just keep running

ah finally. Some time to blog.

It seems like a long time and so many things have happened. I have studied until it feels as though it's not worth studying anymore (not that it was worth it in the first place). But I shall blog about more things w/ pictures after MOE decides to stop torturing my ass on Thursday.

I guess the death of the RJ guy Thaddues Cheong is pretty old news by now, but I think his death is really a damn sad thing to happen. For someone so bright and so full of potential, bright future, young and all, it's really sad for him to go just like that. His 2hr 9 mins timing was amazing. It must be hard on his family. The ST had a picture of his family at the wake during the final hours the other day and I swear, it was one of the saddest pictures.

I think life is very unpredictable these days. Anyone could just go and leave the world anytime.

Study. Wil be back. Bye! @ 23:11

Ah school is back! The joy! Ah!

Lost 3 in 10 minutes. Bye. @ 22:48

Hello.

If I had like, a real Deathnote, I'll probably write in all the names of all he physicists who caused me all the misery in studying physics. Newton, Amphere, Coulomb, whoever, all put inside the damn Deathnote.

Oh wait. They're all already dead.

Well then.

Lee Jia Jie
Died trying to understand physics concepts.

@ 22:22

This amazing commercial is courtesy of Roy aka the many-names-tagger. Made me kick my own ass for slacking. @ 22:33

Ah okay I'm here again when I should be studying.





This is the after-effects of ATC. Quite cool leh, the last time I actually peeled was like 2 damn years ago.

Anyway, remember the PowerBreathe I got for free?

I saw it on retail at Running Lab at Novena while I was registering to Wave Run.



It's worth like, a whopping $140!

Amen. I'm going to use it everyday.

Okay I'm going to study. Or watch Heroes. Bye.

Oh, I just installed Snapshots! on the blog. Chio not? @ 22:21

I'm sure by now almost everyone would have heard of the infamous RK House.

Well then, one fine day, Jia Jie together with Henry, Raphael, YiQian, Peak Siah and Priscilla decided to pay a visit to the legendary RK House.



Then Henry aka The One decided to order their famous Murtabak.

henry: you got what murtabak ah?
rk house aka noobcake: murtabak..we got mutton murtabak.. you want the small one, big one or medium one? the small one valy chip only, $5..
henry: gimme small one.. with pork.

And so he got his pork chicken murtabak and he was happy.



Then everyone went around PORKY-ing and PORKEMON-ing.

Them everyone was happy and we went back to mugging and that was the end of the RK House trip, which was initiated by Henry who wanted to go there and shout PORK! and run away fast fast.

Evidence.


PORK! RK House!

Aw man I'm like so screwed. MYE is in about a week and I'm less than halfway done I'm starting to regret when it was one month ago and I was thinking to myself, aiyah still got a lot of time lah! then I went to sleep. I guess good old Kwek (refer to post on Friday, 8th June) was right when he said time fries flies.

Oh well. Wish me luck. @ 23:05

Okay I'm here to blog about ATC! But I haven't got all the pictures, I kinda wanted some that's with the photographer of NTU. =&

I'm kinda lazy to type. A picture says a thousand words.



I was kinda messed up by the singlet cos I was worried it'd be as messed up as last year's, but apparently this year they got better.



Yep so with that, we were flagged off at 9.45 with 27km ahead of us.


this was taken after, that's why we look so cool.

Yep so basically, we ran from Pasir Ris(PS) MRT to PS Park, where we kayaked out to find 6 markers and back. After that was a 5km(not too sure, I'm bad at distances) to the trail cycling route, where we(or rather, I) made the first mistake. Once out of the water I tried to gather my bearings when I saw a team wearing bright red shorts running towards right.

hmmm *JC. Seems reliable. Follow!

Apparently *JC were in the wrong direction. So after 10mins or so of running, we turned around to the right direction and continued following the map, where we eventually ended up in rural SG.(I had no idea where the hell we were) Then we had trail biking, which was really trail biking. My ass just went thump thump thump. But that went over, and we went on to the trail running section that was supposed to consist of the river crossing and tunneling also. By then I had 2 gel packs down.

And a lot of water too. Halfway along I had to stop and relive myself in the bushes while worrying about the team behind catching up.

Then came the river crossing, which was smth like a cargo net draped over a river but folded up. So you had to just get on the damn net, open it up and go over. Kinda shaky, but it was fun.

Then came more running, by then it was running along bushes and lallang as tall as a human + uphill too. The scenery along the way was kinda cool, hard to find in urban SG. But anyway, so we ran and ran and ran...

Until tunneling. Kinda boring, just cross the tunnel full of mud. By then I saw the first sign of civilization(roads) since the race started, gathered we were somewhere in Tamp. Then we went to the next checkpoint at Tamp Ikea. By then I had cramps at my calf alr.

The rest of the race was pretty mundane, from Tamp Ikea to PS Park via the drain den back to PS MRT. We kinda walked half the race away. But it was still a good experience.



My watch says 5 hrs 5 mins, but after deducting waiting time and all, my team took 4hrs 35 mins, coming in 18th out of 43 teams. Not too bad, considering we didn't really train. Lol. And the team number was IS18. Lol.

I was clever enough not to kill my Mizuno on this race, so I wore my cheap NB instead.


Before.

Which was a good decision.


After.

I kinda earned myself a "war scar" during the kayaking cos I dunno, my life vest wasn't on properly?



And HA I won myself smth cos the emcee was giving some PowerBreathe thing and the qn was really dumb and I was really near him, so ya I kinda went ahead. =x


His name is Eugene and I dunno wtf he's doing in this pic.

Well anyway, turns out this PowerBreathe this is a "dumbell for the lungs" or smth like that. I didn't really think much of it cos, it like plastic and all.




Until I saw THIS.



It reads "OFFICIAL INSPIRATORY MUSCLE TRAINER FOR IRONMAN."

THIS IS FATE.

Well then yeah, the race ended and everyone was happy and all and dancing around with IJC and CJC and God knows what else. Lol.





Team NYODAC! Or at least half of it.


After rest.


3/4 of IS18.


Snr Terrence, us and err.. IJ intruder?


The emcee Eugene.

And the best part. RED BULL.



But it wasn't the drink. It was..

Nvm.

NTU ODAC pls upload the pics you all have leh. Ppl waiting leh!

Well.. ya. That's it. MYE in 1.5 weeks. I wanna watch Transformers.

Bye. @ 23:40

Thought Gatsby was cool? This is the real deal!



Doesn't 2:28(1:15) look vaguely familiar? @ 23:04

There I was, happily sleeping and recovering from the race when I was rudely interrupted by the screaming(s) of my parents(at each other).

Things aren't looking so good now.

Will blog about ATC when I get all the pictures. My abrasion still hurts like bloody murder.

Meanwhile,



Ownage.

Bye. @ 20:55

ATC over!

Never win anything though. But expected lah, didn't train much. *JC swept everything. I just realised like won more than 7k worth of prizes. That's just gay.

I'm sunburnt! And I'm happy bout it cos I get burnt like, once in every 2-3 years. (The last time was when I went for my 1-star, which one was in 2005) And the abrasion on my left shoulder is killing me.

Will blog more about ATC when I get the pictures. For now, I must study hard!

No actually for now I will sleep. I study hard tmr. Bye!

Note: The dancing man on the post on Friday is my principal. Yes, NYJC's principal. @ 21:44

Isaiah 40:31

but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

ATC HERE I COME. @ 22:56

I like to move it move it..

omfg.

I'm still in shock. @ 00:30

This stupid song is in my head and it refuses to go away.

iiiiiiii, cannnn giveeee youuu gatsbyyyyyy, gatsbyyyyyyyyyy, gatsbyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! @ 22:07

Lol. I'm seeing a lot of funny convos today. @ 00:33

Damn! Why wasn't TK like this during my time? @ 22:03

Mr Ong says he wants the J1s to go for full marathon this year, then Ironman in Feburary next year. Hahahahah!

Mr Ong (talking to someone else): aiyah, bring all go full marathon end of this year lah.
me (being me, interrupting): Mr Ong cannot lah. Minimum age for full is 18.
Mr Ong: Really?
me: Ya.
Mr Ong: Where's the closest Ironman ah?
me: er, Langkawi, Malaysia. In Feb every year.
Mr Ong: Okay lah bring them there next year.
me (super stunned): er...Ironman is 3.8km swim, 180.2km bike and a full marathon.
Mr Ong: Can one lah.
me (more stunned): cannot one lor! not at this age anyway.
Mr Ong: Must aim high mah.

LOL. Aiming high is one thing. Being realistic is a total different story.



He has no idea what pain is all about. Underestimating a race is the worst thing anyone can do, all the more when it's an Ironman. People take years to train for their first and he expects a bunch of 17 year olds to do it while juggling college studies. Haha!

Good one, Mr Ong.



The video shows it all. @ 22:11

Typed a long entry, decided to screw it.

ATC in 5 days. I shall go there and do my best!



"If you want to win a race you have to go a little beserk."

Bill Rodgers, four time Boston and New York City Marathon Champion @ 22:22

The ST Forum page had this letter a few days ago of this kid who got 4 A Level distinctions and 2 S Paper distinctions but failed to get into his/her course she wanted i.e. pharmacy or some shit like that. To which ernest asked "walao! lidat also don't want, what they want?"

I think they want 4 A Level distinctions and 3 S Paper distinctions.
Or 4 A Level distinctions, 3 S Paper distinctions and A for GP. (The guy got a C.)
Or 4 A Level distinctions, 3 S Paper distinctions, A for GP plus some weird foreign language paper shit that they got an A at.

I know, there's bound to be some of these weird, sick people out there. In one of those XJCs.


I'm weird and sick too!

I only take 3H2s! I haven't start fighting alr lose liao. Life is so unfair. Zzz.

I honestly think if someone is rich, he/she doesn't even need school. What for? All they need is to hire people who are damn experienced in A Levels, ex-teachers and all that shit, people who know how exactly the papers are marked. One for each subject and he's covered. 8 distinctions? No problem! Got money, can liao. Some people spend more money on tuition and other families spend on food. Amazing. It's unbelievable how life can be so unbalanced.


Okay maybe this isn't enough.

I spend $280 for 4 sessions of math, and I'm bleeding through the nose alr.


Hemoglobin has 3 sub-units blahblahblah.. Or was it 4?

I am suddenly worried about my future.

father: eh, newspaper got this guy A Level distinctions and 2 S Paper distinctions also cannot go U leh. How?
me: er, i think pharmacy (or some shit like that) hard to get in lah.
father: then you go U (if I get there) going to take what?
me: er.

I realised I have no idea what I wanna take in Uni. I'm kinda bent on working in ISD/SAF, but I have no idea what qualifications they look for. My dad says ISD any degree also can one. Where got like that one? I just hope SAF sends me to Sandhurst and I'm done for life, although the probability of that happening is about as high as the probability of you ever seeing Gundam riding a bike.



Eh.. ya. @ 23:03

Okay this is here so my blog wouldn't look like it's all words.



Okay just kidding. This is damn funny. You might wanna turn the volume down a bit if your folks are around. @ 22:47

This is once again, from Mr Wang. I think it's the super advanced version on the "if you think you can, you can" theory. Apparently it's called mind-hacking. These are just excerpts, pls go to the blog for the full article. It's really interesting. And long too.

Once you realise how malleable the human mind is, you will begin to see the endless possibilities. Life becomes vastly easier, if you can master just one or two mindhacking techniques and use them regularly. For example, suppose that you hate maths. If you could actually hypnotise yourself into loving maths, being excited and thrilled by formulae, equations and so on, aha ..... you'll see how very easy it could be, to succeed in doing well in maths. You just won't be able to keep yourself away from your maths textbook.

To better understand mindhacking, you must first understand that what we normally think of as objective reality, is actually highly subjective. What you think that the world is like, is mainly a result of what you think. What you believe that your circumstances are, is mainly a result of what you believe.
.
.
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Or two NSFs, A and B, are platoon mates in the same SAF unit, P. They are of the same rank and the same vocation, and their meals, pay, training, living conditions etc are identical. A thinks that army life is quite fun, exciting and adventurous, and he thoroughly enjoys the friendship and camaraderie of being with his army buddies everyday - these are the best days of his life. B, on the other hand, is so depressed about army life that he is secretly comtemplating suicide.

In truth, the job in Company Q is neither good nor bad, until someone thinks it is. Life in SAF Unit P is neither good nor bad, until someone thinks it is. Nothing in the world actually is, until someone thinks it is. That is why Prince Siddharta, you see, was trying to tell you that reality is just one big illusion. Albert Einstein agreed.

Now, if you are a mindhacker, you will learn the arcane arts of tinkering with your own mind. You will consciously choose the kind of thoughts and beliefs you want to have, and then you will penetrate into the deeper levels of your own consciousness, and you will plant those thoughts and beliefs there. And then you will be ready to play with that big illusion known as reality.
.
.
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So if you ever have to climb a mountain, run a marathon, give a public speech, study for difficult exams, work under stressful conditions, deal with difficult people, whatever else ....... all you have to do is steal the relevant mindset, and go deep, deep, deep into your own brain, and plant it there. You can do it, if you know mindhacking.

I'm going to hack my mind and plant in the thought of me getting 3As for A Levels, getting a job in ISD, finishing the Ironman and many others. Excuse me. @ 16:38

I got the following from Mr Wang, which is actually a pretty good read from time to time with a really diverse range of topics. Anyway. his following post was kinda interesting.

Consider the people around you – your family members, relatives, friends and colleagues. You’ll probably notice that most of them have never really failed in their attempts to achieve big goals.

That is because most people do not even have a habit of attempting to achieve big goals.

So here is the surprise. Looking around us, we actually find very little evidence in the world that if a person regularly attempts big goals, his success rate will be low.

How many people do you personally know, who regularly pursue big goals, and regularly fail? Probably none. There – see my point?

What then is the secret to achieving big goals? If you ask around for people’s opinions, the most common answers will probably be things like “talent”, “luck”, “drive”, “determination”, “hard work”.

None of these answers are wrong. However, the first step to achieving a big goal is actually to have a big goal. And that is what 90% of people lack.

Ask yourself – currently, what are your five biggest goals? Go on, write them down on a piece of paper. Or list them in the comment section, if you like.

What – you don’t know what to write? You need to think about it for a few minutes? Aha, this shows that you didn’t even have any big goals. If you don’t instantly know what your biggest goals are, then you can’t honestly say that you have any big goals.

Back to my title. So how do you achieve greater success than you ever thought possible? Well, the first step is straightforward. You must think that greater success is possible.

Five biggest goals- that is pretty interesting. Just for the sake of boredom, I shall try to list them out.

1)Get a job.
Okay this is quite mundane and probably on the list of almost everyone, but I reallt wanna get into either the SAF,



or the ISD.

I bet you don't know what ISD is. Lol. Don't know why, I seem to have this unusual desire to work in the armed forces when almost everyone else wants to go in and get out asap. Okay maybe I'm weird.

2.Complete the Ironman



Swim 3.8km, bike 180.2km, run 42.195km, brag for the rest of your life.
What else is there left to be said?

3.Grow. Not just physically.
I wanna believe again in religion. I think one of the reasons I'm religion-insensitive is probably cos of my family, which I shall complain about in another post. But believing feels really good, it's kinda makes this world a better place, giving you Someone to believe and confide in. Such friends hardly come by these days.

4. Hm.
5. Hm.

I'm not very good at this, am I?

Well, the J1s have put together a new blog for Odac! It's pretty amazing.

Okay my attempt to make this blog interesting has failed. Miserably.

Cheers. @ 21:18