~{However long the night, the dawn will break.}~

On The Keirsey Bates MBTI Personality Test

2008-09-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

MBTI: [Acronym] Myers-Briggs Type Indicator; A psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions.

Hi Ladies & Gentlemen! Its been some time hasn't it? lol~ I'm just soooo friggin' lazy.

Oh well~ I was bored one day and decided to do this personality indicator test thingy so that I could procrastinate just that little while more. After ten minutes of procrastinating, This is what I got:

INTJ -The Mastermind

0% I to E, 21% N to S, 67% F to T, 42% J to P

You are more introverted than extroverted. You are more intuitive than observant, you are more thinking based than feeling based, and you prefer to have a plan rather than leaving things to chance. Your type is best described by the word "mastermind", which belongs to the larger group called rationals. Only 1% of the population shares your type.

You are very strong willed and self-confident. You can hardly rest until you have things settled. You will only adopt ideas and rules if they make sense. You are a great brainstormer and often come up with creative solutions to difficult problems. You are open to new concepts, and often actively seek them out.

As a romantic partner, you can be both fascinating yet demanding. You are not apt to express your emotions, leaving your partner wondering where they are with you. You strongly dislike repeating yourself or listening to the disorganized process of sorting through emotional conflicts. You see your own commitments as self-evident and don't see why you need to repeat something already expressed.

You have the most difficulty in admitting your vulnerabilities. You feel the most appreciated when your partner admires the quality of your innovations and when they listen respectfully to your ideas and advice. You need plenty of quiet to explore your interests to the depth that gives you satisfaction.

Although they are highly capable leaders, Masterminds are not at all eager to take command, preferring to stay in the background until others demonstrate their inability to lead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hmm~ I think its somewhat accurate, but 1% of the population? That makes me an oddball doesn't it? =_= Oh well~~ back to work! Cya next time!

To have a go at the quiz, head to this link:

http://www.helloquizzy.com/tests/the-long-scientific-personality-test

On Recrudescence

2008-03-11T03:09:00.000-07:00

Recrudescence: [Noun] Breaking out afresh or into renewed activity; revival or reappearance in active existence, as after a period of quiescence.

Ladies & Gentlemen, after a 4 month long bout of writer's block coupled with extreme laziness, I'm back~~! So what made me decide to start blogging again? Maybe its the exam stress, maybe its the "sian-ness" from mugging, maybe its the procrastinating, but most of all... maybe its the Maybe. Hmmm~ (only a select few will understand this, so you're perfectly normal if you don't. OR *ahem* MaYbE its just because you don't live in Hall III. =_=)

I think its appropriate to start with a summary of what stuffs have happened in the last 4 months:

HO was played in December. Although Hall III did not fare as well as the previous years, I found it consoling that I've at least managed to accomplish what I wanted to achieve this year. Darts defended our title as champions and Floorball bringing in a gold medal after last year's failed attempt (we got silver instead). Hockey was disappointing as we were eliminated at the quarterfinals.
The Darts Team was awarded the Recreation Team of the Year title. After hearing the news, I felt a sense of achievement and pride as I recalled all the hours of training that we had all put in together as a team. Well done boys & girls, lets do it again next year, both the gold medal & the Recreation Team of the Year title. =)
Blizzards training resumed shortly after school reopened. Its great to be able to train together with the guys again, panting and sweating it out as we go about doing sadistic drills and crazy physical trainings. To make it even more interesting, some new faces have joined us, and skilled individuals at that. The Blizzards are back, stronger than before and raring to whoop some arses on court. This coming season, absolutely without doubt, the Blizzards will rise to Division 2.
My Birthday passed rather uneventfully. Spent it having meals with my family and friends, at a Hall III production (which was not too bad, the female lead was impressive), and enjoyed some music courtesy of The Unexpected @ Holland V. Had one too many (like literally, one) a beer and went back feeling nauseous and ended up throwing up my 400 bucks dinner later in the early morning. No thanks to my roomie who's suppose to not let me drink so much. (so much?) =_=
School semester is just so boring and repetitive. The same old workload, the same old staring at endless equations which make no sense, the same old falling asleep in lectures and the same old cursing at lousy I-love-mumbling-to-myself-I-think-I'm-Jay-Chou lecturers. Can't wait to graduate, at least there won't be exams, which happen to be just around the corner. I really should get back to my books. lol~ But I think I deserve a break. Stupid @#%!@*& Aerodynamics.
Last but not least, my roomie (aka Mr. Tian), thinks he's a spartan. Check out these links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5VcU3Rvbjs and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFb3wNu6Dpw&feature=related
Stay tuned as my creative & ultra talented roomie tackles Step Up 2.

Alrighty, I've pretty much summarised all that is worth mentioning. So back to the point. Why am I writing again? ^_^ (oooo~ its so exciting~ I can just imagine the "I NEVER~~~!!! YOU GO & DIE~~~~~!!!!!!!!!! *bish* lol~) I'm back because recently, many interesting (and ROTFLMAO funny) things happened, and the best part is, it all happened in a short span of 4 hours. Keep your eyes on this space for the next ExCiTiNg installment! Its gonna be one hell of a ride. Like really. =_=

10 Things You Might Not Know About Me.

2007-09-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

Might: [Auxiliary Verb] Used to express possibility, advisability or in polite requests for permission.

Due to the lack of creative brain juice and inspirational ideas, I have not been blogging. Until recently, while chatting with a close friend, she gave me this brilliant and interesting topic. I thought it might be fun instead of my usual ramblings about floorball and hall stuffs, so here goes... =_=

1) I talk to myself when I am under stress. E.g. While doing tutorials or studying.

2) I like waking up to quiet/peaceful mornings. I get grumpy really quickly if I wake up to a noisy one or if I am roused from sleep in a noisy or rough manner.

3) I got my first scar (right elbow) when I was four years old. I fell while racing some kid from the neighbourhood round the playground, the tiled ground was sandy. I won though. =)

4) I was fat when I was little. (about the age of 3)

5) I once had a girlfriend (who was my classmate in JC) who turned out to be my mother's ex-classmate's daughter. We found out when both our mothers went missing one day to attend a "class gathering". ;p

6) I hated going to the dentist when I was little. When I had a loose tooth, I would get my elder sister to push me off her bed and I would fall face first onto the pull-out bed (where I slept) below so the teeth would be knocked out. If I failed the first time, I would try and try again! lol~

7) I underwent plastic surgery when I was in secondary school. I had to remove some excess skin at the lower corner of my eyes which were pushing up my lower eyelids, causing my eyelashes to irritate my eyes.

8) I use to have a phobia of hearing whistles blowing when I am asleep.

I joined the SJAB in secondary school and we had something called "Fire Drills"/"Turn Outs" when we had our camps in school. The NCOs would turn us out in the middle of the night using whistles and handed out punishment (pumping, running, sit-ups...) to us in the hundreds for infringements such as not turning off the fan when we fall in, why some of us had tiny air bubbles in our water bottles which are supposed to be 100% filled...

Needless to say, after break camp, I would jolt awake at home in the middle of the night thinking that I heard a whistle...

9) I once stayed quiet for an ENTIRE day in PY (an education standard before primary school) just to win the badge for the "Most Obedient Student of The Day". For those who know me, staying quiet for an entire day (when I was little) is next to the impossible.

10) I use to eat whole carrots raw, chewing on it and sharing it with my nanny while watching sesame street when I was young, about the age of 3-4. I cried like mad when it was my last day with her. =)

That's all folks. Stay tuned for the next amazing episode of my life. =_=

On Feeling Relaxed.

2007-09-02T02:56:00.000-07:00

Relaxed: [adjective] Being free of or relieved from tension or anxiety.

Its been a long time since I've felt this relaxed, free from all the worries that I've managed to bog myself down with over the last year. Now that my hall and floorball commitments have come to a temporary end, all the stress and fretting have vanished and I can't help but feel a peace in the air.

Over the past week, I was faced with a dilemma: Dinner & Dance clashed with Div 3 Floorball Quarter Finals. For the longest time, I could not decide on which to choose. Should I attend Dinner & Dance and witness the fruition of months of hard work by the committee that I am part of? Or should I go for the quarter final playoff which the Blizzards and I have fought so hard for? Cursing my luck, I weighed the consequences of my choices carefully before finally deciding to go for floorball instead of Dinner & Dance.

So it was yesterday evening when most of the hall residents were dressed nicely and socialising that I was sitting on the train for an hour, waiting to arrive at Tampines. Warm up was as per normal and one could feel the tension in the air as both teams got ready to faceoff. At the centre of the court waiting for the starting whistle, I could feel my heart beating hard and fast, the muscles in my legs and my grip on the stick tightened with each breath I took, trying to keep my mind clear and focused.

The whistle went, and we soon found ourselves in a very different game than we were accustomed to. The opponents, El Dorado, were neither skilled nor fit, but they were dirty. Taunting seems to be their forte, no exception to their Coach and Captain, as they tried to cope with our speed using underhanded means of pulling, shoving and ridiculous play acting. Childish and lame remarks were hurled at us from their bench as we played on into the 2nd period. The Blizzards punished them with sheer abhorrence and damnation, tasting sweet vengeance as we pulled into the lead 4-1.

The 3rd period turned out to be a nightmare. The fools of a referees proved themselves to be utterly useless as they made ridiculous calls one after another all in the favour of the team that should be condemned from Singapore floorball altogether. Words fail me as I try to make apparent their incompetence, their worthlessness, their purposeless existence! The Blizzards seethed with anger, furious at the bootless referees as they allowed the other team blatant infringements while condemning us for every non-existent foul. I would have walked right up to that pair, slapped them full across their faces to wake them up and cursed their entire family if I did not have my responsibilities to the team.

At full time, El Dorado managed to equalise with us through sheer luck, dirty play and world-class refereeing. Penalties were played and the Blizzards lost 2-1. It might seem that I am just a sore loser, but I'm going to say it anyways. It must have been really easy for the El Dorados to make it this far into the tournament, especially so after we've witness their outstanding tactics on court. I'm sure your tactics were really effective against the small kids you played against before us and I am sure you lousy buggers know for yourselves that you don't deserve to go any further in this tournament. If I had known that we would lose in the end, I would have put my blade right across the face of your hypocritic childish so-called captain and earn myself a glorious 10 minute penalty. Oh ya I forgot, the referees would not have seen it anyways, so I would definitely have gotten away with it.

On a brighter note, the Blizzards have gone far since the day we first came together, improving by leaps and bounds. Doing sadistic drills, bleeding, shuttle runs and pumping when we take more than 5s to gather (courtesy of *ahem*) are memorable moments of our training. We would like to show our appreciation to our coach, Louise, for all her time & effort to coach us F.O.C. Also for her never ending patience (actually not really cause we pumped quite a bit) when we don't do the drills properly. =) Thanks Louise.

Not to forget all the Hurricanes seniors who have supported the Blizzards, coming down to train with us, whooping us when we play during training (although the Blizzards did win the last one) and to support our matches at all the 鸟不生蛋 places. We appreciate it. Thanks~

Finally, a round of applause for the Blizzards.
As we take a bow and end a season, I present to you readers,

NTU Blizzards:

From Left to Right,

Front Row: John, Yew Keong, Zi Wei, Andrew.

Middle Row: Xin Ping, Bala, Joshua, Sufian, Kevin, Louise.

Back Row: Lee Cheong, Jun Yuan, Li Xiang, Guo Yi, Dobson, Kai, Chen Siang, Gerald.

Not in picture: Clemence, Jia Liang, Kenny, Simon, Yew Hong.

On A Summary of Recent Events - Episode 1.

2007-08-20T07:10:00.000-07:00

Summary: [Noun] A comprehensive and usually brief abstract, recapitulation, or compendium of previously stated facts or statements.

Dear Readers (if there are any),

I apologise for the lack of reading material for the past weeks as I have been feeling absolutely positive definitely lazy. Writing a blog (without your conscience nagging at you) is only possible when you do not have tons of tutorials and revision piling up on your desk. The "to-do list" just gets longer and longer. However, my No. 1 fan Mr. XP said it has been some time since I last updated my blog (especially wrt Floorball) and I've decided to accede to his request since it is Monday night and I haven't got much to do, yet. This entry is titled "Episode 1" as I foresee many more of such entries in the near future.

The first week of school was hectic as usual, no thanks to the ever so efficient and meticulous staff of our wonderful university (Note: Sarcasm intended). As usual, the university's "interactive learning portal" aka edveNTUre decided to screw itself over, causing immeasurable amounts of inconvenience for us students (who are actually paying school fees) as we try to attend lectures and tutorials without appropriate material. I seriously wonder why we are paying so much to inefficient and obviously couldn't care less administrative staff who seem to able to screw up an entire school's subject listing on edveNTUre without knowing. Utterly useless people. I wouldn't trust them to take out the trash.

The bright side is that I've got a pretty good time table, although it still spans five days. I get to end early on Fridays, which means I'll have more time to spend with a special someone. =) Somehow I managed to get a slack module called "Forensic Science", which everybody else wanted and most didn't get. Lucky me. Its basically a 3 hour eye candy session where bevies of overdressed (or underdressed in this case) NBS girls sashay into the auditorium and do whatever it is they do that makes them different from *ahem* engine girls.

Floorball wise, the Blizzards played 2 games recently. One against SGS Bulldogs and another against NightHawks. We managed to achieve a convincing victory against the Bulldogs with a scoreline of 6-0, our first clean sheets for both our goalkeepers in this Division 3 tournament. I realised that most of us players have neglected thanking our keepers for their wonderful efforts in goal, most of the time focusing on the goal scorers instead. So here's a belated and big thank you from the team; Thanks Zi Wei & Andrew for all your amazing saves, numb legs from kneeling and stressful periods in goal.

As with the NightHawks (who are a pretty skilled team) game, we played our very best and managed to level with them 5-5 full time. I felt that every single player had put in their 110% for this game, fighting and persevering all the way. It was a solid effort put in by the team and it really reflects on how far we've all come after all the training together. A clap for each and everyone of us, lets all train hard for the quarter finals 2 weeks later and win for ourselves some medals.

A few more misc. events (occurred, happening & to come):
1) Hall Inter Block Games: Can't wait for Floorball.
2) D&D impending: Time to start panicking.
3) Applied for Global Immersion Programme: Hope I get it.
4) Lastly & most importantly, I'm officially Red Light: To those who understand. ^_^

That's it for this short & sweet entry, hope you readers enjoyed yourselves and stay tuned for more updates. =_=

Yours Faithfully,
Kai

On Freshmen Orientation Camp

2007-08-07T02:43:00.001-07:00

Freshmen Orientation Camp: An annual event organised to welcome freshmen into the university community.

Just had Freshmen Orientation Camp (FOC) over the whole of last week. I must say, participating in FOC as a senior instead of a freshie is an entirely different experience altogether. Here's a day by day account of such a memorable experience:

Day 1: Ice Breakers.

Was pleasantly surprised at the attendance to our FOC. I can still remember clearly that on the very first day of my FOC as a freshmen, there were only 4 people in my OG. lol~ It was so sad. I was half expecting the attendance to be the same this year, but to my relief, it turned out to be quite a crowd. Ice Breakers were fun, the freshies were pretty enthusiastic and they turned out to be a decent bunch of guys & gals. It was pretty amusing to sit behind watching the GLs trying to talk to the freshmen, desperately trying to break the ice.

Day 2: War Games & Team Fortress.

War Games. Some of the seniors woke up as early as 5am in the morning to prepare for the event: mud bombs, game stations and other logistic matters. Things went smoothly and very soon, the freshies were splashing mud at each other as mud bombs rained on them mercilessly. lol~ I wasn't involved in the splashing, just running around with my camera (as a 护身符) taking pictures of everyone. We created quite a mess and we spent hours and hours that afternoon cleaning the damn tarpaulin sheets. Oh my aching forearms... =(

Team Fortress. Held after dinner, seniors went to set up stations (& feed the blood-thirsty mosquitoes) and load up their paint bombs. Pandemonium ensued as seniors chased freshies all over the campus while they were looking for clues. I always wanted to be one of the cops since my FOC, but alas, I had my responsibilities as part of the organising sub-committee. So I just sat there, feeding mosquitoes. *sulk*

Day 3: Childhood Games, Water Carnival, Monster Hunt.

Finally I could join the freshies again, FOC is no fun when you're always away from the freshmen preparing for events. The freshies had childhood games in the morning, games included musical chairs, obstacle courses, bomberman... The weather turned on us with light drizzles on and off, threatening to spoil our fun, but spirits were still held high as the freshies played on. I noticed an amusing trend, the guy freshies could play five stones better than the girls. lol~ Maybe its a generation gap thing. I feel old. Didn't go for the water carnival as we had to prepare for monster hunt that night.

Organising Monster Hunt was a huge challenge. We had a hard time thinking of scary ideas and begging seniors to come back to help us as actors, some who decided to fly our aeroplane at the last minute. Tsk~. We have planned and worked our fingers to the bone for the past few months just for this night, The Night of Nights. That afternoon, we were all tensed and stressed to the max as we began the final preparations, the last burst of fire. Not all seniors were cooperative and we had a few stressful moments when we started to fall behind schedule with the make-up of the casts.

Ultimately, we were late by about an hour. We pushed the cast out to their locations and I followed my cast of 6 to our location, Road to Hell. This station has been my brain child for the past few months: thinking of all possible scare factors, creating sound tracks, preparing relevant props... I was station master and it was rather gratifying to see some seniors who have already graduated coming back specially just to support us. Their words of encouragement really makes one feel appreciated and all that we have done worth it.

I personally feel that Monster Hunt, and especially Road to Hell, was a success. I would like to seize the opportunity to thank my actors and actresses, for tolerating my unreasonable standards, for the long tiring hours of waiting, make-up and acting, and putting in their 110% into their roles. In no particular order: Thank you Kewei, Wei Ching, Zi Wei, Daniel, Siyi & Keng. Without your efforts, Road to Hell wouldn't be possible.At the end of The Night of Nights, we all had a clear sense of accomplishment as we packed up till the wee hours of the next morning, finally having overcome the challenge placed in front of us.

Day 4: Mini Olympiads, Amazing Race.

We woke up after around 3 hours of sleep to prepare for my sub-committee's final event, Mini Olympiads. Took me about 1 hot coffee & 2 cold ones to wake up properly. Jiajun & I were placed in charge of Couple Captains' Ball & Dodge Ball. We had fun umpiring the games, the freshmen were really competitive and I hope that they've all managed to have their share of fun. Winning isn't everything, its the experience. lol~

Amazing Race was physically draining. Our OG didn't have the best of luck as they started the race, having gotten a lousy route by bus and the next moment forced to take a time-consuming detour. I was feelin rather happy that morning as all our sub-comm responsibilities are over and it was time for us to spend some quality time with the freshmen, but somewhere along the way, close to evening, the tiredness starting seeping into my eyes and the seniors started to feel the strain as the freshmen raced on.

We made stops at Chinese Gardens, Sentosa, Little India, Maxwell Market, JEC Kbox... I must say... our freshies are really enthusiastic and they seem to have limitless amount of energy as they persevered on to the very end. Even though they crossed the finish line last, they were still full of pride and enjoyed every moment of the race. That's the way freshies. We're proud of you guys.

Day 5: Beach Games, SP Nite.

We headed to Sentosa again early this morning where we had 3 hours of beach games. Which means a thorough sun-burning session for yours truly. *ouch* The freshies were rolled around in the sand, played a fruity version of touch rugby and rescued their "marooned" GLs from a "deserted island". Could tell the freshies had fun as they chomped down on a 加料-ed sandwich. Gross. lol~

SP Nite, held in the evening, freshie guys were paired randomly with freshie gals and they had to walk around, doing forfeits together and ultimately ended up at a beach side bar for dinner. I thought the programs for the night could be better as there were moments when I felt that the freshies were getting bored. Although we did have a better location than last years', I thought that the programmers didn't do justice to the better opportunity offered them. Such a waste. But nevertheless, the freshies seemed to enjoy themselves as they partied away to Mambo and R&B.

That night, our OG carried out the tradition of seniors playing social games with juniors. I believe that it helps the freshies and seniors to bond closer together. We didn't play any drinking games as there wasn't any decent water supply at the Southern most point of Asia, so we played traffic light and "shoot, shag & marry". Just like we did last year. It was fun, but we stopped halfway as the seniors were really feeling the shag-ness and we sort of just fell asleep. lol~ must make sure we play it properly next year.

Day 6: OG Outing, Initiation Run.

Hmm~ woke up with a backache from sleeping on planks. *ouch* After a freezing morning shower and breakfast, our OG decided to shoot some pool at JEC. After which, all of us went back to school to prepare for the Initiation Run.

In the evening, the freshies were initiated and officially welcomed into Hall 3, becoming true 3-ians. They ran a distance of 3km, completing tasks and overcoming all obstacles the seniors could throw in their way without the slightest complain. The completed their initiation with pride and passion, which makes us seniors proud. A job well done freshies! *applause*

We broke camp that night around a camp fire, singing, dancing & cheering.

I feel that FOC'07 has been a success, even though there were a lot of misunderstandings and conflicts among the seniors, unseen to the eyes of freshies. The efforts and sacrifices of all the seniors were worth it as long as our freshies enjoyed themselves. Cheers to the FOC'07 team. Next major event... D&D'07.

Stay tuned~ =_=

On Game Mentality

2007-07-28T09:30:00.001-07:00

Mentality [Noun]: The set of one's mind; view; outlook.

Had another floorball match today, vs Mrymidons PY. They're a team consisting of secondary school students. We started off the game today lacking many key players, among them Gerald, Simon & John, due to personal commitments & injuries. The team was down to 2.5 lines, fewer players means more running and effort from everyone.

We were confident, or rather over-confident I would say, as we saw the opposition as another team of secondary school kids. They started off with a playing style we weren't accustomed to. Failing to adjust accordingly quick enough, we allowed them to put one pass our keeper early into the 1st period. 0-1. After conceding the first goal, the team's morale dipped drastically, losing our composure and focus.

We couldn't communicate properly, didn't apply any of the trainings we've done and made tons & tons of scrappy plays throughout the remaining 1st and the entire 2nd period, ultimately stuck at 0-1. I was filled with frustration and helplessness, hating myself for not being able to run faster and strike harder as we proceeded into the 3rd period. Frustrated & helpless.

Face off of the last period, the Mrymidons won it and I charged their defender, stealing the ball from him, I charged their keeper. He slid me but somehow, I managed to draw the ball aside and tap it into goal as I fell. I yelled in anger, hatred & frustration. It felt damn good. 1-1.

Soon after I got sent off (again) for rough play, tripping an opponent intentionally. I'm getting used to sitting in the penalty box, a true regular customer. I should get my own chair soon, autograph and all. Heck. The guys managed to hold off the opponent using box play and I came in as our right back, Bala, brought the ball up the right flank. He lost it 3/4 way and I stole it back quickly, tapped the ball back to Bala and he took a hard shot straight at goal. It found the back of the net. 2-1. He always wanted to play as a forward. Cheers to Bala.

After that we saw two more of our own get sent off for floor play (what I did during the previous match) and standing less than 3m from the opponent's free hit. The Mrymidons manage to equalise by scoring using a free hit near our goal. Somehow our human walls always seem to be made of paper. Effing hell. 2-2. Soon after, they scored again, using a smoothly executed set piece play from our corner. The guys must be really tired to have lost their focus and let their guard down as such. 2-3.

We desperately needed an equaliser, and an opportunity presented itself. We had a free hit near their goal. They had a 3 or 4 man human wall with Guo Yi in the middle creating a considerable gap which they failed to notice. Lee Cheong tapped the ball to me and I took a drag shot through Guo Yi's legs. Lucky us. 3-3. Full time. If not for Guo Yi's perseverance, we would have lost the game.

Lessons of the day:
1) Never underestimate your opponent.
2) Floorball is a high-scoring game, being down 0-1 is nothing. Fight back.
3) Never let your guard down. Always maintain composure & focus.
4) Always help one another. Floorball is a team game. Communication is everything.

Hope that everyone learns from the match today, we'll be facing Republic Poly next week. Like coach said, they'll be 2x harder and 3x faster. Train hard people. See you guys on Monday. =_=

On A Hat Trick

2007-07-22T06:14:00.000-07:00

Hat Trick: Three goals scored by one player in a match.

Had a floorball div 3 match today, against EastView Eagles, who are a bunch of secondary school kids. Coach+Captain Mr. Gerald told us not to underestimate them as they have more years of playing experience than most of us, and they proved it with their skill on court. We started out pretty disorganised despite having a homeground advantage, but we slowly worked out the problems and started to control the general gameplay.

Mr. Kenny scored the opening goal for us again, like he did when we went up against Millenia. 1-0. Shortly afterwards, I got sent off for 2 minutes AGAIN, but this time for controlling the ball with 3 points on the ground. Which means that when a player has fallen and has 3 points on the ground (e.g. knee+knee+hand = 3), he is not allowed to control the ball. Man... I've never even HEARD of such a rule! BS... *grumble grumble* Hence I got sent off AGAIN. Grrr... Funny thing is, the guys on the bench kinda expected me to get sent off again, so ya... no big surprise. At least I didn't disappoint them, right guys? =p

After what seem like an eternity of 2 minutes, I stepped in just as the guys started to counter-attack. Mr. Guo Yi lobbed a beautiful super high ball which bounced just in front of goal, but I missed the volley. My bad. I am very much grateful that coach paired me with Mr. Guo Yi. I think we can work pretty well together, he's the left forward and I'm the right forward. He never gives up and we both like to chiong like mad. Haa~ and I hope he forgives me for getting sent off again, cause the line has to work extra hard when they are a man down. Sorry boss.

Sometime later into the 1st period, Mr. Guo Yi seized an opportunity for a quick counter-attack down the left flank, he fell as he angled a perfect pass straight to my blade, allowing me to slot the ball pass the keeper neatly as I drew the keeper to one side while running to one side of the goal. End of 1st period. 2-0. My first goal of the season, and my favourite way of scoring. Thanks Mr. Guo Yi. First goal's dedicated to you.

Towards the end of the 2nd period, we had a set piece play at the top right corner on the opponent's side. Mr. Gerald & I were in the corner. Lets see... I tapped the ball to him, he tapped the ball to me, I tapped it back to him and he tapped it back to me again! I didn't really know what to do with the ball (& instead of pretending to be bomberman and passing the ball to somebody else to get blown up...) so I just took a shot at goal. It wasn't really that hard, but it went in nevertheless. I think the goalkeeper got screened by his own defender. 3-0. Whee~ Lucky me. Second goal's dedicated to line 1, who had to work super hard for a total of 4 minutes for my being sent-off not once but twice.

Later in the 2nd period, the secondary school kids somehow manage to put a ball into our goal from over the halfway mark. *Wow* I think our side was dreaming, the ball practically rolled in. Sigh~ The guys must be feeling shag. 3-1. End of 2nd period.

Early 3rd period, Mr. Kevin did a short pass to Mr. Yew Keong who whacked the ball hard from near the half way line. It went sailing right pass the keeper into the goal. Very nice. 4-1. Did I mention that Mr. Kevin is the first in the team to bleed for us? lol~ He got whooped in the face while training last Thursday, by Mr. Yew Keong, no less. Haha~ This goes to show that there are no grudges held in our team.Woohoohoohoohoo~

Most of us are starting to feel the strain by then, and that was when our defender & left-hand specialist, Mr. Lee Cheong, stepped up and started taking shots from distance. Somehow I managed to volley a rebound off the keeper from one of Mr. Lee Cheong's long range shots. 5-1. Third goal is dedicated to she-who-must-not-be-named (yah yah I know, but I'm reading potter. Shush!), cause I promised.

To end off the match, Mr. John took another shot from range and found the back of the net. 6-1. I think he's really super happy from the way he celebrated. The team seems to be glad that the second match is over, winning the second match is crucial as it'll send a message to the rest of the teams in our conference that we're a force to be reckoned with. A tougher opponent will present themselves next week, until then, we'll have to train harder.

That's it for today, stay tuned for the next sleep-inducing episode of my boring life. *yawns* ^_^

On An Unglam Day

2007-07-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

Glam: Informal form of "Glamorous".
Unglam: Opposite of Glam. [DUH]

Just had Senior's Camp over the weekend, which was fun-filled despite sacrificing precious hours of sleep. To those who do not know, Senior's Camp is basically a camp organised by the Freshmen Orientation Camp Committee for graduated seniors and non-freshmen to unwind and come together for some quality catch-up time.

For me, the highlight of Senior's Camp was Fright Night. As one of the organising members, we worked hard to prepare for this event which will also be used later in the actual Freshmen Orientation Camp. We hand-sewed costumes, made props, created sound tracks and decorated (or wrecked in this case...) locations. Watching the actors & actresses put on their make-up is so much fun as the cosmetics perform wonders, turning good looking guys & gals into horrors that appear in your sleep. So think twice before chatting up a girl the next time you walk along Orchard Road, you never know what kind of horrors await you underneath that layer of cosmetics.

As station master, it was really satisfying to hear the senior's screams (mostly girl's and the occasional guy's) echoing out from within the station. Acting as a ghost during fright night can be quite horrible as you have to wait for long hours alone in the dark for your victims (and who you're scaring might not turn out to be who you think IT is..). For that, I would like to express my utmost gratitude to Ms. Cai & Ms. Low, Road to Hell wouldn't be quite that scary without you both. Hope you gals don't get any pimples from the cheap cosmetics.

Besides Fright Night, another major event of Senior's Camp was The Amazing Race. Contestants have to race all over our tiny island in search of clues that will lead us to the finishing line. It was also during this event when I did the most unglam thing in a long long long long time..

It happened on the MRT when we were traveling along NEL to Little India. The train was pretty much empty except for a few aunties and uncles and we were standing on the carriage connectors. 4 of the guys decided to squat down and started playing some orientation games, indulging in reminiscence while the other 3 of us stood aside to watch. I was standing closest to them and my roomie, who is non other than Mr. Tian, sat in the two-person seat on my other side. I was leaning against the fire extinguisher part of the "wall" when the train suddenly jerked while leaving the station and I started to lose my balance. Instinctively, I reached out for the corner of the "wall" to pull myself back... BUT the corners on ALL NEL trains are freaking round and smooth! Which resulted in the most unglam fall in my entirely life. (My roomie says he did not save me because he was too engrossed in watching the game. Tsk~)

Lets see...

Unglam Factor 1: I fell on my unexpecting friend who was squating & playing the game.

Unglam Factor 2: I failed to save myself from falling as I tried to grab the corner REPEATEDLY.

Unglam Factor 3: We were all stunned by my fall as we were all focused on watching the game. (trust me it was a very SMLJ moment)

Unglam Factor 4: As the guys were already drawing attention with their game playing, the ENTIRE 2 carriages worth of aunties and uncles saw me fall. *Sigh~~~*

The one and only bright side to my unglam moment is that all of us couldn't stop laughing, including me. So for the rest of the day, the guys started offering me their seats whenever we had to take the train and everytime we board a train, we would spontaneously start laughing. I must say it really is a good way to train your abs, laughing. I'm pretty sure I'll be hearing much more of this when the actual FOC arrives.

Till then, stay tuned to my unglam life. =_=

On Blizzard's First Win.

2007-07-07T05:22:00.000-07:00

Floorball: An indoor team sport played using composite or carbon sticks with a plastic vented blade where the aim is to put a light plastic ball into the opponent's goal.

Today was a great start for our Div 3 floorball team, Blizzards. We managed to defeat our opponents, Meridians. Things weren't really going our way from the very beginning. Jerseys were delivered late and we were actually just sitting there before our game, collecting dust. We did our physical warm up w/o the jerseys which came shortly after, much to our relieve. But someone forgot to bring the balls for court warm-up. Sheesh~

After a short briefing from the captain, we went in to watch SMU girls play against Motorola Pinkies (funky name huh... ). The funny thing is, we couldn't actually tell that the girls from SMU are tertiary students. They looked so small standing next to the Motorola Pinkies we initially thought they were secondary school students. Anyways, the SMU girls were playing pretty rough as they were really shoving and pushing. In the midst of a tussle, one of the Motorola Pinkies girls actually shouted "STOP PUSHING LA CCB!!!" (Note: CCB was shouted in full version. lol~). So like I told my teammate... "We hear already we blur...". To top it off, she was a malay girl. Haha~ a round of applause for our malay friend please. We like. Zai~

Ultimately, despite their aggressive playing style, SMU girls got their arses whooped by Motorola Pinkies. 9-2. Moral of the story? "Scolding vulgarities helps."

The next match was ours, as the tournament was running behind schedule, they only gave us five minutes to warm up before face-off. The game was pretty uneventful throughout the first two periods, except that we scored 2 goals in the first period and another 2 goals in the second period. I screwed up majorly in the 3rd period and got sent off for 2 minutes with a high stick offense. Got too gan cheong. Didn't know what I was doing. My line mates had to fall back into box play before I can get back. Oops. Sorry guys.

We were changed out with 2 minutes remaining, somehow the guys managed to score 1 more goal and the Meridians managed to get one pass our keeper after that. Final score 5-1. Pretty good for our debut performance I would say but coach is displeased cause we conceded a goal (We're gonna get it on Monday's training. *Impending sense of doom*). Think it was a good learning experience for all of us, with our morale high and confidence boosted, we look forward to our next match. =_=

On Secretaries

2007-07-04T00:13:00.000-07:00

Secretary: A person, usually an official, who is in charge of the records, correspondence, minutes of meetings, and related affairs of an organization, company or association.

Have been busy with Dinner & Dance sponsorship work for the past few days, waking up at 9 in the morning to call up potential sponsors so I can call again in the afternoon if their marketing coordinators aren't free in the morning. This gives me lots of contact with manager's secretaries and secretary's secretaries. Over the past few weeks of sourcing for sponsorship, I have come to realise that secretaries in Singapore are either utterly good-for-nothing, or they're from an inferior race of homo-sapiens who are intellectually challenged. Let me explain...

Earlier this morning, I called up a potential sponsor's marketing manager (a reputable beverage company) to follow up with our sponsorship proposal. This is what I heard over the phone:

She: "Arlow!?!"
Me: "?!?!? Urm.. Hi, my name is.... may I speak with Mr. Tan?"
She: "Mr. Tan? I think hor, he's in a meeting right now and I dunch know when he is coming out... I think he will be free in the afternoon. Call back later? Byyeeeee~~~" *Click*
Me: "!?!?! WTF?!?"

You can imagine all the questions marks over my head at the end of that telephone conversation. Just what kind of secretary picks up the phone and goes "Arlow?!?" ? The very least a proper secretary can do is to say "Good Morning" and state whose office it was. I was calling his personal office phone line mind you, and I certainly wasn't expecting to be hung up upon without given a chance to finish what I wanted to say.

Another similar incident happened yesterday afternoon, I was calling up a well-reputed mobile company's marketing manager with whom I corresponded with a few times before:

She: "Hi! XXX company, marketing manager's office."
Me: "Hi, may I speak with Ms. Elaine Seah please?"
She: "Ms. Elaine? How do you spell that?"
Me: "?!? Urm... E-L-A-I-N-E S-E-A-H???"
She: "Elaine Seah? hmm... I don't think there's a Ms. Elaine Seah here..."
*She No. 2 comes along and takes over the phone*
She2: "Hi, I'm sorry, Ms. Elaine is currently in a meeting, call back later."
Me: "!?!"

Point Number 1: How can you not know who your freaking boss is?!?
Point Number 2: You're telling ME to call back later?!? You retarded piece of shit you're SUPPOSED to ask me my purpose, take down my particulars and YOU tell YOUR BOSS when she comes back later to call me back! Its your freaking job you overpaid glorified coffee-making typist!!

As of now, I am truly convinced that the intelligent secretary is a myth. =_=

On A Shag Day

2007-06-30T10:48:00.000-07:00

Shag: [Noun] A slang for sexual intercourse which somehow morphed to mean "tired" or "tiring" in Singlish.

Let me just say this first, I'm feeling damn shag. Shag^999. For basically 2 reasons, a restless night of sleep & training. For some reason, last night's sleep was absolutely terrible. I was like semi-conscious whole night long and didn't get proper rest despite the fact that I was feeling tired after floorball training. tsk~ And to top it off, I had another training session this morning to attend. My head was throbbing with every single step, so you can just imagine how difficult it is to run. It really sucked.

Training was fun nevertheless, skill wise & game play wise everybody is improving. With our first match next Saturday, I really hope we've improved enough to stand a fighting chance. It'll be great to be able to proceed all the way to the finals, but for now, coach just wants us to take one step at a time and gain as much experience as we can. Its not about winning, she says.

The funny thing is, to me, winning is everything. Sure, gaining experience is one thing, as a whole and over time it'll be good for the team. But I'm the very 好胜 kind of person, if I'm gonna play, I have to win. By hook or by crook. I want to win.

Coach says we need better finishing & communication. So I'll aim to improve on those. Made a few selfish plays today which could have been easy goals if I had listened, looked and passed. Shyt. Dammit. I need to be less overly enthusiastic and bloody hell look up and pass earlier. That will be my goal to meet before the match next Saturday. Can't let my teammates down, and I don't aim to be the weakest link. I want to win our first match so badly. It'll be good for the team's morale. As long as we don't start resting on our laurels.

I can feel the shag-ness seeping into my eyes, that's it for today, time to hit the sack. Stay tune for the next "exciting installment" of my life. =_=

P.S. Almost forgot, tomorrow's the birthday of a pal of mine... so here goes~ HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY MIN MIN~~!!! =_=

On Hokkaido Vacation

2007-06-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

Hokkaido: The second largest of the four main islands of Japan; 5,660,000 pop; 30,303 sq. mi. (78,485 sq. km).

Just got back from vacation 2 days ago from Hokkaido, Japan. Enjoyed most of it. 7 hours flight to cool weather, fantastic hotels, breath-taking scenary, tasty food & quality family time. Felt a little claustrophobic in the 767 cabin, not to mention the unhelpful turbulence. Pilot needs more practice with his spoken english. So does the air stewardess who can't seem to tell the difference between lemonade & sprite.

Went around with a tour group, coach rides and toilet breaks galore, led by a tour guide with frequent ramblings on his wife, child & mistress, his life philosophies, how all japanese are going to commit suicide within the next 15 years or so and other non-relevant mundane details. Not to mention a 2.5 yr old girl who's rather cute except for the times when she disturbs my nap on the coach/plane.

Hot springs were a little too hot for my taste but relaxing nonetheless. Fireworks by the lake, animal farms and shopping were overrated. Summer scenary was good though, endless hills of lavender, daisies and other whatnots. Had fun experimenting with Dad's expensive new camera at the waterfalls, managed to snap some "soft" water flow shots. Got some nice shots of sunsets too.

Sinful chocolates & cakes galore. The amount of detail & attention put into those, you start to think the japanese have too much time on their hands. The chocolate factory manager decided to create a wonderland theme park of flowers & soap bubbles which he pretty much succeeded in. Definately worth a visit. (The japanese pronounce factory as "fuk-tor-ree". I'm not kidding. Lol~.)

Paid their music box musuem a visit. They have like thousands of music boxes with classic japanese music. Think "My Neighbour, Totoro" & "Spirited Away" ost. They even give you an opportunity to create your own music box from scratch, from music to decorations. Makes a perfect gift for a loved one. Definately worth a visit.

All in all, it was pretty fun. Now that I'm back in Singapore, I'm starting to miss the food & weather. Time to get back to Floorball, OC & D&D stuffs. =_=

On Blogging.

2007-06-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

Blog: an online diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page; also called (& shortened form of) Weblog.

Been hearing it from lots of people around. Decided to give it a shot since I'm bloody bored. Looks confusing, with all the interesting features this blog thingy can do, amazing possibilities. Amazing degree of "naked-ness" if I'm to type everything that goes on in my head.

Should be entertaining for a few weeks until I tire of it. Don't expect lots of readers but to those who are interested, haa~ welcome to my life. =_=