Latest Update on my summer plans

Hey guys, change of plans. Instead of doing my reservist, I would be flying off early tmr morning to Seoul for an internship with their government till 19th June. After that I would still be having the Princeton program all the way till 31st July...and after that I would be in Hong Kong on the first of August.

It was great seeing, throwing, batting, kicking, eating and chatting with you guys yesterday. Han Yuan and Winfred--thanks for driving us around. It's always great to hear from you guys.

Things I ate in the past two days: bakkwa, tou hua, chee cheong fun, mee pok, bak chor mee, char kway teow, pulut hitam, pomfret, coffee pork ribs, curry chicken, roti prata bomb, mai pian prawn, shilin chicken cutlet, ya kun toast, qiu lian ban mian, mango, mapo toufu, satay, orh lua, qing teng, fried rice, shark's fin, abalone, baby octopus, roast pork, red bean soup, tang yuan, butter prawn, shi quan duck, etc etc. I can only remember this much. Oh yeah. Now time for kimchi.

See you guys in August--Han Yuan, see you in July!

My wings!

Well, a week from now I will be going through the toughest course here in Canada. However, half of the journey is done and the other half is in time to come. The truth is I cannot get through this without the support from all of you - my bestest friends! The moment the Canadian wings was pinned on my chest, images of all my family and friends (you guys) came flooding my mind and I was so happy. I cannot thank you guys enough but I hope to be back by the end of August to share my experience with all of you and also to have a good time all together with our usual lame jokes and lots of laughter!!

The best I can do right now is to let you guys have a peek of what went through till now. (the gist of it)

A little good news for you guys.. i dearly miss..

I flew my last official flight for graduation at approx 12.30pm (canadian time.. 6:30pm Singapore time)

I have achieved my Canadian Wings!

Thanks guys for the support.
Will blog with pictures soon.

Elitism and bullying among high-intelligence kids

Hey everyone,

It's been a long time since we've had a "deeper" post so maybe just allow me to indulge abit.

One other reason I came back home this Easter holiday is to obtain some information/data that will hopefully help me in my 2nd-year project (counts towards the exams, urgh). I had a range of topics to choose from and I picked one that I could remotely relate to in terms of retrospective experience: anti-social behaviour. After some consultation with my supervisor, I settled on studying different trends of bullying behaviour in adolescent schoolchildren.

And so I got in touch with Mr. Eng who was really kind enough to grant my request to conduct a student survey spanning across Sec1-4. I was initially rejected by his department since that's the school's standard protocol dealing with outsider surveys. But I politely requested a personal meeting with Mr. Eng, and with the help of some name-dropping (thanks D and I), managed to earn his approval based on a "personal favour" basis. I've since obtained 3/4 of my sample data and the results have been extremely interesting! Let's rewind a bit shall we...

There are two main focus points of my project. The first of which would be the presence (if any) of various types of bullying behaviour in a high-achieving and competitive environment such as our alma mater. The impetuses for bullying are numerous, ranging from physical discrimination (remember sextoy?), racial discrimination (remember VM?), social identity (remember urghsuckyourmommashit-chee) to academic achievement (mugger, nerd, geek etc). I'm sure it's not difficult for any of us (who are on this blog) to recall past incidents which may fall under the category of bullying (though they are definitely mild!). My aim was hence to find the proportion of bullying behaviour that falls under the category of academic achievement. For example, some top students coming from neighbourhood primary schools could have once been ostracised for being 'way too smart'.

The second focus point would be on elitism, especially among students who know they belong to the brightest bunch of kids in the country (remember ms. get-out-of-my-elite-uncaring-face?) Perhaps they could be a relationship between bullying based on academic achievement, and traces of elitist sentiments? My existing data has shown that elitism is real in top schools, but numbers are among a handful.

Well, I have no idea where all this research is going to take me, but I'm looking forward to running some analyses and forming some preliminary conclusions. Out of curiosity, what do you guys have to say about bullying and elitism? We can always recount memorable (sometimes funny) incidents that happened back when we were still young! =D

p.s. I pledged full anonymity to the school for doing the surveys. Would really appreciate if we could keep our discussion within this blog, and like we always do, keep secretive about all identities. Thanks guys!

Updates on my summer plans

Hey guys, I'd write a full post sometime soon alright? It's been a hectic few months for me (spring term is really nasty, no holidays at all). I just wanted to update everyone on my summer plans.

I would be reaching Singapore on 22th May 1230pm, on a Delta Airlines flight which cost USD990. The second cheapest airfare available is actually from SIA @ USD1400, but being a cheapskate boy, I would spend $400 more to make my butt more comfortable for 30hours when I could use it for a two-week holiday. My return flight is on 14th September 6am (yes, getting a cheap airline means getting bad timings).

I need to rush back home this time round to attend my eldest brother's wedding on 23rd May. After that, I would be heading back for reservist as OC of my own guys--I really didn't want to leave them, so I've worked out a plan with my CO to play with the system every year. Reservist from 7-11 June (with lots of KAH meetings and prep before that, so it's practically 2-week reservist for me).

After that, I would be leaving for Seoul, South Korea on 19th/20th June. I'd be there for 6 weeks for a research/study/seminar paid for by the school, with Korean lessons every morning for six weeks. I would be staying in the Ewha Women's University there--I honestly didn't know this when I applied. But, nonetheless, it's gonna be interesting I guess. The thing runs for 6 weeks till 31st July. I'm thinking of traveling for a few weeks in August! Anyone game? Nepal? Tibet? Mongolia? China? Japan? Pls let me know early cos I need to buy my Korea tickets in the next 2 weeks!

I understand that I'm gonna miss Eng Swen, who's coming back to Spore on 20th June and then leaving in July. Dang.

Thanks for all the birthday well wishes--facebook, email etc. I always love to hear from you guys 20000miles away. My birthday was really lovely. Did easter egg-hunting with children from the church, then played softball with some friends, then went for an evening jog around the river-lake with friends, then had a lovely dinner, then had a great time at service.

Can't wait to see you guys again. Even after knowing all the diff people from all over the world, you guys are still the best dudes ever.

Cheerios

I Hit It!!

Hey,que tal!! This place is as dead as lim chu kang cemetary...
Spent a good hour on this today,hope you guys like it. It's a spin off from Kevin Rudolf's "I made it", inspiration by J's post below.



Yeah
Coach Nelson Hero
Raffles Teams
Softball, play!!

I look up to the plate
And now the pitch is mine
Ive known it all my life
I'll hit it, I'll hit it!
I used to dream about, the ball he's throwing now
I know that theres no doubt.
I'll hit it, I'll hit it!

Known as the batter whom no one believed in me
But I never give up the fight.
Ya, but now on top.
Coach told me to let it go
The catcher called for inside high-h-h-h
I missed it.

I look up to the plate
And now the pitch is mine
Ive known it all my life
I'll hit it, I'll hit it!
I used to dream about, the ball he's throwing now
I know that theres no doubt.
I'll hit it, I'll hit it!

Bats Up, hella pitcher's burning smoke
Louisville never felt so heavy before
High ball, dropping and curve some more.
Inside rise, the ultimate strikeout ball
When I hit, hit it full of power
More power than I have seen from the superman
Stunna hitting, contact and the power
Thats how we do it, making hits making good plays
Top bracket, big batter making big hits
Over Kallang now turned archery range
Hit another foul ball, pitcher throwing hundreds
Then came the linedrive, what a stunna!

I look up to the plate
And now the pitch is mine
Ive known it all my life
I'll hit it, I'll hit it!
I used to dream about, the ball he's throwing now
I know that theres no doubt.
I'll hit it, I'll hit it!

Ooo I hit it
I hit it...
I hit It...
I hit it...
Yo ay Ay ay listen
See I dont play for glamour,and I dont care for fame
Im in this for the glove of the game
Funny how things can change
They didnt believe in me
Then they calling my name
Now look who's hitting
They didnt wanna know me back then
But ever since I hit a homerun
Everyone turned around
And now the base coach's calling 'downnnnnn!!!'

I look up to the plate
And now the pitch is mine
Ive known it all my life
I'll hit it, I'll hit it!
I used to dream about, the ball he's throwing now
I know that theres no doubt.
I'll hit it, I'll hit it!

[Pitcher]
Came to the batter, lookin like a slugger.
Pitched it to the catcher, straight down the center
Curve sinker riser, i'll just stay loyal
Boy we getting batters like we just found flour
Uh and thats word to my good friend
I'll strike first and leave the bullsh-t ball last
I lay it down so hard I got a bedrash.
And I just tell em to leave it when the ball pass
Staring at you from the top of the game man
I might drop the ball if I change hands
Uh it feel good to be here, busy in the circle got this b-tch swinging
Yo Moley!!

I look up to the plate
And now the pitch is mine
Ive known it all my life
I'll hit it, I'll hit it!
I used to dream about, the ball he's throwing now
I know that theres no doubt.
I'll hit it, I'll hit it!

I look up to the skyyy!!
I hit it!
Ooo!
Hit it, I hit it
Yes I did
(x5)
I hit it

For the glove of the game

After so many years, this sport is still what keeps us together. I had lots of fun over the weekend playing for ORA - thanks Moley and Dae for roping me into this! Initially, I was rather overwhelmed by some of the many concerns running through my head: haven't played a competitive softball match for over 6 months, haven't swung a bat for over 3 months, I look like a vampire etc. Must say, though, the feeling of standing in the diamond under the $#@%#$scorching sun (I'm a vampire) has never felt different. I seem to have forgotten all the thrills of simply anticipating the next play until Moley put me at first the other day. Frankly, the adrenaline itself sapped the energy out of me (sorry la i'm weak). To those who missed out on this, I wanna say I miss playing with everyone terribly so come back soon and join Funbari Hot Springs please.

I'll never want to stop playing.

p.s. Maybe I should form Cambridge Hotsprings United then bring them to Singapore and take part in league...

p.p.s. check out more photos on fb!

p.p.p.s. sorry my first post boring hahahaha

Two is better than one!

What a week it has been man! haha, anw as a true cheapskate boy, looking for offers 24/7, here are some of the 'steals' i got this week! Above is the Pedro shoe I wanted for my birthday, thanks guys!!! =)




This is the jacket i got, back view. Want to wear it when i go england for exchange next year! haha, would probably save my life from the hooligans...
Got this for less than $50, wow, wow! =)








Jacket front view











Adidas Tennis Climacool shirt, feels really comfortable, great for my tennis sessions! =) Nice, got it at a steal, only $49!









Adidas Roland Garros Paris Tennis Shoes(Response RG), this is a bit ex, to a CSB, $69, haha. But it would have been easily over a $100 man...Shioks!







And dz and winfred should find this slippers from Pedro familiar...one of the steal we got at the pedro sales which we went together, thanks winfred for driving us there!! show them your shoes too! Stole it, at $49.90.






Conclusion: to all csb! please check out the adidas sale and the fish and co $1 deal before it's too late! you're missing out a lot if you never go, and tmr is ben n jerry's free cone day! haha!

Priorities in Life

To begin with, I am currently in my IntroEcons class and posting this entry. It probably shows that "Ihavenorespectforschool" - according to zx, or it's just that this module is most likely not one of my major priorities (having gotten back my midterms - I prob have to put it as no.1 key priority for revisions!)

Well, something hit me the other night while pondering upon this thought: Our priorities in life changes over different frames of our lives. So, how do we determine what are the ones that we hope to attain? For students, grades v satisfaction of uni life or both can be attainable together; family time v new friends time v old friends time; money savings v expenditure for comfort - these are really random thoughts and I know many will agree that a lot of these may actualyl happen concurrently anyway...

What I want to express to people is this, "Don't let others be a priority in your life, when you are just an option in theirs..." Be it friends/colleague/relationship. I think we all understand how friends may care for others regardless of what he/she gets in return; after all the saying goes something like: you help others because you want to and not because you expect something in return right? But, a really friendly and helpful friend may not understand his/her own limits, since he/she would go all out to help others anyway! Imagine a pendulum - what will provide the resistance to stop the motion and regain it's equilibrium. Where do we find the balance in our lives?

Just a random thought on a Wednesday afternoon class. Got to buck up - it's already Week11 -.-

Beauty

Came back from dinner with hy,zx,dz,ps and i...and it's 4am in the morning...couldnt sleep...chanced upon a little something on youtube.





Well, the first one obviously sings better and is pretty,but I actually had more thoughts after watching the second video.

Any thoughts??Enjoy the song anyway:)

Ethics and Time

Hey hey, welcome welcome! friends from far away land....Welcome to Singapore!

I jus did an assignment on ethics in my organizational behaviour, haha so got a lot of thots in my head now....

Jus a quote:
"The results of an ethical decision are often uncertain; no one always tell us whether we have made the right decision. There are no magic formulas, nor is there computer software that ethical dilemmas can be plugged into for a solution. Even if they mean well, most businesspeople will make ethical mistakes. Thus, there is no substitute for critical thinking and the ability to take responsibility for our own decisions."

I wonder how ethical we all are...

wait, sidetrack, woohoo! Man Utd won 4-0!! Rocks!! haha!

I believe that when we go out to work in the future, we will face many ethical challenges. Ethics, to those of you who are from OCS, should not be unfamiliar with this term.

Jus a possible scenario in the future, you are a manager of a well known advert design company. You have a few clients coming to you, wanting you to advertise their product for them. One particular buyer, e.g Justea, actual wants to bribe you so that you are willing to advertise for them, knowing that they face fierce competition from Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, more well known brands.

So you, as the manager, should you accept the bribe, that you can keep for yourself, which no one in your company will find out? But by accepting this, you are endangering the good reputation of your company, since we all know justea taste like chui....haha, or at least not as good as Coke, Sprite and Pepsi.

Yo guys, so what would you do?

Actually right, how much is ethics worth? What's the use of being ethical?
Quote:

"Omission lying is intentionally not informing the channel member of any differences, problems, or negative issues relating to the product, service, or company that significantly affects awareness, intention, or behavior. When a lie becomes unethical in business, it is based on the context and intent to distort the truth. Some business people may believe that one must lie a little or that the occasional lie is sanctioned by the organization. The question you need to ask is whether lies are distorting openness and transparency, and other values that are associated with ethical behavior."

Some people think that actually if you're ethical, you will not succeed in business, you need to be unscrupulous, and use under table methods, n like do loyalty test....hahaha.
But wait, let me add another dimension to it. By accepting the bribe, you will actually save hundreds of job in your compnay, which is facing a tight financial situation, only justea is able to pay upfront, Coke and Pepsi they all can only pay much later. Does this makes accepting the bribe ethical?


Time, is something that affect every single one of us on earth. We are bound by it, or freed by it.
Haven u heard this enough? "I don't have enough time...no time la....wah...why so little time?"
Well, everyone has time, you'll only have no time, when you die. And ALL of us, have the same amount of time, you, me, barack obama, rooney, adam khoo, lee kuan yew, jack neo....no one has more time than other people.

It's just that more successful people, know how to "create" time for themselves. When you look at very smart or successful people, it's not necessary that they are really smarter or more hardworking, it's just that....they are really good at managing their time!

We are at an age, where we can be considered at our prime, these few years of our lives, will very much determine our future. Every decision we make, can potentially change our lives. And you have be think very carefully about what to do with your time now...We are all sportsman, we all know how a millisecond can change for example the contact of the ball. That timing, might be the difference between a winning home run, or a pop fly. In my field of work, Time cannot play a more important role. A one second delay in my command, can potentially cause an air catastrophe that is just too scary to imagine. Time waits for no one. Really. No even if you are the president, or the CDF.

The one who control his time, will find himself, more free than someone who don't actively control his time. When you don't take control of your own time, other people will take control of it for you. People asking you for supper, go, or dun go? It's up to you. No one can decide how you want to spend you time. No one. You are the master of your time in all sense of the word.

Imagine, if you have all the time in the world, what would you do?

So guys, be the master of your time, and go succeed wherever you are in life.

Sweet Sunday

From my investigation, our readership has officially increased!

I guess our blog started out to be a really "secret" but I think that our topics have aroused much interest in this fast moving modern world. Kudos to the NTU boys for posting those wonderful entries especially during their recess week. I wonder what happened to SMU time when recess week was just sucked up by meetings and all. I like the way we blog and comment about stuff - but maybe W should revise on our blog layout again. More vibrance. More activity. Better! Thanks W - keep it going!

A quick report on Saturday's game against RI "A" boys: Final Score ORA Legends 14 - 9 Raffles 'A' Boys. It was a very high scoring game as the scoreline made many bookies richer than the casino in our IR. Expected outcome, unexpected scoreline.

1. Tan Yi Rui 3B
2. Ivan Ng CF
3. Farhan 1B
4. Senthil C
5. Jerald P
6. Teck Piaw 2B
7. Kuan Fu SS
8. Wee Hao LF
9. Chong Zhi RF

Subs: Daniel Lee, Farish

It was a display of supreme offensive powers from the Legends as Teck Piaw capped off, batting 3 for 3 and 1 walk. Jerald had 2 HR and Farhan recorded his 1st Inside the park HR ever, with 3RBI. The ever reliant Yi Rui was a bit off form, batting 1 for 4. Ivan finished the game with a fluke HR (I am sure you all can imagine - a half-swing that blooped over LF).

Senthil and Ivan also combined for the SPORTSCENTER PLAY OF THE MONTH! David Ortiz was tagged out at 3rd base to end the game.
P.S Thanks zhizhithepig for supporting the game!

As school restarts for everyone, the countdown to project meetings, assignments and exams begin. But look on the bright side guys, we have the whole Summer Break to look forward to!!! It will be here even before you know it. Zoom zoom zoom.

While at a SMU Softball Gathering last night at the Marina Barrage, a thought came to me (purely because the Japs were drunk and doing crazy stuff) - What would you do if you liked a girl and you know it can't/won't happen? I am sure everyone will try to make the best out of it even for the short while. But how exactly? Declare your love or secretly just act like a guardian angel and take care of the girl? What if your bestest friend also liked the same person? It seems like the typical scenarios in dramas, but probably in real life too. Random. But it's just a thought. Well - this applies to girls too by the way.

And to D and the overseas boys, since your blog is officially ... hmm ... how should I say - DEAD? You all can blog here! haha. Hope all's been well for everyone.

One love One life

Hey, this is my virgin post coz I am really bored with studying and rotting at home during recess week. Been doing much more of the latter though...hehehe
PS:I realised i have two Gmail accounts wif the same GuGu profile(lol) and i tweaked my ankle playing soccer this morning, so i don't think i will be playing on saturday I, paiseh!!!

The last few days at home, i have been thinking about many things that have happened in my life thus far. Some of the thoughts are personal and some are public. I will share one of the public ones here.

As the positive talk has been going around for quite some time, I would like to ride on it, but from a different perspective. That is from people who are uber-positive. Namely, the Edison Chens, Tiger Woods, John Terrys,Bill Clintons and Ashley Coles.

Recently, sports stars have been getting caught with their pants down. Coincidental or not, they have collectively brought up the issue of infidelity. More importantly, they have portrayed certain abstract beliefs about love and sex wrongly.I will be attempting to challenge these notions rationally and systematically.

Belief number:

1) We should always be faithful and truthful to the ones we love
2) Love and sex are congruent
3) Men are sexually deprived beasts.

1)

We have been taught to believe that we can only fall in love with one person at any one time. Therefore, it is impossible for us to be thinking about another woman or man as long as you are attached to someone. However, is this the case??

Well, unfortunately, i do not believe so. It is possible to fall in love with another person at any one time. It is possible anywhere and any time. This is especially so during long distance relationships(no direct references meant) I feel. It is human nature, there is always a craving for something nicer, someone better. That is why Wei XiaoBao had seven wives and emporers had thousands.

So then, what is love???Have we been taught the wrong morals, wrong values??
Personally, i believe that love could be a fallacy after all.There are actually rational aspects to it which we can analyse(yes D,you got my answer).

Throughout the years, the concept of "love" has evolved. It has become a lot more of an obligation. In ancient times, a man can fall in love with many women and get away with it. And in those times, the definition of love was never about fidelity but more of conquer and domination. It was eventually the fall of dynasties and kingdoms that actually reshaped its meaning.
Stories of everlasting and undying love then started to emerge(Yes, did you actually believe Romeo and Juliet, Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu existed in those times??)and women started to realise that they do not exist solely as the right side of the equation, but the left side as well. Men also started to believe that this equation is solely linear. And it became the one love one life concept that we are so familiar with today.

So, had John Terry and Tiger Woods defaulted??Think again.

2)

This is actually an elaboration of the first point. We often coin sex as "making love", but all scientists will tell you that it is not true. It is a natural phenomenom. Tigers hump tigresses and dogs hump bitches, so what's the difference??

There isn't. Love=sex is merely an user defined law to maintain the existence of the human race. And that is because we have outsmarted ourselves by becoming too civilised. Consider this scenario.

For those of you who have watched 2012, what will happen to those survivors?? Are they going to stick to the rules of the game??What if there were twice the number of females than males, or if too many of the ladies were infertile, how are they going to ensure the continuation of the human race?? Well, the answer is simple, f f and f....

3)

My last point is really one sided and largely unfounded, that is because as a man, I will NEVER know what it feels like to be a woman. Some say women have the same needs as men, some say they don't. I believe in the former.

Women crave sex as much as men, but due to social obligations(again), they have been forced to control their hormones involuntarily. I have read a certain article about psychology in sex before. In order to control the urge to have sex, psychologists actually try to fill the brain with as many thoughts as possible, flooding the neuron transmittions and eventually ooze out the sex signals. It is exactly how sex addicts(Tiger Woods) are treated and I do see similarities between that and the behaviours of women.

Many females appear to be nonchalant about sex, undermining their needs for it. However, is it really the case??Are they deceiving themselves??In fact, it is rather alarming that I have read that 80 to 90 percent of females develop attraction for their own sex in their adolescent stage of growth(that disgusting thought has never crossed my mind at all).

If I were to name one examplarery advocate of female sexual rights, it would Annabel Chong.

Yes, she was raped in the UK prior to her sexual exploits. Normal girls would have attempted suicide, but that incident actually made her stronger. And in my opinion, she was a brilliant individual.She dropped out of law school, and started to pursue an interest in arts . She wanted to demonstrate the equalities of sex(dual meaning implied). Women have the same needs too, and why should they not be the aggresor?Her gangbang ultimately became a shoutout to this sexist world about female rights. And interestingly, the world is moving unknowingly towards her visioned utopia of sexual freedom.

Alas, it has been an incredously long post, hope everyone takes time to read it and post your comments.
Stay tuned to GuGu's next column about me,you and the world!!

!Hasta luego!

A little motivation(the one on the left is taken,sorry guys)

Tri-uni Softball

haven't blogged here in a really long time and today i really felt the urge to blog, mainly because of the tri-uni games. it is something that we can all relate to. the entry is not going to be about how we lost to nus, smu or how we played, but rather, what caused it and what can be done.

alvin and i have also decided to commit some time to help ntu in training and play for them in the league. playing for them is not so much because i n dz are going to US during that period. the REAL reason is really, i feel that ntu cannot go lower anymore. i am sure alvin you feel the same way too.

Training

think about the usual attendance. 7 people? 8? 9? i know i am guilty of this as well, but we all have other commitment, such as school, friends, and for me, hall events. everyone needs to have that passion to train, to improve. but sadly, i cant see that here. it is a direct contrast to ora trainings, where i can really just go down, catch up with old friends and i can feel that difference, ALOT of difference in the mood, atmosphere and quality of the training. what i mean by quality of training is working on our weak points and be really specific, like bunting to third, to first, hitting top spin these kinda stuff. sadly, i dont feel that during ntu trainings because firstly, the people are not close and secondly, the quality of players are not there to be so specific.

People
imagine today, if we do not have lionel, gabriel and farhan. what would have been the outcome? on the other hand, even when we had them, we didnt play up to standards too and it's reflected in our plays. our throws were not sharp and our fieldings and plays werent coordinated. they are proven good players but we still need consistent training to stay sharp. on the other hand, we have a mixed pool of players who arent so polished in their skills, out of which, some show the passion and desire to want to play and train hard, while some are just going down to training for fun. all these boils down to commitment.

Commitment is hard to get from the players especially when the management isnt at its best. let us look at the macro level. darren is trying very hard to coordinate everybody and his hard work can be seen by all. but it's a vicious cycle. the school is not very supportive of softball and requires results before it is willing to commit more attention and fundings to the sport. no ivp status due to the lack of schools participating have resulted in many who are unwilling to play for the school.

with so many administrative issues such as jerseys, equipment and etc to settle, it is no wonder the whole team seems like an abandoned ship. a team that enters a tournament without a set of jerseys for everyone reflects on everybody, not just the manager. no one bothers to help to settle the adminstraive issues, no one wanna push for the jerseys, the fundings, and getting more players to come.

what we need now, really, is just a pool of commited players in the team, each willing to chip in their parts for the team. some of the guys were talking to me just now and i know that there are frustrated ppl too. it's really the people and the passion that matters and someone has to take it up. just look at smu( i am not trying to por you all here). look at their team, the way they bond. you can never see that in ours, at least for now.

i wouldnt mind taking the less experienced guys and work on their basics but i still feel that we need a coach. with a respected coach, ppl will make time to come down for training. but as for now, jieli told me that alvin is very gian to pitch now. that's damn good. i think we share the aim of doing well for the league first.

for a start, i can take care of the training programme with what i know while alvin take the pitching dept. and hanyuan, i hope you can see a cause if everyone is willing to put in an effort to improve. we wont win the league for sure, but i hope to see camaraderie and improvement in skills. currently, they are looking at us as the experienced player to lead the way. one pitcher, 1 infield, 1 outfield, what say you? take up the roles of mentors and see the fruits of our labour in the league.

i believe we can make a difference. it wont be fast, and we still need quality players and a good pitcher. if we can work together, it is possible

TESTED : POSITIVE

Hello hello!

Here's another new post by me, which is very close to our heart i guess. So, let's jus dive into the topic.

As you all know, we have embraced POSITIVENESS for quite some time, which is poles apart from all the suaning we used to do to HS, or even anyone of us, as soon as any little bit of rumour springs up, haha! I have to say that i missed those fun days, but I guess we've all grown up to move beyond that stage of our life, haha.

Well, we've talked about BE POSITIVE, BE POSITIVE, but how many of us really know what it means or what it encompasses? Hopefully by the end of this post, with all the comments, we will all get a better idea of what is really BE MORE POSITIVE, and one day, taste that sweet reward of finding the dream guy or dream girl, we've been all dreaming about. (no, not wet dreams, haha)

BEING POSITIVE, wat does it mean? ok, well, in the true sense of the word, it means....not being negative, haha, ok it doesn't help, lol. Okay, firstly, it's a change of mindset, being more open, to new people, make new frens, and changing perceptions of relationship. It origins from YOU, not not blaming anything or anyone, for your lack of love relationships so far in your life. And a point to emphasize is, it's not jus about HIM or HER; meaning you ask the person out more, give the person more gifts, visit the person more often. These are symptoms of being more positive, but the ACT of being more positive, is actually changing yourself, for the better.

Let me elaborate more about that. Well, note that i put a jus in the point that it's not jus about HIM or HER, n not it's not about him or her, becoz, in some matter of fact, he or she does come into the picture, for the reason of your actions. If it's only about yourself, things r easy to control, but because relationships involves 2 person, as it always does, there's an element of giving and taking. SO u can't jus change, without a target or type of person in mind. In the same analogy, you can't make a product, without knowing what you customers want, (haha, marketing idea involved here). If your customers want a hairdryer that can shave that looks like a hairdryer, you can't make an shaver that can hairdry which looks like a shaver, and expect them to buy it, hahaha. I believe, each of us, have a dream girl that we will want to spend the rest of our lives, no matter how much you say, ohhhh, no idea, when she comes, i'll know. She (the dream girl) will have some traits that you'll like, and some traits that you think she would want, in a bf.

Taking it further, for example, if you like a girl who is really reserved, quiet, demure, you would maybe expect her bf to be somewat similar. So if you're the guy in this case, you would maybe show more of ur quiet side when you're around her. Maybe go read more books, etc. Well, of coz, who is to say that maybe she like someone who is really loud and expressive, but this is jus an example, for illustration, i think you get the point.

Well, it's all about the law of attraction. Well, if there's no physical target like a real physical girl, but jus an imaginary dream girl with the traits you would like to see, being positive, means: preparing yourself, so that when you MEET one, you would have alr been the type that she will be attracted to. Or, preparing yourself TO meet this dream girl, this means maybe go more to lib, if you like quiet demure girls, or clubs, if you like girls who are fun-loving. So there's 2 part here. Finding her, and attracting her.

Indeed, like the old saying, you reap wat you sow, waiting for the rabbit under the tree is jus NOT being positive at all. If you still harbour the thought that, oh, one day, he or she will appear in my life, I don't need to worry about my love life, let me move on to something more important first. Now, I question, how important is love life to you? Each of us assign different amount of importance to it. Some of us, maybe thinking, career is more important to me now, love life can take a step back first, BUT, if a blessed family, a fruitful love life is what you want ultimately in life, you better put in some effort before it's all too late.

I know, some of you might be thinking that: isn't that like asking me to not be myself? It's too fake, i dun wan the girl to be attracted to traits that I've been acting out, in order to attract her. Well, being positive, is not to be confused with changing youself, changing your character or ACTING in a certain way for that dream girl. Being positive is still about being youself, but not being too comfortable with yourself, is about being a BETTER yourself. Everyone has many sides to ourselves, sometimes we are introverted, sometimes expressive, sometimes thoughtful, sometimes decisive. I think all of us, have done the myers briggs personality test(omg, saw that in organizational behaviour) before. No one have all the extroverted traits in under that section right? We have some of both introverted n extroverted traits, jus then when it tally, we more either MORE extroverted or introverted, we lean to one, we tend to display traits of one side. Therefore, this means, intrinsically, we are able to show either side of us. These apply to JUDGING, THINKING, PERCEPTION, FEELING, and so on. I think you get the idea. So it's not ACTING as someone who you are not, but selectively display traits that you alr have, and make them more prominent.

We have been talking about being positive theoretically, but what about in action? Well to share with you one personal example, I've been going to the gym more often than I used to. Reason one: to gain weight to look not so skinny, to have a better physique. Reason two: to fare better in sports. How is this being positive? First, it starts with what traits I think my future gf might like to have in a bf. I was thinking she wouldn't want to have a bf who is too skinny and have a good physique. Of coz, by doing this, I'm not expecting my future gf to be someone who is shallow and only like guys with good physique, but hey, surely I'll attract more girls in this way, than if i jus lie in bed and sleep my time away right? This is only one thing you can do, other things you can do might be, pick up a new language, read more books, go for facial, go running, go swimming, go for outings more often, being more active in school to meet more frens...etc

The thing about being positive is that it has many good side effects as well, and improve the quality of your life, the only reward is not only getting the dream girl you want For example, by going to gym to gain weight, unknowingly, i will also have better sports performance and better physical well-being, feeling better. If you go to facial, go to waxing, to improve your physical appearance to appear better in front of girls, you also increase you chances of successful interviews in your work life. As hard as you might argue, looks do matter when choosing a possible candidate, (learnt that in comm fundamental, haha). Looking at it critically, there's really nothing negative that you can get, by being positive.

Well, that is my two cents worth on BEING POSITIVE, now it's ur turn! If you agree, or disagree with my views, please comment fervently, haha. And, since we all have alr embraced POSITIVENESS, write down one thing that you have done in the last few weeks or months that display that you are becoming more positive. This might be going swimming more to appear more tan, to attract more sporty girls maybe? haha!

Look forward to a lively discussion! =)

i think u might like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AB0WD0jGAA&feature=related

恭喜发财！年年有余！对牛弹琴？！悬崖勒马？！

我在这祝大家新年快乐。希望团圆饭会带来更多欢喜，更多的大红包！

每当过年过节，大家的心情是怎样的呢？愉快，期待，为放假而轻松？因为可以暂时逃离学校，还是因为可以跟家人朋友聚会？还是，想呆在床上好好的睡个大觉，为这一阵子辛苦的日子休息呢？

相信大家都有不同的感想。十年一转眼就飞过了。认识了十年，得到的友情可说是比任何东西还贵重！一直以来，分分秒秒与你们过着酸甜苦辣！谢谢你们咯！

这美丽的缘分是赐给我们最大的宝物！

农历新年，希望大家不要只顾着吃肉干，凤梨酥，甜品等。要记得多喝开水哟！免得身体过热，祝大家身体健康。

涵涵 =）

Robinsons Sale at Expo

GUYS...

Check this out. Robinsons CNY sale at expo. It ends on the 7th feb and I think that you would be able to find quite a lot of good buys there. I bought this 4 shirts for only $61.25... Could have been more but thanks to the good old SAFRA card, there was a 10% off. So 4 shirts for sixty only comes up to be about $15 per shirt! The crowd wasn't bad too... Loads of space to maneouver around, so don't miss this great opportunity. GO NOW...

What is Love?

Hey guys,

I recently had a long discussion with my roommates on love. One of them thinks that the diff between platonic and romantic is physical intimacy, and so after the discussion I wrote him this email, and now I would really like to share it with you guys:

------------
Dear Nathan (not Mrs Nathan),

The difference between platonic and romantic is not physical intimacy. It is emotional, it is love. It is wanting to share her life, her pain, her joy and throughout all these to be the source of her peace. It is loving and accepting her every imperfection, but yet growing older and better together. It's about two persons' imperfections complementing each other's imperfections.

It is with this someone whom you can be fully vulnerable with and yet be aware that you would not be hurt. It is with this someone that you can be silent, but yet be aware that the committed love you two share need not be verified with acts or words. It is with this someone that you would wake up every morning knowing that she would always be there for you, just as you would be there for her. Are you ready to sacrifice every bit of your time for another person? Are you ready live two lives in one?

When you find this someone you would know it. Falling in love might not be at first sight. It might just be at the moment when you two look at the same leaf floating in the wind and think of the same interpretation. It might be that moment when you know that you would do anything just to make this one lady happy.

Take my advice on this—find someone with whom your perspective of life and personal values are similar, and not simply someone attractive or someone “cool” (haha Americans really love to use this word). We all grow old and haggard after our forties, but it’s not with every old lady that you would want to share your life with and would intrinsically be comfortable with everyday.

Take your time. The most enduring love doesn’t burn wildly. Wild flames burn out in an instant. Enduring love starts out as a spark, and simmers, warms, and becomes more intense over time. The physical intimacy in the relationship should then rightly correspond to the stage of this relationship—it is a marker, not a difference like what you said. Different people express love via different love languages. Some touch, some give tangible gifts, some give quality time, some perform acts of service, some praise. What is yours and what is hers? Also, no two relationships are the same because different people are more receptive to certain love languages than others.

I hope that you’ll find someone who loves you as much as you love her, someone who complements your qualities but share your values. The Bible aptly states, “love is unconditional...love always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres”…but not every lady can persevere through your common room habits like we can, Nate. Our common room is littered with your belongings. You have to bring in your athlete’s discipline and training organization to tidying our room...and your future house. Hahaha.

You know you really love someone when you give your heart away, but instead feel more alive.

Sincerely,
David

Can't sleep at 6am in the morning...

I don't know why, but i can't understand why i can't sleep even though i'm down with a runny nose, feeling damn damn sick, maybe coz i slept from 7pm to 9pm? but still by right i should still be sleepy enough to be cuddling in my bed now...

It's 632am as my macbook time shows. Winfred is sleeping beside me now, got to wake up soon for this 830 lesson and wat a long day for himmm. I have 830 lesson later too, marketing from 830 to 1030, but why can't i sleep? I don't understand also, it's really weird, i climbed onto my bed at 3am, toss here toss there, sneezed...wipe my mucus much like how justin always does, haha, and at a point of time, felt like shit, like i'm gonna die, lol... so sleepless me tried to find sth to do, so i watched wo cai, hahaha, for like 1 hr, thinking tt after tt i can fall asleep, but NO. i climbed back to my bed, but still dun have tt sleepy feeling..

I did comtemplate to do my tutorial, but not awake enough to think analytically, or on the lights to disturb winfred up...Do u guys ever have this feeling b4? like you're not awake enough to do hw, but also not sleepy enough to fall asleep... Anw i have to apologize to my roomie here, for all my early mornings, waking u up, disturbing ur uninterrupted sleep. Only u would have tolerated all these, if it was anyone else, i'll probably find my matress somewhere else when i come back from lessons.

Anw i'm talking to alvin now on msn, weird that he's awake too. =) So with time on my hands, i decided to go surf fb...but then find myself landing up here thinking, hey, why dun i write a new post? Time for some reflections and thoughts, this is quite a good avenue actually.

So lately i'm been thinking about stereotyping, haha learned that in organizational behaviour seminar today, which is quite boring btw...

Okay! Question of the day is: Would you ever date someone not from your own race? Would you ask someone out who is like 10kg heavier than you? guys, i welcome your answer, and serious answer, not jokingly one. Think about your perception when i talk about these 2 type of ppl. Who do u know comes into mind straightaway? n would you REALLY date them? if let's say every other characteristics of that person fit your dream girl descriptions. It's jus that she's fat, or she's from another race.

If your answer to the question is yes, why? If no, what's stopping you?

You see, there are certain social norms that we follow, and stereotyping we follow...aren't we all guilty of that? If you see someone with a tattoo, will u think he's a nice guy, cultured, knows calligraphy, reserved and introverted? well, probably not. Of course the saying goes, dun judge a book by its cover, but how many of us can really do that? well, hey, this actually links to marketing, lol. I mean, the cover of the book is how the author shapes your perception of the book, and thereafter makes u want to pick up the book and read and maybe buy it. IF the cover is like shit, torn, dull, u would probably give that book a miss, for there's one lying around with attractive cover and bold lettering and words that catches ur interest. So, actually, YOU judge a book by its cover.

We are judging all the time, and we are judged all the time. Perception is happing everyday around us. What kind of impression do u have when barack obama came into the US elections? (anw it's his one year into office alr) Good? smart looking? dependable? You see, every little thing you do, the things you wear, shapes others' impression about u. Haha, this links to communication fundementals, another of my course this sem. When you go to interview, ppl judge u before you even open your mouth. So to win this game of perception, you must know how to play it. It's actually quite simple, jus put yourself in the shoes of the interviewer for e.g. What impression would u get if you see yourself wearing that set of clothes for interview? Well, if you have a super muscular body, you'll probably think this guy is a rugged, tough person, all brawn but no brains.

See, another societal stereotype. Well it's good n bad. Sure, sometimes it's true, afterall ,he really must have gymed a lot to get tt kind of body, he can't get it any other way else. But what if he's really smart and like nobel prize worthy? You then would have mistaken him. So luckily, perceptions can be changed by knowing him a level deeper, but it's hard to change. The person has to work doubly hard, triply hard to change ur first impression of him. so be careful guys, what type of image u r projecting now, coz it will last...to those who dun know u well, especially in a new environment like uni, where u meet new ppl all the time.

However, it's too tiring, n the world wun stop spinning for u, if you keep thinking about how ppl judge u, or think about you. It's too tiring and it's too fake. Statistics (another course i took this sem, haha) have shown that at least 80% of interviewees lied about their strengths in interviews, talking about what they HOPE they are, when indeed they are not. So how honest are you with yourself?

Perceptions are a scary thing ain't it? It is around us everyday, it affects the shirts you wear, the watch you buy, the way you stand on the mrt, the way you order food in a restaurant when your gf is around, the way you eat. Soooooo, back to the question, will you date someone who is not from your own race? someone who is fatter than you?

Share your honest insights here! Thanks guys!

Woo, it's time to go for class! and i'm still not sleepy yet, wth...haha! Have a good weekend!

I WANT A TRIP TO Kao Hsiung for two!

Haha, my new year resolution, is to be a better guy, picks up more money from the floor and eat well and have regular sleep cycles! yes, now where's my ticket? LOL -patented csb style-

New Year New Discoveries...

Hello everybody,

Once again, this place is almost dead, but it's time to try and revive it. I'm sure we all had a smashing good time celebrating x'mas and new year over at moley's and dae's place respectively. Seems like this year, we're all into mahjong eh? Spending both nights mahjong-ing the night away. Well, it's always fun to just get together regardless of the occassion and I'm sure the overseas boys are too. I think the only one left out this year is, as termed by Bertram, Gerrard, the bitch, who is spending his holiday away from the rest of the softball gang. TSK TSK... Of course, I thank each and every one of you for your well wishes, great surprises on my 21st, amazing gifts and your very existence.

Anyway, true to the spirit of this blog, googoo and I were cordially invited to Wee Hao's place today for a bbq dinner. Dinner was fully sponsored by the Ng family which we are very thankful for and no cooking was involved. (At least not for googoo and me) I must say, this was one of the better bbqs I've actually been to because the prawns were big and juicy(hy take note!), the food was churned out quite fast(due to the 5 pits that they had ongoing all the time) and the weather was surprisingly cooling. Best of all, it was a free dinner of course... HEHE. *I wonder if Wee Hao will be offended if he sees this?

Okay on to the next thing that googoo and I were talking about just now over at Wee Hao's place. Why is it that outfielders are always thought to be a position that is easiest to play? At least in the context of Singapore? I came up with this, that the standard of the majority of outfielders in Singapore are not as high when compared to the rest of the other positions. I'm not sure if you all understand what I'm trying to say. You know like say to be a good infielder, you have to be able to think fast to make the plays, or go for that extra out, do a feint, make a double play, catch the runner off guard, make a miraculous stop off that fast grounder to prevent a run or even a single. But for outfielders, where is the high standard of play that we should expect? It's not even expected...?

For example, how many people, when they play right field, even think of trying to get the runner out at one when a single is hit to them? How many people when playing outfield know how to position themselves at the different fields, left center right? Most people think that outfield is the same, and the main goal is just to catch the ball and throw it back in. I think that's where the crux of the problem lies right? That outfielders do not need or are not able to convert that play or get an extra out. And why is it that only right fielders should be told to make the throw to one? We should go to the stage where even left fielders are trying to make that throw to one to get the batter out. Note, to get the batter out, not a runner already on one. Oh, another thing also was that today during ORA training, I made a throw to Albert who was catching during our warm-up batting and it was high, like above his head. Of course, it was an easy catch without having him to move, just a slight stretch of his hand over his hand to catch the ball. But I was like, oh shit, sorry! Then Wee Hao was saying, "Why you say sorry? He didn't have to move." That was the story, but my point is, yes, he didn't have to move, but in a game, a throw that high could have made the difference between a safe and an out at home.

HAHAHA... YES I know once again, I am lamenting on outfielders once again, but I guess there isn't any other position I can comment about. I thank all of you for your patience and kind attention for all these years about my theories on outfield and I assure you there'll be more to come, so do continue to bear with it. All of you here are also subject matter experts, so please feel free to give me your professional advice.