Advice on Life

"Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone. You’re going to have a busy life. Thank goodness there’s no life expectancy."

These were the words of Adrian Tan, the author of The Teenage Textbook ( 1988 ) at a recent NTU convocation ceremony.

The excerpt here is just the summary. For the full speech, go here. This is where I saw it. Personally, I think it's a great speech, pretty provoking.

Training Intensity Increases

As I previously mentioned, I wanted to progressively increase the distance of my runs to prepare for the full Standchart Marathon come December.

Ideally speaking, I should run about twice a week and increase the distance as the weeks pass by. Sadly, the frequency of runs is not as I had hoped for. Even so, I decided to increase the distance anyway. So when Dan and Shi An ask me to go running today, I decided to try for 10KM.

I started running from my place to their place in Bedok Reservoir. From there, we ran along the Siglap Park Connector to East Coast Park. On the way we passed by Kembagan, Joo Chiat, Marine Parade, stopping along the ECP expressway, just short of crossing the bridge over to the Park. Then we turned back and ran back to Bedok Reservoir along the same route, ending at their void deck.

Once again, I used the Daft Logic distance calculator to estimate the distance that I covered. If you look at the image posted, it comes up to 8.989KM. From what I can tell, this distance is slightly short of the actual distance that I ran, due to the way the distance was calculated. The actual distance should be 9 plus KM, just shy of the target 10KM.

Happy Teachers' Day

September 1st is Teachers' Day. Barely 1 month and a week into the job and I am celebrating this day that serves to commemorate the hardwork and contribution that teachers make in educating the lives and minds of our nation's youth.

For my first Teachers' Day, I received a card, a windchime, a notepad, a notebook and 2 pens from my students. Being new on the job, I had not expected to receive anything as I do not feel that I made a difference. Nevertheless, it was kind of heartwarming when the students came up to me and presented their gifts.

Still, being the cynic that I am, I could not help but feel that they are just nice students that prepared something for every teacher that taught them. But then again, maybe I had done something that had an impact in their young lives.

Ah, the little things that made this job one that's worthwhile.

SAFRA Singapore Bay Run Completed

Remember the previous post about joining the SAFRA Singapore Bay Run? I did it.

Though it was just a meagre 6KM. It adds on to my preparation for the Standchart Marathon. To prepare for the marathon, I have decided to progressively increase the distance I run. From 6KM, it will go on to 10, then 15, then 20, then 25 and finally till 30KM. According to my colleague who is trained in Sports Science, I do not need to go all the way to 40KM in my training, I will still be able to run the full course. Anyway, given the time constraint, I do not really have the luxury to go all the way by December.

So here's to a good start to my preparation.

Sarkozy en Afghanistan

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080820/tts-afghanistan-unrest-france-a9aa023.html

Aujourd'hui, sur le site de Yahoo!News, j'ai trouvé un article qui dit que le Président français, Nicolas Sarkozy, est en Afghanistan après une attaque sur l'armée française par des militants associés avec le Taliban.

Selon l'article, 10 soldats français sont morts et beaucoup plus sont blessés. Dans l'autre côté, 30 militants Talibanists sont morts et 30 plus sont blessés. Les alliés

Olympic Spirit

Congratulations to the Singapore table-tennis team for bringing back the first Olympic medal in 48 years. Well I had hoped for a Gold, I can't say that they did badly. China was and is still the dominant force in the world of ping-pong. In fact I'm tempted to say well-done for bringing back our first medal ever, seeing how the previous one was won 48 years ago, and we just celebrated our 43rd birthday. Does the previous one really belong to us?

Anyway, the Olympics is not the only major sporting worth taking note of. Support Youth Olympic Singapore 2010! There is a logo compeitition coming up. For those artistically inclined or whoever is interested, the prizes are pretty sweet.

Nothing

There is no hunger.

There is no passion.

There is no thing.

Nothing, yet everything.

Life

Sports.

Looking at my blog, it's almost the only thing I write about these days. As work overtakes my life, I have little time for anything else. Doing these sports were things that I wanted to do when my life was overtaken by something else. Nowadays, they are the only other thing I do.

Still, I try to mix things up a bit. I try to ask my friends and family to join me. But everyone has their own thing, and I often end up doing things alone. I enjoy doing them alone. It's like a time of peace and solace, a time of contemplation. But I also enjoy doing them with close ones, time spent with them, no matter how much, is always precious.

I hope I have more things to blog about, not just sports, but family, love, life, work too. But somehow, my muse refuses to help.

And the running begins

Last week I finally bought a pair of running shoes to kick start the preparations for the Standchart Marathon. With a price tag of SGD$140, it's the most expensive pair of shoes that I have ever bought. Introducing the Adidas Adizero Tempo, a running shoe suitable for over-pronators like me. It's supposed to provide additional stability since that's what over-pronators need. Whatever that means.

Anyway, I took it for a run today. It looks good, it's comfortable. I guess it's not too bad a buy. This was the route that I took, starting from my place all the way to East Coast Park and back. Since Streetdirectory.com is not functioning like before, I had to rely on Daft Logic's distance calculator, which uses Google Maps. It's pretty handy actually and it measures the distance based on checkpoints that you place on the map. A rough estimate from this site gave my run a reading of 6.125km. Not too bad considering I have not been running for quite a long time. I guess the swimming, gym and weekly soccer games do help.

Olympic Glory

Today is a day that all Singaporeans can be proud of. For after a break of 48 years, the Singapore national table-tennis team has guaranteed Singapore at least a silver medal at this year's Olympic Games by getting into the final.


Though the players are not born and bred Singaporeans, it still brings us glory by the fact that they were trained in Singapore and represents the nation's fledging sporting development. I bet the paddlers feel the best in setting a grand final with the country that did not believe in them. They may not even make it into the national team in China, but Singapore's training has made them into highly-ranked world class players. That is why I always say it does not matter that they are not born here, they are still great Singaporean players.

Seeing the Singapore flag being waved in the stands makes me proud. Come Sunday I hope to see it being raised high up as our national anthem gets played. I may not sing the anthem or say the pledge every morning, but I have to say years of brainwashing and propaganda have had its effect on me. Given the choice, I would not trade my Singaporean citizenship for anything, even though I would not mind staying in and exploring the rest of the world.

I love my country and I am proud of it.

C'est Magnifique

A beautiful song, just the way I like it.
I wish I was born 50 years early. Can you see the cognac, the cigar, the ballroom, the suits, the ladies and the band?

La vie est là The life is here
Qui vous prend par le bras Who takes you by the arms
Oh la la la Oh la la la
C'est magnifique ! It's magnificent!
Des jours tous bleus The blue days
Des baisers lumineux, The luminous kisses
bss bss bss bss bss bss bss bss
C'est magnifique ! It's magnificent!
Donner son cœur To give his heart
Avec un bouquet d'fleurs With a bouquet of flowers
Oh la la la Oh la la la
Mais c'est magnifique ! But it's magnificent!
Et faire un jour And make a day
Un mariage d'amour A marriage of love
C'est magnifique ! It's magnificent!

Partir là-bas To leave there
Lun' de miel à Cuba, Honeymoon at Cuba,
Oh la la la Oh la la la
C'est magnifique ! It's magnificent
Sous ce climat, Under this mood,
Les baisers sont comm' ça ! The kisses are like that!
Bss bss bss bss Bss bss bss bss
C'est magnifique ! It's magnificent!
Des nuits d'amour The nights of love
Qui dur'nt quarant' cinq jours That last 45 days
Oh la la la Oh la la la
Mais c'est magnifique ! But it's magnificent!
Revoir Paris To see Paris again
Retrouver ses amis To find the friends again
C'est magnifique ! It's magnificent!

Dîner à deux Dinner for 2
Dans un nid d'amoureux In a love-nest
Oh la la la Oh la la la
C'est magnifique ! It's magnificent!
Dans un baiser In a kiss
Laisser l'poulet brûler Let the chicken burn
Bss bss bss bss Bss bss bss bss
C'est magnifique ! It's magnificent!
Avoir deux cœurs To have 2 hearts
Pour faire un seul bonheur To make a single happiness
Oh la la la Oh la la la
Mais c'est magnifique ! But it's magnificent!
S'aimer d'amour Love each other for love
A Paris pour toujours In Paris forever
C'est magnifique ! It's magnificent!

New Boots

Today is pay-day. After paying off what I have to pay off, I still have a little left. Therefore I decided to buy myself a nice pair of football boots.


This is the Adidas Questra II.

It's past season's design so I got it cheap at SGD$61. It come with blades instead of the traditional metal studs. Frankly speaking, I have no idea what the difference is. According to what I can find online, it seems that the blades are more for general use, while the metal studs are more terrain specific.

Tomorrow I will put them to the test first with a regular session with the boys of UNIDO FC at Tampines SAFRA's artificial grass pitch.

V.S.O.P

I took part in my first auction ever.

In Singapore, members of the Taoist faith celebrate the 7th month of the lunar calender, the Hungry Ghost Festival with offerings, Getais and dinners. They believe that the gates of Hell are open during this month to allow the ghosts a month of vacation in the land of the living. This year, the 7th month coincides with August of the Gregorian calender.

One of the main event during the dinners is to auction off various electronic appliances, alcoholic beverages and the likes. Yesterday at one of these dinners, I bid for for a bottle of Hennessy V.S.O.P at S$168. For a bottle of cognac this isn't a high price. Clubs typically sell it for more, though supermarkets sell it for a lot lower. At the end of the day, it was just for the fun of it.

Not only that, I also learned something new. At these auctions, the items are paid for at the dinner in the following year, though they are collected immediately. How cool is that. In addition, diners that won a bid are usually given a table in the next year so that they can come and join in the festivities again.

There is another dinner on the 18th. My father happens to be in the committee for this one. I think I will bid for something again. Just to show him some support. Look like I will have more dinners to go to next year. In the meantime, I will just sit back, relax, and enjoy my cuppa V.S.O.P.

Singapore SAFRA Bay Run

As i previously mentioned, I intend to join the coming Standchart Marathon at the end of the year. As it turns out, I'll get a chance to warm up with the Singapore Bay Run.

Couple of weeks back, My friends and I discussed taking part in the annual AHM (Army Half Marathon). 21 KM was a good start given that I had not been exercising for a very long time and jumping straight into a marathon would be a good idea. However, at that time the AHM was only 2 months away and I decided I would not have enough time to train and thus gave it up. It is now past the sign-up date.

Still, what must happen will happen. Today after the staff meeting at my school, the P.E teachers started asking for participants to the SAFRA Bay Run. Seeing that it was only 6 KM, I decided to sign up for it, before more inertia and procrastination can prevent me from starting my over-mentioned exercise regime and preparations for the real thing.

Immediately after I signed up, I realised that the Singapore SAFRA Bay Run and the AHM are actually different parts of the same event. As it turns out, I am still joining it after all, albeit a much watered-down version.

Time to find those dusty running shoes.

Money No Enough 2

Jack Neo's latest movie does not disappoint as me, my brother and his wife went through 2 hours of an emotional roller coaster ride.

With the same cast back in totally different roles, Jack's latest movie once again touched on the current issues in our society that bug all Singaporeans.

True to its title, Money No Enough 2 went hard on financial problems that plague Singaporeans, with special emphasis on the ever increasing amount of ERP gantries that have dominated coffeeshop-talks all around the island.

As one of the characters in the show put it, soon we'll have to step paying charges from the moment we exit the elevators of our own flats.

Another part of the show continued Jack's style of embedding moral issues in his movies. The movie went on to talk about the 3 main characters' relationship with their mother. As the soundtrack in Hokkien went, "all the love showered on the young child, who couldn't care less about the mother's well-being once he grew up." (loose translation)

Nowadays themes such as these do not fail to strike a chord in my heart. As we grow up, and our parents grow old, pictures of pitiful elderly become ever more heart-wrenching. As I watch the story unfold in front of me, I could not help but tell myself I must never fail my parents. All the things that they have done for me, the gratitude is something I can never repay.

As the credits roll at the end of the film, I could no longer tell whether the tears flowing non-stop were tears of laughter or sadness.

Schwimmen macht Spaß

I have recently started a new habit. It's healthy, it's fun, it's swimming.

I wanted to start a regime since quite a long while ago. Years of smoking and a sedentary lifestyle had left me weakened. I found myself easily out of breath. The occasional soccer games left me leaving on the floor after barely 5 minutes.

So I told myself that I should pull up my socks and start getting healthy. First up was the reduction in nicotine consumption. smoking went down from 3 days per pack to 1 to 2 sticks a day. Though my employers frown on their employees smoking, it is an indulgence that I really enjoyed.

I started joining my old school mates for regular soccer games. However that ran into a little obstruction. My loyal pair of soccer boots has finally thrown in the towel after years of service. Its replacement is not coming in till my next pay day, meaning I have to stop playing before I barely started. I look forward to the day when my first pay comes in.

I also intend to start gym sessions and running. The Standchart Marathon will be my goal. I have always thought that the t-shirt that read "Finisher of 42.195 km" is way cool

The beginning of a new era

2 weeks have passed since I started on my job. Everything is fine but this truly is no easy feat.

Students are a handful. They never listen. I'm posted to NCC. How it reminds me of the days when I was a cadet.

There is much to learn about educating our young. At the same time that I teach, I continue to acquire new skills for myself. I am proud to say that I can now design a simple webpage using the Dreamweaver software. This makes me ever more tempted to create a new design for my blog.