Colors Picture special!!! : Nataku bye bye...

Arubin FLim FAstival PLesents (wEEnner of PahPee awards):

Bye Bye Heian Scholar!

Staring:

Nataku as Heian Scholar

The Peace MAN as Mdm Wong
The Salsa KING as Dude
Weewee as Peepee
SWB (SKC Wonder Boy) as Policeman
Cold Blade as Shogun
Aoyama as Naima
Yurei as Lampchop
AssTea as Elauder
Jester as Yasashi Man
Bright Morning Sunshine as Man in Corner

Guest star:
A stranger as Passing stranger

ManeLESS lion Defered!

I MANAGE TO DEFER!!!! yeah!!!! this way i can complete my masters ASAP! Then hopefully, go japan after that to watch the AJKF Tournament in 3rd Nov. But it is SUCH A WASTE man! Cut all my precious....my preciousssss...... erm.....my hair for nothing! ok, for one day! damn!!! Oh well, its done. Too bad. But my friends were quite shock to see me. haha. So was I. Sad sad sad...

Nataku has left Singapore. But she remains in all our hearts. And heres a picture of some of those shoes who were there.

MANEless lionThursday

Good bye long hair. My precious mane... my PRECIOUS....... Nataku is also leaving for Japan liao... so sad.. many sad things happening today. Hope nataku will have many level ups there

Post 7th Asean Kendo Tournament blues....
Monday, 13 September 2004, 15:15am



Alrighty then! Months of training and late night dealing with tournament admin has finally come to and end (But not the training though). The day before we set off to KL I still had to stay in office to complete my progress report for my masters till 12midnight (right after my kendo training) followed by typing out my Shodan grading exam questions. Oh man, it too me till 3am in the morning to complete it. Didnt sleep the whole night cos was too busy donig last minute packing till 6am in the morning, only to start calling everony to make sure they have not overslept.

Ok! enough of complains. Generally the tournament was great! A fantastic experience to be remembered for life. And got to know friends from many neighbouring countries like Indonesia and Malaysia. Didnt get the chance to talk to anyone from thailand though.

However, our coach was disappointed about the competition. And he blames himself for our failure, which I think it is us who have failed him more then anything else. It was an emotional moment for all of us. Even the spectators were about to burst into tears. Although there is great disappointment, but we will not give up. We will train harder and be better the next time round.

Oh, I also went for my grading then, and successfully obtained my Shodan. Which is something like blackbelt in tae kwan do. Although I dont feel I am that good yet, but like many people say. When you get your shodan, it only means this is when you begin to try to fit urself into this shoe. To learn to be a shodan. To have the correct attitude to learn. To learn how to learn.



Yeah!!! i passed my shodan!!!

Although my masters has already been overdue, you dont really see my talking much about it hor? Haha, i am getting a lot of nagging from my parents already. Which is true la. Gotto buck up and get moving. Not young anymore, gotto graduate and get a job and earn some bacholar cash to have a swinging life! haha. Oh man! soooo... tired... need more sleep....

i remember in the earlier post in july, i mentioned i only got kendo and research, well, 2 months laters, its still the same. I've only got kendo AND research. Sigh..

Oh so sad, a friend of mine going to Japan to study for 10 months. Wait a minutes, whats so sad about that!? Its sooo exciting!!!! wish her luck and all the best! everyone seems to be going japan these days. sigh.

JDrama craze: PRIDE

Hi guys. Been so busy lately, as usual, that didnt have time to blog. What have i been doing these days... lets see... research research....research... Kendo kendo kendo kendo kendo....kendo...research. -_-" SIANZ!!! Ok la, kendo is not sian. Actually looking forward to every training more and more. Especially with the Asean Tournament in KL coming in 1 wks time. I'm getting estatic! :)

Oh ya, YESH! JDrama craze is here again!!!


PRIDE!

by takuya kimura! About an Ice Hockey captain. What can I say, I am a sucker for motivational / Teamwork shows. The opening song is by Queen, called "Born to love you". Together with the mtv, it is fantastic! Just gets me so worked up! So motivated to train. Nowadays, I actually get excited about going for training as compared to the drag and fear of training in the pass. Haha, lets hope this excited feeling lasts forever, and ever, and ever. But its a good Drama. Must watch Must Watch! Oh, and another show i've watched recently, is Windstruck! Finally. Oh man, Jun Ji-hyun is soooo cute!!! oh... and so sexy in the police uniform...:) Yum YUMMMMM....kee kee kee... But its a heart-aching story... and maybe only people who has been through that kinda heartache will fully appreciate the show. However, it still cant beat My Sassy Girl. Thats still the best!!! Ok! ok! back to work! shigoto shigoto! OH! almost forgot! now I am waiting for my friend to pass me my Kingston 512MB CF card!!! Yeah!!! It only costs S$92 in the COMEX exhibition in Suntec. Compared to the 128MB that costs me S$80 two years ago, this is DIRT CHEAP man! :) 512MB!!!!!!!!

Life is fragile, treasure it.

Had a brush with death last night. During the process of preparing some specimens for my experiment, I almost got myself splashed by boiling oil!

But i was lucky. Walking away when i felt things werent right. And even luckier when i have decided to turn off both the flames before stepping aside. Hard to describe. A picture says a thousand words.


The scene of the crime.

You see the big patch of water, THAT BOILING OIL! And the piece of newspaper on the ground, well, i was sitting there. U see it "wet", well, it could have been me half burnt by the boiling oil.

Scenario, lets say IF i didnt walk away, and i didnt turn off the fire. The oil would have spilled onto me, and another side of it, spill onto the blow-torch looking thing on the left. It would have ignited the oil, and then, I would not only be half scalded by boiling oil, I would have been ENGULFED by a ball of fire. HAha, wat a way to go right? burst into flame! haha..... NOT FUNNY.

Was in a state of shock last night. Stoned the night away thinking how lucky i am, to be alive.

So people out there, please treasure whatever you have, the people you know. Cos you never know when they (or u) will be gone. Learn to appreciate what you HAVE.

Why do you do Kendo?

"Why do we train kendo? Why do we go for kendo training. Are we forced to? Or are we doing it out of our own free will" Above was the essence of what our sensei lectured us, due to our lethargic movement and sloppy footwork tonight/last night. In life as in kendo, it is the same. Many a times, we do things for the sake of doing it. We are not sure, not clear in our path. We just follow. We avoid asking ourselves such difficult questions as in WHY? WHY? If we are clear in why we do things, then we will do them better, and more efficient.. and we wont be in such contradiction and misery. But life is far from perfect. We are not born with all these answers. Thats why we must search. And in the process of it, enjoy the journey of this search. Its not easy, nothing worth searching is easy. But if you find it, it would be definately worth the while... And meantime, u can enjoy the ride too.

Always Maintain your posture and composure

Never show your weakness to your opponent.

Never say die.

Never give up.

Research, Kendo, Research, Kendo, Research......

This is what I do all day, research or kendo. Its either one or the other... Ok, I do eat and sleep too... but besides that, its all about my masters project and kendo.

So many things to do for my project, but so little time. And oh the all so mighty Murphy is right again. Murphy's first law, whatever can go wrong WILL go wrong. And these things going wrong are setting my completion date further and further back. And with the scholarship ending, my savings will be going dry soon. "SPare Change, Spare change for the needy.....""Poor masters student needs money to complete Thesis... and buy a brand new hi-fi""spare change for the needy"

Then theres kendo stuff. Back in Kendo training after 3 wks of MC, doing up all the minutes, agenda and stuff for the Alumni meetings and new responsibilities to help out in admin of the 7AKT. But really excited about it though. Going to a regional event to help out in the admin. Would really broaden my horizon and also a lot of experience to gain. But thats in Sept. Now, its still ok. Seems to be more busy with kendo stuff then work stuff... ahha... not good not good. Need to graduate fast.

Oh! yesterday was my friend's convocation! Wah.. so fast. They are all graduating already. And a friend of hers whom i got to know when i went newspaper collecting with them earlier on won the Lee Kuan Yew Gold medal!!! OMG!!! But he really doesnt look like the nerdy nerdy type. Friendly, socialable, street-wise, and crapping non-stop like the rest of us, you would think he is the type who plays too much and forget to study type. But boy was I wrong. Well, some people gets all the luck... and even worse... some get all the luck... AND they work hard TOO!! Damn... HAhahaa.... Well, congradulations to the graduating class of 2004!

time flies, 2 yrs...
hope you've been happy.
happy 13th July.

Determination

If single-minded determination is absent, one will never advance regardless of the years in training... Technique has its place, but spiritual forging is far more important...

Yamaoka Tesshu (1836-1888)Itto Shoden Muto Ryu
from THE SWORD OF NO-SWORD: Life of the Master Warrior Tesshuby John Stevens

The rain has finally stopped


The pass 2 weeks has been gloomy weather to me. Flu, Cough, Headache, bad news and MORE bad news. Looks like the rain has finally stopped. The cough has finally showed signs of recovery. Still coughing, but much less frequent already. At least I can almost complete a WHOLE conversation without coughing too much. Great achievement i assure you.

So today, I am back in my office, rolled up sleeves and started making specimens for my experiments. Hope to be able to complete all the experimental work by early august. Tough, TOUGH i tell you! but will try my best. Well, anyway, today is a good start.

Also, do u think i should cut my hair? its only been.....humm... 4 months since i last cut it..... Sigh... and by october I would need to go back to my first reservice. *BIG SIGH* haha.. So no point cutting too much now. but i think i will la. Maybe will get it TRIMMED on wednesday. T_T

Bad things never travel alone

Been sick for the pass few days... again!.. whats new right? Developed a bad cough since last sat... tot it was nothing.. but sunday night, it got so bad that i couldnt sleep. You know how your body tense up when you cough, well, this tensing up was so bad that my stomach, throat and HEAD was aching like crazy. At one point I swear my head was about to split into 2! Then after 5 days of suffering, i finally went to seek a second opinion from another doctor. And he said it could be a possible case of mild acute bronchities! ...... scary. So now i am taking anti-biotics and see how it goes.

As the chinese proverb goes, bad things never travel alone... yesterday i also got an email, saying i was being removed from an event that i was looking forward to, due to constrains in the number of participants set by the organiser, a chance to participate in an event that i was very VERY much looking forward. But well, when you are unskilled, untalented, just living in the dream of having the chance to participate in it for just 3 days would be great already. But i was saddened, disappointed and frustrated. But this is how things are. Those without talent, would just have to work harder. twice, thrice, a million times harder just to catch up (I guess what i put in just wasnt enough). Thus, REALITY. The world is not a fair place. You have to work hard to balance the odds. Sometimes i feel, all my life, thats what i have been doing. Not born with very good brains nor brawn, when other take 10 hrs to study, i need to put in 16. when people put in 1 yr of training, i need to put in 3.

Sometimes you just cant help but to wonder why its so unfair. But slowly i've grown to realise, that the more effort i put into it, the more i treasure it. The more it means to me. Sure, if i fail, it would hurt more too. But if i succeed, the joy is something other cannot begin to comprehend. Sounds as though i am trying to console myself? sure.. maybe. I really dont know. But no one really knows. Our lives is what we make of it. And things are never as bad as it seems, its just a matter of which perspective we see things from. isnt it?

but sometimes, some things in life, which no matter how much you try, it just doesnt help.

Beginning of a new page

Finally! i have got my lazy (but SeKuSi) butt out of my sofa and changed the wall paper of my site (with the works) AND opened a new chapter in my blog! Phew.. long over due. the last one smells like sweat socks in a guys locker room after a rainy rugby match...

Actually, been sick for the pass 4 days, flu -> sore throat -> running nose -> COUGH! Damn it! irritating phlegm! Couldnt sleep properly for the pass 2 nites cos of the cough. !#$@$# and it is also the first time (in a long LONG time) i spent the ENTIRE weekend at home! How exciting!

FLASHback!

Just came back from a 3 week USA trip to the southwest, through Las Vegas Neveda, Grand Canyon Arizona, Yosemite and San Francisco California on the 17th June 2004. Left on the 29th May. It was really great. Most of the people there were so friendly, on the average, I think i make a new friend everyday! Took tons of photos of course. 2+ GB of digital photo and short films, and 24 rolls of film! Phew! cost me a bomb! But it was ALLLLL worth it! EVery single exposure.

Ah! nowadays lazy to write cheem stuff... already burdened with so many rubbish and things to worry and think about. Just wanna type crap today....

Crap crap CraP CrAp cRAp cRaP CrAp CRaP CRap Crap CRAP cRAP crAP crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap...... LAME! ahaha... DUH... ok ok.. enough for the night. Glad to be back :) tho i do miss the states :) and japan, and europe... and ALL my backpacking days!

1st DRAFT COMPLETE!!!!
Oh MAN!!!!!
FINALLY!!!! complete my first draft! and submitted to my supervisor for approval already. There would most probably be ammendments, but its ok. At least the bulk of the work is done. The rest are just touching up and AWAY WE GO!!! But seriously, no joke. Really had a rude awakening from all this. Maybe I will take a week to relax before I start to prepare for my Thesis already. not much time left.

Also, did i ever mention I had this friend, whom i borrowed my bicycle 2 yrs ago, and who's bro lost my bick cos he didn't lock it up. So he promised to buy me a new bick. But its been 2 yrs, and i STILL havent told him which one i want. Dame. instead of him feeling bad about it, its become I who am feeling bad for letting him wait so long. Resolution. Must settle all this "debts" A.S.A.P.!

Meanwhile, RELAX!!! RELAX!!!.... will try to sleep early tonight, need to recover from all the late nights and stressful days so that i can resume my kendo trainings :) I have once again realised. I LOVE KENDO!

V Day, D-Day Journey

Haloz! Yesh! today is valentines day. and all the couple out there enjoying themselves, with guys stretching their heads what to buy for the gals, some red faced buying flowers for the first time or carrying it across town to meet their love ones. ME? I spend V-day worrying about my D-day.

Thats right! my deadline for the conference paper has just been dragged longer again! But this time, i am glad that it did. Although i would want to get it over and done with as SOOOON as possible, but I would want it to be a well written paper even more! Not only for my pride, but also doing it for my supervisor who has been so understanding and tolerant towards my slacking and lazing. So I have decided to spend this whole weekend mugging for the paper once again (similar to last wk's agenda. Sat and sunday worked till 11pm at night) But this time, its with a brighter note and more focus in direction as my supervisor enlightened me somemore on how a proper conference paper should be written. Really feel this 10 yrs of experience between us is really oceans apart. Anyway, now I am more refreshed from the 9 hrs sleep i finally got last night, and today start afresh to rush for my paper. Hopefully I can complete the first draft and submit to it him on monday.

Throught all this, i have once again been reminded how we should not do things and go through life always trying to get somewhere and curse and swear during the process of getting there. Cos for most things, its the path and journey you take to achieve something that really matters, and not the result. Just like whats been illustrated in 'Le Petit Prince' by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, otherwise more popularly known as 'The Little Prince'. The rose matters to him because it was his rose. He cared for it, loved it, protected it, thats why it is more special then all the roses in the world. Same goes for our lives. Things matters to us only because we put in effort to do it. And what you learn from trying to get something, is during the process of getting it, the journey you have embarked to reach the goal. But more often then not, people usually would be so obsessed about getting to the goal, they neglected what they could have gained along the way. For those who appreciates every since step of their journey, will usually end up with more then a basket full of little suprises. Little skills and little improvements they have attained. Its not like RPG games in computer where only after gaining a certain amount of experience points will you suddenly gain a LEVEL-UP. Where all your stats rise a few points. Thats the gaming world. This is Reality.

So for me, I felt that i have learn to take stress a little better, learn to appreciate my work a little more, and most of all, understand the importance of the journey a little more.

Ok, now back to work ;)


ok, another attempt to add a pic.
This time, its the Japan Festival that Ryozan helped organise.

DEADLINE
Oh man! I finally realised that when people say "deadline", they really mean it. Cause if what is to be done by then is NOT, then.... there will literally a dead man then! Holy crap! only less then 2 wks to my deadline for the conference paper, and I am still running simulations which refuses to work! @$@#%$!@~ I am now working from 8am till 10pm everyday, and I still think its not enough to rush for the paper. So I have made the painful decision to cut down kendo training to only sundays for the next 2-3 wks till my paper is completed. Sigh. I SOooo badly wanna improve my kendo, but work is suppose to have priority. Sigh, really feeling low, down and out these few days. Maybe its the stress, maybe its just been swept under the carpet for tooo long. but a lot to think about these days. maybe this is the quarter life crisis coming. HAhaha.... altho i seem to have had it for since 4-6 years already.. what a long long quarter life i have man.. haha..

Ah bah, anyway, back to work for me.........


Oh, here is a picture of the HUGE cloud I saw on 20th Jan 2004. It was really magnificant. Just like the mothership in the movie Independence Day. Unlike other clouds, it was very compact and defined. And with there being very few clouds around it, it really looks like a solid object. I could only catch a small bit of it as it spread so wide across the morning sky, that its almost impossible to catch everything in one shot. And the crowded Singapore horizon doesnt help very much either....:/

I declare the 6th Singapore Youth Kendo Tournament 2004........CLOSE

Yeah! The 6th Singapore Youth Kendo Tournament has offical closed! YEAH!!!!!!!! a HUGE load off my mind.... Was really dead stress that few days. The night before the tournament, was in bed at 1am... but slept only at 2 cos i will wake up every 1-2 minutes to scribble stuff on my notes as i just recalled things to do or say during the opening and stuff i need to do before and during the tournament. But all those sleepless nights and late nights in the office is all worth it. Cos the sensei's left the tournament with a smile on their faces. This is all I ask for. Although there were a few gliches here and there, but for a 1st timer like me, and 1st timers like all my juniors who made this tournament possible, it is a complete success. I should give the perfectionist self of mine a break. and give myself a pat on the back. But it all wont be necessary, with an email from Chan sensei saying its a job well done, its worth 1 million of my pats on the back :)

After the tournament, we all went Dax's place to watch the primere of the LAST SAMURAI. yes, we did, my will power is as strong as tofu... but it was fun. Going though the fight sequals over and over again in slow motion and then normal speed, then slow motion again. And also giving wise crap commens about the movie and effendi fantasizing OUT LOUD.. hahaha.. all this would never be as fun as it would have been if we were in the movies. But we will most probably watch the in the movies again. :):)

Ok, but now i have to get back to work and rush for the conference paper in US by 6th Feb..... STRESS!!!!!! sigh..... how how how how how?????
ARRRRggggggg......i need a miracle!!!!!!!
HELP!!!!!!!

test test

Back from Langkawi

Firstly, A HAPPY NEW YEAR to one and all who have mysteriously found my website eventhough i've yet to tell anyone about it.:) but you guys are free to roam around. If not I wouldn't have made a blog in the first place.

Anyways...
Whao, the Langkawi trip was fun. We rented MANUAL cars WITHOUT power steering, and almost considered without brakes when we were there. But it was cool, just nearly lost our little lives about 283 times only. Nothing to brag about. Haha.... oh man. the people in our car (cos there were 18 of us, so we split into 3 cars) only have one objective in mind. and thats to STAY ALIVE!!!!!! hahahaa... its like a big thing for everyone when the car makes a turn. besides the driver checking the roads, the rest of the people will be like, "LEFT CLEAR!, RIGHT CLEAR! ALL CLEAR!!!! GO!!!!" AAHahaha... oh man.. now that i look back, its really hilarious. but honestly, then, it was a matter of life and death man! :(

oh, so the first day we went up this so call mountain, but think its just about less then 1000m. but its definately higher then our tiny bukit timah hill:) We took cable car up. Its the BEST way to travel man! i mean if u wanna travel vertically up a mountain to have a view from the summit. The rest of the time(e.g. Mt Kinabalu, Mt Fuji), we usually CLIMB up... so comparitively, this is REALLLY relaxing. The view was really great too. and thanks to us almost getting lost, we managed to catch the sunset:) a truely magnificant view.

We went island hopping on the second day and ended off with doing banana boating in a lagoon like place. it was really fun although the boat dragging us wasnt very powerful. So we ended up Throwing ourselves off the banana boat! hahaa kinda stupid but it was fun.

Then before we know it, the 3 days passed. And something feels amiss when i was leaving lankawi, something i forgot to do.......... SLACK!!!! i didn;t slack nor 'nuar' (rot) around at the beach at ALL!!!! :( ARRrrrggg... and after another 13hrs bus ride, i ended up more tired after the trip then before..... kinda defeats the purpose for me going to Langkawi... ah well, i had fun. But honestly, the most memorable time there is still the car rides, where we struggled to stay alive... haha

LaNgkAwi

Tonight, I will boldly go where i've never gone before. To Langkawi, Malaysia, to explore the wild untamed beach and native bikini babes it holds. But before that, i have to brave 10 hrs of rugged bus ride followed by treacherous ferry ride across rough ripples....

Farwell my friends, if i shall not return, remember me well. For those who still owe me money, I will still send haunted pigs head to you. fret not. you can always count on me.

A desperately needed break.........

Tired.......

Oh man! I am SOOoooo tired..... Tired, and deprived of sleep man! Been Burried with work, work, kendo, work kendo and more kendo. Just don't know where all the time went. Only yesterday, did I for te first time, agreed with my parents, that i actually look pale! Usual i just think i possibly could have a 'less tanned' face. But I've just swam last month, the tan couldn't have faded away so fast. Thus, I have put the blame on the lack of sleep and the over exertion I did to my body. Sigh.

Really been busy and going to get even MORE busy these days, 2 Huge deadlines to meet. Firstly, my Conference paper for the 54ht ECTC (Electronic Components and Technology Conference) is due early Feb, and I also have been given the honour of being tournament master (conducting and preparing) for the 6th Singapore Kendo Youth Tournament which is held on the 18th Jan. Oh man! How will I ever survive!?

But i really am looking forward to these two events. Will gain so much experience doing it. Experience i need so badly. Life has been so monotoneous that I'm beginning to feel its getting stagnet.

Oh! another event I am looking forward to is the Lim Kwa Chwee tournament this coming sunday (21st Dec 2003). This tournament is conducted yearly in rememberance of the late Lim Sensei, who is the founder of Singapore Kendo Club. He has been a legend in his time and ours. Being the one man army in Singapore's debut in the World Kendo Championship 1976. Student of Katori Shinto Ryu, one of the famous Koryu (Acient Schools of Bushido), which only accepted 2 foreign members (the rest are of course all japanese).

Thus, been training for it recently. Just went to SKC for training yesterday. After a demoralizing practice on monday, I guess its a blessing in disgust. Because after that, I tried to correct my mistake and try to apply more pressure on my opponent and be more alert and responsive to their actions (and wrote a 2 page long dairy on yesterday's practice, haha). Well, I guess at least I felt I did kinda well yesterday. At least much better then monday. Probably becasue monday after being clobbered by Bryan which before the mock shiai, I got a bit apprehensive, thus, being afriad to lose points, thus hesitant and indecicive during my attacks. Ok, ok, I shall spare you guys the details.

ECTC conference, 6th SKYT! GO GO GO! Need to get down to work!