Okay next up on the list: Left 4 Dead.

Pretty good game, though very much limited. One main criticism of the game was the lack of a storyline, where the introduction shoots straight into 2 weeks after the infection. And where's the link between the different movies (No Mercy, Dead Air, Blood Harvest) or is there any link at all? The game focuses on co-op play for both survivors and infected, and is no sense an easy game to play. What the game lacks is the amount of maps (it's only a few maps over and over again), the amount of weapons (weapon selection is little) and of course the limited (or non-existent) plot.

Still worth playing.

---

I really don't know what else to blog about, maybe how well my Restaurant is doing?

2009-04-19T20:42:00.002+08:00

Check out my positions. 7-11 hahaha.

What an eventful season, and a really event full one indeed.

Because nationals was pushed forward from July to April due to AYG, all the competitions and events were squeezed into a short period of three/four months. And really thank God that I've survived yet another track season, and I'm really looking forward to next year's.

And I still don't understand why on earth was I chosen to run for 4x400. But yeah I hit my personal best for 400 and I joined sprints team, for a week. Now I'm back to long d.

And yeah, 600% improvement for the guys team!

I just ate McDonalds for lunch :D It felt pretty weird.

---

Some people don't get what's the fun about running. Jogging may be fun, but definitely not running. But enjoyment comes from within: if you choose to enjoy it, you will enjoy it. And it's certainly the accomplishments you feel when you get to the finish line that will make you look back and say, "Well that was great". And unless we have a right attitude towards running, we won't go far.

Three years I've been in cross country, and I regret my first year very much. That was the year I chose to skip training every monday, the year I got injured, the year I ran a time trial before my actual race. And that year I chose to look back and say, "When will I quit track?". Second year was slightly better, though I stated my intentions to quit track after nationals much clearer. I felt track was boring, mundane, and all you do is run and kill yourself.

I don't know what exactly turned me to now have a passion for track. I guess it's when I looked back at the start of my NJC life, and looked at myself now, I realised that every year I've been improving and improving, because of track. And I had failed to realised that it was this very CCA that got me to where I am today. So why do I regret my first year very much? Because I wasted a chance to improve much more than I had.

In cross country, I've done many things that people wouldn't have done: Ran two hours around the track? Check. Ran till you collapsed at the finish line? Check. Ran till you can't think properly? Check. Ran till you got yourself hurt? Check. Ran under the sun and rain? Check. Ran a steeplechase race? Check. Ran until you couldn't talk? Check. Ran till you had chest pains? Check. Ran till you had headache? Check.

And in cross country, you can only improve.

---

Life is pretty much like a race. When you start a race, everyone's rushing, hoping to get into a good position so that you will continue with the momentum and ultimately finish in that good position. But unfortunately things don't turn out that way. You sometimes overtake, sometimes fall behind. Your mind starts battling with your heart. Do you stop? Do you slow down? Do you go faster? Do you chase that guy? Is it too early to push? Will you die out later? Doubts enter your mind, and it's only up to you to choose what to believe in. People get tired not just because their legs are tired, they get tired because their minds are fighting hard. Some people die out, some people perservere.

The ultimate aim is not to reach the finish line, but to reach the finish line fast and strong. When you run a race, you not only need to strategize and think about your race, but also clear doubts that slow or stop you. You need to concentrate and be focused on your aim, your targets, your goals. Whether the race is a short or long one, the ultimate aim is all the same.

So in life, will you run a good race? Will you reach your targets, goals, aims? Will you look back from the finish line and have no regrets? We face problems, difficulties, and we have doubts. People seem to be doing much better than you. But look at it this way: you aren't the only one running. There are people doing much worse than you too. A race without competitors is nothing. These competitors will suffer and go through the same things you do. By encouraging each other and running with perserverance, the race marked out for us, we can look back at life's end and know we've run a good race.

Will you go?

---

God has been tremendous in all the races I've run. He calms my nerves and keeps me going during my race. And thank God for all my results.

2009-04-10T21:20:00.003+08:00

There we go! Missed a medal by 1.06 secs.

Sorry for the lack of updates. Heh.

---

Tuesday marked the toughest training I've ever done this year. Just the thought of it made me shiver. I was less than confident to finish, and I knew it would take a miracle for me to finish the workout. So while NJC were playing against AJC in soccer, I was killing myself around the track.

To run and collapse at the finish line 5 times, ain't as easy as you think. And after the workout, my calves hurt, had lactic, backache, shoulder ache, chest pains, tired abs and thighs, and headache.

---

Something's wrong with Man Yoo's defending: Ronaldo's too lazy to run back to defend, even if he's the one that lost the ball, Evra's marking is terrible and very lazy in defending, Vidic has too many to take care off, Evans not experienced enough, G Neville runs forward to much, O Shea playing more of midfield...

2009-03-31T23:31:00.001+08:00

http://casanovastory.blogspot.com/

Sounds kinda fake. Don't wanna make any claims though.

17 year old living on the streets of Singapore? Hard to imagine.
So what's the address on his/her IC? Nothing? Non-existent?

And it really seems too much of an april fools joke.

So whoever that person is, the story better be real, if not...

2009-03-25T23:33:00.001+08:00

A mere second.

I just didn't have that mental strength to push earlier. I started off really well, but I just lost concentration and people started overtaking me. I was in a position for that top 20, until the last few turns, when I decided to hold back and not push earlier. I should really have done much better, but I just didn't. I wasn't strong enough.

It's a pity when you know you're that close but yet so far away.

However I feel much more pity for the guy in front of me. He missed his chance of medal by a fraction of a second.

And when reality sets in, it sets in pretty hard. Good thing I was prepared for this.

I know I've probably put in as much as I could, and I've ran a good race. It's just the thought of a second away that really makes things crash.

And that marks the end of a medal-less cross country season for me. Two races, 1 second behind, no medals for both.

---

The weather was horrible. The sun was up and burning. The heat was tremendous.

---

If any recall, last year I said I wanted to quit track after nationals. It was two long years for me already in track, and I was really feeling the boredom and the tiredness of the trainings and races. In fact, the motivation for me when I was running my nats 3000m last year was that that would be my last year on that track. I don't know why but I somehow knew I would be still running this year. Maybe because I've not thought of any other cca to join.

End of last year, I decided to myself that I will to commit to track.

The build-up to this race was intense. However, I never really pushed during trainings like I usually do last time. I just ran to hit timings, maybe a little faster on the last one, but generally never pushed until I'm out. Maybe I've become fitter, but I've become much weaker mentally, because I don't know how much I can really push myself until I'm dead.

Missing out on a medal for Swift Akira was tough, but I took it as a motivation to get a medal of this race. In fact, that medal for Swift Akira wasn't important to me at all; this one meant more. But I really lost a lot of confidence after the informal race with hwa chong. To lose to most of the hwa chong runners is as good as losing a lot of positions in the actual race.

Picking up confidence was tough, but I did on the next few days. Till sunday came with the realisation, of how much a medal actually meant to me.

And monday, and tuesday, and today.

And looking forward, and running forward.

2009-03-24T20:38:00.001+08:00

Twenty Five.

It takes hard work to get to the starting line.
It takes determination to see yourself on the starting line.
It takes courage to stand on the starting line.
It takes power to start from the starting line.
It takes confidence to see the finish line.
It takes strength to run to the finish line.
It takes endurance to get near the finish line.
It takes perserverance to reach the finish line.
It takes will to cross the finish line.

---

"...let us throw off everything that hinders ... and let us run with perserverance the race marked out for us."

2009-03-22T22:28:00.001+08:00

Wednesday.

It's that after you've been working so hard for a medal, for a position, for a name, for an achievement, that reality hits you that thieves will steal and moth will destroy the things on earth.

What you treasure, what you seek after, is where your heart is.

I've always wanted to get a top 20 position for nationals, and I know I have a good enough chance of getting that medal, but today it striked me, or God did, that what I'm running after is not just the medal, but to be recognised, to be known, to boost my confidence and ego, to be proud.

What am I training so hard for, putting my whole life into every step of my run? That the result ruins my soul?

This wednesday, I'll put in everything to run, to run for the glory of the One above, who so beautifully and wonderfully made me, to grant me this talent that I have. And that whatever position I get, it will not matter anymore, for God is and will be in control. Let He be praised.

Whatever position I get, let glory be to God.

2009-03-18T21:06:00.001+08:00

HOSTEL/PRISON PICTURES on Facebook

---

Today's informal race really showed me that top 20 position ain't that easy after all.
But yeah, never know unless you try.
Unless you even dare to start.
1 week left.

2009-03-16T00:14:00.001+08:00

The weekends can never get worse.

Weekend 1: 28 February

In the morning was training at bedok. So there was this 1 hour on the mrt standing up. Training ended around 11 plus, and I was quite tired already. I had an appointment to go cycling with hostel ppl at East Coast so I initially wanted to hang around in Tampines, for three hours.

But the wait was too long so I decided to go Raffles Place, get a Subway, go back to hostel, take a shower, wash some clothes and then meet them. In the end there was only a few guys plus two teachers. So the teacher drove us to East Coast and we cycled for an hour or so.

Then I rushed off to the other side of Singapore at West Coast to play for the soccer match. I scored my first goals ever for SJFC in a full field match, both were very lucky goals. But yeah, my goal tally is now 2.

And I don't know how I could sustain a cross country training, cycling and soccer in a day.

---

Weekend 2: 6-7 March

There was this Leadership camp our class had to conduct in Zhenghua Primary so on Friday I left for Zhenghua at around 4.30pm. I was quite drained out already so I didn't know how I will be able to survive. So the first event was station games, which was rather last-minute planned by me. I kept running around because I was quite afraid that the games were too boring or didn't work. In all, I was proud of my games haha, and much prouder of the people who ran the games. They did a terrific job. I slept early that night on a few classroom tables. And you know you can never sleep well on classroom tables.

The saturday was greeted by tying water bombs and some stuff. I was too tired to be with my group so apologies to whoever took my group. After the water bombs and the newspaper tower games, I had to rush off for my race at bedok, which I tell you I was in no mood and condition to run.

And I took the LRT back home, ate lunch and rushed to bedok. Only to just reach there in time before it started raining. The race wasn't cancelled, much to the disappointment of many, and the coach wanted us to run. So when the rain subsided, the race went on and I think the number of runners were halved. I didn't even have time to warm up and the race just started. The route was like a ankle deep river and I didn't go all out.

Found out I was 11th, missing out a 10th spot and a medal by a mere second. Frustrating.

No prizes for guessing what time I slept.

---

Weekend 3: 13-16 March

Friday the 13th was the day I got released from prison. In fact, I was chased out of the cell. Because my roommate was checking out earlier than me, and we needed someone to check the room before we can book out, so the lady checked his side and my side of the room as well. And forced me to go downstairs and not loiter around in the room anymore. So I booked out 2 hours early. And had to call my father to pick me up earlier.

Saturday was training in bedok as usual, and then I went off to Harding Rd to do the carnival. I was quite tired and when I was doing my shift, my back hurted so bad I couldn't really bend forward. After clearing up and everything, Darren, Hsin Qin and Kenny came over.

To watch Man Yoo get beaten up.. for once.

Sunday after church was myrtle cell outing, so after getting false information, I took the wrong bus home. I ended up near the Old Ford Factory. I decided to run back home. I went to get citadels and some money and ran to West Mall. Then I took a bus down to the Ho's.

I ate a few slices of pizzas. Oops.

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Prison Break pictures up on Facebook.
And Man Yoo's still top.

2009-02-16T21:22:00.001+08:00

ENERGIZER OFFICIAL PROMOTION SONG

[Verse 1]
Superstar, where you from? How's it going?
I know you got no clue what you're buying
You can buy brand new batteries that're on sale out here
But I know what you need, what you need, baby

[Verse 2]
Look at you gettin' more than just a mix up
Baby, you got all the batteries with their screw ups
Fakin' like a good one but I know 'em when I see 'em
I know what you need, what you need, baby

[Chorus]
Energizer, Ener-Engerizer, you need Energizer
Oh, Energizer, oh, you need Energizer baby
You, you-you need, you, you-you need
Energizer, Energizer, Energizer, Energizer

Boy it's right in front
I-I know that-that's what you need need-need
Boy it's right in front
I-I know that-that's what you need need-need

(Whoo!) They are amazin'
(Whoo!) They're all so lastin'
(Whoo!) Others can't do it
(Whoo!) That's Energizer

Boy it's right in front
I-I know that-that's what you need need-need
Boy it's right in front
I-I know that-that's what you need need-need

(Whoo!) New technology
(Whoo!) Ain't ordinary
(Whoo!) You need nothing but a
(Whoo!) Energizer

[Verse 3]
Perfecto, you bought the battery of a champion
And good for you, you just did find the right opinion
I guess they last amazingly, and stays hard, full of energy
What you need, that's just what you need, baby

[Verse 4]
Any shop, they all sell the Energizer
"Never Say Die", that's the slogan you must remember
Check it, test it how you want it
But no way it's never gonna fail for you, never you, baby

[Bridge]
Surely it is the best battery in the world, yeah
And it is all good and maybe better than your girl
Number one, 'cause it rocks, whoo!

2009-02-14T22:04:00.001+08:00

My blog is so dead because NJ Boarding School refuses to have internet. So most of time I'm left internetless.

I finally completed GTA IV Story Missions on a LAPTOP with a 256 MB VIDEO CARD and a CORE 2 DUO PROCESSOR with a 3GB RAM. The game was so lag and the graphics were so bad I took a while to do most missions. But yeah, completing the story missions on my laptop is an incredible achievement.

Short Game Review:
GTA IV has a lot of expectations to live up to after the success of San Andreas. The amount of weapons and vehicles were much lesser. The landscape was mainly urban, unlike San Andreas' urban, rural, country and desert landscape. Missing from GTA IV was the ability to drive a plane and a tank. The missions were more down-to-earth and focused, unlike San Andreas' wide array of missions. Overall GTA IV has failed to better its San Andreas version for me. However what I liked about GTA IV was the amazing detail put into every part of the city, the cover system, improved physics, handphone and internet usage, and much more new (and interesting) features. I'm really looking forward to the next version of GTA. One note of caution: never play GTA on a laptop.

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Life In Technicolor ii - Coldplay
Coldplay produces great music videos, but I've never seen something as weird this.

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Scolari sacked???

2009-01-27T12:13:00.004+08:00

LONG OVERDUE POST.

SOUTH AFRICA PICS PART ONE

SOUTH AFRICA PICS PART TWO

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Happy Chinese New Year everyone. My blog will be more updated when Boreding School finally has internet.

2009-01-14T08:19:00.001+08:00

Lawrence is in school and he has a free period, and since the hostel provides no internet, he is blogging now, because he is bored anyway.

2009-01-03T01:26:00.001+08:00

I'm taking a new year's break. Updating will be done when my break's over, which could be in months.

2008-12-25T00:13:00.001+08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

You know, when holidays are extended, christmas doesn't really feel like christmas anymore haha.

2008-12-23T08:13:00.001+08:00

I will do a fuller update later:

Don't ask me why I'm blogging at 8am. I couldn't sleep on the plane which means I've been awake since 1pm yesterday. Okay fine I took a short nap around 6pm.

And the only message I've received on my phone is a track relay message which says I've got training later in the afternoon. Well don't expect someone who has jetlagged 6 hours to go for that.. Unless there's a present for me.

South Africa's amazing. We even had a chance to visit Hillsong Cape Town. Other details will come soon. And my definition of soon is rather vague I guess?

Now I need to sleep after a long train ride back home.

- UPDATE 24/12 -

It's Christmas Eve and I'm still stuck in African Timing! I ate prata past midnight (which is dinner time in s. africa), slept around 2 or 3 am (around 9pm in s. africa), woke up at 1.30pm today (which is 7.30am in s. africa) and didn't eat any lunch!

Help!

2008-12-12T23:44:00.001+08:00

Normally I would do a christmas blog template but I'm really on for this. And while I'm at South Africa, I hope you'll read this blog post and check out the JYM Website.

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There's always something amazing about church camps; they're more than just fun. They give experiences that the world cannot provide.

The day before the camp, while I was doing last minute preparations, I was told that my group will only start with 4 members including myself. I was really demoralised, and asked God to not let that pull down the whole camp. And God gave me a group with amazing energy, that even though we are small in numbers, we are big in strength. All I had to do was just to let my group do all the work. I'm glad I'll be with them for another year.

Unlike how I blog about OBS, I won't talk about the activities that happened each day. Rather I want to talk about God, because he is far more important that all the games and food and sleep. Amidst all the fun, church camps are more importantly about God, because without God, the church wouldn’t stand.

The first session I was bewildered at how God revealed himself to Joseph Chean. It was something I could believe, but it was something I couldn't imagine happening to me. I was thinking: God coming in a flash of light calling him by name? Won't happen to me.

I have been living a life of head knowledge and not heart faith. God exists in my head, but not in my heart. So when the speaker mentioned a verse in Psalms that God's precious thoughts about me outnumbers the number of grains of sand, I could believe it in my head because well, He's God. But my heart was stubborn to believe because after all, when did I ever feel God thinking about me?

After Joseph Chean’s challenge to ask God what were his plans and purposes for our lives, I did 'pillow talk' with God on the second night, with the excuse of staying up to make sure everyone in the bunk was asleep. Firstly, I asked God where He was, or rather, where was I. I talked to Him about how I believed He had been ignoring me because I keep having this feeling that He was shutting out my prayers. Every time I prayed, it felt like a one-way communication: questions with no reply. Secondly I wanted to know his plans and purposes for me. I told Him I could feel Him, but never heard Him. Inside I wished something amazing would happen, like how God revealed himself to Joseph Chean. I remember clearly I asked God if he could speak through a voice. Looking back, I thought I was really demanding of God, but I really wanted to be assured He's really there, for me. I ended the pillow talk asking God to surprise me. Throughout the short half hour or so, Christian songs kept playing my head. I found one main similarity between all the songs that were in my head: Nothing is too great, too difficult for God. I came to the conclusion that night that I should never doubt God.

After walking around the bunk to check that everyone was asleep, I went to sleep too. I asked God to give me a good rest and that when I wake up, I'll be full of energy and not get tired during devotions. And that was exactly what happened. I woke up full of energy and was wide awake during devotions. It’s not very often I wake up with so much energy, but that day was different. And I would not call that coincidence.

Rewinding back to the third session (second night), we prayed for the eight different spheres of society. And as we worshipped and prayed, my heart’s desire was to see God’s Kingdom to fill the whole earth, as said in Habakkuk 2:14, "And the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God, as the waters cover the sea."

Fast forwarding to the last night of camp, after a great time of worship, it was the last session of the camp. Joseph Chean talked about God's plans and work in Asia. He talked about how Christianity went to Africa, Europe, America, Oceania and is now reaching Asia, like how it is stated in Ezekiel 43:1-2. And after everything, he issued a challenge to all campers: Will we be willing and available to go for missions next year, to spread His love to the unreached. And while I was standing, God reminded me of a little prayer I probably said a long time ago. The prayer was about the whole world getting to know Christ. I don't know how that prayer suddenly popped into my head because I was really young that time. Then these words came into my head: I’ve prayed that prayer so many times and sung so many songs, but am I going to tell the world about Jesus? I knew it was God's calling to kneel before Him and accept the challenge. This was the first time I felt so prompted to go up during the altar call. I took the step forward almost immediately and accepted the challenge.

Then Joseph Chean challenged us about the things we needed to start, stop and continue. My answers came immediately for stop and continue, but I had problems with what I needed to start. Throughout the kneeling, God revealed to me how he had prepared me for this. He taught me how to worship when I first came JYM, how to accept Philippians 1:21 (For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain) a few years ago, to understand God's forgiveness last year and to understand the full extent of God's love earlier this year. I remembered how hard my heart was and how gradually it was soften. I realised that God have been indeed preparing my heart for this.

And the best had yet to come. While the rest were standing, I glanced to my right and saw Derrick on his knees. I don't exactly know why I stayed and prayed for him because normally I would stand up as well. But I just placed my hand on him and kept praying. After a while Derrick got up and wanted to pray for me. So he prayed. Halfway he paused and said that he believed God wanted to tell me something. He told me I was significant in God's sight, and that was all that was needed to break me down. I remember my ‘pillow talk’ with God telling Him how I felt ignored, and to have a reply telling me that I’m actually significant, it was unbelievable. Then He told me I was to be a leader. And if you scroll up to the paragraph on my ‘pillow talk’ with God, He answered everything and more. I told Him I felt ignored, He told me I was significant. I asked Him for His plans and purposes for me, He told me He has been preparing me to become a leader and take up the missions challenge. I asked for a voice, and He spoke through Derrick’s voice. I asked for a surprise, He gave me surprises.

After everything ended, while I was walking to the toilet, in my head I couldn't believe what had happened, and I was really worried my heart would harden and not accept what God had told me. Then going back to the sanctuary, this verse from Psalm 95:7-8 was pasted outside the sanctuary which says: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts". And it was not mere coincidence, because if it was, then everything earlier would also be out of mere coincidence.

I remember during JYM Comm Retreat, when the whole plan of having a mission trip in June 2009 came out, I was like "wah, surely cannot go." I knew of school and track commitments which have been filling up my june holidays. Then someone rebuked me and said that I should have faith that I will be able to go. And true enough, next year's nationals have been pushed forward to April or May. Truly amazing.

I know this is not the end, because God has prepared a lot for me. But whatever it takes, I will continue to be faithful and stand up for the One who created me. There is nothing bigger and better than my God who lives in me.

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During the session on the eight spheres of society, Joseph Chean asked the campers to break up into the eight different spheres, according to God's calling or where your interests lie. I really didn't know where to go. In fact, I spun one round so as to see which sphere I would face, then walk towards it. In the end I somehow walked to Distribution and Communication. Throughout the whole session I was still wondering why I was at Distribution and Communicaion.

On the last night, when Joseph Chean asked about the start, stop and continue (read above), I was lost at 'start' but knew what to 'stop' and 'continue'.

A few days ago, I thought of these three words: I will go. A lot of ideas went into my head, and I prayed about this whole thing. Then I felt I should start a chain among all who feel challenged to go for missions to put "I WILL GO" as their MSN display picture. I also decided to edit the front page of the JYM Website and show the "I WILL GO" video Collin made. Now I've done up a blog template for these words, and I'll stick to this template till I come back from the june mission trip. I know many of you were wondering when I was going do a blog post. Actually I've done up a post long time ago, but never felt like posting it till today.

I will go, will you?

2008-11-25T21:17:00.001+08:00

Haven't posted for quite a while as usual.

A new template will take quite a while because I've decided I gotta do up the JYM website before I do a new template for myself. So yeah happy waiting.

I've realised the days that I don't feel like playing dota, I end up playing a lot better.

This is a short update.

2008-11-16T22:35:00.002+08:00

(Sketched when we were supposed to write on our journals)

For those who couldn't be bothered about the essay i wrote on the last post, here's some stuff that i find more interesting:

Thursday night marked my first dota victory in many months ever since I started playing again. But well, it was a lucky win but still...

THE NUMBER OF THE WEEKEND FOR MANYOO: "50"
50 - The number of years Sir Alex Fergie has been around in the soccer arena
5-0 - The ownage scoreline of Man Yoo vs Stoke
50x2 - The number of goals scored by Ronaldo in the Premier League on the 3rd min

2008-11-15T22:14:00.001+08:00

Back from ulubin!

I must still say I kinda preferred last year more than the recent one cos last year was with people from other schools and it's more cooler and enthu that way. But I still enjoyed this year's one minus the first two days:

OBS in a wrap:

DAY ONE
Was super boring. Everyone was really damn sian and most didn't want to come. Worse still, we saw fellow juniors packing their bags really to go home. After a short briefing the first activity was just kayaking around in a sea of waste. Other than swimming around in the disgusting waters, it was really boring cos we all have done it before like how many times? So yeah other than the weather being extremely weird there was nothing else except piling our plates with rice and sleeping through the Sea Ex briefing.

DAY TWO
The bunk beds were hard and the bees kept buzzing around. My feet kena mosquitoes until I kept waking up. PT was alright. After breakfast was height elements which got boring at first but when we got to the tripod it became more interesting. I still very much prefer last year's height elements when I did rock climbing and ball breaker. So after messing around with the ropes and logs hanging midair, there was this leadership lesson in which i fell asleep. Actually most did. Then there was this crossfield trekking in which I'm pretty sure the instructors took away our checkpoints. So the first interesting thing happened when three wild dogs followed us back to camp 1, only to get chased away by this black guard dog. So cool. Then was Sea Ex briefing and sleeping.

DAY THREE
Finally got on to the real sailboat. So after going through all the technical details and stuff (in which I didn't really get most of it), we finally did real sailing without much wind. We took super long to set up the sails and thus we really lagged behind the other group. They cooked our dinner (so nice of them) at old ye Camp 2. Everyone had powdered rice and canned food. The camp was practically empty because it was weekend so the toilets were really clean and empty. There were more Sea Ex briefings and then sleep. There was sentry duty in which i found a comfortable spot on the rocks to fall asleep.

DAY FOUR
The real Sea Ex begins. As usual, my group set sail way behind time. There was good wind but we were very far from the other group. At the start there was a storm behind us so we had to sail quickly to avoid being caught, only to meet a storm cloud further away from ubin. The storm was really cold and wet and I freezed with my poncho on. It was really dark and the waves were crazy, but we all survived it without throwing the anchors down. After many failed tacks we were 2 hours behind the other boat so they waited at some beach for us taking their loooong lunch. With Sembawang in sight we just let the wind push us a bit more while we talked about gummy bears and stuff. Then we started to row to finally reach the sandfly-infested area. After powder bath and instant noodles, the instructors told us to look for some treasure, and fast forward, we had to sleep on our boat. I was kinda happy about that cos really I can't imagine sleeping for a night there. So me and adrian went on the boat first to set up our shelter. We tied flysheets across the boat in an interesting and creative way that even our instructor admitted it. It was really steady too. So we all slept in a light drizzle.

DAY FIVE
I kept changing positions in the middle of the night cos I needed to find a warm spot where I won't hurt my back. So after sleeping under the thwart (the seat) I woke up shivering at the bow, using the flysheet to protect me from the wind. Then we had this mini competition with the other group to see who pulled up their anchors to set sail first. It ended in a tie so the next part was a rowing competition. Our group with less guys and less strength lost quite badly. There wasn't any wind so we had to row almost all the way back to camp 1. In the meantime we had some fun with some music and had orange peel and pail bucket fights with the other boat. There were strong winds when we reached ubin so we had a little more fun speeding through the sea before we got anchored. After packing up and everything we had the "good" news that we are doing another Sea Ex the next day - kayaking cross island. It was the same thing I did last year, only worse because the tide will forever be against us and we had to do a longer distance.

DAY SIX
My group woke up late (as usual?) and with much confusion on whether we are using the kayak or triyak we set off dunno how many hours behind time. I was the navigator again yay. We triyaked amazingly fast to the swarm and we took a short little break there. I ate milo powder there i think. Then we got a little lost in the swarm but good thing there were only 9 triyaks and everyone was really cooperative. We managed to find the old mud bank which had collapsed so we couldn't go through it, thus we had to triyak a long way along the coast to find the other mud bank, which turns out to be like a path. Actually we went past our intended mudbank and the instructors were nice enough to tell us to make a u-turn and go back. Then we had a nice relaxing time getting ourselves back to sea. We took another break and I ate my second packet of milo powder. We carried on to the sea and I didn't really bother taking a look at the map. We took occasional breaks for people to eat and drink water and relieve themselves. And we reached back Camp 1 in a record time. We did it so fast it wasn't even lunch time yet. The instructors were so proud of us because they didn't need to do anything other than flirt with each other. After cleaning up and whatelse (and I ate my third milo powder) we proceeded to clean the store and come up with a skit. My group did a so-called musical and after that we had some fun in our bunks.

DAY SEVEN
So much for waking up to see the sunrise... We didn't do much because we did what we needed to do yesterday so we ended up talking around and having some fun waiting for the boat to bring us back home. And when I reached home, I slept.

2008-11-05T20:35:00.002+08:00

Now that obama's the president elect here's some things he need to do:

- Use his funds raised to bail out companies suffering from the economic crisis
- Hire guards and secret police to protect him from being assasinated
- Play golf with McCain to thank him for his gracious losing speech
- Send Palin a gift to thank her for helping him win
- Charter Airbuses to get the Iraqi troops back
- Write an autobiography
- Get school kids to play GeoChallenge on Facebook to be able to identify USA on the map
- Make sure he does not get influenced by Michael Jackson
- Fly to Kenya to enjoy the one day holiday
- Visit Obama, Japan
- Make friends with Lewis Hamilton
- Hold "no-stammer speech" classes

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And now that I've hit a extremely highscore in Winterbells which I probably won't be able to reach again, i've..

And now I know what jh does when he studies for chinese.

OBS 7-13 NOV. I'll be away in Ubin thankyou.

2008-11-02T22:24:00.002+08:00

This could be real scary but I'm posting again in such a short period. Maybe it's because of halloween. If only we celebrated halloween like how gabriel did with that hot pink shirt and white towel (with the carebears umbrella of course).

And track trainings scare me as well. They take the fun out of holidays by making me wake up early. But who cares when you figure that you gain something out of every training. (I still feel unfit. I think I've gained weight.) I'm starting to enjoy track... ... ... ...

Did the above statement scare anyone?

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Went for a nice hour long cycling trip on new territory (not very new actually). I cycled to Ten Mile Junction through Old Jurong Rd and Upper Bukit Timah Rd before turning into Choa Chu Kang and then Bukit Batok Rd. Actually I didn't know where I wanted to go so I just kinda cycled and cycled and found a way home. Maybe it's because singapore roads are really easy to navigate in. And I must say the pavements and roads over here are much more bumpier than those around farrer court.

Speaking of farrer court, Block A is gone.

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OBS from friday to thursday. So I'll be goneeeeee. I'm not really scared about it cos I've been there once and I kinda know what to expect, plus I know the place, plus I know the people, plus my classmates enjoyed it. So yay you could say I'm looking forward to it. I mean, once you've experienced SJI ACE Camp, OBS is really nothing, expect for the cooking part.

And the lack of sleep. (which is something I've probably gotten to used to)

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More things for NJC Resort:

- Man Yoo posters to annoy if my roommate is a Arsenal, Liverpool or Hull fan.
- Deck of cards to build bridges
- Oreos for liz to steal and become fatter and pay me 10 bucks for every cookie stolen
- Obama posters

TRACK WEBSITE

2008-10-31T21:41:00.001+08:00

So NJC somehow got inspired by High School Musical to rename the levels: Sec 1-4 will be renamed to Junior High (JH) 1-4 while JC 1 and 2 will be renamed to Senior High (SH) 1 and 2. That means, I'll be in SH1 (add a "T" behind) while all my juniors will be lame like jing ho.

Cool eh?

And on the topic on NJC, I'll be staying in the brand new NJC Resort from Jan 12 to March 14. That means I won't have to get caught in the stupid traffic jams while going home after training. So here's the list of what I would like to bring there:

- Laptop
- Speakers to blast music
- Mini fridge to store chocolates
- Kettle to boil water
- Instant noodles to fill stomachs
- Oreos to drop the crumbs and invite ants
- Guitar to annoy my roommate
- Soccer ball to kick around the room
- Vacuum cleaner for quick cleaning in an event of a room spot check

And if i wouldn't mind a tv inside as well.

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So manyoo's back to winning ways (minus the draw against everton) finally. Berbatov turns out to be quite a good buy, just that 30 mil would be a little too much for me.

And my fitness has dropped by 300%. serious.

jiayou o levellers.

(justin you're so dead)

2008-10-25T22:30:00.002+08:00

thats all for the update.

2008-10-16T21:15:00.000+08:00

HAHA i forgot to update. Such a good excuse huh?

Anyway thank God for my results; they're pretty amazing! But somehow i can't get over MI. So near yet so far...

TOP 5 MOST COMMON EXCUSES IN NJC IP

1) I forgot to bring it: a nicer way for saying I didn't do it
2) I had CCA: pushing the blame to your CCA. smart idea, but rarely works.
3) I thought it was due later: simply put, your instructions weren't clear enough.
4) I was sick: actually no, i just thought that this excuse would work better.
5) I don't know how to do: probably true, but it's the best way to get away from not doing work.

Actually you all can ignore the new template. coming soon. thinggy because the new template won't be coming anytime soon. So will my treats.

Good luck for all those taking O and A levels!

2008-10-02T10:59:00.001+08:00

They told me life in IP – there’s nothing much to fear
Until you reach the most dreaded end of year’s
When LA passages aren’t simple and clear
Just did it, just did it

I forgot all about maxima and minima
I drew my equator across Malaysia
And thought Site A and B were kinda pretty far
Just did it, and I’m not gonna be sad

     Just did it, did it, did it, did it
     And I’m not gonna be defeated
     Show them how mugger IP kids fight
     It doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right
     Just did it, just did it, just did it, just did it

I had enough of head on and elastic collisions
I did too much of organic chem revisions
Sodium thiosulphate and the purity of irons
Just did it, just did it

What happens when two heterozygous genes mate
I couldn’t integrate what I couldn’t differentiate
I gotta party till I get to know of my fate
Just did it, and I’m not gonna be sad

To the tune of "Beat It" by michael jackson.

2008-09-22T23:08:00.003+08:00

the pic above tells a story.

PEOPLE I OWE TREATS:
2 lunch meals for Nikos
2 lunch meals for Ben
1 ice cream for Jade

Anyone I left out?

[EDIT]
1 pork chop/justin for Jac
1 big timeeeee for Emily (whatever that is o.O)

"Juz: me too! peking roast duck, abalone, shark's fin, aiya a year's supply of lunch" -.-"

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Sorry Rooney, you're not getting a treat from me with a lunge like that.

2008-09-13T22:31:00.001+08:00

Since I've got two classmates putting their testimonies up on their blogs, I shall follow suit:

Last week during worship, I realised the full measure of God's love and what Jesus had done on the cross, and I started to tear. That was when I moved from a believer to a disciple. That was when I was humbled and broken.

And I start to wonder about my blog URL. Does my blog give glory to God? Or has it been any other ordinary blog. And I start to wonder about my commitments to God in the past. And I realised what I've been - just a believer with no actions.

Was I a christian in the past? I wonder.

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Went to trinity@adam for a youth worship service. It was really good.

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Now may His joy will overflow in me, even though Man Yoo lost to Liverpool.

2008-09-12T20:26:00.002+08:00

Marina Bay IR - the way it is

I want some money
I borrowed some big cash with high interest rate
I now even count the hours
And now I have been booking up all the dates

Oh, baby, it's not right now, you gotta pay ERP
If we go there, there is no scenery to see
But we can earn some big bucks in this city
Slots it out till we see the light

Done Vegas strip, past the Macau trip
Goin’ to Marina Bay IR
I need some tips to earn it quick
So much for Marina Bay IR
I hate entrance fees and GSTs
But I’m for Marina Bay IR
I’m gambling deep, not a wasted trip
It’s IR, IR, IR

I ain't got no Visa
I even sold my American Express
Marina Bay ain’t that exotic
It don't matter cause I'm the one that’ll win the rest

Oh, baby, it's not right now, fares rising for MRT
If we go there, you still gotta pay entrance fee
But we can earn some big bucks, just wait and see
Roll the dice till we hit it right

Done Vegas strip, past the Macau trip
Goin’ to Marina Bay IR
I need some tips to earn it quick
So much for Marina Bay IR
I hate entrance fees and GSTs
But I’m for Marina Bay IR
I’m gambling deep, not a wasted trip
It’s IR, IR, IR

Baby girl, I’ve just gotta huge Ace house, can you better my full house
Listen baby girl, I ain't got a dark black coat but I ain’t a slow goat
So listen baby girl, once you get a dose of slot machine, you gon' want some more
So listen baby girl, when I fail I say what the heck, what the heck, yeah

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NJ did a few things to me. One of the things it did to me was it made me forget that my blog's birthday passed a month ago.

2008-09-04T23:45:00.001+08:00

I'm outta time and all I got is 4 minutes

Come on, boy
I've been waiting for some burger
And continue my stroll

Well, hold your dimes
Give me some time
We are running out of dough

I want somebody to speed it up for me
And add some coleslaw
There's enough room for coke

Well, I can handle that
You just gotta risk it - you being fat
Having here or to go?
Having here or to go?

If you want it
You’re gonna get it
If you bought it
Chilli or ketchup, which one?
If you want the
Extra value meal
Just say the word and
Imma give you what you want

Time is waiting
We only got 4 minutes to save the world
No hesitating
Grab a bite from your burger
Time is waiting
We only got 4 minutes to save the world
No hesitating
We only got 4 minutes, 4 minutes

Keep it up, keep it up, don't start to cry, hey
MacDonalds, uh
You gotta get in line
Tick tock tick tock tick tock
That's right, keep it up, keep it up, don’t start to cry, hey
MacDonalds, uh
You gotta get in line
Tick tock tick tock tick tock

Sometimes I think
What I need is a brand new invention, yeah

And you know I can tell that you like it
And that it's good
By the way that you chew
Ooh, hey

The road to hell
Is filled with tasty intentions, yeah

It’s supper time tonight
You know there’s 24 hour delivery to you
Can you not cut queue?

2008-09-04T20:51:00.001+08:00

I was told to update. So here it goes:

...
...
...
Berbatov...
...
Robinho and the city...
...
Big Four lose points...
...
...
I hate libraries now...
and maths too...
...
...
...
hiatus

(Let each dot represent "work")

2008-08-27T21:09:00.001+08:00

Viva la Vida or Death to All the Slackers

I used to love the world
With chicken rice and sweet beancurd
Now in the morning I mug alone
Hate studying - I used to moan

I used to love the vice
Feel the fear in my teachers' eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now that old kid is late! What's he thinking?!"

One minute - just late was me
Next the gates were closed on me
And I discovered that my classmates stand
Upon parade square floor, and next to the band

I hear 7.40 bells are ringing
National JC choirs are singing
Very tiring up the Road Run hill
I rather relax on synthetic field
For some reason I can not explain
Once you know I was ever, ever a full-time nerd
That was when you knew our world

It was the wicked and wild scene
Wear collar pins and tuck my shirt in.
Logarithms and mathematics sums
People could not believe what I'd become

Upright outright slackers hate
Their sad life of their mugging fate
Just a student of a lifeless being
Oh who would ever come here, we think

I hear 7.40 bells are ringing
National JC choirs are singing
Very tiring up the Road Run hill
I rather relax on synthetic field
For some reason I can not explain
I know Principal won't call my name
Ever a full-time nerd
And that was when you knew the world

2008-08-16T23:40:00.001+08:00

Ok uh I haven't blogged for very long. Oops!

Anyway the past few weeks have been eventful. Starting with National Day celebrations, at first I didn't want to take part in the Solaris act thingy, but I was forced to. And it was fun, despite staying up to 9 pm in school on rehearsal days. So yeah good job people, and I'm glad I'm not a student councilor/teachers' slaves.

And it was kinda cool when there was one time, we were behind the right side of the grandstand touching up the props, it started raining on the left side of the grandstand. So it was like half the school was raining and the other half wasn't.

I can't remember much, except being painted black and turned out dark green.

After the celebrations in school I went around without any contacts or specs because I took my contacts out because they were killing my eyes. So I went to orchard and pandan valley and church half blind. And I remember I was tired and hungry during demo day.

---

I have a suspicion that Phelps is doping.. but he's great anyway. And I shall protest to the Singapore government to give us a holiday after Chinapore won Korea. Haha.

Anyway fast forward a little, with Man Yoo winning the Community Shield, and ohthree being too short for captain's ball, this week has been rather boring. Ablaze was kinda fun, but I guess because they cut the rounds due to time constrains, we didn't get to play more. And east coast is super farrrrrr.

Haha I'm not the kind who likes to write essays on daily happenings on my life so be contented with zero content.

---

I had enough
More than I need
All my words you won't believe
No time to do
Malfunctioned brain
All the excuses - nothing new

I forgot, now I'm dead meat
I forgot, now I'm dead meat
And I will serve detention here

Accidentally
I forgot the day
But you will think that is absurd
I am distraught
My parents' seen
Now I wanna get MC

Freely you gave homework for us
Surrounded my work with all that cross
Slacking I love
My excuse for all
I just forgot
Left my homework and played half-life
Forever you stare at me - horrified
Now I didn't bring
I'm lost for words
I just forgot

2008-08-04T22:22:00.000+08:00

Stop and stare
IP's leading you to work nowhere
Mr Eng shouts and everyone gets scared
While I aim for A but get B, oh
Stop and stare
You start to wonder why you're 'here' not there
And you'll start to realise that it's unfair
And grades are what you really need

Stop and stare
You wanna quit IP but you just don't dare
And drawstrings aren't the thing to wear
Tucked out shirts are indecency, oh
Stop and stare
I know IP's stupid but I just don't care
Even though it's making me lose more hair
And grades are what you really need

---- I'm putting this to remind myself that I need to do a full post soooooon.

2008-07-29T22:10:00.001+08:00

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QFCSXr6qnv4

Charlie you look quite down with your big fat eyes and your big fat frown
The world doesn't have to be so grey

Charlie when your life's a mess
When you're feeling blue always in distress
I know what can wash that sad away

All you have to do is

Put a banana in your ear
Put a ripe banana right into your favourite ear
It's true, so true
Once it's in, your gloom will disappear
The bad in the world is hard to hear
When in your ear a banana cheer
So go and put a banana in your ear

Put a banana in your ear
You will never be happy if you live your life in fear
It's true, so true
When it's in, the skies are bright and clear
Of every day of every year
The sunshine's bright in this big blue sphere
So go and put a banana in your ear

-- This is random.

2008-07-20T21:52:00.001+08:00

Why Man Yoo cannot sell Ronaldo

The longest unconcluded transfer rumour surrounding this summer, still remains unconcluded, though it seems Ronaldo is likely to stay. Ronaldo has hinted his desire to move to Madrid, but Ferguson knows why he cannot afford to sell his top scorer.

Man Yoo's tactics has evolved around the players' strength and capabilities. Evra and Brown efficiently run down the wings, Rooney and Tevez pull back to force defenders out, Scholes and Carrick bring out creative long passes, thus Ronaldo ends their attack by sprinting forward, getting into a good position and getting the goal. 42 goals don't just come when you are a good player, especially if you are in midfield, but the whole team's tactics and play bring out the best in Ronaldo. To sell Ronaldo is equivalent to changing their whole tactic, the one which they have been using since Ronaldo came.

Externally, the loyalty and commitment issue comes about. To let Ronaldo off could be a potential spark to a line of players leaving a club just because they want to move elsewhere. Ferguson's reluctance very well puts across the idea of commitment and loyalty - that so long as you're under contract and doing well, there is no reason that you can decide where you want to go. Already Ronaldo's transfer saga has influenced Milan and Spurs and Blackburn, who refuse to lose their stars.

Why Man Yoo need another striker

Berbatov is one of Ferguson's target, and Fergie knows what he's going for. The Reds have pretty much lost their interest in injury-prone striker Saha, and there is no replacement of Rooney and Tevez. Giggs and Ronaldo perform badly in striking positions, and Eagles has a long way to professionalism. One striker is never enough.

Maybe what Man Yoo need is another Rooney or Tevez, so that the tactics won't change that drastically depending on which strikers are on the field. Maybe what Man Yoo need is another Torres or van Nistelrooy, a hit man to pump in goals. But whatever type of striker it is, Man Yoo definitely needs one.

---

Check this out: -here-
If you've been reading the lastest transfer rumours, this should make you laugh.

2008-07-15T20:23:00.001+08:00

The long overdue post.

Good thing I didn't qualify for 1500m, because if I did I'll need to run tmr and will still have to watch my diet and amount of sleep. So yay now I can eat fast food / drink coke / eat pizza and chips / :) .

But school kills me all the same. mmhxbsbxhmm. Yeah i'm lifeless.

I can't think of anything to blog right now.

fast forward to around 4 mins for the song.

2008-07-08T21:34:00.001+08:00

Just another update yet again.

It turned out I qualified for 3000m finals by quite a bit. I was kinda surprised at my timings cos basically, I didn't expect to do that well (considering the timings i did before the actual event). Well, it won't be soon before long I get to eat some KFC or macdonalds. It makes me wonder.

Anyway the finals were the first thing in the morning which means sleep early, wake up early. And the night before I had trouble sleeping (till i turned on the aircon). I was still quite sleepy when i was at the starting line and yay, run. I did an even more unexpected timing but i still only managed 13th. Maybe my lane number's cursed. My lane number was 13th.

You can go check my results by searching google.

---

So after wasting smses (and wasting r.han's too) checking my exam results since I couldn't come to school today, I'm quite happy for now, just that i've got a suspicion that someone thought the alphabet went A A A. Or someone was boosting my morale for my race hahaha. So i spent my day supporting other events, going home to sleep. Now my legs are really tired and i've got a slight headache.

Rest and relaxing wins the race.

---

Was watching some videos about the new hillsongs album. Really powerful. I was listening to the preview mp3s and i feel some of the melodies sounded quite familiar to other songs...

2008-07-02T19:46:00.003+08:00

I'm updating again, surprisingly.

Anyway tmr's my first race, and after looking at last year's timing, I now say that i'm no longer confident I can qualify. Haha but anyway I'm just gonna run as if it's training (and probably get killed after that). So good luck to all those running!

And remember:

2008-07-01T21:00:00.001+08:00

Time to update again.

Anyway everyone's off to OBS and the others to aussie. So basically I've been left behind. Stupid nats, if only they came at a later date so I could skip school. This time i'm confident to qualify, and maybe try to get some points for my school haha. Yeah but I still can't stand the fact that I've got another two more years of boredom.

The euro 08 final was good, just that there was too little action. Spain's passes and movements were great while germany did not perform. Rarely do you get to have the best team of the tournament actually winning it. I mean, rarely do you get man yoo winning the champions league. But spain really had the most complete team and they've really defied critics and history. The torres goal was one of perserverance and strength, and I thought spain should have score at least three more. Ballack was a lil disappointing and so was schweinsomething.

Man Yoo should sell ronaldo and get someone else. Ronaldo's great but if he doesn't appreciate the fact that he is probably in the best team of europe then let him go la. And I don't think Real actually needs ronaldo. They've got enough good players to contest trophies for next year. Anyway Man Yoo should consider getting a striker of quality.

Battle of the Blogs (New entry)
Girls usually have posts which contains no more than 5 lines. Guys have more to say.

2008-06-28T22:20:00.001+08:00

Oh I realised I haven't updated for more than a week. But once you're stuck with maths and macromedia, you simply can't be bothered to update.

Anyway it's enrichment week again and i'm pleased to announce I've completed all of my this week's activities despite my training schedule - activities include sleeping, going crazy, getting sore throats and sleeping. And on Friday I went one hour late for both my activities but still got the hours in. Haha i'm pro. Other than that, I've been taught how to first blood in slightly over two minutes in dota (thx ryan han) and win a game in around 9-10 minutes.

Nationals next week and I can't wait for it to be over because that means no more track until after end of year exams. And that's good cos I won't die anymore. And I get to stay up late to watch late night soccer matches. Yay.

I'll be neutral when I watch the Euro 2008 final. But i'm hoping for spain to win. Well, that's neutral.

I rarely have anything to blog about because 90% of the stuff has been erased from my memory. The other 9% won't be posted due to laziness and the 1% is what you see right now.

Battle of the Blogs (New entry)
Girlzs tendzsx to useee reeepeaatedd letterssss in theirxs postsss. Guys make it simple and readible.
Girls :D also add in :) a lot of <3 smileys and :P symbols in :S their posts D: >:( ?!?! while guys blogs make it simple and readible, without the use of visual aids.

2008-06-18T19:36:00.001+08:00

The Battle of The Blogs
Girls vs Guys

There are more girl bloggers than guy bloggers. (however guy blogs are often more interesting)
Girls tend to use xanga, livejournal and wordpress while guys, well, stick to blogger.
Girls do blog quizzes and tests. Guys can't be bothered, but do for the fun of it.
Girls usually put pictures in their posts. Guys erm don't usually do that.
Girls blogs are emoer than guy blogs. No surprise there.
Girls change their urls often. Guys change their templates often. Exceptions for some.
Girls update their blogs more frequently than guys.
Girls tend to narrate one whole story in their posts while guys go straight to the point.
Girls talk about shopping and fashion in their posts. Guys well.. sports and dota.
Girls lock their blogs >:( , guys are generally open.
Girls usually tag when they read a blog. Guys usually do nothing when they read a blog.
Girls tend to put music on their blogs. Guys don't usually do that. (but if they do, it's good music)
Girls sometimes post about stars (like polaris) while guys sometimes post about current issues (like politics)
Girls have more links than guys.

2008-06-10T16:25:00.001+08:00

Now.. how do I activate Zanga Signin Lock?

Don't worry, I haven't switched, and I'm not intending to. (so please unlock your xangas before i lock my zanga. thank you.)

---

Greetings from Bukit Batok (or Bukit Gombak)! I'll miss the farrer court cats but well, gombak has more cats here. Well, no more 5 mins to school or church anymore (it's half an hour now) but just as well cos I will be able to catch some sleep during my journeys. Now my place at farrer court is occupied by TFEEEN, as well as some small yellow birds who built their nest on the plants in the balcony. Yeah hope it still remains intact after EEEN leaves.

The food here in batok/gombak/babak/gomtok is cheap and delicious. It's like a food haven at your doorstep. It's kinda.. shiok. And I get to play dota again with the jymers. Now i remember why I stopped playing dota in the first place: I kept lagging out. And that means I've accomplished one of the Holidays Impossible List of Things to do (three posts below).

Actually i've accomplished 2.5 out of 5. I've played dota with jymers, stayed up until at least 3am, skip training (but not getting injured).

Track is sucking my life out of me. It's a life drain just that you don't see some green thing coming out of me. I don't know how long I can tahan track... it's not just boring, it's kills you. I feel so unfit compared to earlier this year. Nvm just a few more weeks and Nationals will be over (and no more track). yay.

---

Revelation IV was awesome. Amen.

---

I don't feel like elaborating in my posts because i'm a lazy person, but mainly because i'm saving finger energy for writing one chinese book review, and mind energy for reading two books and leg energy for track.. no wait i'm sitting down.

2008-06-03T23:14:00.001+08:00

It is not a human right to stare not fight
While broken nations dream
Open up eyes, so blind, that we might find
The mercy for the need

Hey now, fill out hearts with your compassion
Hey now, as we hold to our confession

It is not too far a cry, too much to try
To help the least of these
Politics should not decide if we should rise
And be your hands and feet

Hey now, fill out hearts with your compassion
Hey now, as we hold to our confession

Whoa oh ohh God be the solution
Whoa oh ohh we will be your hands and be your feet

Higher than a circumstance, your promise stands
Your love for all to see
Higher than protest lines and dollar signs
Your love is all we need

Hey now, fill out hearts with your compassion
Hey now, as we hold to our confession

Whoa oh ohh God be the solution
Whoa oh ohh we will be your hands and be your feet

Only you can mend the broken heart and cause the blind to see
Erase complete the sinners part and set the captives free
Only you can take the widows' cry and cause her heart to sing
Be a father to the fatherless, our saviour and our king
We will be your hands, we will be your feet
We will run this race for the least of these
In the darkest place we will be your light
We will be your light
We will be your hands, we will be your feet
We will run this race for the least of these
In the darkest place we will be your light
We will be your light

Whoa oh ohh God be the solution
Whoa oh ohh we will be your hands and be your feet

2008-05-31T22:51:00.001+08:00

I bet this below does not make sense. or dollars.

ego reputo latin's frigus sic I'm iens facio meus tunc blog stipes Latin. yesterday ego went pro Exsisto existo , quod ego didn't vere amo is. Illic erant nonnullus bonus effectus sententia. ego vado ut NUS tantum ut animadverto is coepi triginta minutes secundum ego got illic. Haha nice locus sententia.

Haud magis tattooing blah blah mihi. Permissum Ivan's blog epitome panton vobis. Yeah i'm ignavus , si vos didn't animadverto. i'll exsisto moving domus nunc sic ego melior utor cycling quod cursor ut templum / schola dum ego can. i'm sic iens desidero quinque minute bus veho. Tamen puteus it's vicis moveo. Sic animadverto vos in ceterus pars of Singapore ( vere non vere ). i've forgotten super Hillsongs sollicitudo. Is eram vere vere bonus , tamen ego quidam quaedam quedam quidam coniecto quis carmen they erant iens efficio iam. navitas eram valde quod puteus , Deus eram moving. Iustus spes ut illa juvenis concresco obvius Vox quod extollo a novus ingenero of puto.

Sic farewell populus. Is ero meus tantum stipes in a non english lingua , spero. Don't accuso mihi si vos animadverto a chinese unus nunc. Usquam in vilis vicis , vos should vado saluto is website si vos vere postulo reddo ( quod i'm certus vos operor ) : http://www.tranexp.com:2000/Translate/result.shtml

Etiam ivan i'm usura a latin reddo , sic don't rideo risi risum quod grammatically nefas utor of lacuna blah blah blah.

---

EDIT: It doesn't make sense.

2008-05-28T20:44:00.001+08:00

Holiday's Impossible List of Things to do:
- Play a round of dota with jymers
- Get injured and skip training
- Stay up late until at least 3 am
- Get new jeans and shoes
- Create an album cover for ivan's recorded songs. haha let's call it The Ivan Five or Chansong United

---

I kinda get the point, whoever you are on my tagboard (:

I believe your argument brings in a new dimension: outcasting those with tattoos or pierced ears or dyed hair (in church i guess), and about accepting these people and yet outcasting them.

Your argument goes like this:
- A person has tattooed, pierced ears or dyed hair
- People's image of him changes
- If he was a member of church, he will be outcasted because of the image he portrays
- Even though there's so much talk about accepting them for who they are

Basically, those people are responsible for the image they portray. We shouldn't put the blame on society or churches for lack of acceptance if they jolly well know their image will turn off people and they don't change their image.

For the event that one has tattooed and cannot be removed, that person should know that he'll be outcasted when people see the tattoo. If his actions justify that he is not the "bad" person we think he is, then well he's accepted.

Look beyond the image and accept people for who they are? How does that work? Firstly we need to know the person well enough to find out who they really are. That takes time, and during that time that person might be left out. After that? It'll depend on who they really really are.

If you want the biblical point of view of this topic you can read them on Ivan's or David's or whoever's blog.

2008-05-27T13:05:00.001+08:00

Rather than blogging about how much life sucks, I shall post a response to David's and Ivan's Freedom Brief and for the sake of Haha on my tagboard.

I won't argue whether tattoing, piercing of ears (for guys) and dyeing of hair are wrong, because ultimately I don't make people's decision. Neither will I use the argument about younger guys using the older ones as a reference point - "xxxx did so, so it is ok for me too" because that is assuming that these stuff are already wrong.

I will try to argue from a secular point of view.

Why schools don't allow such things? It's not meant to be a restriction to your freedom, but to project a good image of your school to the public. Let's say you are a CEO of a major bank, and you allow your employees to dye hair or tattoo or pierce their ears. Imagine a customer wanted to deposit money in your bank, and sees this guy at the counter tattooed with fanciful earrings and red hair. Would the customer deposit the money? Most probably, your customers would think that your bank is some mafia organization and not do businesses with your bank. There might be some slight exaggeration here but I hope you get the point.

The main thing is your purpose of doing these things. If it is for beauty and appearance sake, let it be. If it is to be accepted into a group of friends or society, let it be. But the world's beyond just you and your friends/society. If you know doing these stuff are an act of rebellion against your parents, school, workplace or your own conscience, you know for yourself it is wrong and what will happen to you.

Now to David's and Ivan's point about authority and credibility and influence. The world sets your standard, your position of authority, your amount of credibility and your amount of influence. The world isn't you, neither are you the world. Tattooing, dying hair or piercing ears do not only affect you. It will affect people around you as well.

So what do we people have against such things? If you do such things, are we against the image of yourself you portray? Are we against the image of your family you portray? Are we against the image of your school you portray? Are we against the image of your company you portray? Are we against the image of your society you portray? Are we against the image of your religion you portray?

2008-05-04T23:51:00.001+08:00

Okay I guess... I got lazy to update again.

Life After Nationals

After killing myself during nationals, I was half-dead. Really. Apart from extreme fatigue, I had a pretty bad headache for a week. I get tired easily and I couldn't concentrate when doing work (thus pushing work to other people). But it was really bad and I kept sleeping early and getting myself more than 8 hours of sleep each day.

I went to check out my timing for my nationals and hey, it wasn't too far off from my previous race.

---

Without track, I find myself 10x more free time.

If not for the projects.

---

Man yoo's to the final, and to the double. I'll post longer another day. Terima Kasih.

2008-04-24T20:30:00.002+08:00

Cross Country Season's Over. Finally.

L-R from top left: Wings X-Country (did not participate), SPH Relay (4x8oom 4th), Swift Akira (MacRitchie 4.2km 23rd), SAA X-Country (MacRitchie 4.2km 4th), Nationals (Botanic 4.1km 29th)

Finally I get to pon track. That means I'm gonna have a lot more time, for a few weeks or so. Anyway time to blog about the past days:

Nationals
After physics we went to sleep on the grandstand and then the dance studio. Ate lunch and then made our way to CCAB. I probably knew top ten was out of sight because I was previously sick and was recovering slowly. I haven't done a proper run since the last race. So my fitness dropped a lot.

I didn't know what to expect because I haven't run the route in a while. Warmed up and got myself mentally prepared. So blah blah blah and race started. I found myself quite far behind after the first 100m because the front pack went too fast and I was constantly blocked and pushed out to the outer lane. After first uphill I knew my fitness had gone down a lot because I was already panting. Throughout the race my thighs were burning and my head throbbing. I was telling myself to slow down and stop because my thighs and head really hurt but then I just pushed myself on. Halfway I was already dying but I just didn't stop. My legs kept on going and I would probably collapse once I stop. The last part was the hardest but I kept telling myself I could rest after I completed the race. At the end I was overtaken by two guys but I managed to finish it strong.

And collapse after that. Once I stopped, I managed to stand for a while before I gave way and dropped. The two guys managed to get me back up. It was the worst feeling I've ever experienced. I was super dizzy, felt like vomiting, legs burning, ears popping, heart pumping furiously etc. I tried standing, sitting, walking around but I just felt terribly awful. I could barely talk or hear anything else except my breathing. So after coughing+water+tissue, I decided to lie down on the street soccer court. But it started raining, so I got up and felt much better.

I took a super long time to recover. But I'm glad I gave my all even though I was recovering from a flu and could have stopped anywhere.

---

I'm proud of myself for not giving up. Anyway after the race I couldn't think about anything else except "I need to recover" so I couldn't be bothered about how well I did. After all the trainings, I'm glad I've gotten myself a medal. Whether I'll do another season will be a different story.

After track was dinner and some rounds of cards. Then home and a nice rest. Then woke up late for 4x400m heats. Rushed to school and ran one round. Felt dead tired after the round.

2008-04-19T21:21:00.001+08:00

While I wait for the instructions for moot court, I shall do a quick update.

National's in a few days, and I've just recovered from a flu. I didn't go for today's training because I felt too tired and giddy to wake up. Anyway, I've to train smart to get back my fitness in such few days as well as conserve energy for the race.

There goes B div.

I've checked out my timing for the race last week and was kinda surprised.

---

I spent the whole of today stoning around, fiddling with the JYM website, playing computer, lying on my bed... basically I didn't feel like doing anything at all.

I needa recover fully quick quick.

TAGReplies
ryan: nope he doesn't
ivan: haha alright. cheers
kahSWEE: thanks dude/geek/nerd
liz: ahem it's only heats...
nikos: haha i think so

2008-04-16T19:03:00.001+08:00

Haha thanks ivan for your response. I wanted some responses anyway.

Actually I took a long stroll home from church on sunday while thinking about this. I tried to make my point without offending anyone. Don't know whether I succeeded though. And I wanted to post about the Jeffrey Mok incident a while ago but I keep forgetting.

So ivan, I hoped I understood your point of view because I don't want to get your intended meaning all wrong and make a wrong statement. I understand I'm accountable for what is written on my blog and I hope you understand that this wasn't written on impulse and I took a while to decide whether I should blog about this. I know that it would be wiser to take things straight to the people involved but there're reasons why I blogged. Firstly, I'm uncomfortable making my views verbally, and blogging gives me more time to evaluate each sentence I write. Secondly, I felt that I should make my feelings known to public: so that people understand what I feel, and then input their own views. This way I hope to clear up misunderstandings, but I know I might cause unnecessary trouble. Lastly, I also know of people who couldn't make it for the whole event for valid reasons but still have to pay. I hoped that I have spoken up on their behalf. Whether I succeeded or not, will depend on public responses.

Money isn't the issue for me, but it was the "lack of commitment" bit which I was unhappy about. I understand I'm responsible for what I've sign up, so doesn't "you've signed up, you are responsible for it, therefore you should pay" make much more sense than "you've signed up, you have a lack of commitment by not going, therefore you should pay"? I don't know what was really meant but that was the way I intepreted it. I felt the "lack of commitment" was too harsh and unfair for those who didn't go or left halfway.

Btw, I'm paying the $20 actually (:
And i always try my best to keep my blog and myself anger and emo free.

---

I think I'm falling ill = bad sign. Sometimes I don't know what to expect for nationals. Yesterday during training while raining, there was this religious debate and one point which I noted was: Is it fair for a Shaolin monk, who does good all day and keeps himself from evil, to not enter heaven just because he doesn't believe in Jesus? I would like to post a counter question: Is it fair for a man, who does good all day and keeps himself from evil, to suffer the worst form of torture and death because he has been falsely accused?

2008-04-13T21:35:00.001+08:00

I think it's really unfair to say that there's a lack of commitment for those who didn't go or left halfway during worship central.

... ... hello?

Firstly, the signing up was done a long time ago, which meant I didn't know my plans then. But it was highly encouraged, or rather "compulsory" to sign up. And so I did la, because I was "asked/forced" to sign up. However today this thing came up about those who did not go or left halfway having a lack of commitment or not placing priority this event. I can't remember the exact words that was said but in any case, I wasn't too pleased. I mean, what was I supposed to do? Ask to postpone the race? Get myself injured? Or just not run for my race?

Whatever it is or whoever it was meant for, I really wasn't too happy. After the meeting I went down to the chapel, packed the guitar, hanged around in the lounge for a while and went home. I just wanted to get out of church and go home as soon as possible. I don't think I'll pay the $20.

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Next item that I also wasn't too pleased about was the council incident in NJ. I think some of you know about Jeffrey Mok. He apparently got into council, but was so-called kicked out by the head of student development, because he had flamed the head of student development in his blog. Firstly, the flaming was far from serious. It was a harmless comment, without vulgarities. Secondly, he made a public apology. Lastly, we run by democracy, where students vote and decide who is fit for council. I do not know very much about this incident so there might be much more than what I know of. I think the head of student development should shed some light about this incident before it gets out of control (hint Lisa).

The teachers were late for assembly on Thursday. According to school rules, they shouldn't interrupt the assembly by moving to their classes and should be booked late. The students actually waited for the teachers in the sun to start assembly. Justice?

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Man, U will win arsenal.

2008-04-12T21:28:00.003+08:00

Long time no update = Long post. Caution.

23rd to 4th

Two races in two weeks. Both in MacRitchie. The first was Swift Akira, and I had to leave early from drums class to head to MacRitchie. I didn't really have a good lunch so I felt really energy-less when I was halfway through the race. Managed to get myself 23rd, but I knew I could have gone much faster if I ate more lunch. One guy tried to overtake me at the last part, but I managed to finish ahead of him. I shook his hand after the race.

But just as well I didn't give it my all that day, because the next monday was a 2.4km test. So urm yeah. Hi.

Today was SAA. Before this I had worship central, and the night before was worship central. So letta me talk about Friday first. We reached expo late and just managed to get in via the ticket holders lane. PlanetShakers were good but somehow it wasn't really impactful, maybe because they sang a few of their new songs. I actually preferred Tim Hughes. I was kinda shocked when he started singing Mighty To Save (copyright heh), but it really doesn't matter who sings it; it's all to God anyway. We left halfway through Al Gordon's speech, and i was told we missed the closing songs (which including Majesty).

So today was worship central in the morning before I went for the race. The session of worship with Al Gordon was great. His songs were great (so I shouldn't just stick to Hillsong-United-PlanetShakers anymore) and it was an amazing morning of worship.

But one point which really struck me was the changes in worship through time. Tim Hughes read out an American article which talked about modern worship being bad, causing youths to go loose and being blasphemous. The interesting fact was that it was written a long time ago and was referring to songs by Isaac Watts, the composer of When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. What we consider a "hymn" today was actually "modern worship" way back in time. Worship songs do not need to be hymns to be accepted by God. Just because modern worship doesn't look serious or solemn doesn't mean that these worshippers aren't christians. We all sing to worship the same God, whether it is "Amazing Grace" or "My Saviour Lives".

Now to SAA. This time it rained before the race, and this time I had a full proper lunch by eating the food provided by worship central (the food was delicious). I would rather go for "We will Rock You" or stay back for the workshops but I had to travel to MacRitchie, in the rain. During warm up I felt a little nausea which meant I might vomit in the middle of the race. I wasn't confident but a silent prayer before a race really gets you moving. I was rather surprised when I saw only a few ahead of me and thought there must be another pack right in front. But yeah I managed to finish fourth. I got really dizzy after the race and couldn't do the cool down.

I like the medal. Fallen trees are cool, but bending down going under these trees takes a lot of energy to do so. Panting some christian songs while running energizes you.

---

It was a nice, pleasant week I guess, with a lot of rain.

Because of Your love, there's dancing in my heart
Because of Your grace, I am free
Because of Your faithfulness, there's a song that must sung
I will sing, I will sing becayse of You

2008-04-02T20:31:00.003+08:00

SPH Schools Relay 2008

Took part in the 4x800m A div boys o.O We got fourth, which is a pretty decent placing, but we were behind the third place by quite a distance. There were 7 teams, so fourth meant we had beaten three other teams. Now down to the race details:

I ate lunch too late -> Stitch during warm-up, but all went well. I was the third runner, which meant the pressure wasn't too great because all I needed to do was chase and try to overtake. Well we were consistently fourth all the way I guess (the first three teams were unreachable). When I received the baton I didn't know how fast I should be running, so luckily there was this SRJC guy who overtook me at the start. I also dunno why he overtook me in the start because it is much wiser to pace and follow rather than lead. So I followed his pace larh, like I always do during trainings. I tend to follow people's pace then do a quick burst of pace and overtake at the final part.

I didn't realise the sole of my spikes came off but anyway it was such an old shoe waiting to turn to dust. So I was soleless (no pun intended) and chased that guy. He slowed down at the 500m mark so aiyah might as well overtake him. I managed to pass the baton with the position of 4th and the amount of lactic acid at the thighs can kill you. Really. I was told my timing was good.

Didn't feel that well after the race. It's probably my lunch. Now my right thigh hurts when I run.

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You don't have to remain a "123" anymore.

Man Yoo 2-0 Roma. Council elections was ... oh i'm not supposed to violate the freedom of speech through blogging.

2008-03-29T20:24:00.001+08:00

I kinda forgot what I wanted to blog.

I should keep a memo of topics i want to blog about. Anyway i'm sure you read about the hailstone in central parts of singapore. Well my friend (i can't remember who) told me one rainy afternoon that the raindrops were ice. I thought they were just heavy raindrops. Hmmm...

Watching soccer while running is bad for the neck.

I received the 30-song album by hillsongs united from collin. I'm not really a big fan of songs being done live because everything sounds too good in studios. But anyway the album songs are taken from live songs all over the world and linked together, so a lot of intros sounded weird.

This NEEDS more publicity: http://jym.vze.com

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Lawrence's Theory of Why Ronaldo can score so many goals

Ronaldo, a contender for the player of the year, scored 34 goals in all competitions, and that would not probably be possible in other clubs except man yoo. Ronaldo, a winger by nature, has scored 25 goals in the premier league. The next midfielders found in this season's top scorers list have scored only 10 goals, and they are steven gerrard and frank lampard. So how is ronaldo, being a winger, score so many goals?

It all boils down to tactics. While Man Yoo plays a 4-4-2 formation, the formation breaks when they have possession. As the two central defenders stay at the back, the wing defenders attack through the flanks and thus taking over as wingers. So where do the wingers go? They shift center and end up becoming attacking central midfielders and even strikers. The strikers shift to a less attacking position and center midfielders roam around the pitch creating passes. Therefore Ronaldo ends up being a striker more than winger.

Man Yoo have very strange tactics. I mean when do you see a defender named Wes Brown scoring in a counter attack, heading in from a cross by Wayne Rooney, a striker, from the flank, where wingers roam? How did Nani end up scoring a strikers goal, assisted by a pass from rooney acting as a central midfielder?

But sure, ronaldo is great not because of tactics only, but his ability in headers, free-kicks, long shots, dribbling and finishing.

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If Singapore qualified for the World Cup...

2008-03-26T22:11:00.001+08:00

Dwash and Spwash.

Well it was a good break from lessons but i think we were hardly in the mood for a competitive swim. So anyway the music was there, the lame emcees were there, the rain was there... guess it couldn't get any better for a first swim carnival. The girls had some problems so we had an all guys team when our class were supposed to have max 2 guys. And therefore we had the "advantage" i guess. Other classes didn't look that pleased.

That Against Resistance thing where you needa run across the 0.45m pool is discriminating against short people. It's discrimination; they should adjust the water level according to your height (like that's even possible). Charades was alright and the tie up your legs together was okay. My class requested to play with 02 against 01 and 04 (and i don't know why they allowed it) and so it turned out to be quite ownage. Haha i think the other class weren't that pleased. But anyway kudos to 02, who beat us in almost everything despite having two girls in their team.

Individual events was cool, with zihao and ryan winning medals. Team relay was even cooler. Say, i was supposed to swim for the relay, but when i found out that i could swap teammates, i gladly did. So i became a spectator, coolios. I think the other classes might not have known about this I guess...

I think all the classes hate us now.

But hey we're amphibians as Mr Nah says. And if only our studies matched our physical capabilities.

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OH and during the swim carnival the intro of the song "Hosanna" was played, and when the guitar started playing I guess someone found out and quickly switched song. Haha it would be cool if the whole song played. And i think the starting of Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2 was also played, before it was cut off almost immediately.

Track has been pretty awesome with the rain and the sun and the drink stall. Not looking forward to competitions but yeah that's was we've been training for. I'm pretty scared that I'll get injured again. It's great to run with christians cos when they start singing christian songs there's this motivation to run.

Lame jokes galore from the emcees.

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Uh whoever's 123 on my tagboard, your real name appreciated please. Yeah i respect freedom of speech but at least put your real name la, unless your real name is Lawrence or 123 (unfortunately i'm not close any other lawrences). But anyway i shall reply your comments:

Firstly i wonder how blackburn got into my tagboard in the first place. I'm not a supporter of blackburn, unlike ivan chan, and yeah i'll say man yoo is lousy if i find they really are. Andd cycling has already become a form of transport in other countries, where cycling lanes are built together with roads. But i forgot the details of that and which country it's in. Lastly, your ip address is kinda weird y'know.

2008-03-24T21:25:00.001+08:00

Harlow.

It was a great easter and thank you all who put in effort to do up the whole Holy Week and easter programme. Did a new design/layout for the easter mood. I'm tired so i guess i won't post much, except a youtube video (for once) of the song of the moment.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=R_SB-SpNm00

My Saviour Lives

Our God will reign forever
And all the world will know His name
Everyone together sing the song of the redeemed

I know that my redeemer lives
And now I stand on what He did
My Saviour, my Saviour lives
Every day a brand new chance to say
Jesus, You are the only way
My Saviour, my Saviour lives

The King has come from Heaven
And darkness trembles at His name
Victory forever is the song of the redeemed

My Saviour lives

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Poo. Liverpool. and arsenal.

2008-03-20T21:18:00.001+08:00

I suddenly feel like posting today.

To cycle or not to cycle? That has been the question recently in newspapers. I know that cyclists aren't allowed to use pedestrian footpaths but there are cyclists who use them, for a simple reason that the roads are too dangerous. Imagine a 100 dollar bike, not capable of reaching high speeds, sticking to the side of a main road, inconveniencing drivers to try to avoid knocking into the bike. Where else can they cycle? On air? Pedestrian paths are meant for pedestrians, but i don't think sharing it with cyclists is such a big deal. Comments in newspapers picked out one case of personal experience and used it to support their argument (such as one knocking down a grocery bag from a fellow and not apologizing something like that). But then how about other cyclists who stay very careful on the walkways and apologize for causing inconvenience? Hint: Informal fallacy. The other problem that was pointed out was narrow and busy pathways. Yes I agree cyclists should not be cycling there but make the effort to detour and go one round to reach to their destination, because it's simply a path for pedestrians. But is it worth the effort to cycle extra distances when they can just cut through narrow and un-busy paths?

If Singapore is concerned about the increasing amount of cars and pollution on the road, raising costs and road taxes aren't the only way; allowing people to cycle to their destinations not only reduce cars and therefore pollution, but encourage an active lifestyle which don't just happen on aces day.

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Track today wasn't very good. 400m intervals really have a way of killing you. Didn't reach the timing, couldn't finish the whole thing and felt signs of pulling my butt muscles yet again. I shall stick to longer distances; I'm scared of getting injured and losing all my fitness again.

School as per normal. Nothing much except getting back results and being glad that i'm not in higher chinese. And being glad i support such a wonderful football club like manyoo, and not chelski.

I don't mind switching to mainstream.

Happy Easter! New design on the way?

2008-03-18T21:21:00.001+08:00

Say hello to kahSWEE, my newest reader of my blog. I dunno how he found it, but it's probably through a series of blog links or just googled my name. Anyway he's the IT and track expert, and runs like Hamilton in Melbourne. Yeah so hi, and i read your blog too, dude.

Track intervals never felt so good. It sounded very very tough but I guess I managed to pull through it. Maybe sleeping in class before track is good (i mean sleeping after lessons). People usually ask me how I run so fast, or how come my mental is strong. But seriously I don't know, but all I can say is I took a year to reach where I am. Or maybe less if you remember I pulled my butt muscles middle last year.

Running is often a war in your brain. It's a struggle between two opposing sides. One tells you to stop, and lists many reasons why you should, while the other tells you to push on and to finish it. In the end it's your decision, to follow one or the other, or compromise. It's tough to decide, really. But what keeps me pushing is the fact that track is not just what you feel currently when you're running, but also what you feel and look back after you run. And compromising is really just being a coward sitting on the fence. It's either you do it, or you don't; there's no in between. (Sometimes compromising is alright, like when you gotta injury or you're sick).

Sounds relevant to christianity.

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Now for a level results. Surprising isn't it for jcs not to mention much about the a level results, especially about ip? I guess we all know the results were poorer than last year's probably due to the new syllabus. The media covered so little about the a levels, people start to feel there's something wrong. And I'm sure there is. And releasing a small content of ip leaves us even more surprised. That probably means ip is comparable to jc (which nj claims) or worse. As an IP kid, it's worrying to hear such little news. I'm sure there's much more to the whole story. MOE and schools should release more and not cover things up.

Suggestion to schools offering IP: have a mock O levels. make us prepared for A levels. i'm sure we won't mind if we are guaranteed a place in the jcs we're in already.

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I feel i need a new picture on top. Spring's gonna be over anytime soon so I better do something while I have time. The JYM website took my time away until I realised I didn't do any publicity for camp and easter. I guess I'll stay in JYM committee for this year, but next year i'll probably opt out and concentrate more on studies and track (that is if I stay on in boring track).

I'm proud to say I did reasonably well for my papers I got back so far, having studied very little compared to others. Sometimes you do need a little pinch of luck in exams.

Ever wondered why Genesis 1:1 says "heavens" and not "heaven"? That was pointed out by uncle freddie during my DG. Strange isn't it, that we humans claim we know so much, yet so little.

Ever wondered why Arsenal is on a drawing spree? Oh there's nothing to wonder about.

2008-03-14T21:59:00.001+08:00

Right. Holidays are so interesting.

Finished up the JYM website. You can go check it out at http://jym.vze.com . Other than that I've been training, eating, working, playing and sleeping. In other words, it feels like normal school days, except that you add the playing bit. I just saw the new dota map and i realised how long I've touched warcraft.

Training's tough as usual and njc withdrew from our first cross country competition because of the rain. The whole race was delayed 45 minutes and even still it was raining, and it's retarded waiting under a bus stop shelter, and the rain never seemed to stop, and the coach didn't want us to get sick. So we had a training the next day. Guess what. It rained, and we ran.

Went to bishan explore the place. Then swim. Then cramp. Then suntan. Then ate. Then home. Then sleep.

Family Day Carnival went well, Man Yoo vs Portsmouth went well and so did everything else, i think.

My blog needs a doctor.

2008-03-07T20:56:00.001+08:00

Now that the tests are over, I can finally sit back and relax and do the things I couldn't do during the past few weeks, for one week. So let me calculate the free time I have during the holidays: Minus off SJCK carnival, subtract training hours, take away race on wednesday and that leaves me withh...

Can't count.

Anyway needa catch up on lots of stuff. Such as the JYM website, which I'm planning to touch up on everything and introduce it next sunday. Wish me luck.

Yay.

TAGreplies: (figured that my tagboard's for other people's crap and it has no space for mine)
Juz: next time you pull away not run
ryan and jh: at least it's before ass week rightt
Ash: haha see ya too
N: eh look at the more ego one with the face right on front page of the njc website
liz: wat feymerse teag? an um naut er fairn off sulcallnee
jac: who's more scandalous? huh huh?