I got my results back yesterday. It was not a fantastic result..but not exactly lousy either. It was pretty average result and for that part I'm a little bit disappointed because I feel I can do better. And when I feel this way, words of my former mentor from SP came back again to me: " Alex, you are too much a perfectionist. "
I think this semester I have really put in a lot of hard work. But I have long known and feedback before that hard work, while playing a big percentage of success also require a bit more of luck and intelligence.When I heard my fren who played harder but got better results , I am not surprised but it just supported my conviction that studying smart is still the key. Anyway, you can't possibly increase your intelligence artificially by popping pills or anything like that so for once or many many times, I just have to accept the fact that I'm not exactly that smart..perhaps just average smart..Hahaha
Well, I guess I just have to try harder again next semester.
As the year is about to end soon, I turned back and look at the journey I've been through for this year. It all started with working at Starhub which helped me honed my communication skills and knowing a great bunch of colleagues, which in turn indirectly helped me in my interview with the NBS professors when I tried get a place in NBS, following on with the FOC camp where I got re-acquainted with the friends I made in NTU, after that joining the CAC FOC main comm as part of my CCA to make more friends as well as to color my resume, teaching English tuition to Soung Won, whom I believed have went back to Korea and not coming back anymore, exams and all those
'no day no night' hard core intensive mugging,FOC canvassing events and being part of Noise Singapore setup.
I think it's a rather busy, hectic, packed and relatively good year for me..especially when I have completed majority of what I have set out to do for this 1 month holiday. I am satisfied with my holiday, meet those people that I want to meet, getting to know more frens through work, played my sports etc. I'm thankful for this year..inclusive of my semester result because I have understand the profound wisdom that a person ability/capability and happiness/contentment is not often determined by that single set of results.Alas, I still got 5 more wars to wage, 5 more semesters to go so it's ain't kind of easy either.
As I look forward the next semester, I see quite a number of hurdles, beginning with new modules that seem to be quite challenging for me in fact..Economics and Statistics and following on with the FOC canvassing activities that will keep me busy throughout the 1st half of the year. Not that I mind though, because I'm 23 this year and I still have a mentality I'm living on borrowed time, everything must chop chop swee swee. Want mean Want, Can mean Can,Doing something mean giving your best shot at it,Cannot hesitate or think so much. Most of my male friends will be graduating next semester or during the year 2009 while I will only be graduating in 2010.It is kind of late but somethings just can't be rush for if not, it often end with disastrous results. I just have to accept it. I just have to improve on my 'ever so short patience'.
'For the Greater Good' - to quote Prof Albus Dumbledore.
Yesterday Christmas eve celebration at my fren house was spent among close frens, frens, frens of frens but it was very entertaining and fun. Perhaps it is due to the fact that we are all young adults and with at least 8 bottles of hard liquor standing side by side at the table, nothing is impossible on that night. I only reached home at 530am and I was very tired.
Alas, the sms came to ask whether to play bball this evening and since it has been a while since I last played, I agreed but this time with my running shoes because I have not buy my new bball shoes yet. What I initially thought as a leisurely game was so darn wrong when more and more people came along and before I know it there were 14 people on the court. Games were played at fast and furious pace and I was scared because I am afraid of spraining my ankles with my running shoes on. At the end of the day, after a few elbows here and there with a knock to my front teeth as well, I came off the game none the worse.
It was a good bball game on the day of Christmas.
I have just watched the Warlords with my family. Overall I think the movie is nice so I can't really understand the reason why some might think it is not nice.
I think Jet Li and Andy Lau act really well inside the show. I also like how the director portray the forbidden love between Jet Li and Andy Lau wife in the beginning. The kind where it take both to just look into each others eyes to convey the feeling across...I find that part quite difficult to act it out but both of them manage to bring out the message successfully...though somehow I find the scene where they have sex before the battle to capture Suzhou quite unnecessary as it ruin the beauty that it initially portray in the first place.
We saw how Jet Li changed his character as the movie went more in depth...from being a idealist to fight for the underdogs to being power hungry and eventually died in the end. I think his change is due to the fact that he lost his entire army in the first place and so he want to become a powerful figure to prevent that from happening again. As for whether it is right or wrong to massacre the entire army who have surrender, I couldn't help but agree with him unfortunately. Soldiers either win or get killed in the battles and it is just too bad they lost when their leader decided to sacrifice himself. The peasants were unharmed so Andy Lau managed to keep 1 promise to the ruler of Suzhou. Sometimes there are no right or wrong..it's just the circumstances that force you to make a decision and in this case the decision to kill is still correct in military term to prevent further troubles of uprising by those restless soldiers. We must also take in account that Jet Li character is formerly a general from the army while Andy character is a bandit so Andy could not perhaps ponder of the aftermath of the decisions to keep the captives alive.
Andy Lau behavior during the course of movie seem to support the notion he had of becoming a hero.He seem genuine enough to fight for the poor, to do the correct thing but somehow he seem torn between brotherhood and his ideals. It is just unfortunate that he has to be the one killing the Suzhou Leader and had to suffer the guilty conscious of breaking his promise. I really think he act well.
I feel Takeshi character have no right or wrong. He was just basically following orders and strongly stand by the pledge, never at once wavering from it. He seems simple and trust too easily the words of Da Ge. Somehow, he also hurt Da Ge the most by killing Andy Lau wife and thought the assassination of Andy will not be carried out.
I have initially been quite reluctant to catch it because it is something about war and so there will be killing and violences with blood spilling everywhere so it is totally opposite of what the current festive season seem to portray of love and joy. But..the rest of the movies seem to be quite cheesy anyway so I'm glad at least I enjoyed The Warloads.
It's late..and I am feeling tired after a day outside with the FOC senior camp.
Right now I should be asleep, but my mind is pretty restless.
I believed I know what is it thinking about but because of the nature of the issue, I cannot find a solution to my problem which don't always come often.
But based of the previous experience and wisdom inherited, it's not easy to find someone whom you can relate to well so sometimes it's is better to maintain status quo than try to change something which is just not so possible at all @ the current moment.
In that case, if there is no solution to the problem and I have to accept the current situation, it will also logically mean I have no problem at all.
I can now go and sleep but still with a little tinge of regret.
It's done..It should be over..at least I think so..though I'm secretly hoping that they will give me a call tomorrow coz it's a public holiday and I can earn $10.5/hr if I get to work haha...I'm a slave for money!!!!
Anyway..during this holiday I met a lot of people, a lot of new frens as well.It is fun meeting new people. ..and you get to hone your PR skills. I think I managed to get along quite well with so many of them due to the fact that we are in the same age group..and therefore we have more stuffs to share and talk about. It also help that our audience are also slightly younger so basically I got a lot of eye candies to ogle every time I work and I tried to get them to snap a Polaroid shot as well for our event. But being a nice guy, it get a bit harder to reject some couples who request to keep the Polaroid photo so I just close 1 eyes and let them have it instead..
For Noise Singapore 07, we have people commenting that:
I'm Sweet.
I'm very Lame
I'm a perfectionist
I'm very suitable for marketing specialisation because of my personality
I'm fun to work with.
Noise Singapore also bring some funny incidents with the many 'rumors' and 'scandals' flying around regarding myself and others girls but it was all in the name of good fun, especially when the crowd get little and we are waiting for time to pass. Based on my hairstylist suggestion, I start to put on wax to style my hair up instead of letting it down as it look more presentable due to my curls and guess what..a lady ask me whether can I help her to become her product model @ Hereen for today while I am going to report for work. Alrite, the word 'model' is very ambiguous. Of course I am not imaging myself to be those NUM employees with their good looks and bodies outside Hereen selling Havianna slippers Hahaha but I didn't accept the offer anyway .I have to go to work.
While Noise was fun, the canvassing on the 18th sucks big time. While I'm not shifting my responsibility to others and I myself must partly take the blame, I just can't take it lying down that we are being made use of and we as a whole are acting as a convenient scape goat for all the mistakes that happened on the actual day. There was 1 rare moment when I lost my cool and blasted the PRC lady back..and she went back to complain to others I have attitude problem..but I don't care because the event was carried out successfully without her around and the event management staff was very pleased with our work. I think the HSBC staffs should not have anything to complain about either with our services as well.
Lesson for the day: Don't work with AUNTIES. 4VAR n EVAR!
But often or not after every storm lies a 7 colored-rainbow and I'm very glad I managed to find my former poly classmates as well as good frens - marcus and jireh to rope in to help as well. It kinda remind me of the times when we were in poly..involving ourselves with SPAC2GO activities but the rest of the team was also also very cooperative and outstanding so KUDOS to them as well. Here are some of the pictures taken that day.
Sweet Lilian striking a Cover Page pose
Our 3 Charlie Angels on the scene- Tiffany, Rosa, Lilian
Team Atrium pic 1
Team Atrium pic 2
Markie with his many many balloons tied to his bag.
Overall we had fun among ourselves and we are not going to let a old hag ruin our wonderful time together!
I'm back from Malayisa since Tuesday..
since then it have been a choo choo train..very fast pace with a lot of stuffs to do.
today is a weekday but I keep feeling it's a weekend.
I will only be free on Sunday liao..
Updates everything again on Sunday then.
closed shop till Sunday!
I have finally completed the series of Witch Yoo Hee after many days of religiously sitting on my chair..facing my lappie catching at least 3 episodes per day.
Sometimes I think if the stuffs they did inside the show to express their love towards each other ever happen to anyone of us in real life, as what Kelly Clarkson sang in 'A moment like this' - 'for a moment like this..some people wait a lifetime..' if you get what I mean.
But most often or not I find that surrendering yourself, placing your everything into another person is a bit too risky, because the chances of getting hurt deeply increased exponentially as well. I don't know..perhaps I have never love another person deeply before to know the true/wondering 'feeling' of it but in my own personal opinion, I say..yes it's is possible to love another person and yet leave some love for yourself as well..a little bit of self-love..or what Chinese say: 'Zi Ai'. The lead actor inside the show sacrifices so much to be with the one he love..and he ultimately got his wish,,but in real life I bet he'll be cursing those lost opportunities to achieve his personal dream as well as his career for the woman he love. And it seems to be that the wondering feeling of love is only 10% while 90% of your time is spent brooding on bread and butter issues on hand.
It's just so not practical. At least for me.
That's aside. I went to Hereen today for the Noise Singapore thingy as a temp art education officer as what my position is indicated in the contract. Did some crowd control..etc..it was in fact quite a easy job..if not some stuffs could be handled better in fact.
Anyway..looking at those art pieces..I could only differentiate what is nice..what is not nice. I feel like I'm intruding into those arty farty people who came to view their own works, other people works or the works of their friend. I cannot connect with them and I believed if they come into my world of ex-engine and current biz, they'll be lost a hundredfold as well. That's aside..my job is relatively simple..just making sure those arts pieces remain in 1 piece at the end of the day..which leave me relatively free to people watch..esp those pretty ladies Hahaha.I'll be going back again the next weekend but if there is any chances I will most likely request to work more often when I come back from msia.
It's late. Time to sleep. What's up with love actually lately?
Half of the holiday is almost gone..
I'm still waiting for my beloved Soung Won to come back to resume tuition. I bet he must be stuffing himself up with lots of food and getting exhausted from all those mountain skiing
I have still yet to meet up with all the people I want to meet before the exam, though I have already met up with some already.I am looking forward to meet more of them soon.
I have yet to buy a new pair of basketball shoes which have 2 holes at the bottom of the soles already.
I have yet to stock up on my business attires for next semester, namely a new pair of leather shoe, some long sleeve shirts and a new pair of pant..perhaps a new tie as well.
I am thinking of buying a new watch..after all I've been alternating between the 2 for 2 years already. But this is not a necessity so it can wait till I strike big sweep on the 2nd Jan 2008 if I'm not wrong.
I am reading/watching stuffs of 2 witches now...namely "The Witch of Portobello' by Paulo Coelho. I got a feeling it is too spiritual for my liking..too abstract stuffs which is out of my mortal realm. But still I'm gonna try read finish it.
Witch Yoo He- a Korean Drama.
As with any typical Korean drama, it is very funny during the start of the show, draggy in the middle before picking full steam ahead near the end. Nevertheless, it is a good show to pass time as well. The lead actress is quite pretty but she is married. Not sure about 3 guys who like her thou. I guess ladies have different taste as well and will look for different qualities among the 3 guys.
I will be working part time as a facilitator for NAC Noise event for 3 days...not consecutive though to earn some pocket money. As such, I am gonna miss out soccer with my poly classmates tomorrow. Speaking of soccer, I think I have not kick a ball for the past 3 months.
I am going to Malaysia this coming weekend till next week Tuesday. As such, I am going to miss out 2 gatherings which I quite look forward to..stuck in Malaysia most probably wasting myself away.
I think I must do more for this holiday when I come back. As such, I am gonna bust my budget for this festive season.
What a wonderful way to end the year of 2007.
The 2 photos taken during the Standard Chartered by 4 lovely ladies
The first 1 look better though coz we are not facing the sun.
Upon learning that des and mark have completed the 42Km, I think it's time to up the stake and try for the full marathon next year instead of the half again...Hahaha
Completed the Standard Chartered Half-Marathon at the grand timing of 2hr 45mins.
This is the first time I have ever ran such a long distance..
This is the first time I ran for such long timing.
But the atmosphere was great, the run was fun and the supporters suddenly all look very nice indeed.
The race start at 6.15am but we only got to start moving around 6.23am. By this time, the african runners, most likely from KENYA , running in the opposite direction of the bridge have already completed the Marina South stretch,proceeding towards nicholl highway down to ECP.. which mean they took 45 minutes to start running from the Esplanade bridge, all the way down to Marina South and back! The excitement grew and people were cheering and clapping for them.
We saw a father pushing the stroller as he ran with his baby son/daughter soundly asleep inside. We saw Spiderman in his full costume attempting the half marathon. BUT what really stunned us was a man with rope tied across his wrist dragging a TYRE along as he ran! The last we saw of him was when we were at Nicholl Highway running back towards City hall and he was at the opposite direction. Enormous courage and effort. I salute him~
We start our own run in a gradual pace. The main aim is to complete the half-marathon and the first 10km was a nice gradual run. Back towards the Shenton way area, a supporter shouted..REACHING SOON 12KM MORE TO GO! and we were like WTFFFFF! There was also another female supporter shouting her encouragement amid in a wrong method. She was directing at 1 man shouting Come on UNCLE you can do it and people were smiling and saying: ' eh she said you are an uncle lei.'
We took our inspirations and keep on running by catching up with females runner whom we think might be pretty. Hahaha There was this lady with pony tail, a bit older older than us nevertheless with the charm and charisma still around,whom we keep looking out for, trying to catch up. She is good...because while during the last 6km we were dropping like flies with constant cramp, she still persevered on and finished the race far ahead on us.
The last 6km was not good because the thighs kept cramping and we have to stop and walked briskly to shake off the cramp before running again. I attributed this issues as not stretching and training enough. We kept rubbing the muscle rub to our thighs to produce the warm sensation hoping to shake off the cramp. Near the last 1Km, the cramp started to act up again but when the people cheering, the drum rolling, the announcer urging on, the huge finish sign onto sight with the clock running, it's time for the final push!
Heck the cramps or whatsoever, with the atmosphere and so many people watching, it's is definitely not the time to make a fool of yourself and walk!
Overall the run was great. As with every run, there must sufferings involved in order to improve. I believed if schedule permits I will be back again next year with a improved timing, likely to aim for 2hr 30 mins instead. Yeah!
7 hrs 15 minutes more to Stand Chart Half marathon
Hope I can complete tomorrow safety without any cramps, stitches ,blisters, nipples abrasion or whatsoever.
I think after the run I can lie on the bed for 1 whole day to recuperate liao. Haha
