Work Week!

Ahh good morning Singapore!

I am back in good ol Singapore and eeks I am actually working! Hmm then again I am typing this in the comfort of my office cubicle. Well technically its my break time! TECHNICALLY :>

Working can be a chore (ok I haven't been working long at all so I don't profess that to be any kind of expert)Now thus far the chore for me hasn't been the work. Sure that can be kind of stressful after all I did OT without pay the very first day of work. Nah the chore is the waking up. My best friends know that I ain't no morning person but now I wake up before the sun rises every week day! Ahh no birds chirping on trees of the fresh smell of dew its too early! lol. Lets see how this path develops shall we? Like most of my posts, I don't dwell on the bad things, the good thing is the colleagues here are pretty cool (except when they shove mountains of work over here :p) so thats really nice especially since I like to socialise.

Ok thats all for now its back to work!

Yesterday at the Olympics

What an interesting day it has been in the Olympics overall. The table tennis matches are starting to heat up as more men and women are getting disqualified and the winners are beginning to emerge. A disappointing day overall in basketball where many teams were trounced completely including Angola by Spain and very surprisingly Lithuania who lose by an embarrassing 31 points to Australia ending their undefeated 4-0 run. Understandably, the Lithuanians have a lot less to play for since they already qualify for the next stage whereas Austrlia's win secures them the fourth and final place in the quarter finals within their group. Bogut performed superbly during the entire game and three pointers seem to reach their targets from everywhere on the court by any member of the Australian team. I have a sneaky suspicion that this loss was cleverly engineered by the Lithuanian coach though. Not needing the match to qualify and allowing the Australian team to destroy the power Lithuanian team means two things. First, Australia will play undefeated U.S.A with great confidence. Second, this pits the U.S.A against their strongest rival thus far at these games, Australia. This means that both these teams will have a hard fought match. Assuming that America does win as expected, their players will be somewhat spent when they do meet Lithuania, increasing Lithuania's chances for gold by a small percentage. Hey its the Olympics, every LITTLE bit counts.

The real action to me though took place in the athletics section courtesy of the two great athletes shown below, Irving Saladino from Panama and of course Yelena Isinbayeva from Russia.




Irving Saladino is no doubt the hero of Panama and his face will be splashed across Panaman newspapers as this man created history by securing for Panama its first ever Olympic gold medal. It is true that this young man is the 2007 World Champion but his jump of 8.34m ahead of South Africa's Khotso Mokoena who managed a decent jump of 8.24m securing him the silver medal was no mean feat either.

However, the truly heroine yesterday, was formar Russian Lieutenant, Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia. This outstanding 26 year old Russian and the darling of the Pole Vault was expected to win the gold medal. And why shouldn't she? She is the only pole vaulter to have cleared more the 5.00m and holds the world record going into the competition. And win it she did. Early into the competition, Yelena secured her gold medal in only her second jump, easily clearing the 4.85m hurdle. Now this is where it really gets interesting. Not satisfied with that, she placed the bar at 4.95m to break the Olympic Record. After managing to break that on her third and final attempt she truly got the crowd going. The audience screamed louder at each of her attempts to break the world record at an unprecedented 5.05m. After two unsuccessful attempts, Yelena proceeded to wrap herself under a quilt. After two minutes, she emerged with new resolve in her eyes and before she jumped, I told myseld (as did many others in the crowd I believe) she is DEFINITELY going to clear it. I don't know why but I was just so confident of it. She did. And the 91,000 strong crowd of mixed nationalities burst into raucous applause. This young Russian is truly in a league of her own in the pole vault. Winning at 5.05m well ahead of the next best at a decent 4.80m she truly showed the world what mental and physical toughness can achieve. For her drive and spirit I salute her like so many others. Congratulations Yelena!

The Olympic Dream

The Olympics are finally over. Well for one man and perhaps one nation anyway. In a Herculean effort, an unassuming Baltimore boy has set two records that looks rock solid for many years to come. At such a young age, not only did he achieve his seemingly impossible dream of eight gold medals at one Olympics, he also holds the record for the most number of gold medals ever won and he did it by surpassing seven world records, just one shy of besting Mark Spitz's seven world record breaking attempts. The Olympics have always drawn a huge crowd and I am one such ardent fan. I have been meaning to blog about the many scenes I have viewed at the Olympics over the days but I was simply too immersed in the action. It has been full of action for sure. From a dazzling display during the opening ceremony to audacious goals being set to upsets, this is one Olympic games, many will remember. Back to the hero of this Olympic Games. To me, what makes this sportsman a true Olympic hero is not in the records that he has set, but how he did it. All Olympic athletes train hard, that is a given. This athlete not just trained hard, he never ever lost sight of his goal all through his 17 swims and he stuck close to his roots always finishing with a kiss and hug with his family and handing over his bouquet to them. His winning smile, his attitude, his humility and the way he has us all hanging by our seats whether he cruises to victory 1.89 secs ahead of his competitor of barely winning it by 0.1 seconds, this man stands among greats like Carl Lewis, for they embody the spirit of the Olympic games, the sportsmanship, the effort, the dedication. This man. The man of the Beijing Olympic Games. Michael Phelps.

The Games are also over effectively for a small island nation with a competitive (some say kiasu) attitude. The sunny country of Singapore has finally won its second Olympic medal in a draught spanning 48 years. After coming within inches of a medal at the Athens Olympics, Singapore darling Li JiaWei joined forces with Feng Tian Wei and comrade Wang Yuegu winning in an exciting match against South Korea. The finals saw China cruising to victory largely due to the efforts of Zhang Yi Ning, another athlete I commend for her determination under fire and her sportsmanship. The story of the day however, belongs to Jia Wei and her comrades for ending a small nation's medal hopes after a long 48 years. The background story is of course that all six of the contenders in the gold medal match were born in the same country and most were trained in similar fashions. The similar style of playing was obvious. While the birthplace of Singapore's players may come under fire, no one can deny that these three women did their best and Singaporeans should feel proud to see their flag flying high.

The Olympic Dream

Flowers flowers everywhere

So Valentine's day's just over and people are recovering from the aftermath of excessive chocolates, the aroma from fresh roses and overt shows of affection and romance from normally passive local guys. Oh and overwhelming commercialization of the whole event! :>
I've noticed an interesting trend in the dating scene in my college in Sinapore recently. I am in the gradutaing class and in the midst of all the preparation and hard work for this busy semester, I've noticed more and more people holding hands both in the lecture theatres and out. Nope its not in anticipation of V day or the aftermath of it. People are generally seeming to be getting in relationships more this time of the year. Perhaps its like one of my guy friends said to me "Now that we're graduating, its best to try and get a girl while the playing field's still quite large" (and in his unspoken words the playing field's still quite young). Perhaps he does have a point since we enigneersl tend to work in male dominated arenas, well unless you choose to take on a job in a different sector which incidentally is not too uncommon. Yet, a word of warning guys, love is not one to be rushed, lust on the the other hand is tough to slow down. So now that we're finishing college and the college jock years are over, maybe its time to think about a serious relationship, stop and pause for a moment, before you say those three special words that could change your lives, and someone elses. :>
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

train disruption

Okay so by now I am sure all of you have heard about the train disruption today. Yep and I was caught up in it and the ironic thing was I was actually earlier than usual today! I guess its like the song by Alanis Morissette. I am too lazy to post any pictures but search on the internet and you'll find a whole bunch. I think the sight of the crowd at the bus stop will overwhelm you. I was actually patient and waited for 45 mins like a typical obedient Singaporean when I finally gave up and tried to flag a cab. You guessed it though no cabs! I was wondering if the dispatch would have been kind enough to divert them here where many people were waiting patiently (or otherwise) for cabs. Oh yah and furthermore we were directed to the bus stops where we were told would ferry us from Tampines mrt to Pasir Ris or Simei. Thank goodness I decided to take the SBS bus to bedok instead! Not that I am clairvoyant, in case you did wonder.
So hours passed and the day dragged by like a typical ol schoolday until mid afternoon when I met an old pal for a cuppa java and we talked about our respective relationships; i.e his budding one and my well...not so blossoming one. It was a good kinda talk though I was mostly on the listening end (which is atypical) but I was happy to be a listening ear what I was unhappy about was, that I was late for training! Twice in a day! I ended almost made it via public transport but I missed the bus and after fruitlessly waiting took a cab. So I missed warm up and almost couldn't take the grading. Worst part? I got kicked in the groin and kicked in the head. One of the guys from NUS is really aggressive While I admire his obvious resolve... I do think he oughta leave that "fire" for competitions :P
So all in all it hasn't been such a great day BUT
as they say there's a silver cloud in every lining ... true!
As I end my blog entry Its early morning, a new day with new fresh hope! :>

fist and legs

As I sit in front of my computer filling in my rather neglected bloggy, aching pain seems to swell my ribs. Hmm the reason? Got punched again in the ribs. The drawbacks of being a martial artist I suppose. Many people believe that martial artists, well.... at least those that have trained for some time are more hardy. I definitely think that is true but.... I guess sometimes they forget, martial artists are humans too, you know blood, bones, tissues? Which means to say... we hurt too!!! Another thing I don't quite understand, why do people like to spar with me? It is true that I have practised for quite a while but I think I am one of the lousier ones not to mention that I tend to hold back when sparring. Hmm..... its called sparring to advise you to hold back!!
Hmm had a long drive today with lotsa uncles trying to "bully" me on the roads. Hmm sometimes the carefree feeling of driving is really spoilt by rude and inconsiderate drivers. for example a driver with a banged up car overtook me today. No big deal right? Well... here's the deal. He overtook me on the left at high speed when the right lane was empty and he over took me in a one way lane! The other lane was going in the opposit direction and it wasn't like I was going that slow either. "Must he go at 80 kph on a small road?