the days are long but the months are short

wheeee

i realise i have not made end-of-year posts before, but this shall be a new tradition

i think some of the coolest things around the world that happened this year include the US elections (Obama!), Beijing Olympics and Liverpool's bid to end their league cup drought. The first item, Obama made public service cool again (: It'll be an interesting term and i hope things will get better for everyone. Beijing brought good stories on the front pages for those weeks in August. From the phenomenal Phelps to 'Lightning' Bolt to Liu Xiang, the man that broke a billion (1.3 billion) hearts, and all the stories of great sporting endeavours especially of the Hungarian canoeists! A lifetime for this. The last thing, Liverpool. Even though i prefer playing football to watching it, somehow i found myself following Liverpool's spirited atempt to win the league cup after 19 years, their last win being the 89-90 season which was the year i was born!

2008 felt like forever, then guess what, it's suddenly going to be over!

The days are long but the months are short

hm.. just something random, i would have known most of my close friends for 7 years and counting! yea, and my oldest friend in the world sau, 15 years yo (:

This year has also been special for the many people who've selflessly helped me along the way and i'm very thankful to have met them. Platoonmates, Canoobs, PE dept, jiaolian, mr goh, the national team and nus people, the PE class students (3K kids), uncle cheng, the rj cleaners, thanks for helping me put things into perspective

ok back to the narrative, i started the year, did PE relief teaching, contined training, got my A level results, worked at Hooha, and wow now it's 30th Dec. Yup that's about it, haha. In case you're wondering what i did since i'm not in school: Did NCAP theory level 1, those 10 painful evenings trudging down to civil service college, learnt driving and still learning, played/forced to play a variety of sports including tennis, badminton, touch rugby, water polo, floorball, ultimate frisbee, lacrosse, basketball and soccer, all in <5 months, went to climb Yong Yap with rj odac, went to ccal camp at bintain for the 3rd year, went back to bintan again with inline skating for nanhua p6 camp, volunteered with Food from the Heart for 5 months making a weekly trip from Marche Vivo to Tanglin Halt family service centre with a backpack of bread, took over the cooking, marketing, gardening and various aspects of household stuff after our maid left, yea, and i got the 2008 fininsher's tee.

Yep, and actually, all that revovled around canoeing. The next step is planned with training in mind, and i guess that's the way it is when you choose to put something as the focal point in your life. This year the plan was to rise to competitive level (training to train, training to compete). The first 7 months pre NCC was really training to train, or what i call paying the tuition fees, not so much in the monetary sense, but drawing on some emotions bank account.

The canoeing year started in December, after marathon and prom. Bought the boat from yiliang, then spent 10 hours trying to stay in it. Went for my first time trial, got thrashed, but then again that was the point. Trained with the 0708 team for the season plus very infrequent extra weekday trainings with sji. (see, that's the difference when life is not centered around canoeing) standard wise wasn't good, was wandering and lost, if that's the word. Then came nwkc and ncc, after that, full liberty to train as much as my body and mind can take. I believe in the 10,000 hours theory of outliers so that's the plan yea. went for another time trial, still not good enough yet, got thrashed. So it's more training and training and training. Sometimes i row to feel the water, sometimes i row to feel my heart explode after crossing the finishing buoys. Sometimes i row because there's nothing to do, sometimes i row because there's too many things waiting for me to do. Sometimes i row when i'm feeling good, sometimes i row when i'm not feeling too good. Yea, I row to feel. and that's very important to me.

so looking forward, here's the grand plan aka the great conspiracy

Train to compete, train to win. What the mind can believe the heart can achieve. Continue another sem of relief teaching and finally... go to school (:

happy new year

wheeee

so there, i've registered for the canoe marathon. 27km.

yesterday i failed the driving test... again. crap, it's not suppose to happen. was quite irritated with myself, so went back to macritchie in the afternoon. 2 x 9km. so that's a total of 30k yesterday.

training's been good, thanks for helping (:

merry xmas

It was cold, it was wet...

10.46

what if you believe?

dinner yesterday with teammates, thanks elisa for hosting (:

It didn't seem like we sat down to talk for a long time, or that we talked about alot of things, but just like that, dinner ended, it was 10.30pm and we felt the conversations had just began. Time flies when you're having fun (:

exciting

took my first break in 3 weeks (: today my body is finally feeling all the stress. tried to sleep in today, and woke up at... 6.45am. haha

finally got my uni apps sent over, yay, akan datang

this is quite cool, canada is hosting the world champs in august next year, and singapore's hosting the world canoe marathon in 2011.

and next year's singapore canoe marathon is just 3 weeks away! i'm still deciding if i should go, mainly daunted by the 36km distance in what i think will be rather choppy waters. Round ubin was only 22km but the water conditions were real man. Yea, however, what is tempting me is the format this year. 8 rounds, 7 portages, versus last year's 1 portage. i'll like to think i'm good at portage from all the practice (:

our mini xmas celebration next week (:

my sentiments exactly

seacc over the weekend, was interesting watching the races. Friday watched the 1000m races alone, sat sat next to jiaolian, managed to ask him stuff and learnt alot. sunday didn't want to watch the 200.

saturday morning did a 500m, was super stiff, it wasn't a 100% speed but still a marked improvement from previous timings.

then i watched the races. team singpore junior men and the senior women's k4 were most impressive. lots of time for contemplating in between watching the races. actually yea, my primary thought was i should be there racing, not sitting here watching. but then again, i know when i race it won't be like that. No consolation medals or representation for me, when i'm going to win, i would have earned it. Like the Raffles Canoeing jersey, i'll get it and wear it only when i'm worthy of it.

uni apps on the way, applying to relief teach again next year. With regards to training schedule, in my grand plan the irony is that i'll be training more than the hols.

what if you believe?

10.52

what if you believe?

wheeee

exciting

today was real man training and i enjoyed it alot (: strokes felt good. 8k in the morning, super hard for the first 4k, then hard for next 4 with the k2, after that did the nus program with them, 2x 8-6-4-2, then i thought i ko-ed already. came up to rest, went down, rowed about 6k, still felt good, then did another 4k hard, very fun. was thrilling rowing beside the sji k2 for 1k, didn't know their last 100m was all out burst so was some super frenzy. One things to work on: find a way to be the fastest boat for every single set with the nus team, even after doing some mileage prior to that.

the vietnam team is here, like 20+ of them, and they look much more intimidating than the 5, 7 competitors who came 2 years back. Wondering if anyone else is coming, think last time 3 malaysians came, hope the thais and indonesians will come, then it'll be a real eye-opener.

things are falling neatly into place (:

42.195km v2

WHEEEEEEEE

congrats xinmiao and amanda, welcome to the fininsher's club

ggxx, i finished my second marathon! and it's a long story, all seven and a half hours of it (:

Dad sent me this morning, reached there, got blocked, so had to u-turn, by the time it was 5.45. so heck, left my stuff in his car and went to the race empty-handed. (Sorry teammates, that's why i couldn't contact you all)

According to last year's race analysis:
first 7.7km: 59min 21s, 7.8km/h
next 13.3km: 1h 58min 35s, 6.7km/h
next 5.8km: 53min 39s, 6.4km/h
haha then disaster struck for the last 15.4km: 3h 49min 37 s, 4.0km/h

this year, i decided not to be so gungho, so started out conservatively, about 8min/km, or 7.5km/h. So far so good, all the way to 13km, then reduced speed to 9min/km, or 6.7km/h. Why? cos that was the start of the real man east coast park stretch. It's super disgusting, 13k to 21k, u-turn, then all the way to 30k and still not done with ecp! Was running very stiffly, careful not to let last year's incident happen again.

So at 30km, it was 5 hours 10mins , and that's when i really started running, like taking strides. I'll like to call this stretch 'The Grand Overtake'. By here most people left were walking, and i managed to get it up to 8km/h speed. All was well until the 38km mark. Yea, so at 6 hours 10mins and with 4.195km to go, disaster struck. Left leg at the knee area became very 'soft', kept stumbling when i tried to break into a run. So if i got it right, the last 4+k took me 1.5hours, to make it 7hours 32mins (that's what i saw) on nett time.

Timing wise, did marginally better than last year's 7:41 but the race plan felt great. Managed to hold on to a 6:40 pace all the way till 38k, instead of last year's 27k. After the race had to find a way back. Went to raffles mrt to try to find the rest, but was 2pm already. Managed to borrow a phone to check if dad was at home, then took a cab back. Thanks security guard uncle!

Crashed, woke up at 6 for dinnner and here i am! ahh, unlike last year where i really pia all the way, this year decided to conserve a bit more... so i can make it for training tmr! wheeeee

Singapore marathon is probably one of the few that doesn't have a cut off time. So you'll see many people limping and staggering their way through. When i was walking around in that i-took-more-than-6 hours-but-i-finished-the-run way, there was this solidarity with those who were walking the same way, all clutching tightly to their precious finisher's medal and t-shirt.

and as usual, the Ethiopian and Kenyan runners were amaazingly fast. Somewhere at the 11km mark, i saw them coming back! (from the monster ECP). Caught a glimpse of Vivian Tang and Anne Date slugging it out for the title of Singapore's fastest female marathoner. Anne Date was leading when i saw them, but turned out Vivian Tang won in 2:56, about 10 minutes faster.

Just read redsports, lol ben tan is singapore men's no. 3. Most of his training plan an mileage sounds like what i do on water

phew, and guess what. got the acknowledgement letter from western ontario, now to pack my documents and send them over. When all things goes well, i won't be tempted to sign up for next year's marathon!

Why Do Runners Run?
By: Dan Crowe

I have seen their tortured faces.
I have heard their pounding hearts.
I have seen their head bowed in the sorrow of defeat.
I have seen their hands hoisted in salute to the goddess of victory.
I have wondered why do runners run?
I have seen long lines running in the park.
I have seen them run to the accolades of a thundering crowd.
I have seen them run in the solitude of a rain- swept street.
I have wondered why do runners run?
Is it a burning inside or a thing called pride?
The search for an inner peace or the quest of a golden fleece?
I believe the gods decree that some people must run to prove that pain is fun.

1 year on

"I tried qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

And I failed.

And I will try again."

this weekend marks another 1 year anniversary, this one of my comeback. Did two major races, 1 minor and 2 time trials this year. It hasn't been smooth-sailing though, but it is part of the greater scheme of things.

Whatever happened pre august 2007 and post december 2007 are two distinct periods in my time spent in canoeing so far. The third one starts when (and not if) i make the national team. Come to think of it, last december felt like starting out all over again. For one i over-estimated my ability in a single boat, i mean, how hard could it be right? Haha, i was greatly proven wrong from the first 10 hours it took before even being able to stay on my boat.

Soon, the months passed, and it was time for the National Canoeing Championships in July. It was an awakening for me, that's when i decided to really pour everything i have into this. "Really, it boils down to your philosophy. Do you want to play it safe and be good, or take a chance and be great?" So gradually, from marking trainings by the least number of capsizes per distance to doing 5 x 2ks, from averaging 4 trainings a week to 8.average 150km a month to 130km a week, i'm training my way there.

In a strange way, i'm glad i have not yet made the national team, cos that would be some major tyco. I don't think i deserve to join the ranks of the current senior women squad yet; they have trained so much harder and so much more over the years to acheive their current standard. What i'm going to do is to keep up this accelerated training, and my time would come.

From the Meaning of Sports by Simon Barnes:

Redgrave is not only a person. Redgrave is also a quality. You look for someone who might achieve great things in sport. Napoleon would ask of his generals:

Has he luck?’ I ask of athletes: ’has he Redgrave?’ Redgrave is the ability to go beyond yourself. It is the ability to go the full distance, Johnson-like, and more. It is the ability to commit, day after day, to the one goal of winning. It is the ability to achieve the ultimate goal: and to be unsatisfied. To want more. To demand more, to seek more, and to get more.
Redgrave constantly sought security, and he found it in the knowledge that he had done more than anyone else who opposed him. He had rowed more miles, lifted more weights, erged more ergos. He had suffered more. He had cared more. He had overcome more setbacks. When Redgrave went into battle, he knew that all the others had had the choice to work just as hard as he had done, and that they had chosen not to do so. From this comes the tiniest scruple of contempt. These people had stinted themselves in their desire to be the best. Redgrave knew he had not done so. And so, as he approached the final stages in 1996 with everything as it should be, his constantly repeated instruction to Matthew Pinsent was:’let’s not f it up.’

I tried qualifying for the national team. And i failed. And i will try again.

“I tried qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. And I failed.” - Rower Yeong Wai Mun

Yeong Wai Mun is a Singaporean who took the uncommon step after graduating from the Nanyang Technological University of pursuing his Olympic rowing dream full-time. He funded his own training overseas and then took a shot at Olympic qualification in Shanghai. Here is his story in his own words.

I tried qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

And I failed.

I had no idea what I was in for as I went on my very first overseas training earlier this year. My arrival at the Sydney University was welcomed by a massive group of rowers, male and female, young and old, novice, intermediates and elites. That put my apprehensions to rest.

As I only had 10 weeks there, I knew I had to quickly get used to their routines and training cultures. I had the rare chance to see what a true rowing community is like. Everyone was involved: schools, colleges, universities, rowing clubs, parents, friends and family.

Rowing wasn’t just a sport to them. Rowing was more like a culture. I was confident I went to the right place.

In all, I entered a total of six regattas while I was there. I managed to come in 1st for five single scull races, 3rd for two races and 4th for two races, one of which was during the New South Wales (NSW) State Championships.

As I left Sydney University and headed for the Olympic Qualification Regatta for Asia, I was eager to once again rub shoulders with my Asian counterparts. Without a proper training development program in the past, I could not gauge how much I had improved with the training done at Sydney University. This was my chance.

At the Olympic Qualification Regatta for Asia held at the Shanghai Water Sports Center, I was up against serious competition. A huge rise in the number of rowing countries in Asia saw 23 entries for the Men’s Single Scull. Only the top 6 would qualify for the Olympics.

Almost all the other countries arrived more than week before we did. There was a development training camp organized by Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d’Aviron (International Federation of Rowing Associations), which was unfortunately meant for athletes aged 25 and below. This also unfortunately meant that I only had two days to get used to the conditions.

My lack of experience was obvious. I only managed to make it into the C final. I came in 6th in that final and had an overall ranking of 18th. I could definitely have done better if I had gotten used to the course faster.

I must try to learnt to adapt to a course faster. When I was up at Penrith racing at the Sydney International Regatta Center (SIRC), it took me numerous races before I could feel myself racing the course. I clocked my best times at the last regatta after five races in a day. I didn’t have that luxury in Shanghai.

Despite the failure, the experience that I took from this season was worth more than anything. I knew that I had to work more on my physical toughness. Training with the Sydney University boys gave me a clear benchmark of how hard I had to work.

Another area where I had to buck up on was my boating skills. I struggled a bit with the constantly changing wind and water conditions at Shanghai. I was also less skilled compared to the other international oarsmen.

I felt that I had achieved decent results at the international level competition after just months of being in the sport. Rowing with Alan Bennett and Sydney University showed me what rowing is really all about and that the sky’s the limit. The massive improvement physically, technically and mentally was a huge confidence boost for me.

With the current lack of rowers, a coach and a proper long term training developmental program in Singapore, I still hope to return to Sydney to train. In my short stint at Sydney, I improved and learnt so much more.

Despite my wish to return to Sydney to train, I have financial difficulties as I had to fund my overseas preparation from my own pocket. In addition,I have gone without work for an entire year and my savings have almost run dry.

As of now, my plan is to find a job which will still allow me some training time during this off season. Until I am able to find some form of financial assistance, I will probably stay in Singapore to work on improving my physical strength.

With the Youth Olympic Games coming up, there are hopes that my team mate Elsie Lim (national rower) would succeed in starting an initiative to develop the sport. With that, hopefully a good solid long term training development will be put in place.

I will also be researching and planning a proposal to seek for sponsorship from a company who will hire me as an employee and at the same time recognize the benefits and qualities that come with sports and support me in my rowing journey.

In the coming years, the significant rowing competitions are the Southeast Asian Rowing Championships, SEA Games in 2009, Asian Rowing Championship in 2009, Asian Games in 2010, SEA Games in 2011 and Asian Rowing Championship in 2011.

Qualifying and racing in these regional games will be my top priority as these will be my benchmarks to keep me on track for the Olympic qualification regatta for Asia in 2012.

Whatever happens, rest assured that I still have my sights on being the first Singaporean rower to make the Olympic Games. It is a goal, which I believe, is highly achievable.

I would like to say a huge thanks to my coach, Alan Bennett aka AB, for putting in all his time and effort. It has been a real honor to be his athlete. His wife, Lizzi, for all the help in coaching, moral support and having the confidence in me. My teammate Elsie, for all her help, support and everything she has taught me.

To my family and relatives. Without them, I really wouldn’t have a chance to pursue a dream. Their support, no matter how small it may be, is the driving force in everything that I do.

Thanks to Leslie and Redsports.sg for the story. It has helped me secure a sponsorship with J-Lite and Smith Optics. Thank you J-Lite and Smith Optics for the amazing sunnies.

Thanks to Gay Horan, my coach for the last month of 2007, for all the advice and encouragement. It was her who convinced me that I should put myself out there and tell my story.

Thanks to Celine for having the confidence in me and helping out with my finances.

Thank you Singapore Rowing Association for their support.

Special thanks and appreciation to Jane Spring, president of Sydney University Womens Rowing Club, and Michelle Nancarrow from Sydney Uni Sport & Fitness.

Last but certainly not the least, to all my friends, including the new ones I have made in Sydney! To the huge Sydney University Rowing family, especially everyone at SUWRC, you guys were amazing!

And lastly to those who have dropped a comment to show their support. Your words mean a lot to me.

I tried qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

And I failed.

And I will try again.

wheeeee, new spongebob squarepants episodes only on nickelodeon!

yesterday did 11.09, thought it was really disgusting until i flipped through my training log. so anw today is a brand new day

did a 2k, got washed, water quite choppy, and guess what, 10.55. like the 10.56 last week, was nowhere near what i believe i'm capable of

after a long morning training, afternoon went back, was a great row, was super exciting testing out the coordination and timing. today i saw the national team coach explaining strokes to someone, and suddenly it made sense.

wheeee

wheeeee

wheeee

today was exhausting... because there was no training

woke up at 7am, usually anything later then 8am gives me a mega drain feeling the whole day. went to office with dad, sorted out all the invoices, wrote cheques (: lunch at 3pm lol

well, it's always good to start early. Yesterday just had the urge to pack my stuff and prepare my calender for 2009. Hm.. this spring cleaning's going to be brutal, trying to minimise the stuff i have.

Anw, i am horrified by a report on meat consumption around the world. US people eat a whooping 79.5kg of meat on average/year. and guess where we singaporeans stand? That's right, at 2nd place with 79kg!

Yup, so my plan now is to eat meat more sensibly, the report is right, you don't have to eat meat three times a day (which i don't btw) Still, the idea of going vegetarian doesn't appeal to me although yes, save the earth! Partly because meat tastes good, and i think whey protein has some benefits that soy protein can't offer.

k, on to more serious stuff. The newspaper headlines have been pretty disturbing since, i don't know, the olympics? yea, hope things take a turn for the better

standard chartered this weekend! plan is to run at 8km/h, so that's 5hrs 15min.But i'm going to walk all the downslopes and i'm going to take a break after every 8km. and i will finish the run in 6.5 hours. (previous estimate of 6hours revised)

10.56 today, and i know i can go even faster

What if you believe?

Work hard, play harder (:

"What work i have done i have done because it has been play. If it had been work i shouldn't have done it." Mark Twain

Bring Home Some Gold

seacc time trials yesterday. did k1 500, was a good experience but nonetheless got whacked. Still in a different league, haven't gotten back that sprinting feel. As usual, it was a lone ranger thing, but i'm grateful to my one unexpected supporter that day. I will continue to work hard and get faster.

Losing is not about the race, it's about the drive. So long i know there's still somewhere i can improve, some things i can do better, it's not over.

a video i really enjoy:

faster faster!

Round ubin

round ubin, was thinking of trashing the cert, but since it only says participation i can live with that.

i got owned. didn't complete the race, gave up at the jetty, which according to google earth is the 19th km of the 22k race. For me the race wasn't about the usual canoeing endurance, it was just some hard core balancing. I admit i've underestimated the conditions an open sea is capable of. Equipment wise, kept it simple, apart from the spray cover, it was normal training attire and gear.

Barely 1k into the race during the channel crossing, i capsized, thankfully changzhong and james rescued me, but i continued the next 18k with a swamped boat and w/o spray deck. So there, a T1 weight with a k1 stability. Every stroke was a brace, those kind which you execute to prevent you from dropping into the water, that was how choppy the waters were.

It didn't occur to me how these strokes were affecting me until the jetty. Was trying to catch up as much as i could, did overtake boats despite the really bad strokes, did ketam, the first rounding, the whole fenced-up length, chek jawa, then approaching the jetty, each stroke got damn painful and the range of movement was limited. It's totally different from the normal training pain and lactic, where in a good set you can't move your arms anymore but at least you can feel the pain. This one reached the point of numbness. The marathon runner's equivalent of hitting the wall. In the interest of next week's training, i decided to stop, with just 3km to go.

After everything, went back to macritchie. went to paddle some more. just did random burst intervals for 4k. My regatta (i still need a name for it) never felt so stable though the afternoon wind was strong as usual. Strokes felt powerful, exactly what was lacking earlier in the morning. Some sets i was overcomed by a genuine desire to see how fast and hard i could go, some deep compulsion to prove to things to myself. It felt good, channeling all that power into the water. It doesn't change the fact that i gave up on the race, but at least i had a good row today.

Round ubin has been an extremely challening experience, and i'm grateful to many people, including a stranger whose 'tough love' belied an act of kindness.

on other news, i hit a new 2k PB yesterday. 10.58. That's steamy's PB as of 16 dec 06 and better than the less-than ideal timings up to 14 Feb. Things felt right for that 2k, and the moments after it are something i'll remember.

the best part is i know i can go even faster (:

What if you believe?

wheeee

did short intervals today, real man, during the third set things got really uncomfortable, the part when you can't feel your arms anymore. hm..read up on the concept of active recovery yesterday. sounds convincing but in practise i find it doesn't work that well for me as compared to complete rest (even 5s of not moving seems more effective in recharging ATP-CP).

round ubin on sunday, really don't know what to expect, so my visualisation will involve the most challenging conditions. tested the spray cover yesterday, v unconfortable. It's either that or a wave break which i'll have to make, haven't decided.

filled in the form for time trials, will be a good gauge to see where i stand. 16 weeks into the training plan, things are going on track, and it just means i'll need to train even harder.

red sports survey

hi friends,

if you can spare the time

http://redsports.sg/survey/

from uncle les: I need your help in filling out this survey form to prove to advertisers that real people read this website. Right now, I can’t tell whether you are guys, girls or aliens and how old you are. So the information you provide will be helpful to Red Sports.

thanks (:

OBAMA! (:

For a man who speaks about hope, i think it's quite cool how back in elementary school in Indonesia, when asked by his teacher what his ambition was, obama said "I want to be President".

Watching the tv reports, lots of emotional scenes not just from America, but from all around the world including Kenya and Japan. It's a pity his grandmother did not get a chance to see him elected; just one day short.

Although it's technically the US elections, it feels like the whole world is involved, perhaps all ready to follow in the leadership of this US president.

training

did sprints with the national team people, they are super fast. picked up more pointers from them today. will test tomorrow

this morning i woke up, super exciting, biceps, forearms and wrists felt like lactic acid was perpetually coursing through. Day before was lats and deltoids, so not so bad. today ggxx, think the pullups overkill, but it was good (: never can have too much strength yea

19 (:

wheeeeeee

perhaps i'm getting old, it seemed like just another day, and actually i prefer it that way. reading a geography of time, very interesting book, talk about cultures and people that live on event time versus clock time. the author mentions that the industrial revolution was powered not by the steam engine, but by the modern clock. this guy robert levinge is the one who did the survery on how fast people in orchard rd walk to compare the pace of life across cities. He also points out the idea of clock accuracy, how his lectures are often interrupted by the beeps signalling the end of the hour, usually at their own time own target, but how in a boardroom meeting of an MNC, all the watches were synchronised such that the unison of beeps left an eerie feeling in the room. More ideas from him include observations from prominent people in this field of socio-psychology that while the traditional watch represented the passing of time by the hands moving, the electronic one does nothing then to state a number. The book does get a bit boring towards the end though

Yesterday i felt strong (: it's a nice feeling, did 100 pullups total, benched a nice weight, rowed 21k. The strength is surprising because i haven't actually done much weights training recently.

writing out training goals (:

went for a long run today, very cooling and it's peaceful at night

Guess today it finally took its toll on me. This morning went down to train, but got up soon after. Was very damaged from yesterday's run plus the activities from the last few days. Well, it's been some time since i've had such a trying training, so it's good, character building and reality check, keeps me firmly grounded. On days like this, the same questions and doubts resurface. And each time i emerge with greater conviction and stronger resolve. will blog more next monday (:
Redgrave is not only a person. Redgrave is also a quality. You look for someone who might achieve great things in sport. Napoleon would ask of his generals:Has he luck?’ I ask of athletes: ’has he Redgrave?’ Redgrave is the ability to go beyond yourself. It is the ability to go the full distance, Johnson-like, and more. It is the ability to commit, day after day, to the one goal of winning. It is the ability to achieve the ultimate goal: and to be unsatisfied. To want more. To demand more, to seek more, and to get more.

Redgrave constantly sought security, and he found it in the knowledge that he had done more than anyone else who opposed him. He had rowed more miles, lifted more weights, erged more ergos. He had suffered more. He had cared more. He had overcome more setbacks. When Redgrave went into battle, he knew that all the others had had the choice to work just as hard as he had done, and that they had chosen not to do so. From this comes the tiniest scruple of contempt. These people had stinted themselves in their desire to be the best. Redgrave knew he had not done so. And so, as he approached the final stages in 1996 with everything as it should be, his constantly repeated instruction to Matthew Pinsent was:’let’s not f it up.’

Earning the right to win, one training at a time.

went home to crash, cramming in lessons for driving test on 3rd, leaving for bintan camp this wed-fri. round ubin. seacc trials.

Dinner with platoonmates was great. It's really interesting how we can still recall those days vividly. Been 7 years already, going to be part h next year!

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. -Marianne Williamson

What if you believe?

wheeeee

it's always good to row with competitive boats (: recently i have been able to enjoy the thrill of racing boat to boat in being the first to cross the buoys. ahhh, but today i got thrashed doing 8 x 250. strokes not ready for sprints. after that did a 12min set, which was fairly decent.

just as i was walking out from the canteen, a teacher i've spoken to only once stopped me for a chat. He encouraged me to travel to see the world, and he said it's time for me to do something for myself. I told him what i'm doing now, and for the first time, i verbalised my goal and convinced myself.

yes, this is it

exciting

sometimes even i surprise myself (: there's something very strange going on, since jiaolian came back i've been making rapid progress, and today, he didn't even tell me what to do.

monster strokes, i like (:

the 'no' moment v2

hm.. it seems the grievances are pouring out all at one shot. the last straw that broke the camel's back.

anw training today was good. progress. Did the 4 x 2k with the nus team. first 2k got owned, so after that, change strategy, just burst out and die trying to maintain. the next 3 sets were great, hit PB (: think i'm beginning to get the hang of holding the water, despite a lower frequency the boat was moving nicely.

Though the last 3 sets were highly exciting, today's highlight would be the third set. At the 1k mark, did some horrendous turn all the way into lane 6, just imagine! (to potentially avoid boats) so lost the lead and ended up more than a buoy behind. remember what the gatorade tagline is? "I refuse. I refuse to lost. To be average. To fail. I refuse to die. To be afraid. I refuse to be taken. I refuse." So i pushed on, playing catch-up, the glare from the sun, backwash, keeping balance... it's working! at the 200m, was one boat behind, that's when i went into overdrive. Stroke by stroke, as hard as i could, fought to bring the bow of my boat forward, to be the first one across. Could hear the encouragment from the bystander boats, well, actually encouragement wasn't meant for me, but for the leading boat to stave off the attack. With slightly more than 2 buoys to go.. something happened, and 15s later it registered that i had done it... and then the pain exploded

The NO moment (By ketupat Javine)

from one of the more exhilarating 500s muddy and i did during training today:
the NO moment arrives when another boat is uncomfortably close to yours nearing the end. nope, it does not happen when everyone is preparing at the start line when all eyes are glued to the race lines. that's for prayer. nope, it does not even begin to happen when you burst off, flying past the first 2-3 buoys in a blur. that's for yelling for strength from God. the ultimate NO moment arrives when you're at the last 3rd buoy when another boat is dangerously close to yours. uncomfortably close, in fact. when the tip of the next boat refuses to move out from the front rower's peripheral vision.[that would be mine]

then in your head [preferably in sync with your partner] a loud shout goes,
"NO! I WONT LET THEM! NOT TODAY!"

you sit up a little straighter, your shoulders relax a tad further, your arms reach out a little more and your torso twists a little harder. the burning lactic sensation in your lower body dissolves, your eyes narrow, zoomed in on the last two finishing buoys. you pull a little harder [in fact, at this point, with all that you've got], you recover a little faster, you pant a little louder. the yelling for strength from God becomes a full time shriek in your head.

And then you're off.

thank ketupat, that's really a memory i treasure

the merger

so there

i've just joined my second facebook group, this one opposing the RI RJC merger. Read some comments there, bet the decision makers up there didn't expect such a fiery response. In general, i'll say the sentiment is one of unhappiness. Mostly a sense of loss, accompanied by displeasure at the transparency of the decision-making process. Think many of us are lamenting that in the 'consulation process', why didn't they speak to people like me?

In a way, it's good to see Rafflesians so passionate about issues pertaining to their alma mater, yet this is a cause i'll rather not exist in the first place. Does anyone not notice how strange it is, that current students and recent graduates like me are up-in-arms over this very merger proposed (and acted upon) by people effectively our seniors? Perhaps that's what they call the generation gap. Even passing through the same portals of learning and being part of the same fine tradition does not prevent different ideas from emerging (for lack of a better word)

In my opinion as a recently graduated student, i feel that the official merger was unnecessary on certain grounds. Let me clarify my view. Being part of the first batch of students under the Raffles Program, my peers and me had the priviledge of experiencing greater freedom in our academic and non-academic pursuits, however we did not enjoy much integration between Year 4 and Year 5 as the foundation had not been laid then. After Year 4, we became JC1s and it was back to the A levels curriculum.

Still, in recent years, the Raffles Program has sought to integrate the three Raffles schools through firstly, the academic sphere. The sporadic Science talks and other seminars/forums i had back then have evovled into a more structured lecture series by guest speakers. (i believe the reach has widened, though i'm out of touch in this area). In addition, it is not uncommon to see rgs girls and ri boys heading over to the RJC campus for cca practices, especially those that share common coaches/instructors, and vice-versa when our hockey and rugby athletes go over to use the RI facilities. Even the RI classrooms have been used for RJC curricular lessons, not to mention the hordes of RI boys that come over to the RJ canteen.

And all these happened while we functioned as two distinct schools within the Raffles family. I think much has been said about the potential problems which i'll sum up as one main aspect: erosion of both schools' identity. And the new name RISS and RICS is really quite a mouthful.

Hm.. now that i've sorted out my thoughts, i think i see where the problem lies (pls leave a comment if you have an opinion on my post, regardless if you agree or not)

We are human. and by that extension, our self interests matter alot to us (The word selfish was tempting to use, but it's tone might be too harsh). Self, in this case, does not just refer to an individual, but rather the group that the individual belongs to. The uninformed people like me don't really know what the merger entails (see, we won't know unless they tell), yet the idea plus the name change alone is enough to rile us up.

Think about it, the people who've joined the FB group are worried about things like the name and reputation, CCAs (the life of RJ students especially), the student body structure (council, RIPB and peer support), the house systems, the social interactions= things i'll describe as ground level.

"With the merger, corporate functions such as Information Technology, Human Resource, finance and administrative systems will be integrated. Academic and non-academic programmes for teachers and students will not be disrupted." see, even here it says the rationale of merger is to pool resources, facilitate the admin process. Stuff which students take for granted, but is of utmost importance to the functioning of the schools.

so how will this be resolved? As this matter unfolds, the rest of Singapore is watching whether this clash, essentially between Rafflesians, will divide us. It's time to unite. As to how much things can be restored to its previous state, minimal i would say, though it's always good to hope.

Immediate actions to take must include explaining how it'll affect the current students with regards to changes in cca (remember cca=life for rj students especially) and school life, show the thoroughness which the merger was conceived with and go into details.

Personally, i just want to know how i coud wake up one morning and find out the college i've given 2 years of my life to just disappeared with the headlines.

so today i woke up to the news that the college i've graduated from last year no longer exists. The merger between RI and RJC is confirmed, and the name retained in RI. hm.. does that make all our RJ memorabilia collector's items? shucks, i can't believe this actually, will they/ when will they rename our boats?

but anw, the important thing is RGS did not merge, yay (: I think it's something rgs girls can really appreciate, that strong, fierce desire for independence.

what you can believe, you can acheive

wheeeeeee

wheeeeeeeee

just did a maths paper for fun today (: mr kok is right, it all comes back! quite amazed how i could still remember how to do the questions, though admittedly some details did slip me initially (how to find oblique asymptote?)

This financial crisis is getting really big and out of control. Apparently the US govt bailout is equivalent to spending S$1000 every second for 32 years. and wow, the national debt clock in US ran out of numbers! So far it hasn't quite hit home like the '97 asian economic crisis. My take on this? Probably sound like what the neo-marxists would say. Although the recession and unemployment will hurt the average person, it's good that the market cools down and restructure, cutting out jobs in the financial sector. In lieu of growing concerns of climate change and sustainable development, the burst of the financial bubble will send many back to reality.

Just read about a new theory for a country's economic growth, which runs counter to existing dogma that the way to development is moving from secondary (manufacturing) industries towards tertiary (e.g. tourism, services) and even higher order industries like banking and finance. The theory suggests that people get back to secondary industries, where real things are actually being created, thus minimising the potential dangers of market speculation. interesting to think about.

btw, what are the chances of deflation occurring? would be a nice welcome to households and businesses, but at the macro level it's a different story.

ok, back to reality

end of this month i'm going bintan again! to work as facil for inline's adventure camp. and guess which school it is? nan hua primary! couldn't believe my eyes when i saw the sms

haven't decided if i'm going to race round ubin. hm.. and i've submitted my initial application to western ontario and mcmaster's.

training's been good, on wednesday i did 4 x 2k for the first time in my life and it was highly thrilling, got a chance to race all out with boats of different standards. As of that wednesday, i am satisfied with my rate of improvement. Funny how just a day before, was telling mr koh that i felt i was getting much faster (even though at that time i didn't really mean that fast), perhaps it's all in the mind. What the mind can believe, you can acheive.

But as always, if what you did yesterday still seems big to you, then you must not have done anything today.

tomorrow is another day, onward!

love for the game

yesterday had the team over for our Oktober fest! beer, sausages and lots more food (: the highlight was when we did Skype video conferencing with Yang, Joo and Siaurui (: super cool, yang even managed to take a team photo of us + siaurui in her laptop screen

this new techology is really good, and wow, the notebooks are so much better than the clunky one my dad had (my first memory of a laptop). can't wait to get my own next year

so much for cutting the power bill by 26%; electricity price will rise 21% soon

training is good, jiaolian is back and he corrected my strokes. getting the best of both worlds, one is helping me with the efficiency of the stroke, the other with the balance

a few days back, did 2 2ks with a team. wanted to feel some competition, the rush of racing neck to neck with another boat. now, i knew they were suppose to be better, even the not-so-fast boats having thrashed me upside-down a month ago, so i wanted to see how much i've improved against them.

Both times I managed to beat them (the fastest amongst them weren't there/doing that 2k) convincingly and i found it disappointing. didn't get the challenge i want and that they weren't treating it like a '2k all out set'. so maybe it's true only a hard-fought battle is a real victory. well, hope to train with them on another better day

something random, you know what made michael jordan different from the rest of the NBA stars? His counterparts worried aobut injuries; In his contract, he had a 'love for the game' clause, meaning he could play anywhere, anytime he wanted (e.g. passing by a schoolyard).

updates

thought F1 Singapore Grand Prix was stunning, a great performance by Alonso who came from 15th to win the race (: Not really into motorsports, i prefer something more primal, but i think the organisation impressed our overseas friends

last 2 days had a scare, thought i destroyed my back. ok, not a scare, it happened. funny cos in the heat of training everything felt good and the catch was incredible compared to my usual, only after training then something didn't seem right.

what is your reason to win?

i think there's a very fine line between being humble enough to take advice and criticism from others, and being proud enough to believe in what you're doing. so there, balance

now that i'm working at hooha on 2,4 and weekends, i've come to treasure the dinner times with my dad especially, since weekdays he eats out. Today was a rare exception, being a public holiday, we had dinner together (:

it's incredible how much the small things can matter, happy children's day (:

happy training (:

wheee, and the juniors start training this saturday!

keeping my options open

now it doesn't look so complex

see, all i have to do is figure out how to get there

• get into national team/be in medal contention at national open 09
• study kinesiology
• career
  
• later in life, policy making, govt/ngo

tried finding out more about the Young PAP. went to their website, a bit disappointing, it doesn't say what they DO. yes, there's events and nice pdf brochures, but it doesn't say how the members are involved in carrying out the activities. hm..i expected the forum page to have more 'serious' discussions, but it looked more like the straits times forum page. so there

time to figure out something

not very good news today, first was bad weather in the morning. keep extending the lightning risk till 8.35am, then 9.15am. went for driving test, think i failed in like 2 minutes, for mounting kerb.

driving test circuit was a very strange experience, besides mounting kerb at S-curve, i hit the kerb while trying to get into direction change. for the first time in my life i hit the kerb there. after the test and all, while on the bus home, thought about it, ggxx realised the tester told me to go against traffic/the normal turning direction for both times! yes, i must have not been thinking when i did the test. something felt wrong then but i couldn't quite pinpoint it. all of a sudden it's over. you know what this reminds me off...

more practice then

life is tough but i'm tougher, but whatever it is, it is not the circumstances. anw time to move on, new test date 14 nov, i will get my license before the school hols (that's when i may be able to borrow my mum's car)

happy news, training! (: lots of playground! also the speed is thrilling, can do random quick bursts/hard strokes, and i don't think i'm even at 50% of my potential speed.

"10% more?"
"no"
"twice as hard?"
"no"
"then what?"
"just 8x power"

hi blog

life is good. amazing how much there is to do and how much one can do if time is of the essence. I said this gap year, i take to widen my perspective, and it has. a brief overview: humbling. as i learn more about the lives of non-rgs/rjc people amidst the rapid pace at which the Singapore society is changing (think F1, Integrated Resorts, global hub, tourism and finance industries), i know i can be in a position to change/ work on things for the better.

right now doing the washing and cooking at home; non-essential cleaning (i.e. mopping the floor) aside, i think i can survive on my own. that's part of the plan. see, so when i go overseas next year, i know i can take care of myself, study, read up on my own, work part-time if i have to, do some volunteer work, play and train. well, add one more to the equation but i'll leave it as work in progress yea

Training has been fruitful, doing some speedwork. someone said i should stop doing long d and focus on speed. the irony (: always had a preference for speedwork, so i made myself go through longs rows to hopefully gain some training advantage. turns out speedwork is more fun plus i feel the rush (: stepping up land training again, yes, i do enjoy a good workout.

driving test this friday, after that can drive myself to training on weekends and sch hols! yay (:

it's strange, but i just know what i want to do. Following one's heart hints of irrationality, but i use it in the context of calculated risks towards my dreams.

anw thanks to teammates, i have the chance to learn archi, biz and arts undergrad stuff! must keep the brain juices flowing! on random news, i still fit into my part a part shirt!

know something? what mrs koh said that day really re-awoken that part of me. If not now, then when?

because there is no higher calling than defending your nation

decisions

exciting

just finished week 8 of training (:

wanted to blog the past few days but had to rest early. so well, wednesday decided to do some 2ks. did 2 in the morning, then timed 11.50 and 12.10 in the afternoon. so at the end of wednesday, was starting to doubt the effectiveness of my training plan.

fast forward to thursday, did a 2k in the morning. at the 1k mark, glanced at my watch, 5min30s! was super adrenaline rush throughout the 2k, could feel the catch, made it in 11.15. yup, then started out on my cool down before the next set, at 250m suddenly felt weird, looked at my hand, ggxx bleeding. don't worry it wasn't blood gushing out, just 2 cuts.

friday timing hovered around 11.30. today it rained in the morning. so went to the underpass to run. started at 7 .08am. Unknowingly, when i finally stopped and glanced at my watch, 7.57am. timed myself, one round takes ~1min, so must have done about 50 rounds=7+km. haha, wanted to go for a short warmup run, turned out to be as long as the northern route trail.

the future is still uncertain, here's what i want to do but i haven't quite figured out how to piece them together. :

• serve my country
• work my way to a position where i'll have the power to change things for the better (policy making, interest areas in education, env, community development, youth and sports)
  
• represent singapore for canoeing at the regional level first
• teach/mentor/coach
• be involved with the outdoors, through training, expedition and adventure racing

and with regards to my immediate path, this is where it gets complicated:

• study kins (degree, masters, phd?) where? (ok, where is quite set actually, western ontario (adam van k studied at mcmasters, next door to western) so i can do exchange program with hungary uni (katalin kovacs!), beijing institute of physical education for masters, and cross over to michigan (phelps and greg barton!) when there's time)
• reapply for psc? apply for mcys/moe/mcys scholarships?
  
• NIE to train as pe teacher? local degree in physical education? teach at RJ or rgs or (unlikely) somewhere else?
  
• join the army? study kins or just hardcore and go into military academy?
• join OBS?
  

In order to fulfill what i want to do, the practical considerations of time and money come in. money not so, just live within my means, but time, well, that's ticking away.

decisions

let's take a walk

My kind of fun!

http://www.letstakeawalk.sg/

hello everyone, anyone interested to walk with me?

this event involves walking around singapore to designated checkpoints (just to ensure you walk the full dist), No prizes and it's not a race. there's the 10km, 50km and 100km categories.

and i was thinking:

100km Walk (: max time allowed 33h

20th dec 7pm Sat- 21st dec approx 10pm Sun

cost: $50 per person, need to form teams of 3-6

Proceeds go to charity, do sign up with your friends!

interested to join me pls tag!

wheeeeee

exciting

just wanted to share about how things fall in place

yesterday did my double training as usual, in the afternoon, i was out there paddling. a secondary school team came earlier then me, but they seemed to take quite long to bring out their boats. quite long was enough for me to finish my training and enough for storm clouds to gather. then exactly when i reached the pontoon, the lightning alert sounded.

reached my target of finishing before 3pm, walked to the bus stop to wait for 93 (sometimes the wait takes 15mins). just when i finished eating, guess which bus came?

at alexandra, hopped off the bus to transfer to 51 (a bus that can keep you waiting a horrendous 45mins). didn't even have to wait, 51 was right behind!

strange huh

ahhh and invader zim is back on nickelodeon! haven't had the chance to watch it yet. btw, i hope to catch 'kallang roar' tmr, it's about s'pore's football team back then.

onward!

happy teachers' day

wheeeeee

happy teachers' day (:

Today while walking towards S11, met mrs koh and had a good chat with her. She taught me upper sec geog and her lessons were something i looked forward too (: haha, the good old times when pet, eleanor and me, ggxx from odac/air rifle training/rike expedition would take turns sleeping in geog class. still rmb how she always say our classroom looked like a squatter settlement.

anw, i was thoroughly inspired by that short conversation we had, standing outside the RJ/RI walls alongside the bustling traffic. It started off as the usual "So where are you studying now?", but ended in something more. She told me to follow my heart and pursue my passion (it's always reassuring when othe people, especially those you respect, tell you you're on the right track). For her she did the science-econs combi in JC, then decided she wanted to do her degree in geog. btw she majored in chinese and did some philosophy study too!

but the insight i gleamed wasn't about following your dreams; the stronger message she told me was this: Every right implies a responsibility. Every opportunity, an obligation. Every possession, a duty. It's been a long while since someone highlighted to me the concept of Noblesse Oblige, so richly received, so willingly give. (that was a founder's day theme) In order to do that, first one must be of sound character. to have a good heart though not neccessarily kind, and to be firm in action and resolve.

Mrs koh kept emphasising our batch was special. This is definitely a matter close to my heart, having considered this issue on countless occassions, I told her every batch of rgs girls is special, what with all the talents and diversity. She said the most important thing is even as we set out towards our dreams, we remained grounded.

maybe we can change the world (: and it starts from here

on the subject of character, doing some readings on nietzsche now. his ideas are very intriguing (mr hau said in class before that nietzsche went mad trying to figure out the good/evil issue)

with the US elections coming up, lots of good but subjective articles in the media. If the United States is characterised by the American Dream, then we have our Singapore Story- a story of survival

wheeeee

wheeeeeee (:

went for the army half run yesterday, went there, did the 10km amidst a sea of 70,000 people. was quite fun, felt like a never-ending overtaking race. was a pleasant easy run, 1h 2min29s (self-timed), guess what this means i run about 1 min faster than i row. but that will change soon yea? haha

been talking to people, interesting to hear their outlook on life. so well, gap year to see the world (:

For the first time in 13 months, i'm beginning to find training fun again (: It's not quite the thrill of bursting and racing yet, but it's just... fun (: To get a good catch, flow with the movement, feel the glide, it's a great feeling (: and i get to do it over and over again (: wheeee

enjoy the read:

From the meaning of sports by simon barnes:

157 Above all, sport is to be found in the testing: in the last strides of the 400 metres when the body’s oxygen debt seems unrepayable; in the innings you play when you side is 49 for five; in the way you strike free-kick in time added on; in the way you hit the penalty that must decide the game; in the way you deal with the out-swinging corner when you’ve clung onto a 1-0 lead for 80 minutes; at the point in the marathon when mind and body rebel; or again in the marathon at the uphill finish and your rival alongside; or in the way you rip the entry from the ten-metre board in your final dive; or in the southern ocean with time ticking and only an albatross for company; or in the way ball meets boot when you go for the drop-kick in the game’s last seconds; or in the apparent width of the balance beam as you throw the gold medal back-somersault; or in the amount of air you give the ball when Adam Gilchrist is in full song; or in the way you hit the long-jump board in the sixth and final round; or in the way you respond to a crude tackle or a coarse insult in the biggest game of your life; or in the way you hit your second serve at match-point in the pin-drop hush; or in the way you ride into the final vertical with nothing in hand after three days of competition; or the way you wait when you know that your horse had all the speed in the finish; or the way you row when you’re still second with ten yards left and you’ve already given your all; or above all, in the moment between handgrip and handgrip as you perform the kovacs. The truth is always and only in the action.

wheeeee

exciting!

life is good. Training's proceeding, strokes and standard improving. found a way to do bench press and pull on the bench press bench (wow this sounds confusing). There's round ubin on 9th nov, thinking if i should go. There's another new canoe teacher, ms goh, who used to be from RJ.

did a bread run yesterday. Loaded my backpack and standard chartered bag with bread, courtesy of Marche, and made my way to Tanglin Halt. It's a different world there. Anw the great dessert stall is still there (desserts priced at $1!)

just got my pay for the fortnight. The experience has been great, not in the terms of it's a slack job and good pay or what, but humbling. Guess most service crew jobs in F&B are like this. Sometimes it gets very trying, then the strains of some rhythm and blues song would play "Smile... through your fears/tears..."

been to airport twice to send off 2 teammates. Yes, "Man must have the courage to lose sight of old shores before he can explore new oceans". I think most of us associate going overseas to study with independence and gearing up for a new challenge, but i also won't discount the local experience. There's also the same trying to find your way around as a freshman, new environment, new people, new priorities so cheers to all our local undergrads (: xinmiao described school (this is just 2nd week!) as humbling, and i'll say it characterises my life now too. It's really a big world out there

olympics coverage on TV is excellent, though i only watched canoeing, swimming, track and field and gymnastics with interest. Germany and Belarus did very well in today's finals events, hope the Hungarians will perform better, like their style. In the men's K2 1000m today, their pair was 1 boat away (2 boat lengths), but ended up 5th as the other boats charged with 250m to go. Their K4 500 women took silver again, with Germany maintaining a considerable lead throughout. Stroke rate wasn't very fast like their usual, looked a bit like they were conserving. well, more finals to watch tmr! lots to watch and learn. At that kind of speed and frequency, they still need only 5 strokes for each buoy!

The best of athletic endeavour is inspiring

“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible”

—T.E. Lawrence "of Arabia" (1888-1935) author, statesman, solider

In order to achieve, one must believe something in one is superior to circumstances

wheeeeeee

I like the way jiaolian makes canoeing seem so easy. Just train, just row (: finally the team could train with him. anw for me, it's reassuring to have him around; he can help me understand exactly what i need to fix for my stroke.

more exciting news. After destroying 4 different grips in a year, i've found the original configuration again!

new beginning

wan4 shi4 qi3 tou2 nan2

last week's training was a good lesson in perseverance.

and today's a new beginning indeed.

Not if, but when i get there, i promise to pay it forward, just like the people (many of them, all mentioned somewhere in my previous posts) who have done for me. There has been progress in the last 8 months but i still couldn't grasp the concept of the stroke despite lots of advice. then you know what? today it just happened. one of the national team canoeist told me to pull closer to my boat, practised for awhile, then it all came together (:

but before that, we practised at the pontoon, and she gave feedback on every single stroke i did. She's like THE sprint and marathon canoeist (sounds like a paradox but that's how versatile she is), yet she gave up time to help me, needless to say, i'm inspired.

so maybe one day i'll find the answers to life's unanswered questions. Canoeing life that is.

on another note, been training with the nus team occasionally. very nice of them to let me join in although i'm not that fast (yet). btw, wan4 shi4 qi3 tou2 nan2 came about today, when i was gg-ed halfway during the intervals. just heard one of the year 3 seniors tell her teammate that, and it fired me up for the rest of the training. haven't ran intervals for a year, most i did was fartleks 3 months ago. honestly i'm not too bothered if i can run fast or not, but yes, in the boat, the legs must kick, the body must twist, and the arms must move.

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one. - C.S. Lewis"

short term goals for long term commitments: going to start a 5-month course to get learn lifesaving 1, 2 and 3. then volunteering with food from the heart. will see how i can help w/o a driving license, but when i get it in end sept (and borrow my parents' car) should be able to help out more.

also, work has been manageable. always good to earn some $$ (:

wheeee

wheeeeee

2nd day of on job training. getting the hang of it. Yep, in just 2 nights, learnt table setting, arrangement, serving mostly drinks and some food, pouring tiger draught (this super exciting!), clearing tables and basically being a 'runner', getting things from one place to another. basically a lot of things i used to take for granted when eating there or at any other dining outlet. haha, like a real life diner dash (:

though the job pays by the hour, and for the first 3 days training it's $10 a day, i still like to keep things fast and efficient (: like having stuff to do i guess, the worst part of the job is when there's no customers/ the customers are all eating slowly and somehow do not touch their drinks, standing there is more tiring than moving around.

btw i figured this is good training for marathon, on my feet for 5 hours (and in my running shoes!) and secret training too, the imba plates and setting are good weights training.

a different side of life, that i'll probably never get to experience again. The work may be tiring, but i'm just taking it in. It's like on paper i'm not suppose to be here. Proper answers to questions like "Where are you from?", "What's your last job?" and in the application form "Education level attained- no. of o level subjects and passes" still elude me. I find it hard to express myself properly on this but i will attempt: It's like working at macdonald's back then. if i didn't get these jobs, coming from the privileged position i'm in, i don't think i'll ever meet these people. So once again for me it's really about being grounded, that this is life for the average person.

k, anw, singaporeans (lots of foreigners at the workplace, so i'll say people in singapore) really waste alot of food! the amount i throw away while clearing up is really disgusting.

market awaits tmr morning!

wheeee

and week 3 approaches (: was just walking and spacing out, then these words on an mgs? crosser's shirt caught my eye. In some hard-to-read font and colour, it read "All it takes is all you've got" Interesting

am enjoying the extensive coverage on the olympics. Nice pictures, stories and soon, telecasts. Like the stories especially, beautifully written.

From Straits Times,

"I know if i do my best, it's impossible to beat me. There's no chance for anybody. Sorry." Yelena Isinbayeva

...But the spin-offs in bonuses and commercials, as well as fame and gory, give way to the pure enjoyment of vaulting - a sensation she describes as "limitless happiness". "I just want to jump higher and higher."

It's complicated

long time since the real last update

anw i've signed up for marathon again (: Last year, remembered thinking at the start line, "What am i doing here at 5.30 in the morning?". Then i ran, jog, walked, limped, along with 9,000 others, to the finish line, got the finisher's shirt, couldn't walk for 3 weeks. And well, here we go again (:

Tomorrow, going for on-the-job training as service crew at this place near my house (West End). Some continental fusion cafe/restaurant/dining, the food's pretty good. When (not if) i get the job, $6/hr, it'll be 6-11pm, perfect timing (:

Unfinished business; it's complicated.

training's been good. Good as in i'm better than yesterday. Training now is about 90% on my own, and more than half the time i have the entire macritchie to myself (:

Training alone changes the dimension of training. Having teammates around can help to pace, push and encourage. In the midst of the training program is a comforting fact that everyone is doing this together and it will work for all of us. No doubt, it is with a certain envy that i look at the nus team with. On the other hand, in this solitary existence, i better believe in what i'm doing cos there's nothing else. Essentially in terms of performance, training is about improving your chances of winning. So i must posses and execute the best battle plan out there- my gold medals plan. and if i'm rowing for a dream, this is how it will be done.

Strange, that day someone was asking me if i had to choose between a gold medal and 5 As. You know what, i chose both. (though the gold medal could have been more specific) Anw, that was the last time i did a real goal setting and it wasn't SMART; it was just something i wanted to work for. Hm.. come to think of it, it was always about 99% conviction and 1%. That 1% of uncertainty keeps life exciting!

seven gold medals.

"Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere and sometimes in the middle of nowhere you find yourself. "

Before i embarked on this ambitious journey, I did consider the odds. My training philosophy: I need to train hard enough and be good enough to justify beating the faster, more talented and more experienced competitors (think twice my experience). Yes, it doesn't matter where i am, but it matters where i'm going. Strictly on performance again, I am training to be deserving of the gold medals.

a latin proverb: "If there is no wind, row" What do you make out of it?

Training focus is now on strokes. (last week's was getting used to distance). Honestly it is frustrating not to be able to transmit power into the stroke, but I know i'll get it if i keep working hard. If i can teach myself to cycle, run faster, play an assortment of ball and racquet games and write with my left hand, yes, it's just a matter of time (which i have btw).

Been getting secret coaching from one of the coaches, very nice of him to offer his time. Besides me wanting this, there are people who believe in me, all the more i should keep working at this- literally the missing link. Technique wise I am doing the kicking, twisting, pulling and stuff, but not in one swift, precise moment, so that's keeping me from going faster, faster! Meanwhile though, I'm keeping up the long runs and pullups, not waiting, but moving towards that day when it flows.

ok less talk more action. Bright and early tomorrow (:

"I have not failed 10,000 times. I have successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work"Thomas Edison

week 1

cook out was fun, like some reunion dinner (:

August is back to school for the freshmen, but most importantly, this August, the Olympics await!

TIME's 100 athletes to watch is intriguing despite its selectiveness on a few sports, going to keep that issue.

Week 1 in short: 8 water, 110km, 2 runs, 2 pullups workout, 16h, 6 rest sessions

“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.”

—Segoyewatha, [Red Jacket]

wheeee

Monday will be my exciting training day (:

Currently without a job, going to check out cafe galilee at bishan library, saw their advert. Preparing to take over all housekeeping when our maid leaves in 1 week's time. Cooking's been good progress, the big cook out on friday awaits (:

It's interesting how much you can learn just by listening and talking to random people.

So here's how i spent Monday: Northern trail run with darinne (7km), 12km row, lunch, rest, tidy shed, 12km row, back to school, 50 pullups (10mins), 150 ipus (10mins).

btw thanks darinne, for me, that's alot of runs in 1.5 weeks.

Both times were exciting, literally had the whole MacRitchie to myself (: Morning was ok, just very chilly plus drizzling and the distant rumbling of thunder. Afternoon, heavy rain. flashes of lightning, plus excitingly enough only the golf course's lightning warning.

Currently testing out my long term training plan, though monday and sunday are rest days/taper according to the ICF training plan (but that's for the last 6 months), i think i'll rest on other days instead, for the first 3 months at least. I find it most effective to have a mix of crowded trainings and quiet ones.

onward!

National Canoeing Championships

Olympics coming up (:

National Canoeing Championships was a good experience, though for the events i'm concerned about, it wasn't as competitive as expected. A summary: 7th for 10,000, 4th in SF for 1000, 4th in heats for 200. Now that things are in order, I can go all out.

For the record, i think i row faster than i run. 1:03:50:99 10km.

"What do you wake up to every day? An alarm clock or phone? For me, I wake up to my calling" Random advert in the newspapers

Perhaps this blog shall take a break

Nationals 2008

and the 2008 season comes to an end

Was a nice reunion to see our J2s and fellow competitors from the other schools, especially the latter, who share exactly the same sentiments about the "best days of our lives".

Darinne is right, i'm letting my next step in life depend on canoeing. It was a nice run by the way, thanks (:

Once again, regardless of results, those who have poured one year of their lives into canoeing and rowed their hearts out deserve their day in the sun. For all that you've put in, even if you don't win, how can you lose?

July is THAT time of the year, where out on water, we see the canoeists do battle and try to justify the last 1.5 years of their lives. The third Nationals i'm watching, it's always a strange thing... like how the sji c div title finally came down to the hopes of one boat, one race. It was a do-or-die, nothing less than first place. As the green boat crossed the finishing buoy just ahead of its rival, the SJI team erupted in cheers. One wonders how those two boys must have felt. on the other hand, sometimes these big, strong, muscular/sinewy monsters we call canoeists dissolve into tears after a race. It's always painful just to even catch a glimpse of that. All that training for what? How true, we row because we need to feel.

Looking back, it's finally been a year. I've asked myself and my team this question many times "Why did we give everything up for canoeing?" and i have yet to find a satisfying answer. It's not that we gave 1.5 years and woke up somewhat confused; ask me again, i'll tell you i don't know, but if i was back in J1 again, i'll still make that choice.

No doubt, the fighting team is the champion team. For the girls, NJC completed their sweep of all 7 gold medals. With all due credit to their 11 times a week training and total dedication, perhaps one reason NJC won is because no one dared to challenge them? Who else really believed they were going to win the gold medal? Who actually trained for a gold medal?

Until one day when another team is ready to take on that challenge, we shall be contented with the success stories of the runners up. In a heavily contested sport at the A division level, with 13 and 14 schools for the girls and boys respectively, on day zero, every school has a chance at the team titles. 2 years ago, the PJ girls epitomised the the fighting spirit. On the brink of getting shut down by their school, they trained hard and made it all come together with a team 2nd finish. Last year, everyone wrote off the hwachong girls, it didn't daunt them. Instead, point by point they clawed their way back to 2nd. This year, the ACJC girls proved how much could be done in 1 year. They did it with a team. MJC boys fought their way to a 3rd place finish, so did ACJC for 4th.

I am humbled each time i witness things like this. It is amazing, a miracle? No, because each medal is made of the same materials- blood and sweat and tears.

So what drives them? The siege mentality, the desire to prove themselves, the thrill of winning or glory? It is something worth understanding if a team envisions itself beating them. Will you row harder than someone who thinks his entire college is depending on him? Will you train harder than someone who believes in "no pain no gain"? Will you fight harder than someone who is rowing for her dream?

Belief is not something to hide behind; Belief is something your protect. Belief is not a word; Belief is action. Belief is beautiful, but it is not just that; Belief is of hope and fear.

Some things need to be sorted out and priorities straightened before we move on to great things. Like always, i see potential, which well, is actually nothing with realisation. Thanks guys for giving me a chance, remember guys, you must want it more than me. It's going to be especially tough, after being unplaced for 2 years. Everyone has 1 year from now till July 2009; you said you want to get a shot at winning, i asked if you're willing to sell one year of your life.

Day zero is early, and the day before it is an even better start.

All the sacrifice! Sacrifice for what? If you sacrifice something for yourself, it is not really sacrifice, is it?

"In the battle of life, it is not the critic who counts; nor the one who points out how the strong person stumbled, or where the doer of a deed could have done better. The credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually strive to do deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends oneself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he or she fails, at least fails while daring greatly. Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those timid spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat." Theodore Roosevelt

Welcome to Day 1

wheeeeee

i still can't bear to put to pen what happened at the dragonboat race, when i can i will though.

anw today was real man, SEVEN hours of lessons. 2 games, 3 fitness, 2 briefing, and a total of 12 hours in school. lol, thought i saw wrongly when RT1 appeared in all 7 columns. wheeeeeeee, haha, PE relief teacher slack eh?

sometimes when you cross over to the other side, suddenly opportunities abound. got a grand plan, haha, i'm not worried whether it'll work out or not, i'm worried about it working too well then who will step up to carry on? It's true; our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure (:

onward! happy birthday comrade

wheeeeee

lots of thoughts, but can't seem to put them across. what's another 2 weeks compared to the 2.5 years i've waited?

wheeeeee

An unexpected surprise (: exciting!

Women's K1 10,000m race (:

wheeeeeeeeee

feeling excited for National Canoeing Championships

K1 200, 500, 1k and 10k!

wheeeeeeee

wheeeeeee

"we came to Harvard wanting to change the world, but we all end up in Wall Street" from a random ny? article. the higher purpose of our work will justify the costs of education

went back to rgs today, it's a nice feeling every time i go back, like returning home. they've got vacancies for maths relief teacher in august when uni starts, haha, so probably i'm one of the few free enough to go. talk with the sec4s was interesting, been quite used to interacting with jc students. Think some of them scared us for being too pragmatic, others scared us for lack of ambition, haha.

i think mrs chew is super cool (: she's one person who really believes in her job and she reminded us that work must have a higher purpose. also, it's always encouraging to hear people who support your big plans. on a random note, i have immense respect for the more senior teachers staying on at rgs to 'hold the fort', it's them who have played a pivotal role in shaping us (:

training's been good (: i know this is a strange time to be clocking mileage, but nothing's too strange in the grand scheme of things. mental strength. yesterday, went to playground, and i got this incredible feeling... i felt pullup number 18 coming (: haha, but today didn't feel it, haha. today tested bursting, and amazingly the burst was and felt good (: wheeeeee

lots to think about

my first real day at home

wheeeeeee, slept in and finally woke up at 8.20am! exciting (:

mission accomplished, finally found the regata manufacturer website (: wheeeeeeeee

wheeeeeeee

wheeeeee

6 days of training plus dragonboat today (: moving closer towards the plan, this is just the warmup

went early for a run today. Ran around the kallang basin area in the light drizzle, liberating (:

half a year to do more fun and exciting things (:

auntie delia is leaving after her contract ends, that means housework time! haha, finally will have to cook and clean and do household stuff (: wheeeeee, get to chop the tree on my own, wash car, and lug the newspapers for the karang guni man to buy!

was talking to dad over lunch about random stuff, came to the topic of my job plan over the next 6 months. haha, he supports my toysrus overnight work yay (: hm.. for the record don't think i'll want to give tuition, cos mainly i don't believe in it, takes the fun out of learning. Read last week's article about 97/100 kids have tuition? dad says it's exploiting people's psychological state, interesting.

training next week and dragonboat race! wheeeeeee, got a grand plan to train early on saturday morning, then be at bedok by 9.30am (:

wheeeeeeee

today's a happy training day

had a good row, nice feel (: Partly psychological i think, after shifting my seat back, somehow less water gets into the boat and stroke feels better. Easy but not easy row (: Felt exhausted but pleased after training. Mended my boat with epoxy, now it's looking much nicer and hopefully more water tight.

Nationals open coming up, not aiming for spectacular results, just going to work on it. Looking at the timings i know i need to put in more effort to get faster faster (no typo there) Exploring my options now, for a start, it's normal training program vs solo training. Normal training program is fun for the competition while solo training forces me to focus. No talking no distractions just have a good row, which is what i think works best for me. After a while, i'll probably need decent boats to pace/push me, planning my next move now. Along the lines of:

• do odd jobs, maybe delivery/dispatch rider, work at food stall, cleaner, esplanade window cleaner, and i can't wait for orchard road christmas decorations! If anyone got lobangs please let me know. Mainly for fun and excitement (not to mention some $$), and to put my survival instincts to the test!
• Get my license so i can start driving myself to and from training at the hours i like. I think i shall call my battle plan 300.
  
• register as individual member, find a way to train with NUS and start my battle plan proper after national open.

know something? Unknowingly, it's been almost a year since nationals 2007. To be honest the past year has been tough, but that's how i chose it to be. The days are long but the months are short.

“Really it come down to your philosophy. Do you want to play it safe and be good or do you want to take a chance and be great?” Jimmy Johnson

World of WarCraft: Lord of the Clans by Christie Golden

Doomhammer was silent again for a time. Finally, he said, "I have kept to myself these many years, since the final, ignominious defeat. I know what they say about me. I am a hermit, a coward, afraid to show my face. Do you know what I have scorned the company of others until this night, Thrall?"

Thrall silently shook his head.

"Because i needed to be by myself, to analyse what had happened. To think. To remind myself who I was, who we were as a people. From time to time, I would do as I have done this night. I would venture forth to the campfires, accept their hospitality, listen to their experiences, and learn." He paused.

just went for a run, 8km, felt good. Didn't look at my watch throughout the run. Start 6.20pm. End 7.16pm.

Come 8th july, going to be working from 6.30pm-5am at toys'r'us, wheeeeee (:

once in a lifetime

Survival Instincts

back from Yong Yap in one piece (:

went with ODAC on their June Ex to Yong Yap, Cameron Highlands, 9-15th June. Trekking expedition up to the summit, 2168m.

The most exciting part of the trip for me was yes, survival. The great outdoors were a nice change from city living. Looking back, this expedition was indeed a relaxing break from racing. Quite pleased with myself in terms of prep and execution.

Apart from tent, carried all my food water clothes and equipment for 4 days 3 nights in my back pack. Just slightly over 11kg i think, haha, like my boat (:

Food was challenging, i planned mine by caloric intake, lots of muesli bars, nuts, dried mango, raisin bread, apples, pasta, chicken soup, potatoes, ovaltine powder, maoam sweets and 40g of happy food: koala bear biscuit! Food pack came up to 3.5 kg. Water at max was 1.8kg. Drank straight from the river, nice and cooling, like cold water from the fridge

Equipment wise, carried sleeping mat, sleeping bag, mess tin, stove and gas canister, passport and $$ in waterproof pouch, random swiss army knife, duct tape! (which saved me later on), old school flat running shoes, lighter, utensils, toilet paper and luxury item, a foldable chair!

haha, clothing was exciting cos at the summit, it was EIGHT degree celsius! Plus wind chill factor, it's zero. Super cold, wearing two t-shirts, shorts, track pants, socks, windbreaker, sleeping bag and mat and tent, still freezing.

Averaged 6.5 hours of trekking each day in the tropical rainforest terrain. Climbing up was easy for me, coming down was real man. According to our guide who pioneered this route back in 1996, Yong Yap is one of the toughest mountains cos it's especially steep towards the summit. Plus we did river crossing which was super exciting! Some rivers came to waist level, and were really fast flowing. Not much wildlife, save for some cute mice at the summit, but ggxx there were monstrous insects! The millipede thingy alone is confirm more than 15cm long and half an inch wide. Lots of bees, mosquitoes, sandflies and horseflies, which only started attacking me on the 2nd day. you've read superhero comics? Those imba big dragonfly man or something like that? Got stung by a jungle wasp and it looked exactly like that!

Overall it was a good ex with the Odacians and the teachers. The guide had an interesting theory about the energy flowing in Yong Yap. It's a granite mountain at the confluence of two rivers, so there's some sort of strong magnetic field. Like the book i read before, about advancing up the energy levels. Throughout the long hours of trekking, didn't think much cos the trek required lots of focus. Just trekked and lived the experience, taking it in. When we weren't trekking and pre/post trek, had time to read the giving tree and little prince, thanks to mr leong. learnt alot of talking to the teachers.

haha, it's strange how things came together. 15 years ago in 1993, mr leong brought mr tan, who was then a relief teacher, to Krobu with the odacians and the same guide mr gan. and this year it's my turn to go (: kinda feels like some star wars master and apprentice thing, interesting (:

so back to training (:

Posted by eugene:

first things seem impossible. then it becomes difficult. then it is done.

impossible, difficult then done. how many times have we talked about wanting to do the impossible? how many batches have been called the dream team? how many teams have been said to be stronger than ever? we have been called all those at one time or the other, have dreamed the impossible at one point or the other. but how many times have we really put our minds together to doing it?

today, i want us to think about something very simple:

team.

together as a team, we will carry each other's dreams, we fight till the end for each other, for the people we love so much. every sacrifice will be worth it when the fight is over. when the last man crosses the finishing line and the last medal given out, we will stand tall as giants. together as a team, we will do the impossible.

people say winning is everything and it is true. people don't remember the way you row a race. they only remember who wins the race. they don't remember how close it was; only who won. but those people are not the people you know. they are not your friends. they are not your teammates. they are not your family. they are not the people that you love or love you. to those people winning is everything; but to everyone else

fighting is everything.

we come from a proud heritage. canoeing has been in raffles since the 1980s. not every single batch wins, but every single batch keeps on fighting. this is why we still stand today. when we row, we don't represent just ourselves, we represent each and every one of the batches that have gone before us and that will come after us. the sweet victory may not come in our batch or the next batch or even for tens of batches but if we keep fighting there will be a day where raffles will be crowned champions and there will be a time where we will win and keep winning. and when that time comes, not only will that batch be glorified but every single batch before that them be glorified. this is our history. this is who we are. we are Raffles Canoeing - fighters till the end. if we give up the fight today, we will lose our chance to rise from the ashes and grab glory.

when we go out there on 8th july and row our races for raffles. i want you to remember that you are carrying the dreams and hopes of not just yourself but of every single Raffles Canoeist that was, is and is to come. it is not easy but we will be there for each other. we will become each other's pillar of support. we will fight till the end together.

"we will be like ducks.

when the storm comes and thunder roars, ducks stick together."

- Mighty Ducks

so, lets prepare ourselves for one last chance at glory guys. lets grit our teeth and pull each other through till the very end. lets put in the 100% strength into every single stroke, cm, inch for each other. lets not give up but fight on for each other.

i ask you now, if you are willing to step up and put your heart onto the line for the person standing beside you, for the person rowing in front or behind or beside you, join me and let us fight the best fight ever and it shall be forever remembered that we, the batch of 2008, never gave up and stood up against giants and became champions.

WE WANT TO WIN

back to training (: strangely i feel rapid improvement after coming back from bintan (: I'm getting It back... in a k1 this time (: yes, my right to win

lots of stuff, couple of things to run through each day, good, keeps life exciting (:

sat training, then returned library books, borrowed more books, driving
sunday dragonboat
mon training, waterfest 'dry!' run (water polo super fun), and i passed my final theory test! whe, driving test in september
tue training, back to school to collect stove + sleeping mat and paid mr tan

plans for tomorrow: go for a light run, training, southern ridges walk, team manager's mtg at night

good to hear people mostly settled down for uni and courses.

who do i row for?

ccal camp 2008

back from bintan (: 3rd camp in a row. Camp was mostly good, a learning experience.

Campout was memorable. A very honest sharing sessions; talked about school pride, challenges and fears about the road ahead. Dragonboat station was ok, i'll say an A average for the 4 groups i took. Bravo was the first group, that one not very good, our side not coordinated. Alpha was super fun cos it's out camp out group, knew them better plus in the afternoon was high tide. Next day morning was Delta, another pumped up session. Then Charlie, which was a little flat.

Anw it was great feeling the adrenaline rush from the races. My Alpha and Delta groups were on fire, paddled our guts out (: These were the 2 that i enjoyed, Alpha for the great display of teamwork, fighting spirit and leadership, and Delta for bringing out what it means to embark on a leadership journey.

Debrief with Alpha and Delta were interesting. For Alpha, shared about having pride and standing up for your cca, about the tough job of vice captaincy. People remember the class of 2007 for the 22 gold medals and (8 gold with honours?) SYF honours, but i remember us for the experience, for having stood together and fighting to give our school a name. Talked about desire, will and the courage to pursue their dreams. Yea, it's true that the captain is the one who's on stage representing the cca, the one receiving the college colours and wearing the college blazers... and like i told the j1 ccals, i've been very fortunate to have met two of the very best vice-capts, Jasmine and Joo Hui (: Yep, then we talked about the importance of each teammate believing in the team goal. Quoted bernard on his "I'll rather be a pillar of the strongest team, then an apex of a crumbling team" Delta was interesting, cos it was a typical textbook case study. First the team is disoriented, can't get their act together, navigates to the wrong place even. Then with some external direction, everything falls in place and they go on to win the race.

Learned alot from the teachers, especially the following: Mr Low for his assurance and confidence throughout the camp. Mr Leong, once again our miracle man. Mr Seah for our mini chats/reflections. Mr Koh, Mr Gary, Ms Soh and Ms Chuah for their sharing sessions. Ms Melissa Lim for her messages and address.

You know, i'm glad i believed in the full value contract and didn't discount the camp. A2 wasn't exactly first choice for the other facils, but i took them anyway, thought i'll jsut give it my best shot and guess what? At the end of the camp, i could see full fledged j1 cca leaders in them. the j2s, especially those non-canoeists in the my station, got to see a different side of them. Zhi zhi, ye lin and fiona (she's from nhps!) (: They've really grown alot from last year's camp

Just something random, i still remember what Mr Gary told us at my J1 ccal camp. It was still drizzling and we just finished our kayaking activity. He said that in our quest for gold medals, some of us ccals will go ahead with dangerous stuff and say it's ok, i'll take responsibility. The truth is, can you handle that kind of responsibility? He said other things that weren't nice to hear, but necessary. In the delta group sharing, mr koh reminded them of character- what you do when no one's looking. thought provoking. Mr Leong addressed the j1s about having pride of your cca. Didn't know ms lim and mr tan were batchmates! lol. anw she said mr tan told her about the school crest, the jumble of scribbling is actually an arabic word, meaning respect. the campfire wasn't a highlight, but something struck me. When everyone was just watching the fire starting, and the j2s rallying to sing Campfire's burning, ms lim started singing on her own, talk about leadership (:

night activities, out came the lego crest again. Hm.. just something to think about, if there and then, right in front of 250 J1 ccals and 24 j2 ccals, someone were to smash the crest and walk away, how many people would stand up, walk forward and fix the crest?

"Every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty"