While My Guitar Gently Weeps

2011-04-07T23:38:00.001+08:00

Coaching is hard.

2011-03-18T10:12:00.002+08:00

Interesting post from Scott Adams:

http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/happiness_engineering/

i think i engineer my own happiness the same way too.

Food - I love to eat. And i always feel happier after eating something. When i'm upset, i look for food too.

Exercise - I exercise because it makes me feel happy. And then SR complements me saying i have a good physique, so that's double happy. When i get gold for my IPPT, that makes me triple happy and 400 dollars richer. I don't understand why people don't exercise.

Goals - I do have very mini work related goals that makes me feel happy when working on them. Makes me feel like i can change somethings.

Meaning - I love myself. People probably don't realise it, but i'm quite selfish when it comes to my own time. Which is why i don't bother entertaining acquaintances unless i'm forced to. Sorry if anyone feels hurt by this statement.

Positivity - Mmm i've got to work on this a bit more. I do like to comment on what's wrong with everything and everyone. I'm an asshole. But after spending years with SR, i probably learnt to tone it down and be slightly more socially acceptable. I hope haha.

A little bit of danger - I'm quite risk adverse. Maybe i should really do a roller coaster ride just one fucking time.

Learn - I love to learn and learning makes me very happy. I learnt what is slow flash yesterday. Wedding shots will never be the same again hahahah. Truth be told, i'm actually thankful for my brain to be able to comprehend most things i read, and therefore learn.

Feel success - There's a reason why i like to shoot alone. Making 200-300 shots in 1 hour is like 200-300 mini victories in a short span of time, and a very good way to tell yourself that, "yes, i'm a good shooter". Ego-boosting, but it makes me happy.

Relationships - I have good relationships with the people that matter to me. And that's just a small circle of friends. For relationships, i think quality is always better than quantity. Again, sorry my dear acquaintances, i don't really bother :)

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Just found out that SR's pal is attached with some guy i know from NS. Honestly speaking, he did not leave a good impression on me back then, but i couldn't remember exactly why. Subconsciously, i just know that i should stay away from this person.

My memory sucks, but i remember all the people that i should avoid. Sounds kinda like the guy in Memento.

*shrug*

2011-03-08T12:20:00.001+08:00

This got me today:

2011-03-07T00:03:00.002+08:00

Finally the season is over. My uncle team got eliminated in the play-offs today. I din play well at all, multiple turnovers in the opening minutes. Made only 1 three, zero FTs again, zero drives, 3 FGA. I think i spent more time just running up and down the court and boxing out. What a way to end the season.

Anyways, i think i've gotta reschedule my week. Since i can't ball on weekends, then i might as well just workout during those days, either in the morning (very unlikely) or after i send SR home. Weekdays will be as follows:
Mon: Personal ball prac.
Tues: NUS ball session (mix it up with the ex-NUS players)
Wed: Personal ball prac/Jammer's league season in July
Thurs: St42 prac.
Fri: Andrew's friends ball session (maybe or just rest)

I like to play with Andrew's friends, some of them at least. They have alot of fight and are v physical. But some of them are just nua, so it's kinda lame to play against the nua guys. Ugh. Maybe friday and sunday shall be workout days, so i have one sat to rest.

I find it v hard to schedule a rest.

Just devised a new way to do burpees, which is to add a clapping pushup component to it. I think it's good, kill multiple birds with 1 stone. So instead of doing burpees and pushups and clapping pushups, now i just do 1 exercise.

I'm fucking crazy.

2011-02-27T21:43:00.002+08:00

Game reflections again!
- lost 60-78 playing against the top-ranked team in the league, while we had 7 players. 3 uncles and 4 of us younger ones. I played perimeter on offense and PF on defense. We had no center today.
- stats: 7 points (1 layup, 1 jumper, 1/3 3pt), 1 foul, 0 free throw attempts, at 5 turnovers in about 35 minutes.
- tried to attack the basket more today, but i got blocked twice and missed several attempts at the basket. Need to work on finishing and aggression.
- didn't shoot much once again, but the opponent figured that i was a shooting threat so they closed out pretty quickly on me whenever i got the ball on the perimeter. Need to take more attempts, but the lack of offensive rebounds always deter me. Not to mention that the 3 point line is extended now. Not sure if every court is going to be like that from now on. Ok just checked FIBA rules, seems like every court is gonna be like that from now on. Gotta really work on the range now.
- played pretty good defense today, considering i was undersized for the entire game. Active hands and feet, and tried to box out whenever i could. Good job.
- Couldn't really last the entire game, and for some stretches i was pretty dazed and gazing at the clock for the quarter to end. Gotta work on more suicides. Think the 20 suicides in 20 minutes yesterday was good. Should run that more often.
- Think i have to cut some of my workout items to streamline it further. Now i have 10 items which i work into a circuit (complete-able in 45 mins). And then another 6 which takes another 30 mins. Have to find some way to make each exercises more compound.

k need to shit.

2011-02-16T14:41:00.002+08:00

Some things to note before i forget:

On the Iron Maiden concert:
Awesome. Full house, crowd was crazy as hell. Bruce Dickinson can really work the crowd. Set-list was pretty good. Long enough but not too long cos i think most people are shagged out.
Things that irks me:
- moshing and slamming. Wanna mosh/slam then do it with those that want to la. Leave the others out of it man.
- smoking. Very inconsiderate.
- bad sound. And very bad videographer. Please film the guy playing the guitar solo.
Still, an unforgettable experience.
Sidenote: I think i'm the only metalhead in the office.

On the recent game loss:
Terrible free throw shooting. That was the difference between our team and every other pinoy team. I'm a good FT shooter, but the problem is I'm not aggressive enough. I must attack the basket more often and settle less for jump shots. The young guys can play full court man-to-man pretty well, but they lack on ball pressure skills. The pinoys are very calm, and that's another key difference between us and them. We shouldn't get frustrated with the calls and such. Do what you can control.

On St42:
Still no max effort. People are not trusting each other. Superstar mentality still lingers. There's many grievances and complains but none of them get through directly to me. I have to hear it from someone else to know the problem. Guys have to man up and just say it as it is. We still lack honesty with each other. Maybe shaking up the rotation will help. We'll see.

On myself:
Still semi-sick and not 100%. But training has to continue. I'm always faced with this problem: I can train and instruct other people, but who can train/instruct me? I'm always pushing myself, and others. I wish someone can push me instead. The saying goes: When the student is ready, the teacher appears. Maybe i'm not ready yet.

I like my randomised circuit training plan. Cuts quite a bit of time and keeps the blood pumping. Been putting quite a bit of work on jump training, hope it helps with explosiveness. And hope i do not get injured. Gotta pace myself slowly.

On the awesome watch i just bought:
Been wanting to get a smaller digital watch cos my G-shock is just too bulky to wear and shoot at the same time. It knocks against my wrist everytime i grab the ball hard. Bought the wrong watch initially (it has no countdown timer), so went to Mustafa again to buy one with a countdown timer. Awesome. Cheap and good. 26 dollars for small watch that can do so much.

On Vday:
I did not do anything on Vday, which probably pisses off SR. But the thing is that, I celebrate things because i want to, not because i have to. I believe in being judged for 365 days than being judged on 3 special days (Vday, Anniversary and Birthday). Then again, i don't really do much for 362 days either. I don't know, i'm not very good at being a boyfriend. I'm just very good at being myself.

Alright gotta read more journals.

My basketball philosophy

2011-02-11T22:47:00.001+08:00

(Warning: long text ahead)

These are the principles i stick to because they make the most sense to me.

On fitness:

Basketball is all about execution. The team that can execute their game plan (full court press/ big man offense etc) usually wins.

When the team lacks fitness, it cannot execute properly. Players will be thinking about resting o...r saving energy.

Basketball is a anaerobic sport (start, stop, start, stop), so that is why we train suicides (4-ze)

On offense:

We play Motion offense (freestyle) because basketball is a chaotic game and 80% of the points are scored through broken plays (not set plays).We have players who can make good decisions with the ball when the situation is chaotic.

Offense principles:

- Force the defense to move.When the defense moves, it is easier to catch them sleeping. This is why we must pass the ball into the post and out, and swing the ball left to right.

- Maintain good spacing so that the defense can't double team your teammates. The defense has to run more to guard you when they recover from a double team.

- When you have the ball, be patient. Distract your opponent by faking a shot, a drive or a pass before executing your move (shoot, pass, drive).

- When you don't have the ball, do these to make the defense pay attention to you:

- screens: screen for your teammate (off ball recommended or on ball) or signal your teammate to screen for you

- cuts: v-cut to get open/ cut to the basket/ backdoor cut

- switch: switch position with your teammate (switch between post/wing/baseline/high pole etc)

- post up: if you have a smaller/weaker defender on you, post hard on him to tire him.

On playing against specific defenses:

Zone: Stand in the holes of the defense (in between their players). Less screens, more passing and cuts to shift the defense, more drive and kick to collapse and expand the defense.

- Against 2-3, we must have 3 players outside (2 wing 1 top of key) and 2 inside at the elbow (B spot).

- Against 3-2: we must have 4 players outside ( 2 wing and 2 baseline) and 1 inside at high pole.

Man to man: More screens (off ball) to get teammates open. More spacing to open up the middle. More cuts into the middle to get easy passes for layups. Isolation if our teammate has clear advantage over his defender (eg Weehong/Wenbiao vs a slower guy).

Full/Half court press: Aim is to get past half court. Team advance the ball together by passing quickly. No/minimal dribbling. Pass and move to an empty spot. Think netball.

On team defense

Play what is comfortable.Communicate. However, sometimes we have to adapt to the opponent:

Good 3 pt team (very rare): Man to man. Let them drive since we have help. No 3-2 because we will lose to the baseline 3 pointer.

Good shooting team: Man to man or 3-2 zone to take away their outside shots.

Tall big team: 2-3 zone to takeaway their offensive rebounds. Guards in front will have to work very hard because the guys inside will be working hard to counter their big men.

Small fast driving team: 2-3 or 3-2 zone. If they can shoot then 3-2, but always protect the middle.

1x superstar team: Box-1. Put our best defender on superstar to frustrate and deny him the ball. Stick 100% close to him and don't let him touch the ball. The rest of the 4 can play a box zone or normal man to man with help.

There are many other situations. We must adapt and be ready.

Defense principles (applies to man to man and zone)

- Defense is not about blocking and stealing. Defense is about making it difficult and frustrating for your opponent to do anything. Defense is about taking away his habits (his favourite move, shooting spot, dribbling hand etc.) Defense is about making him doing something he's not comfortable with.

- When your man has the ball:

- Stay lower than him (your head should be lower than his) to prevent drive.

- Harass by trying to touch the ball. This forces him to focus on protecting the ball or throw the ball away. Disturb his passing angles.

- If he starts to dribble, force him to go to his weak hand. If he is good, make him change directions at least 3 times to tire him out.

- If he shoots, stick close, jump and raise up both hands. Bother the shot. Make him lean/jump backwards, sideways to shoot over you.

- When your man does not have the ball:

- Ball-you-man when you are on the help side. Be in the position to see the ball and see your man and help.

- Deny when on the ball side. Deny the pass to your man when the ball is near.

- Block his path when he tries to cut into the middle (red square). Shove him out if he manages to get inside.

- When your man is posting on you:

- if he post high (let's say on left), stay on his right and bother his receiving hand. Shove him out to the 3 point line.

- if he post low, front him and stay low. Use ur butt to shove him to the baseline out of the court.

On defensive rebounding and starting the fast break

- When a shot goes up, find someone first and box him by pushing him away from the basket. Jumping right away is a sure way to lose the rebounding game.

- Always rebound as a team. Ensure the ball is secure before we begin fast break. No point running ahead when the team cannot get the rebound.

On offensive rebounding and stopping the fast break

- Offensive rebounds gives your teammates confidence to shoot, because they know someone will get the ball back if they miss.

- When a shot goes up, one man must stay back and protect the back court. The rest can go in for offensive rebound. Find, box then jump/collect.

- If the rebound fails, the man nearest to the opponent rebounder must trap/pressure and occupy him. The longer u can keep the ball on their side of the court, the less likely the fast break will happen. The rest of the team must run back to defense.

- If the opponent fast breaks, one man must quickly find the ballhandler, touch him and force him to pick up his dribble/pass. This will slow down the fast break. The rest of the team must run back to defense and stay in the middle first to protect from layups.

On passing

- All passes should be quick and to the chest/hands of the receiver. Receiver will get a good grip of the ball and go into his moves or pass away, instead of wasting time fumbling with a weak pass. Less time wasted means defense has less time to react.

- Cross court passes are allowed.It is a good way to swing the ball and force the defense to shift. You must zip the ball over with a overhead pass and not do a lazy lob pass.

On shooting

- Shooting is all about repetitions. You can be a better shooter by shooting more.

- Free throws are the best way to score. Training free throws is important.

- A high arc shot has a better chance of scoring than a low arc shot.

- Use the board more often, especially if near the basket.

2011-02-09T23:17:00.003+08:00

Randomising the order of exercises actually messes with your body. Forces it to adapt to different strains at different times. I actually wrote a script to randomise the order. Hur.

Doing the exercises as a circuit probably saves more time as u can rest less, and it's less straining on the body as u don't stress the same muscles for multiple sets.

ok on the phone bye.

2011-02-06T22:09:00.003+08:00

Don't understand why i have strange spams on my tagboard. Maybe i should remove it.

Being sick sucks. Have no idea what i did for the past 4 days. Not to mention that i couldn't really rest because of the incessant coughs.

Being injured sucks too, but at least with tape i can still play through the pain.

Not very CNY-y this year. Totally no mood.

Feel like eating maggi mee. Think i should follow the zenhabits guy and have a cheat food day. 6 days of proper healthy diet and 1 day of junk. Hur. That sounds like a good idea. I think SR would like that, but she doesnt eat healthy for 6 days. So no cheat food day for her.

Outta water again. Maybe that's why my dad boils water everyday. He's the water boy of the house. And that's manly. I think doing household chores is very manly. It's like taking care of the family.

It seems like after being introduced to the art of manliness, my decisions become largely based on whether a particular action is manly or not. If it's manly, i try to do it.

Maybe sleeping/resting is manly. I should sleep/rest more.

2011-02-02T01:16:00.002+08:00

Quite tired of reading political stuff nowadays. Can understand why the common folk are apathetic about it. Politics is pretty much for the rich or clever, which from what i see is only roughly 20% of the population. Don't think there will be much shakeups any time soon.

For me, i'll just hope the country is stable so that i can work in my day job and collect my pay. And spend the rest of my energy on doing things i love. Basketball.

There's an immense sense of gratification whenever i see my shot fall. Can't say i get that from doing other things though, like guitar or whatever. Don't think i'm very good at basketball, but at least i can make enough shots to keep my motivation going.

As NBA aptly puts it: I love this game.

Thankfully, i have a bunch of good friends who likes to ball as well. Trainings have been fun but tough. I think everyone is equally out of shape, so the skill level is quite balanced. Just hope we can continue this for as long as we can.

Ok really tired now. Night

2011-01-31T15:13:00.002+08:00

It's not about what you do, but finding the meaning in what you do.

2011-01-24T23:04:00.002+08:00

Not bad, i'm done with everything i need to do by 11.

Lost by 15 points yesterday. Didn't manage to score, so i worked on defense and rebounds. Got a few blocks and stops, but i could have been more aggressive. Fatigue kicked in faster than usual, so i have to work on that as well. And strength, must not let anyone push me around anymore.

I bought rigid strapping tape. It's good shit. It sticks. But it's rigid. Hmm, wonder how it applies for wrist.

Note to self - Stuff to buy from Mustafa:
All guards (ankle knee etc)
Strapping tape
Sloans.

Mustafa is awesome is some weird sense.

It's been a while since i moo-ed. Fun!

2011-01-19T00:16:00.000+08:00

Haven't felt so good in a long time.

Basketball really makes me happy.

I'm thankful for being able to continue playing.

2011-01-17T21:36:00.001+08:00

Well done chang you've clocked your first set of intervals for 2011. As well as your first set of suicides on Fri.

Keep it up!

And don't forget the SBJs as well as tuck jumps!

2011-01-16T20:09:00.002+08:00

Just finished a game. Made 3 threes and a 2 pointers. So totalled 11 points.

My team lost 71-75 though, so it doesn't matter. The opponent is now on a 4-0 and we are 1-3. Gah.

But good to know that the confidence to shoot a three is back.

Defense wise, i think i did not play very well. Couldn't stay in front of my man as the court was kinda slippery + my shoe is worn. Did not play good deny as well. Some steals and some blocks, but generally i'm not satisfied with the defense today.

Think i got out boxed a few times today. I need to improve my overall strength as well.

The daiso tape sucks. Fell off before the match started. I need better tape.

I wanna buy a new pair of shoes just for match play. As well as training at home. The Kobes at shoesyahoo looks good. Probably import 1 pair to try since it's so cheap.

Ok time for dinner. Hope the next game will be better. I wanna make the "playoffs"!

2011-01-12T12:08:00.000+08:00

http://onemillionruns.blogspot.com/2006/10/walt-reynolds-itb-special.html

For everyone who's suffering from IT Band Syndrome.

2011-01-12T00:40:00.001+08:00

Note to self: Seating + food for impt than anything else for a wedding banquet

2011-01-07T23:51:00.002+08:00

@Joseph: I stalk u too. Actually i don't have to. When you post, my RSS picks it up. Stalking is so passe.

I don't really like to chat via sms or msn. Prefer to talk via phone or in person cos it's faster and gets the point across. Probably that's why i seldom/never initiate a conversation in MSN. But MSN has somewhat become a second phone. Something u keep it on and wait for people to contact u.

SMS takes the cake though. Don't ever initiate a conversation with me via sms. Or i will ignore you. Best is craft the sms such that i only have to reply Yes/No/Ok. Really hate typing on the phone.

Good ball session today, though it's 4v4 all the way the youngster. Focused on off-ball movement and moving through screens for catch and shoot. Tiring but it's good shit. Should really work on it every time. Gets the blood pumping, makes the defense pay attention and create opportunities for myself and the team.

Didn't play good defense today. Think i'm getting slower and more fatigued faster. Have to train more intervals when my leg gets better.

Really shag now and it's 12. Time to sleep

Swoosh~!

2011-01-07T13:49:00.002+08:00

Recently there's been a small Facebook craze among my friends. Basically it's a contest in FB where one can win a prize if his/her comment for that contest garnered the most LIKES. The tricky part is that the LIKE button cant be linked, and that the supporters had to like the fan page, the contest post and the user's post. That's 3 likes for you, that can't be linked.

Andy and i decided to see how powerful social media can be. He took part by posting a comment for that contest, and i'm supposed to help him garner votes. I have a dummy acct with close to 5000 friends for playing Castle Age, and i was to spam these poor 5000 souls to try and get them to LIKE Andy's comment.

3 methods were tried and their responses:
1. Status post on my wall. <5 responses.
2. Create an event and add 1000 people to it, then spam an event message. <5 responses.
3. Spam the wall of all the groups (Castle Age related cos thats all i have). Nil.

Method 2's response rate was faster compared to 1. I think it's easier if one can somehow PM everybody and get them to really read what you want them to read. On the other hand, a status update will be buried under the multitude of other people's random crap that nobody gets to read what you want to say. And after all, you are a gaming acct which nobody will bother to pay attn to.

Method 1 can work if there are a lot comments on the status update which will help bump it up and become part of the top news. But i'm not very sure how the top news mechanism work.

So far, Andy has 28 LIKES, 20 of which is his own and his 19 dummy accounts. Response isn't really that good as opposed to our other friends who have about 100 LIKES that they acquired by asking their personal friends.

But i find it interesting that online strangers would actually bother to help you. And admittedly it's quite troublesome to help as well. Either they are bored, curious or just genuinely nice. I'll take whatever i get.

If you are reading this and interested to help:
1: Go to "http://www.facebook.com/playworksonline" and LIKE the page.
2: Go to "http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=190234200990267&id=135743236446176"
3: LIKE the post "Contest: Tell us why your life would be better with a Razer Starcraft 2 Banshee Gaming Headset"
4: Look for Andy Ng Fu Leong's post and LIKE it.

2011-01-04T23:10:00.002+08:00

Miraculously the lump on the back of my right hand shrunk as i was generally massaging my hand/wrist. Now i can do pushups without pain in the right wrist. Amazing.

I agree that we have all become so good at "multi-tasking", that we seem to lose our focus easily. I have 2 screens at work, one of which is permanent google reader/msn while the other is work related stuff, and i can never seem to fully concentrate on reading my work stuff. Partly it's due to the monotony of academic journals that i always take a break and start reading some random stuff. But it's not just at work. Even as i'm typing now, i was partially distracted by icing my knee.

Need to get my shit together. Ice the knee, then blog.

See, i alt-tab-ed again.

Walked to the train station with my boss just now. He's generally a nice guy, but i wonder why all my other colleagues seem to hold back when talking to him. He's after all a human being who has more life experiences and different perspectives, all of which i can distill and learn from. I didn't find it awkward when we had to wait in the airport for about 6 hours to transit, and in fact learnt quite a bit about life from him.

Oh well. Maybe i'm a suck up. But at least i treat other people with respect.

My muscles are damn sore after yday's pushups. It's been 2-3 months since i did pushups? Or even longer. The TCM doc told me not to do back then, but i think my shoulder is pretty alright now. So it's time to re-aclimatise the shoulder. After all the season is restarting soon and games should be coming in. I better recondition myself for game speed. Not that i run very fast.

Oh and i aim to lights off every day at 1145. That should be a challenge.

Sleep early people. It's good.

And an interesting exercise for pple with swiss ball at home:

2011-01-03T00:24:00.003+08:00

I figured i could sleep earlier today and wake up earlier tmr to work on the strat instead of staying up and work while semi-asleep.

Installed GP6 and i must say the RSE is pretty awesome. The only problem is the drums, cos now u can't tab it out using numbers. Which sucks pretty much for someone who cant read drum notation. Time to learn drum notation for 2011. I guess it shouldn't be too hard. It's just a matter of how much you want it.

Audition 3 is installed as well. Haven't tried recording with it yet, but at least this time it supports VSTi, which means BFD without the need for cubase. I would like that haha. For some reason Cubase's layout just doesnt appeal to me. Hope the VSTi support works as advertised. I couldn't remember if i had previously used audition 3 though. Hmm. Memory fails me.

Hand is wrapped up again. Night :D

2011-01-02T02:25:00.002+08:00

New year's eve was simple. Free fireworks courtesy of the boonlay countdown. The budget is getting higher each year i suppose. Or probably it's due to the impending elections. Start it off with a big bang.

Strung the classical with aquilas. Costs about the same as savarez, but the aquila nylons are made of slightly different material. Will see how long they can last.

Curt mangan 9-46 for the strat. Yet to string, probably tomorrow if time permits. Or monday cos i'm on leave. Downgraded the gauge yet again for better playability. Then again, if you suck any gauge would be hard to play. Oh well, i haven't touched the strat for i guess a year. She's moldy now and the pots are stuck. Have to do a major cleanup for she's good for recording.

Trying out some elastic kinesio tape on the wrists. Hope it can help a little.

My table's a mess. Rarr

Time to settle the bills.

2010-12-30T00:11:00.002+08:00

Ok more or less got the chord structure of the new song sorted out:

Chorus:
E B A B x3
F#m G#m A

Bridge:
C#m G#m A F#m G#m
C#m G#m A B

2010-12-29T09:20:00.002+08:00

This is the reason i do what i do:

link: The Joy of Stats

2010-12-29T00:19:00.001+08:00

All iced/wrapped/taped up again. Nice and comfy.

Shall make it a point to stretch every night before i sleep.

Had a great chat w Chao just now. Men's stuff.

Ok hard to type and talk on the phone at the same time.

Bye

2010-12-27T22:44:00.002+08:00

Icing my right wrist now. Just iced my left LCL (i think). And using the isqueeze to work on the feet. Good stuff, just wished that the machine has wheels beneath to get it out of the way when i'm not using it.

Guess i'm still not very ready to play yet. So prob this entire week is to work on the muscles and less movement.

For the uninitiated, i'm playing in some amateur filipino basketball league. My team's current standing is 1 win 2 losses, both losses i wasnt present though.

Seems like i'm the winning factor hahahahaha.

Stupid marathon.

2010-12-27T14:27:00.002+08:00

Hur. Just when i wanted to type something, my boss came in.

Last night, i couldn't sleep. So i was looking at some of the entries of this blog. And comtemplating on writing something.

Today, i was reading Art of Manliness and this came up.

I think it's a sign.

Been buying into this sign shit lately. Thanks to sr.

Ok shan't skive anymore.

2010-03-03T12:15:00.002+08:00

This is triggered off by a Lifehacker post: http://lifehacker.com/5482921/750-words-clears-your-mind-gets-ideas-flowing

I'm lazy to link it properly. :D

I'm flying off to Australia next week for work purposes. Hopefully it will be enriching, and eye opening. I'm still not very accustomed to work culture, all its protocols, dos and don'ts, what's considered appropriate and what's not. This trip should provide more insight, and i shall observe what my bosses do.

Speaking of which, i have to bunk in with my direct supervisor. Guess it will be weird in some level, but i think i should be savvy enough to not create any awkward situations. But then again, i'm always creating awkward situations for people.

I'm trying to stop saying the words apparently, seriously, and maybe really. Should cut all these filler words to improve my speech somewhat.

GNC triflex seems to be a good product. Then again it might be a placebo effect.

K bye.

2009-11-20T12:10:00.001+08:00

Some quick realisations:

Yes Listerine is bad for you. Quit it.

Go anaerobic.

And yes i can watch Euroleague basketball highlights. Woo!

2009-11-17T11:29:00.002+08:00

Since u are not around, i might as well just blog something so that there's something for u to read and entertain yourself.

Just finished my super long birthday weekend :( To be honest, all my birthdays should be like this. A good meal, free swensens ice-cream, lotsa sleep and lotsa good movies.

NYNY wasn't that nice though, but you can't beat Swensen's firehouse happy birthday ice-cream!

It's ironic, but i suspect that Listerine at night is bad for your breath, since it contains alcohol => drys your mouth, but you can't drink while you're asleep => excessive drying => bad breath.

I'll try listerine in the morning from tomorrow onwards.

I realise it's futile trying to beat D2 on p8 untwinked. Especially with a bowzon.

I can't understand y there isn't some WC3 programmer out there that's willing to program a stable and balanced version of Hero Siege. I mean after all, DotA came from 3 corridors isn't it. Someone needs to put his/her own stamp on Hero Siege.

It's frustrating to be unable to find a proper Hero Siege map. If only i could code wc3 hmm...

I think that every good game should have some degree of Hero Siege-ness in it. Meaning mass killing. So much that it's so tough. Kinda like the Lord of the Rings battle. MASS.

Probably a good game idea will be crossing SG with some RPG. Imagine poccing with ur hero instead.

My body is aching all over.

Here's a list of where it hurts:
1. Both of my big toes joints (might be due to the lunges that i'm doing)
2. Right hip (might be due to running too hard)
3. Right Shoulder (getting better now)
4. Lower back (getting better too)

Getting old. I'm already 25. Strangers think i'm 20. There must be something that i doing that's giving people the wrong vibes. Maybe it's the haircut.

Then again, i'm not too concerned about people looking at me the wrong way. It's good to throw people off once in a while. I'm like a walking curve ball.

In fact i like the idea that i'm completely unguessable, if that's a word. Ok it seems like it's a word cos blogger did not give it a red underline as i type it. Yea unguessable.

I've been following the current MTG scene for quite awhile. It looks really promising and fun, but i think it would be quite pointless to invest in cards now. And i'm probably too cheapskate now to invest in cards too. Money is for more important things.

Like a 24" screen and iPod.

Speaking of which, i dropped my old ScratchyPod(tm) a few weeks back and the display was cracked and leaked some of the black stuff, rendering 80% of the screen unreadable. But the hard disk is working fine, so i guess i have the coolest HDD now. And a new 160 GB iPod to hold my ginormous song collection. The new iPod's screen is kinda fragile though. It always felt like it will crack when i accidentally grab the iPod too hard by the screen.

I read somewhere that it is important to have a strong forearm grip. Stronger forearm => able to lift heavier => stronger arms. My lack of arm strength is probably due to my weak forearms and wrists, so i have been working on it lately. Think it helps in holding the ball, and controlling it, as well as shooting form. Dun think i'm strong with the ball at all, prefer to play off the ball most of the time.

Which is weird cos i'm doing point guard duties most of the time, and i should have the ball. -_-

Ok at this point in time i must say that this post might seem a little weird, but it's because i'm typing sporadically throughout the day. So the ideas might not connect (not that they ever did connect in the past).

I'm happy at work, but probably i need more direction. Cos there's no right solution at the moment, but yet i'm not a decision maker in the system. I can only propose, but everything is KIV. So there's a dilemma between researching for more possible solutions (but might not be correct, and less in-depth understanding) or focusing on 1 solution, which might not be correct also, but at least we'll know why is it right/wrong and can probably correct it as we go along.

Oh well, it's all cryptic as i cannot divulge any secrets!

The current NBA season is exciting. The rookies are all impressive, like last year's and the trades are promising. Now there's quite a few legit contenders and hopefully nobody gets injured and we'll be able to see some good finals action.

One think i still do not get: Why is Manu Ginobili coming off the bench?

Okie i think tt's enough bullcrap for a day. Bye

2009-10-10T01:18:00.001+08:00

We need to learn this shit.

2009-09-23T23:25:00.002+08:00

I dun really have the urge to blog nowadays cos usually i'll take ~ 1 hour to write something perhaps. And i've got only like 4-5 hrs after work, which half of it will be used to do mandatory stuff like eat, bathe, brush teeth, talk to the gf etc. Stuff to keep my life in order. And the other half is me time, which is abt 2-3 hours? And 1 hr is usually for working out. That leaves abt 1-2 hrs. I think blogging can wait.

But today's a special case. Cos lately i've been seeing quite a number of articles/commentary on buying houses in SG. I seriously think the situation now is quite ridiculous. Just imagine: I'm drawing half of my dad's salary, possibly buying a house that will most likely be smaller than my dad's, and paying twice the amount. And this problem is further compounded by the following issues:

- I have to stay sufficiently near my parents cos my Mom is a needy woman and she's very afraid that no one will take care of her next time.
- Which means i have to buy somewhere close to Jurong, a mature estate. Which means a resale flat (expensive and yet not a NEW flat)
- But i'd buy a new flat cos it's cheaper. And NEW.
- But u don't get new flats in Jurong. It's all in the northeast. Which is far.
- It doesn't help that even if i wanted to buy a new flat, i'd have to vie with ~1000 people for 100 units. That's 10% chance in statistics terms.
- Even if i got lucky and was selected, doesn't mean i'll be the first person to choose from the 100 units. Which means i might not get my desired unit and floor (i don't want to live in 1st floor for obvious reasons)
- And that's only if i really want to live in the NE.
- And that's only considering my own opinion. I have my wife-to-be opinions to consider as well.

I guess ultimately there isnt much choice, and not much planning can be done too. It really depends on what the situation is at that moment in time, and whether i will be financially ready to capitalise on it. Which is why i'm trying my very best to save as much as money as possible, while still maintaining some sense of normality.

"Higher standard of living mah" - Chao

I dun get why i'm eating veg rice everyday.

2009-08-19T23:14:00.000+08:00

Just in case anyone is wondering, i've already started work for about a month.

Still trying to adjust to the new lifestyle. Quite mentally tired whenever i get home. Always felt like sleeping at about 9pm, which i'd try to fight it (cos it's just uncool to sleep at 9!) until about 11+ then i'd sleep.

I try to workout everyday. I'm doing yoga here and there as well, from yogajournal.com. They have some nice free videos which are quite easy to follow. Yoga is good. It's different from alot of the things i do usually, which excites the body.

Planning to swim with Raine every weekend too. Good incentive i must say. Can see can workout. Double happiness.

My colleagues cannot understand why i insist on eating from the same veg rice stall every day. And the reason is because it's cheap, near, and all veg rice tastes the same.

To me, hawker centre food falls into 2 simple categories: food that makes u sick, and food that does not make u sick.

I've said it many times but i'll say it again: I havent touched my guitar for quite a while.

OK the missus has called. Bye.

2009-07-11T01:42:00.002+08:00

Thanks Joseph for reminding me to upload my pictures onto Facebook. You guys can go see it already.

Didn't really take alot of pictures with alot of people though. Guess the event is just way too chaotic to find people. Well its good in a way i guess. Keep my circle small.

Did lotsa stupid poses though. Graduation just screams Harry Potter.

Expelliarmus~!

Note: I'm not a fan of Harry Potter, nor have i read any of the books. Maybe this will give me some motivation to read.

2009-07-06T03:39:00.002+08:00

Even though it's kinda late, i just have this strong feeling to record some bits of my life. Somehow deep inside me there's a nagging feeling that this information might be useful later on.

Been playing Shattered Galaxy for the past few weeks, after the Diablo II rush. SG is probably one of the most elegantly designed games i've ever played. Simple game mechanics (basic starcraft knowledge will do), massive character and unit customisation and very well-balanced overall.

Apologies if i havent been responding much online. It's very addictive. And especially more if you have close friends playing too.

Took my ippt yday. For the first time in my life, i got the full score for the test, but it doesnt count as a gold. Yea, stupid SAF standards. And for the first time in 4 years, i ran a sub-10 timing for the 2.4km run. 9:49 to be exact. Just 5 seconds short for a gold. I can say i was quite disappointed, but i didn't start off the run expecting a gold. So it's kinda like mixed feelings. Happy that i sub-10, yet sad that it wasn't a gold. Note that i really didn't train much for the run.

But dun expect me to go back for a re-test. Once a year is enough. It's actually quite pressurising for me to take the test. But at least Maju has kinda upgraded their facilities and made the run indoors too.

With the extra cash, i bought myself some hello panda to snack on. I don't snack at all, so this is a really a special case. I love hello panda. Didn't realise that they have new flavours. Can see that i'm out of touch with the hello panda scene already.

Work in 2 weeks' time. Grad in 4 day's time. All the important stuff in life is coming soon.

It's funny how i still get nightmares about my exams, like forgetting to write my helpsheet, or study for the wrong topic etc etc. I've fucking graduated already, but yet it just doesnt register in my head. I'm still feeling stressed about it for some crazy unknown reason.

Maybe part of me still wants to continue studying. I do enjoy the sheltered feeling. But i guess there's always a time for everything, and now is to work and earn money to move on in life. Settling down is perhaps the number 1 priority now.

Grow up Chang. You're still like a kid.

2009-06-11T03:08:00.002+08:00

Phew, finally finished recording and mixing and sending out my latest song - Rain(e) (click).

Lyrics if anyone needs:
I hate it when it rains
On the days i wanna play
Oh i don't know why
Why it's raining everyday

Coincidentally
My girlfriend's named Raine
And i don't know how
She'll react when i say

Oh i hate you, hate you rain
Could you please go away
Oh i hate you, hate you rain
Could you please go away

Sometimes i would pray
That the rain won't come today
But the skies turned dark
Guess it's raining here again

And then i turned to Raine
"Look, We can't go on our date"
Then her face turned black
Now i'm taking all the blame

Oh i hate you, hate you rain
Could you please go away
Oh i hate you, hate you rain
Could you please go away

You're driving me insane
Oh no
Why can't i stop this pain

I hate it when it rains
On the days i wanna play

I hate it when it rains
On the days i wanna play
It's been quite awhile
And i'm not feeling great

But i still have Raine
She cheers me every way
Like a yellow Sun
Shining brightly everyday

But i still hate you, hate you rain
Could you please go away
And i hate you, hate you rain
Cos you're driving me insane

I hate you rain~
Oh yea~
----------------

Oh yea, i still hate my voice haha. But i guess the higher key this time helps open up the voice alittle bit more, so it doesnt sound as bad as "Tell Me". I also did alittle key shift for the outro, so yea tt's quite oomph eh? Haha. Damn ego now.

"Solos" was conceived while recording. That's pretty much what i came up with when i just whack. The e-rhythm guitars werent there initially, but after some noodling and riffing around, yea i decided to put them in. Kinda kicks the song into overdrive.

All sounds from the Cube 30. Nothing fancy.

Didn't bother to do vocal harmonising this time. I guess i'm just lazy. And tired. It sounds fine as it is now. Simple and clean enough.

I realise i prefer writing songs than engineering songs. Though it's kind of a painful fun when u try to realise the song in your head into reality. Fun but painful at the same time. Especially when i'm doing it by trial and error most of the time.

Anyways this song is a fun play on Shirui's eng name. So yea, dun get angry ok.

It's been almost a year since i produced a new song. So u can roughly imagine how good are the bands in churning out songs and albums on a yearly basis. Which is why i say this music business is really all about whether you have the flair for writing songs or not. And mind you, songs that stick in people's heads. Hard is probably an understatement.

K gonna crash. Gonna have my perfect scrambled eggs for breakfast as a reward tml. Thanks Gordon Ramsey for teaching my duck-handed gf how to cook. :D

(can't get angry at me, cos i recorded the song already. Immunity for 1 week :P:P:P)

2009-06-09T00:32:00.003+08:00

I hurt my left middle finger so i have to shelf my recording plans for the moment. Bummer.

Any left middle finger related activites would have to be put on hold as well.

A certain close friend of mine should read this: How to put up with some idiot telling you a story he clearly just made up.

I'm not being mean. He just needs a nudge in the right direction.

According to a book i just borrowed, a high school basketball player in the states would have to run 2.4km under 8 mins 30 secs to score full marks for his fitness evaluation. That's fucking madness.

Mom changed my ant medicine without me asking for it. That's very sweet of her.

Brad Pitt has a nice ass in Troy. All guys should have tt kind of ass. Girls will die for that kind of ass. I almost lost my girlfriend halfway through the movie. Luckily my ass isn't half-bad.

Caught Game 2 of the finals today. Magic finally managed to make some of their shots. But please tell Skip to not shoot the ball anymore cos everybody knows he's not going to make his threes. Howard still looks really lost on the offensive end, probably cos Gasol is too smart for him. Stop whining and go hard, instead of waiting for cheap foul calls.

But today's game showed that Magic can beat the Lakers, cos even when the Magic was playing sub-par they still had a legitimate chance to win. I really think this series is for the Magic to lose. Its more like they were giving away games to the Lakers.

Kobe's still deadly. Think he will be Finals MVP this time around. He's just too good already.

Supper and movie. See ya guys.

2009-06-05T02:28:00.002+08:00

I learnt a new mnemonic today: Every Acid Dealer Gets Busted Eventually
E A D G B e

And i got mentioned in Johnson's blog too: Click

It's true that i'm quite negative most of the time. I just like to attack the weak points in people's ideas, and see how well they can defend their ideas. To me, it really reveals quite alot about a person. Some people give up quickly, some people don't really put much thought into their words, some just have blind faith, some put up a good verbal fight, some can really articulate and embarass me.

It really doesnt matter whether i win, or whether my opinion holds water. My opinion is just my opinion, it shouldn't have to be your answer. Which is why sometimes i dun really like to give some people my advice, cos some people tend to take it as it is, instead of understanding it and reformulate their own thoughts.

I just try my best to have educated and well researched opinions.

That being said, i do like to teach and impart knowledge. But only to people that really want to learn from me. I hate to waste time on people that are simply not interested. It's like talking to the wall, which i already get from msn where people just MIA halfway through a conversation.

That is why i can't be a teacher, or a tutor. But i guess i can be a guitar teacher, when my skills are up to par.

Almost finished writing the song. Will probably add more instrumentation first, then cut where necessary. I figured that this is the only way to go cos it's quite impossible to add on more midi instrumentation during the recording process. So the only way to go is to add as much junk and cut.

NBA Finals in 6 hours. Woo!

2009-06-04T03:53:00.002+08:00

Been Diabloing for a while. Yea hardcore really keeps you honest.

But enough of that already. No more thinking about quirky builds and wonder if they can take on Hell.

Starting to work abit more on the song for Raine. Adding basslines now. Nothing too fancy as always. Can't say i can come up with very creative basslines. I'm really more of the "keep the most of the chord tones in beat with the kick drum" kinda guy.

Drum works. Guess i can record soon.

Caught Sicko last night. Very sad and scary show. I understand why our country probably can't support universal healthcare, but medisave really isn't that much too. When you dun earn much, ur medisave sucks, u suffer when u are old. Insurance has alot of loopholes which companies will exploit to deny payment. It sucks to know u bought protection that is insufficient. And it's too late to supplement it when you need it.

In case anyone's in need of some nudity late at night, can watch Cashback. Quite a AF (arty-farty) show to justify the naked women.

No idea why i'm just really in the mood for some shit ass funny show, but none of the titles i currently have fall into that category.

Caught Gattaca just now too. Not bad, good plot. Can watch to get a good feel of what would happen if we are able to choose what our traits babies would have. I personally think that it's some sort of natural evolution, that any animal over the course of time will adapt and adopt stronger traits for survival and discard weak traits.

Koyuki started a new band. I'm supposed to go watch their live. It's pop this time, should be fine.

I'm starting a new chin up initiative. Basically, everytime i get out of the house i'll do 10 chin ups. Not very taxing, and i can easily clock up to 40 a day. Of course you can punish yourself by doubling frequency, like one set before u go out to somewhere, and one set when you come back.

Chin ups are good. Good for your pull up jumpers.

Kobe vs Dwight. Who will win? This probably comes down to tactics, cos the only problematic player in Orlando is Dwight. So if LA can get him into foul trouble, then they will have a easy time, with a good end game player like Kobe to finish games.

But from the Houston series u can see LA doesnt have much heart sometimes, and they are kinda weak in the paint too. I mean, Houston didnt have Yao and Mutombo and LA still struggled. So yea.

I dun take sides. I love both teams. They are all good.

Good night. Hope the Sloan's work tml morning. And then i'll get a bottle. :D

2009-05-26T03:02:00.002+08:00

I dun understand why people bother to msn me to make a comment on my lifestyle when they can't even get their own life right.

We should all learn to hate ourselves less.

2009-05-11T06:20:00.003+08:00

Im so thankful that i watched Houston vs LA game 4. Shane Battier reaffirmed the reason why i admire him so so much.

2 Charges and 1 only one foul. That's very good defensive discipline. And add 5 threes to that. Even Chao's convinced now.

Not to take anything away from Kobe. I still think he's the best player in the NBA. I mean with this kind of "hand-in-your-face-when-you-shoot" defense and you can still make shot after shot. That pretty much says how good you are.

But the rest of the Lakers have to step up some how. They seem to be sleeping throughout.

I'd say Cavs will sweep the Hawks, and the Celtics seem to be very shaky this playoffs, so i'd go with Orlando. Unless Ray Allen becomes the saviour again. But he can only save so many games.

Nuggets will eat Mavs eventually from the way Denver plays. I'll probably go with LA for the western finals cos Houston is just riding on some luck and huge amount of effort. But lose 2 of your big 3, and Artest is going abit zany tossing up so many bad shots. Houston just doesnt have a game winner player like Kobe.

Ok it's very early. I have no idea what i'm typing already. Bye.

2009-05-07T02:07:00.002+08:00

According to Raine, yesterday was technically the "last day of study-life". And today is the first day of the holidays. No wonder it felt weird yesterday, and it feels so much better today.

Regarding the fuckup, yea it's been solved. It's not much of a fuckup after all. It's snooking all over instead. Snooked by friends, snooked by the paper. Snook myself too. Haiz. Why like that?

I might seem infallible most of the time, but as i say, fuckups do happen. And the fact tt i do feel that i know all of my stuff most of the time makes the fuckups even more fuckup than before. So let's just hope there will be no more fuckups anymore. Truce for the holidays,

On live performances, i really think that the whole band shld sing and try to harmonise as well, cos it will make the performances sound less hollow. Especially when the music nowadays is mixed with so many instruments and vocal layers, just having guitars alone and the singer will not do. Unless, the guitarist has tons of delays, which makes the sound denser. But it's harder to work around the vocals. Just harmonise.

I do feel that alot of people want my time and attention this holidays, but i'm probably not gonna give it to them until the point where i feel completely bored. Cos i do feel that i have better stuff to do. So dun bother me aight? Lemme be my homeboy.

Thinking of flaccing my entire music collection. It's probably abt 30% done now, but its hard to get flac for the lesser popular bands etc, and flaccers dun really do compilations or greatest hits for some weird reason. I'm a big fan of greatest hits la, cos i do feel that there's always quite a big load of filler songs in a normal album.

One thing i dun quite get is that, why can't they do a greatest hit album right every single time? Just throw the best hits together and if there's an overflow, just fill it up with the filler like in a normal album la. Or maybe add some commentary track as the final track and there u have it. When u cut one of the greatest hit, it's not a greatest hit album la. Like Eagles greatests hits with no hotel california unplugged. It's just wrong. So wrong.

And so irritating.

I agree that decluttering/re-arranging your room has such therapeutic benefits. It just feels like living in a new place (to some extent), and keeps ur mind alert cos now u have to get used to the new layout or the lack of things now. Shall make a mental note to declutter as often as i can.

Ok cool night to end off this post. Bye.

2009-05-05T23:43:00.002+08:00

Ok end of study life. Not very exciting as of yet. The reality hasnt sink in. I still feel like there's still more studying to come. I still feel that i cannot dumb down.

The truth is, i'd like to coast through the mundane stuff. Like minimal effort for work and study, using the income to fund whatever i'd like to do (being a rockstar etc).

Just had a major fuckup. So major that i should probably not talk too much about. Just hope that i can solve it.

Right now i just want to finish watching all the movies i have acquired. And complete Heroes 5.

And hope that my holidays dun fuck up. Just lemme coast. Nothing spectacular please.

2009-05-04T00:26:00.002+08:00

I find this song very meaningful, especially because i've served NS before. Just somewhat evoked some strong emotion in me, though i couldn't tell exactly what the feeling is.

Good song. Melodic. Catchy. Good chorus. Something Johnson wouldn't and shouldn't like. XD.

I thought they could have built up to a stronger climax towards the ends though. Then again, i'm not Rise Against. Who am i to judge?

I should be studying harder, but i'm really feeling very lazy. Tml is the last day of studying. Hope i can maximise it.

Finished "The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac". Just a quirky inside view of some NBA stars. Informative but yet at the same time completely useless information haha. I particularly like the "style guide" section. Kinda gives an inside look of how the players actually play. It's like split second chess. I probably don't think so much when i ball. Maybe that's why i'm still not good enough.

Speaking of which, it's time to work on the handles this holiday. I must get rid of the funny feeling when ppl play pressurising zone defense on me. Cos it's like not 1v1 (which i can do lotsa funny stuff to beat my man). Zone is kinda funnier cos they are like marking and yet not marking me. And it's most irritating when they decide to trap. Gah. I hate traps.

On traps. The easiest way to stop a fast break is to send 1 guy to trap the rebounder. Cut the outlet pass and the rest of ur team would have more time to run back. Really. Every second of delay helps.

Working on a new version of Strained. Gonna be alittle Metallica-ish. Think Whiskey in the Jar? Yea somewhat like tt. Then again i should get Phaedre's approval. She's the foremost authority on Strained.

Alright guess tt's the update for now. Take care peeps. Dun let the pigs get you.

2009-04-23T01:32:00.003+08:00

Been playing Heroes 5. 6 hours for one stupid mission. I think i have to stop playing it for a while.

Totally unnecessary waste of time just trying to get ur hero from one place to another. They should let the hero walk faster when he levels up. And probably some other mechanic to get troops to ur hero so that he wouldnt have to walk across the whole map back to town to collect more troops.

I want to start watching movies daily and clear them off my com. It's getting irritating to see them just sitting there untouched. I dun really appreciate the amount of dead space they are taking up.

Dead space. Haha pun.

Ya i would prefer to have a hot but not pretty wife than a pretty but unsexy wife. Figure matters more in my opinion.

It's better to know exactly what you want than to know that you just want something different.

This NBA playoffs are full of upsets and sweeps.

I highly doubt Apple products are idiot proof cos i have a idiot of a friend in Sherwin and he clearly has no clue to how to work his new iPod at all. And i think he's giving up on it soon cos i'm refusing to help him.

The weather is fucking hot. And it rained for like 10 mins just now. Cmon it can be cooler. But dun rain when i wanna play ball. Please.

Think my ball is going to chui already. Showing signs of the "leather-loss" and since the first day i got it it's already out of shape. Pissing me off when i wanna dribble it. Always check the ball for lumps and etc before you buy it. And do not ask for a new deflated one! And do not deflate the ball hoping that it will reduce the size for easy gifting. Your giftee will hate you.

I'm a nice brother. It took me 5 months to voice out my displeasure for a very failed Christmas present. I will play it till the day the ball cannot last anymore. Promise.

If i can dribble a fucked up ball, imagine what i can do with a good one. ^^

2009-04-12T00:48:00.003+08:00

After today's meal at Cugini, i realise i'll never be a person that will enjoy fine dining.

How much would you pay for a wonton/dumpling? 20 cents? 50 cents?

I paid 5 dollars for one. $25 for 5 in fact.

To be honest i really didn't know that ravioli is actually italian dumplings. And that "high class" dumplings actually cost $5 each. I put brackets because the place wasn't really atas. You have to sell food that is more expensive if u wanna be atas. Jack's place and Fish n Co sell food at around the same price range. And they are not atas at all.

But at least Cugini served distilled water.

And i cannot appreciate distilled water either. It has no minerals.

And that cost $6 per litre (through eyeballing). Tap water is close to free.

Dumplings are dumplings. Which country they come from doesn't matter. They taste more or less the same, given the same sauce. And tap water is as good as distilled water, just that distilled water is very useful for chemistry experiments. Nothing else.

I never knew dumplings could give me such a stunning revelation in life. I shall now try not to eat in a atas establishment, cos it's a completely waste of time and money, which could used to spend on more material goods. Good food requires good money i agree, but dumplings should never be more than 50 cents.

Now i really think being atas is bullshit. If you are atas, you are bullshit.

But i must say fine dining is the perfect way to lose weight. U really eat a whole lots less than usual (like 5 dumplings, cut the carbs!), you drink perfectly clean distilled water, and the cost of it all keeps u poor enough to not afford anymore food. Less input, same output = weight loss. No wonder all the atas people look so good. They eat atas food to stay in shape.

Dumplings are good for you.

2009-04-11T02:58:00.002+08:00

This is currently my favourite song of the moment, one of the rare few songs that i bother with the lyrics:

I think the chorus is very well written:
What hurts the most
Was being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was tryin’ to do

I also like the fact that it's kinda cross-over between RnB and country. The mandolin the background just gets to me.

Speaking of songs, I'm working on something new. Easy listening feel good song as Johnson aptly described. Kinda funny in a way as it's poking fun at someone. Simply put, when it rains so bad, stupid ideas get into Chang's head.

Don't know why, but i like to write simpler songs lately. Guess age is getting to me.

Gotta have to make lotsa life decisions soon. House, money, wedding. Everything is plans plans plans. To be frank, i don't really have a concrete plan. I've yet started work, and i don't really have a good feel of money. How much is enough, how much is not enough. Finding out is one thing, knowing that i would actually be willing to spend that amount is another issue. Just have to take it as it comes.

Never knew there's so many sides to consider. But we'll work out it in the end right? :)

I'm loving my new pair of SS2G bball sneakers. Definitely comfy-er than the old one, no blisters yet, and feels just as lightweight. All for just 5 dollars more. Worthy "upgrade". I'm using the old pair as my room training shoe as i realised tt working out barefeet in the house will cause lotsa problems like slipping and random blisters on the soles. Yea you don't wanna know what i exercises i'm doing. Tough stuff.

Starting on a new shooting routine. I used to make like a 100 threes and a 100 twos like randomly all over the place, then i decided that it's too random and doesn't focus the shot, so i chose like 5 spots (baseline, wing, key) and make 20 from each spot. Now instead of that, i decide to make like 4 consecutive threes, and 6 consecutive twos from each spot, similar to what i was doing for free throws ( i make at least 10 consec). It's kinda tougher, cos it adds more pressure, and eliminates the random bullshit shots that just happen to go in. You actually have to make each shot count now. Twos are still ok, cos i'm already quite good with that (abt 70%?) but i'm struggling with threes. Yea hitting the three pointer slump again. I'll just have to work on it more. It just kinda sucks when the sky looks like it's going to rain on you, so u have to rush and try to finish it, and yet when u rush u miss. Gah.

The playoffs this year is very interesting. The East especially. I think the top seeds will be happy to play the Bulls and Sixers and try to avoid the Pistons. Never know when Rasheed will wake up and take over. I'd take Cleveland and Boston for the eastern finals, Lakers and probably Houston for western finals. But then again T-Mac has never made it past the first round, and now he's kinda out, maybe they have a chance.

Ok lost my train of thoughts. Bye

2009-03-31T00:55:00.002+08:00

I handed in my FYP last week. So that's like a major win already. Just when i thought that i could finally wash my hands off this project, Jimmy (the medical professor that was collaborating with me) emailed to say that my project abstract was accepted for some medical convention. Which means i had to get involved again.

The main reason i'm holding back is because during my presentation my project was like totally shot down by the examiner. And he really had very valid points and pointed out some fundamental flaws in my work, as well as the work that i'm referencing. So essentially, when a full prof says ur work is bullshit, it should be bullshit. But nice try anyways.

So i don't quite get where this is going. Essentially some judging panel thinks that bullshit is good enough to warrant a poster presentation in the convention. So that makes the panel bullshit too. Shit is swirling around man.

I got a set of ankle weights to umm, help increase the intensity of my workouts. I tried to run with it, but realised that it's very very bad for your knees. Ya interesting right, most people would think it will affect the ankles. But no, trust me, it will kill the knees cos u will tend to land differently with the weights on and ur knees will be unable to get used to it. To circumvent this problem, i would recommend that the weights be tied around the wrists or arms and run. It's much better. When it comes to this aspect of working out, girls got it right. Bring ur small pink dumb bells to run. It works wonders. And u can throw it at thugs when they try something funny. 1 kg on the balls is no joke.

Some exercise u can work with using ankle weights. Shin exercises!

Something to think about when u are shooting.

This is precisely the point why the other countries are playing at such a high level, whereas Singapore sports in general will never make it far. You need the correct instruction from a very young age. That's why we only made it in ping pong, cos the china-born players already knew the hot tips in ping pong since a very young age. They are just working on fine-tuning these seemingly unimportant bits in their game.

Everything is important, you are just as strong as your weakest link.

Caught Burn After Reading. Essentially it's a waste of time, cos the movie plot's essence is about a pointless, waste of time CIA case that has no meaning and totally confuses the characters. So yea, dun watch unless you are very free.

On the other hand, Good Luck Chuck is a perfectly fine movie to catch! Jessica Alba is one reason, lotsa boobs another. What's not to love? The story is typical love story, so it's good for couples too. There's penguins for the kids too. Wholesome family movie for everybody. Sans boobs.

I realise i dun quite embrace the concept of rest. I dun sleep enough. I like to sleep late but i dun like to wake up late, so technically tt's abt 6-7 hrs of rest. Like weekends Shirui comes over early (cos she is a normal human being) and i would have to wake up early, thus missing more sleep. I like to workout, so much so that i feel uncomfortable if i dun workout for a day. And that's not good either.

Rest is important. I should rest more to keep my body in top shape.

2009-03-23T03:46:00.002+08:00

This could be the hardest game ever. Impossible shit.

Like andy put it:
"If you think life is hard, think of mushihimesama. If you think mushihimesama is hard, think of Chuck Norris' roundhouse kick"

Finished my universe term paper. Finally done with my FYP. It's almost the end.

Hooray.

Btw Botak Jones black pepper chicken is promisingly good. I can't wait to try it.

And please no more caesars' already. If want caesars, no slaw.

Good night. I have a bumpy girlfriend who knocks into me a million times a day. I hope i dun die before 30.

:D

2009-03-22T00:45:00.002+08:00

My mouthguard saved my teeth yday. I probably looked pretty retarded when wearing it, but i don't have to look cool when i play basketball. Just D up and get the job done.

More flac acquired. And i finally finished incorporating all the Dream Theater flac into my collection. Getting Dragonforce flac now. Should be pretty awesome, considering how messed up they sound.

Kid plays a very imba version of "Get Out Of My Yard" by Paul Gilbert. If I'm not mistaken, it was originally written this way by PG, but he deemed it too troublesome to play it so complicatedly so he came up with the human capo idea for most performance purposes. Kid just pretty much nails the original version perfectly...live.

Slow night. Dun really feel sleepy but there's nothing to do. Suppering is kinda taxing on the wallet as well. And my reader is empty. Gah. I'm having information withdrawal symptoms.

Oh well. Night.

2009-03-16T03:02:00.002+08:00

Apologies if anyone is actively following this blog, but i've been feeling extremely lazy lately. Yea, everything is quite last minute this sem, and i'm not very proud to say something like this. And my insistence to start my day after class has forced me to sleep very late, so that i can just wake up and go for my afternoon class straight, and then start my day. If i had morning classes then i'd probably have a more normal life.

I realise blogging is the only avenue which i can tell Shirui all the things that I would like her to know but that she would probably not be interested at all because it's A) not her interest, B) too technical or C) pure crap. But either ways, this is like the rest of the unsaid junk.

Maybe she actually wants to know some stuff, but due to that i can't explain very well via spoken words so at least i have the chance to sit down and think over how i can explain it properly, and she can reread at her own pace if she fails to understand anything.

I've been "digitally acquiring" lotsa FLAC (free lossless audio codec) music lately. For the uninformed, FLAC is lossless, so it's equivalent to CD quality. But CDs in digital form occupies lotsa space, so it has to be ripped into mp3s. And its only meaningful if u rip mp3s from CDs, cos garbage in = garbage out.

And i've realised that it's only meaningful if u rip into VBR (variable bitrate), because constant bitrates like 192kbps means that you will overconvert on parts of the song that doesnt require such a high bitrate (=waste disk space) and you will underconvert on parts of the song that require a higher bitrate (= loss of audio quality). So only VBR will account for such variations, and we shld all rip into VBR, even though it sounds very scary.

And after much research, here's how to do it in a simple and painless way:
1) download ur FLAC via.... Bukit Timah.
2) Convert ur FLAC files into wav files using FLAC Frontend (google)
3) Convert ur wav files into VBR MP3 using Lame Frontend (google)
4) Enjoy high quality music

In the rare event that the FLAC is actually one giant single CD instead of separate songs:
1) Download and convert into wav as usual
2) Split wav using Exact Audio Copy (google)
3) Enjoy high quality music

The main reason im doing all this is because i've been listening to more metal music lately, and some of it really sound too mashed up. I can't hear the guitars, i can't hear the bass, i can't hear anything clearly. Of course this is partly due to the fuckedupness of the music i listen to, but i'd still like some clarity amidst the mess. So yea, FLAC to the rescue.

I'm starting to touch alittle bit of guitar partly due to this song:

The intro riff caught my ear the first time i heard it from andy's phone. And it's very challenging to play on the guitar as well due to the arpeggios. I wonder how someone can write such a lick, cos it's really weird to play, and the notes are all over the place on the fretboard. Unless it came from the keyboards, which is then translated to the guitar, but i doubt so. So moral of the story, the guitarist from Nightwish is very zai.

I have a nagging deltoid strain, and probably some tendonitis in my left heel. Both will probably go away with sufficient rest, but i just can't stop working out. I really love the feeling of my feet inside the ice tub after every intense game, but my mom keeps nagging at me and says that i will get rheumatism. I mean, if Ray Allen does it after every game, i should be fine right?

This is the reason why Jordan is the greatest player ever:

It's scary to play against such defenses. It's like playing against 5 YWs. And that's not a compliment to you YW. You injure people and you don't care. That's very fucked up.

Ok gotta go. Presentation's tml. Wish me luck

2009-02-20T03:11:00.002+08:00

Chang's not so handy tips on housewarming gift buying:

1. If you feel really generous (highly unlikely in the current economic downturn), call the hosts and ask what they would like to add to their house.

2. Since most people would not feel very generous, they would like to buy something else that's alittle cheaper. Avoid buying any decorative items, as people usually dislike disruptions to their very ATAS home decor. Your cheapskate decoration will just be a complete eyesore and thus relegated to the storeroom or probably recycled as a gift back to you.

3. Avoid buying any appliances, as some people strictly prefer certain brands or certain particular functions to said appliances. Like for example, if i would want a rice cooker, it has to be small and cute and round-ish looking. So appliances are bad, unless u ask beforehand, which would lead u back to #1, which you probably aren't generous enough for, cos it's just a housewarming.

4. Avoid bringing food, cos it might be so nice that nobody will eat the catered food by the host. Then it will make the host feel bad and even worse if said catered food was actually prepared by the host. So dun bring food, unless u make sure it doesnt clash with the host's food, and it can feed sufficient people. You don't want people to fight/bitch over your honey-glazed chicken wings.

5. Avoid red packets. Lacks sincerity. Singaporeans care alot about superficial sincerity, like they would like to know you are sincere in actions, though you might not be sincere in heart. Yes it just works that way. It's fake smiles everywhere, but nonetheless, no red packets, unless there's alot alot of money in it. Which you might as well just go back to #1 since you are so generous.

6. Bring wine. This is actually a very safe choice. Cos everybody likes to drink wine, it just makes people feel alittle bit more high-class, alittle bit more important. Like finally they're in high society, or whatever. Most people will likely bring wine, but it's ok. You can buy a cheap one and hide amidst the expensive ones. No one will know. No one can tell the difference in their little plastic cups. Not that they can tell the difference in some $500 crystal glassware.

Which now leads us to... Chang's not so handy guide to wine-buying:

1. Price matters. The taste of the wine is positively correlated to its price. The more expensive it is, the better it will taste. The increase in taste however, has diminishing returns. A $30 wine will probably taste like $10 more than a $20 one. A $40 wine will however taste like $8 better than the $30 one. So do ur math. Determine ur budget and buy the most expensive wine for your budget.

2. Grapes doesn't matter. 99% of the people you meet cannot tell the difference between the grapes that they eat. They can only tell between red and white wine. And nowadays the vineyards tend to mix grapes, so it really doesn't matter if u buy a merlot or cabernet sauvignon. Just choose the name that you like, or whichever that sounds the most ATAS to u. That's the most important part, cos...

3. You have to feel confident about your purchase! Once you are absolutely satisfied with ur $50 merlot, it will definitely taste good. And we all know how much you've actually forked out ($50, which is a steal for a good tasting wine), so it's gonna be a much more pleasant wine experience than if you were not confident about your $50 wine. So, give it some faith :)

-----------

If you read the above bull-crap, you will realise that it applies to alot of other aspects in life. No kidding.

Finally visited my dentist again. Gave me 2 good thick wires, so much so that my teeth hurts like i've just put on braces. Pain is good, cos it indicates teeth movement. People who tell you that wearing braces doesn't hurt probably are progressing very slowly. It hurts.

I'm now listening to some Astrud Gilberto as I blog. Bossa nova, very loungy and forgettable. Unless it's some typical jazz standards like Fly Me To The Moon. Seems like every self-respectable jazz/bossa artiste must do a FMTTM recording. Cliche, but nice everytime. This is an example of a very very good song.

I'm actually getting very bored with the stuff i'm listening lately, as such i've reverted to my trusty Avantasia albums. Symphonic power metal never gets old somehow, but seriously speaking, there's only a few albums that i don't mind listening to over and over again:

Avantasia - The Metal Opera 1 & 2
Dream Theater - Scenes from a Memory + Live Scenes from NY
U2 - Go Home: Live in Slane
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Live in Slane Castle
and of course
Chang - Confessions of a Bedroom Rockstar (HAHAHAHAHA)

I tried to listen to Within Temptation again today, and surprisingly it sounded better than the last memory i had of it. Probably it's due to the fact that now i know WT has a very hot lead singer, which leads me to wonder if the female singers for the other metal singers are equally as hot and kickass. Probably not. It's really a rare find somewhat haha.

One legged supine bridge on swiss ball is killer. It's way harder than the video looks.

My celtics jersey seem to make me shoot better today. Less tired as well. I feel Ray Allen in me.

I want to share a very nice article on one of my favourite basketball players: Shane Battier (link). I love the entire philosophy on how he approaches the game, how he uses statistics to make better decisions on guarding, how certain things are uncontrollable in game, and certain things are definitely controllable in game.

You cannot be 100% sure that the ball will go in, but you can be 100% sure that you are taking your highest percentage shot (and you can work at it to increase the %). You cannot be 100% sure that you can prevent your mark from scoring, but you can make sure that he takes his least accurate shot at the worst possible angle/position. Alot of people dun understand this idea, but the way i approach the game is similar and i feel somewhat "vindicated" by this article haha. At least someone else understands.

There are things u can't control, there are things u can control. Control those u can as best as u can, and hope for the best for those you cannot. Isn't it similar to life?

Ok I've finished the Astrud Gilberto album. Not memorable. Every song sounds too same-y. But relaxing nonetheless. It will be "if i need to relax, just pop Astrud Gilberto". I can't tell you for sure which song is nice. Probably FMTTM.

Good night.

2009-02-08T23:29:00.002+08:00

So my job search has ended. Thanks to everyone who helped and supported in some way. I must say it's quite a smooth process for me, or maybe it's the people at the company who are really efficient in processing my application.

Nonetheless, i hope it will be a satisfying job where i dun have to do so much OT, so that i can get more time to spend with my family.

With a job, comes the need to buy a house, or we will break the hdb income ceiling soon. I really dun think i can afford a condo.

With a job, comes prospective income. Prospective income leads to impulse buys, which is a pretty sweet Celtics training singlet. It screams Ray Allen all over for some arcane reasons.

Now i can re-focus on my FYP again, though all i really have to do is to clean up the language. Hopefully i can kickstart my engine soon. I'm getting kinda nua lately.

Hmm, ok dun really know what to say anymore. Happy New Year.

2009-02-02T23:45:00.002+08:00

Ji Qing gave me some typical interview questions today to help me prepare me for my interview on Thursday. In a way, the questions felt kinda reflective, and somehow i haven't really given them much thought all my life.

So i shall try to tackle some of them now:

Qn: What makes me a good leader?

I feel that i'm blessed with good decision making and quick thinking skills that allow me to handle most situations in an appropriate manner. Also, i do feel that i have a way with people, probably due to my charm or persuasive-ness. People tend to listen to what i have to say, and value my opinions to a certain extent. I have a relatively high degree of proficiency or knowledge in most things that i do, which helps when i need to convince people on something.

A good leader is able to direct and orchestrate people to achieve goals. I think i can do that pretty well.

Qn: What makes me a good team player?

The more i grow older, the more i realise that there are alot more people out there who are better than me. Some people are really specialised, they can do something really well. I'm more like a jack of all trades, i can do most things pretty decently.

This team player concept cruelly hit me when i played for the NUS IVP basketball team. It's where all the seniors are way way better than me. Taller, higher, faster, stronger, more accurate etc. It's probably not possible for me to surpass their level within the season. So i learnt that i cannot be the "superstar" of the team anymore (used to be for NJC). So i gave up the ball, i set picks for our "superstar", i draw my defender away so that the superstar has more space to drive and work his magic.

I became the glue guy and slowly i relished this role of silent contribution. I realised that the process usually doesn't matter. What really matters is the final outcome/goal.

Qn: How can you be a team leader and a team player at once?

Nowadays, i prefer a more hands off approach to things. Let things run its course naturally and hope that everybody play their part and things move well. I will probably try to nudge the team along the way to prevent anybody from going off course, and if necessary take over control.

Qn: What is your greatest strength?

I would say it's my passion and dedication in the things i do. I like to give it all or none at all. To me the purpose in doing anything is to put in maximum effort, or else what for even start.

Qn: What is your greatest weakness?

(interview answer) I tend to get burn outs due to overworking. Burn outs do not feel very good.

(real answer) I formulate my own opinions based on my own observations on the things around me, and sometimes i admit that i can get very narrow-minded. But actually i'm very open minded at heart, really. I dun mind you smoking, i just feel it's very very stupid.

Qn: What qualities you have that can allow you to do well?

Shirui got it right this time. I'm very logical, efficiency-oriented and goal-oriented. I will always try to find the fastest and easiest solution to solve a problem. I've recently learnt Occam's razor and i find it very applicable in what i do. If there are 2 solutions, the fastest and easiest solution should be the better one.

Qn: What do i hope to achieve in my job?

Basically a stable income, so that i can get married, and a career is intellectually stimulating enough to keep me interested.

----

I hope these are good answers. The icky thing about interviews is that you do have to "lie" somehow. Sometimes it's not good to be too honest. Honest = show hand/All in. That's a very risky situation to be in.

2009-01-30T00:57:00.002+08:00

I've just realised that watching Ponyo on the Cliff can potentially turn one back into a 5 yr old.

No kidding.

Hey tt's a pun.

8 years have passed. Time really flies.

But you are still as adorable as the first day i really knew you.

Keep up the good work! (^^)/(._.)

Happy Anniversary.

2009-01-19T01:44:00.002+08:00

So school has started for a week. Since i'm not taking any cores this sem, i dun really see any familiar faces in class. Which is still fine i guess. The only problem is that there's group projects to be done. But somehow i managed to hook up with some pple tt i hope should be able to get me by (i'm intending to cruise this sem, but we'll see how. )

Taking 2 GEMs this sem, and it's kinda distracting to see SO MANY hot girls streaming into the lecture hall. Seems like i've been missing out for the past few sems. Stupid Chang. Shouldn't have taken so many stats mods as UEs.

My FYP presentation should be fine i guess. But somehow i had a major blooper which hopefully no one will find out. Only wm and sr knows, so i guess it's ok heh. Somehow during this presentation i realise that i like to present stuff that i'm very very familiar with. I dun like presentations, but when it comes to stuff that i'm good at, i like to go all out.

Moral of the story: I should work in some field that i'm really good at.

Question: What am i really good at?

I dun really know the answer yet. I feel that i'm still quite a jack of all trades. I dabble abit into everything, with sufficient skill and knowledge to impress most people. But i'm not really good at anything, so much so that there's this swagger and confidence tt comes with the ability. I'm only good enough to hold my own in most situations, but i've encountered some where i'm like totally destroyed. Yea, accidents do happen.

So essentially it still boils down to finding one's strength. And maximising it. And find a job tt amplifies this strength of one.

I always feel that you can never find a job that you will love. Work is always work. You'll never say "i play from 9 to 5". It doesnt happen. What makes a job "fun" is because u are good at it. Thus it's easy to perform whatever that's required. But humans are always humans. They want challenges, but not too challenging ones. That's why they keep thinking of changing jobs.

But i say, whatever pays the most amount of money per hour spent is the best job. And that's why most govt jobs are the best. They never take an additional hour from you, and they have good pay and benefits. So it's like most amount of money per hour + intangibles. Nice

I'm really thinking of going to some stat board and be some phony statistical consultant. It works. Half the world doesnt know statistics. The other half knows statistics, but doesn't understand its implications. The whole world thinks they can manipulate and predict numbers. They are so wrong...... it's only 95% of the time!

I feel so powerful right now.

I should start job hunting soon, or the Amazon living 3 bus-stops from me will start hunting me.

2009-01-13T02:21:00.002+08:00

I've been wanting to post this for quite sometime, but i've only got time today. So here goes:

Chang's take on what makes a good song good?

The main gist of it all? Catchiness.

Now here we do not merely define catchiness/catchy-ness as in the general pop context. Catchiness means different things to different pple. And it's especially a big issue when it comes to musicians.

So how can a song be catchy?

1. Punchline chorus. Typical of most pop songs. 1 very good phrase tt keeps repeating in the song to reinforce it into your brain.

OneRepublic - Stop and Stare

Dream Theatre - I Walk Beside You

2. Good Lyrics. Different from punchline chorus. Good lyrics catches your attention right from the get go. Easy on the ears, no big words. I usually can't figure out the lyrics of any song on the first listen. But if i can, the lyrics are good!

Corrinne May - Angel In Disguise

Paul Gilbert - I Like Rock

3. Catchy riffs. Generally better than good lyrics cos usually the music starts first. If the riffs catches the attention, the lyrics really doesnt matter anymore. This tends to be the domain of metal bands though.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Can't Stop

Hammerfall - Fury of the Wild

I still have no idea what they are singing.

4. Catchy groove. Differs from riffs abit. This is about the overall rhythmic feel of the song. You'll remember good riffs, but grooves is more vague. You just know this song is dancy or headbangy or whatever.. groovy. ok somehow morcheeba's shallow end is not available on youtube. Note generally most good songs HAVE good groove.

Rammstein - Links 2 3 4

Jamiroquai - Little L (Cant embed the studio version)

Paul Gilbert (again) - Boku No Atama

Larry Carlton - Room 335 (song starts from 0:53)

5. Memorable Solos. Yea, not every solo is memorable. It takes one good solo to define the song.

Dream Theater - Through Her Eyes (my all time favourite solo, starts at 3:43)

Guns N Roses - Sweet Child O Mine (This song has everything la)

In essence, every recording band/artiste has technical ability, cos they are professionals. What makes a song sell is purely on how it's written, whether it has sufficient hooks to grab attention. It's like writing a book or movie. Nobody wants to read a boring book or watch a boring movie, no matter how full of "subtance" it might have. You still have to keep your audience interested.

Tired. Rant over. :D

2009-01-07T23:45:00.002+08:00

OK, so i kinda MIA-ed for a while. Was basically so-called "very busy" with my FYP. Yea quite alittle bit of ups and downs with regards to the project progress, but ultimately when i showed LJL and Jimmy, they were both pretty pleased with my work. So that's kinda nice. And now there's more substance in my project, so i feel safer too. And today i'm sorta done writing the report, so tt's one burden down.

And then we have the project progress presentation on wed. Which i havent touched yet. Nice.

Sorry for making someone the FYP widow. I must say it's a clever term to describe the situation.

Some guys tend to be very passionate about their work/interest. Some girls like such passionate guys, because they think that the guy's passion for work/interest will probably translate to passion for the girl. That's why it's good to have a hobby or something that u are relatively good at it. Just to nail this kind of girls. ^^

Haven't seen my bro for a while, so he came back today and that's kinda nice. Stole quite abit of music and movies from me, so i gotta get some from him when i go over. Remind me to bring my iPod. And the iPod cable.

I wanna catch Marley & Me, Ponyo on the Cliff, and Red Cliff 2. But i think they'll have to wait after the presentation.

Module bidding is kinda insane this sem. As i've mentioned before, the longer u study in NUS, the less options for solid modules u have. Which equates to more fucked up timetables, and more bid points for modules u desperately want to get. I'm surprised to pull off a 2 day week last sem. But no more :( :(

Air Alert. I'm working on it. Step ups are the killer.

This holiday feels kinda long. Cos everyday i wake up and i face my FYP stuff. Time doesnt feel that wasted when u know u've used it for something "purposeful". Like FYP. I dun really curse and swear at it cos so far it's been relatively "fun". Except for the dreadful integration which LJL suddenly threw at me. I trumped it in the end. Which is nice.

I realised i can just coast next sem and still graduate decently. Nice.

2008-12-19T14:22:00.002+08:00

Apparently Avantasia has a new album!

And apparently Avantasia is not the only epic metal opera supergroup around! There is this other "rival" supergroup called Ayreon, which supposedly writes equally epic stuff.

Thinking of trying out Songbird. They say it's the iTunes killer. But somehow i just like iTunes the way it is, though it has the annoying habit of hanging whenever a song has some parts with complete silence (think those hidden bonus tracks bullshit). But Songbird has this lyrics plugin to grab lyrics for whatever song u are listening right now, which is quite cool. (Apparently alot of music players have this, but not iTunes for windows).

Thinking of trying this program called Quick Media Converter too. Primarily i just wanna see if it can convert FLAC to mp3, or maybe FLAC to wave first then mp3 via iTunes. Cos FLAC is lossless, then when i convert heavy metal stuff to VBR mp3 it will have more clarity imo. But if i convert from 320kbps to vbr, some quality will be lost. When it comes to metal stuff, more clarity is good, cos stuff like Avantasia is so heavily layered that you wouldn't wanna lose anything.

When it comes to food, i usually succumb to peer pressure. When i see all of my friends eat, i get tempted to eat something too. Yea, i'm kinda constantly hungry. But that makes me poor as well. It's a dilemma in life. I can imagine when i start work, i'll just blow all my dough on food.

Caught a funny/weird/gory movie called Teeth yday with Andy and SS. Teeth is a show about this girl who has this amazing vagina with teeth that literally bites dicks off. Ya tt's the funny part. The weird part is the vagina which they thankfully didn't show in the end which might possibly traumatise me for life. And the gory part is the bitten off dicks which they did show and thankfully didn't traumatise me.

And the funny thing is Teeth got nominated for Sundance fest. Cute. Vagina Dentata.

I promise not to fuck around.

2008-12-18T12:23:00.002+08:00

This is interesting... from Mind Your Body today:

Excerpt:

In a psychology experiment...when men got a rotten gift that was supposedly from their long-term girlfriend...they were more likely to decide the girlfriend was very different from them. They were also more pessimistic about their chances of staying together and getting married.

However, women who got gifts they didn't fancy reacted in the opposite way...

If your significant other can't figure out where you ship, there's probably a lot more missing.

Men react to this red flag by downgrading the odds of the relationship survival. But women unconsciously protect the relationship instead by making excuses for their boyfriend and his lousy taste.
----

Buy me nice presents! XD. And dun expect to get any! Roar

2008-12-17T22:26:00.002+08:00

Nothing much has been happening lately.

Which is why i haven't been blogging much.

Been DotA-ing quite alot, till the point where the actual objective of the game isn't fun anymore, so i began to do stupid things in-game.

My teeth has moved alot since the last dental visit. And surprisingly the cement block is surviving far better this time round. Only thing tt bugs me is the receding gums.

FYP is so far so good. 1 page/day. It's really hard to churn out 1 page of report in a day. You can just stare at the screen for hours.

1 more week till the missus return.

2008-12-12T18:13:00.001+08:00

I'm just really disappointed this time.

Sometimes i wonder where i stand in your heart.

2008-12-11T01:45:00.003+08:00

I couldn't get to sleep. So i decided to make a small to-do list now to stop me from thinking about them later.

- contact JQ to go shopping for clothes.
- email Stats dept regarding GEM2901 and breadth requirements
- Do my FYP

Not to do list:
- Gaming
- over-read my google reader
- overeat

Heh.

After much training, i can touch the basketball ring again. Yay to me. 1 ball's distance from dunking!

Note: I had a bet with JQ tt i can dunk before i graduate. Sounds crazy? Yes it is.

2008-12-08T01:32:00.002+08:00

More things i couldn't understand, like:

Zoukout: Why would any self-respecting female pay $38 to be a slut?

Car Body Kits: Why would anybody pay over $800 for a body kit that couldn't clear the hump, clear a downslope, or clear the rear kerb when parking?

Peer Pressure: Why is it so difficult to refuse something even though you know you wouldn't enjoy it and your partner would most likely frown upon it too?

Is it just a tendency for humans to want to do seemingly stupid things? Or is there some underlying deeper meaning to every "stupid" action?

The world is a confusing place. Especially when your stairwell is a toilet for some other people.

2008-12-06T01:10:00.002+08:00

I realise that you gotta have heart in everything you do. Because it's the only way to not regret later.

120% everytime.

Maybe slacking and taking things easy isn't the right way to go after all. It just doesnt feel right after a while.

I guess I should rethink my life priorities.

Workout Log:
Ball
3 sets of:
20 Deadlifts
20 Swiss ball crunches

2008-12-05T01:23:00.003+08:00

Early morning stunning event 1:
When i went out of the house and walked down the stairs, guess what i saw? A nice pile of shit! In the middle of the stair landing! Seems like said shitter has been eating well, cos it's nice, smooth, long and continuous. Or maybe it's due to beer, cos it's made of malt, lotsa fibre!

Early morning mini stunning event 2:
After the shitty encounter, i made my way to the bus stop. And then a PRC auntie was walking around the bus stop. And then suddenly she walked infront of me and asked if she could borrow my phone. There were like 10-20 other people at the bus stop as well, why me? I'm so lucky lar. But i didn't lend her in the end, and yet she didn't ask someone else. Which = fishy.

What if she called back to China? What if she called one of those 77677 numbers and subscribed me to some lonely chat hotline? What if she called to her scammer partners and cheat my money?

Which leads to my ultimate business plan: Set up a lonely/sexy/fun chat hotline. Get some pretty ah lians to roam the street and approach strangers (preferably young males) for their phones. Ah lians will secretly call the chat hotline, thereby subscribing the males unknowingly., probably with some 3 months advance subscription/hidden costs. And then the money will roll in. And they'll only realise at the end of the month, or worse if they dun check and just pay. *evil grin*

Went to the gym with JQ today, and i validated my stability training. Squats today. JQ, the frequent gymmer, squatted as much as i, the "first-timer". And he's clearly struggling, while i'm not really feeling much on the legs. It's more on my neck and the top of the spine tt hurts, cos it's like 70kg on tt area. Probably did not put the bar correctly. Which also means i can do more given tt i get the posture right. Roar.

I said before, no point being so big when ur slow and unstable.

Good night.

2008-12-01T23:50:00.002+08:00

Just when i thought i had shaken off the incessant Crimson Thunder, Hammerfall strikes again! Steel! Meets Steel!

Power-Metal 102:

Steel! Meets Steel!

Can you imagine how pumped i was doing the paper just now? It's like i'm so gonna pwn it hard.

Moral of story: Dun listen to Hammerfall days before your exams.

Paper is alright i guess, no question that i had no answer for. No question that really stumped me too. So all that can fail me now is either careless mistakes or i had honestly answered the question wrongly. Stuff that i cannot control already.

Holidays are here, so here's what i hope i can accomplish in this short 4 weeks:
- As much FYP as possible
- Lotsa Ball
- Finish transcribing all the GTs
- Pack my room
- Catch up with all the movies
- Shop for work clothes
- Shoot Resumes
- and of course keep Shirui company (another relationship-ly correct phrase!)

Sleep well, eat healthy, keep a clear mind.

Workout Log:
6.5km Run
3 Sets of:
- 20 Single Leg Cross Reach Squat
- 20 Trunk Twists
- 20 Dead Lifts
- 20 Swiss Ball Pushups

I might wanna try for 20 pullups. Roar

2008-11-29T22:27:00.003+08:00

"Follow the signs, of the crimson thunder~" - Hammerfall

Yea tt phrase kept ringing in my head throughout the day, from the moment i woke up, while doing my exam paper, all the way till now. In case you have no idea what i'm talking about, here's some power-metal 101:

Yea epic stuff.

I wonder if crimson thunder refers to the glistening 10ct coin tt i picked up this morning on my way to school. Or does it refer to the orangey-yellow Winamp lightning logo? It's a sign... of crimson thunder... that i must follow. Argh.

Or maybe it just means Hammerfall is on my side, in the battle for examinations glory!

I finished my paper early, just so i could come to study for clincal trials. But in the end fatigue and laziness took over and i slept + wasted the entire afternoon away. Which leaves me 1 day to study for it. Helpsheet's done, but of course i could have done more. Haiz, shouldn't be too slack even though i already know nothing i do can get first class honours. Pfft.

Alright shall get cracking!

2008-11-28T02:43:00.002+08:00

I dun get why people still want to spend on unnecessary things when the world is facing a financial crisis.

I dun get why people still insist on travelling when the world is so chaotic now.

I dun get how some people can drink so much beer in one sitting, like 2 bottles. Which is like 2 litres? I barely drink 2 litres of water a day.

I dun get why people want to do well but not work hard.

I dun get why people want to migrate so badly.

I dun get alot of things. There's still alot more that i dun get.

But some things i do.

I dun like to spend unnecessarily because every cent saved count towards marriage.

I dun like to travel because it is dangerous and i'm not Superman, thus i cannot protect everybody, let alone myself. Holds true especially for Asian countries.

I dun like to drink because it's exp, not nice, and not healthy either. And i dun need to attract the opposite sex.

I wouldn't exchange security in Singapore for anything else in the world.

AGT paper is bad. Haven't skipped so many questions in a while. But as i said, when there's 100 apples and no matter how you count it's only 99 to you, then you just can't solve the question. So too bad.

I'm reminded again that i still lack the maturity to marry and take care of Shirui. My brother moved out about 3 days ago, and from what i sensed from my mom, it's quite a big load of shit. And he's at home all the while. Seems like it's more than just money that you need to build a new life. Time, effort and cooperation is also important.

Reflective night. Non-parametric tomorrow!

2008-11-24T12:33:00.003+08:00

1st paper down. Typical LTW, always start with a stunning 1st question to throw you completely off-balance. Fortunately, i dun fall for the same trick twice (got one last sem.. BOO!!), and i managed to regain composure and worked through the other problems before coming back to the killer question. Should be fine i hope.

I always have performance anxiety, but at least the anxiety was yesterday, and i felt more calm this morning. Must be clutch! Like Reggie Miller.

Been reading up on M:TG stuff again. Back to geekiness! Actually i'm very very geeky even though i may not look like it. Yea, so much has changed since the last time i touched the cards. So many new type of cards, abilities, combos etc etc. And the funny thing is they reprinted quite a good number of "powerhouse" cards like Hypnotic Specter and Juggernaut. For pple like me who already cleared stock, i'll be like "phew". For collectors who kept cards hoping they will grow in value, they'll be like cursing right now.

And one thing is they made so many improvements to some cards, made certain older cards decidely useless and valueless, even though they commanded high prices in the past. It's good and bad in a way i guess. I already sold most of my power stuff. It's better to keep money in the pocket nowadays :P

I dun really like cold calls. Asking me to be an insurance agent, or buying insurance. That being said, FA friends who "cold calls" me by randomly msging me on MSN and asking me how i'm doing, sucks even more. It's just so fake, suddenly being so ra-ra about my life. I really dun need such acquaintances in my life. I already have enough needy friends.

To me, selling insurance is a dead-end job. It's like MLM, just one class higher. If you can make it big, kudos to you. Just dun count on me buying from you. I dun intend to let anyone to touch my money, maybe except Shirui. (relationship-ly correct phrase)

6 more papers to graduation!

2008-11-20T00:43:00.002+08:00

Pighead: Yes. That would be nice. 30 dollars again?

My parents are unnecessarily paranoid about almost everything. This in turn, makes them cynical and critical about everything. Being their son, i pick up their genetic traits. Therefore i'm paranoid too. And cynical. And critical. I can't really stop these paranoid, cynical and critical feelings. But what i try to do is to be more aware of it. When i'm aware of how i feel, i will hopefully lessen the chance of showing outwardly.

Introducing Superhandles!

Straight out destroy any ball-handlers out there. The stuff he does makes Ganon Baker look like a retard. What is And-1?

I got hold of this useful powertoy named Synctoy (XP only). Basically just an app to help sync your folders. Great for backup-ing stuff. Google for it if interested. Digital Life is slowly getting more informative with every issue.

Just had a ultra sinful supper. It's my 4th meal of the day and i have no idea why i'm so hungry today. Shouldn't be eating so late, and also stuff tt's so oily too. Bad boy Chang. Shall work it all off tml by doing some Superhandles! Rarr.

Stuff like that motivate me somehow. One look, i know i can do it. Stuff like guitar, sometimes yes, sometimes no. Hit/miss. Not very motivating sometimes. If only i have $$ for proper instruction. Guitar probably requires more proper instruction than bball from my experience. Growth during the time with Beez is probably the most. Like from zero to something in 6 mths.

Alright, gotta finish up Euler and Hamilton. Eat shit u 2.

Workout Log:
5 sets of:
10 floors stair climb
20 Swiss ball pushups
20 Deadlifts
20 Trunk twists

Waking up in the morning to work out is bad idea. Especially before you eat breakfast.

2008-11-18T23:47:00.003+08:00

Tot i might as well finish up the SQC tutorials instead of leaving them last minute. Graph theory is kinda hard to get pumped about anyways. It's quite an enormous amount of questions to go thru for practice.

My thumb is still sore. It's been like 10 days, still as sore as day 1. Pfft.

Some people can get very very motivated when other people tell them they can't do this and that. They have the "i'll prove you wrong" mentality. I admire people like that.

I need a new ball. The current one is getting furry.

Workout Log:
Ball

2008-11-17T23:43:00.002+08:00

Pighead: Dun get too happy. You had alot of help from other pple. 1v1 nxt time? ^^v

Finished the SQC practice exam today. Seems quite easy, but with LTW, he'll sure come out some random stunning question for the finals again. Still not very comfortable with some concepts, guess i will revise those more when the exam draws closer. Tml shall be graph theory day. Stupid prof still havent mark finish the mid-term. I wonder how long he will take to mark the final paper. It's ridiculous to the max.

Tried stair climbing today, 5 sets of 10 floor sprints to be exact. Not really very taxing on the legs, but more taxing on the heart. Somehow as i climb higher my head gets lighter and i feel alittle dizzy. And because you have to keep going it circles, it adds on to the dizziness. I try to go as fast as i can up each flight of stairs, but the inbetween stair landing is kinda tight, so i have to slow down and make a U turn to approach the nxt flight. Which is kinda kills any form of rhythm. But of course this is good in a way, cos it's like burst, slow, burst, slow... for 10 floors.

I took the lift down each time, cos walking down lazily will just pound the ankles more. Which is bad.

Really loving the ice-tub treatment. Make lotsa ice-cubes, throw them into the pail and add water. Instant feet relief. My mom thinks i'm crazy, but if Ray Allen does it, it shouldnt be too bad eh? And my parents get paranoid over me making ice with tap water. Tap water in Singapore is drinkable. Water cooler water is from the tap!

Speaking of which, i think the real issue from me fumbling on the ball this 2 days is the fact tt, i feel i'm constanly playing against 2 defenders. One on ball and one ready to pounce when i pick up my dribble. I dun quite get why some of my friends can drive in and everybody gets out of the way, while everytime i drive in and i meet 2-3 bodies infront of me. Gotta figure out of to play 1v2. Really not good with that.

Swiss ball pushups again. So good la.

Sleep early tonight! Like finally XD

Workout Log:
5 Sets of:
10 floors stair climb
20 deadlifts
15 Swiss ball pushups
20 trunk twists

2008-11-16T23:10:00.002+08:00

Played like shit today. Basically just hesitated too much, which leads to bad shots. Poor body control during lay-ups, and just lost focus here and there. Part of it is also due to that i was playing with my friends, and they all pre-empted my moves. Which is bad. Gotta learn to mix it up somehow.

One thing is most people dun set off-ball picks for me, because very few people know how to. Those who know how to, usually dunno how to set it well. And then when you finally find someone who knows and can do it well, you dun have a passer on your team to receive the ball from. So that's something taken away from my game. But ultimately, i just have to learn how to trust my teammates to get the ball to me whenever i start to run off staggers. Now i just dun bother to, which actually is bad.

It's always kinda hard to adopt the beginner approach to anything, especially when you think you've got it figured out already. Seems like there's still more to learn understand and execute. Sometimes it's in the mind. I can't really play fearlessly. I'm afraid of injuries, and because of that i play a very gentle game of catch and shoot. Something to sort it out i guess.

Thinking of doing stair running. Cos suicides look damn ridiculous when you're doing it alone, and i dun really like pple to look at me when i work out. Normal jogging is getting...aimless somewhat. Issue here is, how many floors per sprint? I'm thinking of doing 5 sets of sprints tho. Seems like 4 floors is so-so, or maybe i shld start little and slowly increase as my ability improves. Mmm. sounds like a good plan!

Shagged out. This week is tiring. Woo!

Workout Log:
Yday:
Swim x16
Ball

Today:
Ball

2008-11-15T02:53:00.002+08:00

Mmm, i'm not sleeping as early as i want to. That's not good Chang! You can do better than that.

Whole body is feeling very very hot. I dunno if it's the muscle cream, or if it's due to exercising too much. Or worse, fever (nah). Aches all over the upperbody thanks to the Swiss ball pushups. Gotta get used to it somehow i guess.

Think i'll switch to my chair for now, cos the ball is kinda high, which means i will have to bend down quite low to write my uber small helpsheet. And yes, the only person that can further reduce my helpsheet size is me myself. People think i'm writing unnecessarily small here. But it kinda empowers me to know that i have 3 months of information in 1 paper. Fast and easy reference. Takes perfect eyesight though, so sorry my myopic friends : \

It's funny people think that i wear contacts to school. Here's a contradiction proof for you:
- Assume Chang wears contacts to school.
- People who wear contacts to school want to look good.
- People who want to look good, dress up nicely to school etc waxed hair, shoes, jeans, funky tees whatever. New urban male style.
- Chang doesn't dress up nicely to school (berms slippers random tees ugly hair unshaven sometimes)
- Therefore Chang doesn't want to look good in school. (contradiction)
- Because Chang doesn't want to look good in school, Chang wouldn't wear contacts (QED)
Further on i proof that i have perfect eyesight:
- Chang doesnt wear contacts to school
- Chang can handle XJF's horrendously small handwriting in class without any visual aids.
- Therefore Chang must have perfect eyesight. Or Superman's eyes, which would be fine too (QED)

If only such proofs were useful for my FYP.

Had a great ball game today. It's good when i have a center to pair with. High low sets are so easy to employ. Easy baskets, easy wins.

Workout Log:
Ball

2008-11-14T01:03:00.002+08:00

Shirui got me a Swiss ball. Turned out to be larger than expected. Feels funny to sit on it now, but i guess i will get used to it after a while. Supposed to be good for the back, but if it turns out otherwise, i can always just use it for my workouts.

The same brace came off again. This is like... #5. Pfft.

Pretty much just slacked the day away. Whole day's so wet and cold, you dun even feel like doing anything at all. But it's alright. Tomorrow will be a better day. And i'll whack the helpsheets hard again.

Nothing much to say tonight. Life is bland lately :)

Workout Log:
5 sets of
15 Swiss ball pushups (tough, but not as tough as using a bball)
20 deadlifts
20 trunk twists
10 single leg dumbbell squats

2008-11-12T23:28:00.003+08:00

Not sure what to do on your birthday?

Treat your friends to free ice-cream ala Firehouse Happy Birthday @ Swensens!

Here's how to do it:

- Meet your friend at Swensens.
- Before ordering, ask if there's any promotion for birthdays. The friendly service staff will kindly inform you that they will give a complementary Firehouse Happy Birthday ice-cream when you order anything off the menu.
- Ask your friend to order a bottle of water for you, and anything else extra. You get your free sundae.
- Pass said sundae to best pal for enjoyment.
- Get best pal to pay the bill for 1 bottle of water.
- Contact another friend and meet at another Swensens outlet.
- Repeat step 1.

Everyone gets free sundaes. You get to meet your beloved pals. Everyone wants to meet u too because of free sundaes. It's a win win situation.

My facebook wall is flooded with well-wishes. I really din know i was soooo popular. Nice to know that people would like to get involved in my life. But i really can't reply to everybody cos it's too troublesome. And i also can't just reply to some people cos that would be unfair. So the best solution is to reply to no-one!

Looked back at my bday entry last year. Guess i'm still as sick and funny as ever!

Roar

2008-11-10T22:48:00.002+08:00

My family tends to get flak for being over-money-istic. Like money is everything. But the hard truth is that, money is really everything. It's only not everything when you have sufficient money, but otherwise, the statement holds true.

Musicians can give up their ideals and play covers in pubs just purely because their own songs dun sell. They will do everything they can to get signed because it "promises" an inflow of money, irregardless of how ridiculous the contract might get.

People whine about wanting to go overseas not because they are tired of the SG system, but because they feel they can't make enough money in the current system for themselves. You almost never hear rich people wanting to migrate.

Girls will tend to date guys who can give them flowers and drive them around in Porsches and Ferraris. They might not love the guys, but at least the Prada bags keep coming. Ultimately, they will want to marry someone who's going to be financially stable, which also implies being able to afford a flat at least.

Money = Happiness. I've never heard anyone complain about a promotion, i've never heard anyone wanting to look for a job that will pay less.

The only thing that separates everybody is the threshold of money. Some people need alot of money to go about their daily lives. Some people don't require much. High maintenance, low maintenance. When such a threshold is not reached, people whine.

It's not wrong to be money-istic. It's wrong to be high maintenance.

Workout Log:
5 sets of:
20 deadlifts
20 trunk twists
10 dumbbell single leg squats

2008-11-10T02:08:00.002+08:00

Some inspiration for lyrics today. Kinda cheesy again, but i guess tt's the stuff for jazzy love songs isn't it? Changed the progression slightly today, but pretty much the samey. Gotta try to think of a chorus or bridge part though, and bridge immediately brings to me to Buble. Chang can't sing like Buble. Sigh.

It's actually quite fun to play the rhythm, cos the chords are constantly changing and you have to be really fast in changing chords and remembering the progression too. Works the brain somewhat, a break from the incessant pursuit of shred i guess.

There are many kinds of musicians: tasteful, technical, versatile, knowledgeable, composing, recording, teaching etc etc. I guess it's important to identify what kind you are and try to fill that role as much as you can, before trying to be another kind of musician. Focus on your strengths.

So what kind of a musician are you?

Workout Log:
Ball

2008-11-09T01:02:00.002+08:00

Today's ball session made me realise a few things:
- it takes a team to win. Regardless of how much effort i put in, if my team-mates do jack, my team will still lose.
- I can't play well against short guys, cos i have this constant phobia of landing onto them, thereby injuring myself.
- I can defend well if i remember to. Yes remembering is the word. It's hard to think properly when you are tired. At least i managed to shut down the guy towards the end. Give him the left side. Nobody can dribble left properly.
- My left dribble is improving, good enough to break a double team press. Just need more awareness on the court. Still feels like everything is a blur. Can't help it when my actions are getting faster. I'm not used to the increased speed in me.
- Deadlifts are helping. Better hangtime, vertical, more strength and balance. Helps alot in the game.

I now understand the importance of off-seasons. Cos you can't really get much conditioning done when u are constantly playing matches and vice-versa. It's like all the conditioning u've done during the week u spend it all on the match. And then u repeat the cycle. Your body doesn't progress. The conditioning just prevents it from stagnating.

A jazzy-carpenter-ish tune keeps repeating in my head. I've tabbed out the chord progression already, and tho it looks abit nasty to play, it should be manageable with some practice. Just have to get used to the quick chord changes. Yea changing jazzy chords can be alittle bit tricky. I do like the piano tone for the chords tho, but i can't get GP5 to play it exactly the way i want it aka the lazy feel. Yea i gave up tabbing the melody because of it. Not lazy enough. Not trippy enough.

New-found appreciation for finger-picking. Can understand y Wes Montgomery uses his thumb for everything. It just has this smooth tone tt the pick cannot emulate. Might lose quite abit of efficiency, but if Wes can do it, so can you! Thinking of going full fingers this time. Might work.

A band played below my house just now. Some RC event. Talented and proficient musicians. But playing Here Without You, This Love, Burn and 2 heavy rock originals to 20+ tables of uncles and aunties = fail. I enjoyed the music i must say, they were really really good. But i doubt my parents can appreciate the power metal vocals and the groovy funk basslines and the wah-filled guitar solos and the pulsating drum beat. It just doesnt work.

Classic example of bad marketing.

Sell your band to the right crowd, and you'll be big. Selling your band to a crowd tt's generally conservative and doesnt buy CDs = fail x2.

Shrug. Lucky the MP left before they performed. Perhaps he might have banned gigs after hearing them. *shudder*

Workout Log:
Ball.

2008-11-08T01:12:00.002+08:00

A wave of fatigue knocked me out today. Guess i haven't been sleeping much lately. Since the "holidays" are coming, i should try to get my 8.5 hrs of sleep everyday. Yea, tt's precisely how much i should sleep to make sure i dun wake up feeling under/over slept. Dun question that number, i've experimented with various numbers. 8.5 is the best for me.

Oughta hit the books tml. First up, SQC! Ooh 8/10 for the project. Not too shabby. Perhaps the report wasn't very well written. Oh well. Hope for the best for the finals.

Time to crash.

Workout Log:
5 sets of:
12 Clapping Pushups
20 Deadlifts
20 Trunk Twists
20 Single Leg Cross Reach

2008-11-06T21:10:00.003+08:00

Booyah! I have internet at night now! Like finally..........

Moral of the story: My router is not spoiled. It must be something else. I shan't blame Stinknet for this cock up cos they allow me to download billions of bullcrap compared to the Hub-using losers. Someone must have attempted to attack my internet every evening or smthing. I want to believe this conspiracy theory. Someone is out to assassinate my internet!

Oh yea, and Obama won. Shirui keeps thinking tt he will get assassinated. I think if pple like Saddam and the Kim guy from N.Korea can stay alive for so long even tho they are assholes, Obama shld be fine ba. Unless, we have another 9/11 conspiracy again!

I really think 9/11 is a plot created by the Bush regime to give them reasons to do all tt shit. Credit to them for designing such a intricate plan. BUT THEY WILL NOT FOOL ME.

My enthusiasm for basketball has been greatly revived, largely due to the deadlifts tt i've been doing. Less back pain/aches, more balance, better ball handling and movement, more strength in shots, more moves. Everything adds up. Just by doing deadlifts. Oh and vertical has improved too. I want to believe that either ways XD.

Classes are almost over, which means exams are coming. Shld start writing helpsheets soon. And also do my FYP, been shelving tt for a while. I'm so lazy with regards to that. Ugh.

Oh yea and i'm starting to DotA again. Due to the lack of internet, i could only make do by playing with bots. Yea quite loserish i guess, but what to do. At least the bots are challenging in some way. Probably shld get over the game in a while. It's always like this, play games during exams. I cannot understand why, but i believe it's a Chinese High culture. The more stressed u feel, the more u play.

As for guitaring, i've stopped playing lately, tho i still transcribe GT when i have the time. I can't really sustain 2 interests at the same time, so guitar has to make way for ball for now. Sorry Cassie (that's my guitar's lame name. Everyone has to name their instruments).

Yup tt's roughly what happened for the past 2 weeks tt i was offline at night. Just in case some people wanted to know. ;)

Workout Log:
Ball. Lotsa lotsa ball. Lotsa lotsa 3 pointers. Lotsa lotsa FT. Lotsa lotsa crossovers, behind the back and swanky moves.

I feel like Agent Zero.

Black President FTW!

2008-10-23T03:12:00.002+08:00

Somehow singnet decides to rob my internet connection from 7pm-2am. I have no fucking idea why my modem just refuses to connect during this period, when it's working fine and dandy throughout the whole afternoon. It's been like this for 3 days already. I suspect it's the weather.

I wouldn't say i'd bombed the AGT test, but from the looks of everybody else, it seems like i wouldn't be tt worse off. Shouldn't too bad lar, though i put in quite alot of hours for it. Oh well, this is what happens when every question is like a brain teaser.

Nth much to say, really. The weather literally robbed me of any chances to run/shoot/swim. Been doing static at home these days.

Oh well. Night.

Workout Log:
Yday:
3 sets of:
-50 pushups
-15 deadlifts
- 3 x shark drills

Today:
5 sets of:
- 1:30 plank
- 20 trunk twists
- 20 single leg cross reach squats
- 20 rip-thru

2008-10-20T02:10:00.002+08:00

Is October the rainy season? It's raining too much for me. I'm a dry and cool person, dun really like too much sun, dun really like too much rain. Have a good balance yo. Run, ball and swim have became such troublesome events due to the erratic weather.

A wave of work suddenly appeared this morning for my FYP, but i'm taking it all in stride. It's always better to have more stuff to do for the project than less isn't it. The only gripe is the doctor that i'm supposed to collaborate with keeps talking about publishing some random shit paper.

Note to doctor: I dun give a shit about your paper.

It will just be more bragging rights if i can finish whatever required in time, but i dun need it, i dun live to finish it. And the deadline seems to be quite tight, Jan 2009. My project is due Mar-May dude! Wake up ur idea.

Somehow i have my worries over the AGT test. Surely, he'll set some fuck-shit stunning question to throw everybody off. Tt's the typical Singaporean lecturer style. Must be prepared for said landmines. 1 more day left to finish up the solutions manual.

Hapi is afraid of thunder, and guitars, and anything tt makes weird ringy sounds actually. It's funny to see his expression, but yet u pity him cos he'll look very worried and start to find some place to hide. Actually he only wants to hide in my brother's room, but CWK is always NOT AROUND. See, only i'm nice enough to open the room for him to hide during the thunderstorm and keep him company there. Useless shithead owner.

I love pets, but i realise i'll have to live for them because i love them so much. That's why i'll never have pets. Cos i love myself more.

Finally tabbed out more stuff. Woo. More metal riffs! Rarr!

Workout Log:
5 x 15 deadlifts (added 5kg each side. Super shag)
6.4km run
5 x 20 situps

2008-10-19T02:34:00.002+08:00

Sorry to all the people that were looking for me just now. I know i'm really wanted, but i'm not around my com the whole day.

Try again tml :)

Fixing coms sucks when you have no net access.

2008-10-17T16:40:00.004+08:00

Maybe the wedding party at the pool isn't that much of a good idea after all:

Oh well. Murphy's Law.

One thing i dun quite get is, why is it so tiring to live your life nowadays. Why do we dread what we do so much? Are there just too much expectations of yourselves, or of other people?

Probably i'm already out of the emo-phase, so i can't really relate anymore. The issues of having little/no friends, no bf/gf, mundane lives, hectic work etc etc.

In my humble opinion, the simpler your take on life, the simpler it will be to live.

There's a quote: Accept the unchangeable, change the unacceptable.

Everybody knows change, but there's always an inertia to change. But very few people know about accepting. Being contented with what you have.

I dun have much. But i'm really happy.

Workout Log:
10 x A,B,C
50 Threes
Rain cut me off

4 Sets of:
- 50 pushups
- 20 deadlifts

2008-10-16T12:24:00.002+08:00

To Johnson: But is it really for me to show off to other people? If that's the case i can choose to not show off. But it isnt the case, cos some random people will get upset and bitch that there is no banquet (i.e parents/relatives/bitchy "friends"). So essentially banquets are organised because of said problematic people in your life. And it has to be grand mind you, or else they will bitch again.

So i say, FUCK THEM.

To notify people that i'm married, just send a postcard lor. With all the kickass pictures i've taken during my holiday.

On the other hand, Shirui has a milder and less controversial solution to this issue which i think can work out too:
- Hold the traditional banquet for relatives and important people who will provide big red packets. Skip friends cos everyone else's a cheapskate :D.

- Since everyone in the banquet is more or less a high roller, we can afford to hold it at a very nice restaurant, aka Tung Lok Signature. High rollers care more about food, less on entertainment. Feed them as many sharks as they want. Nobody can complain about the food cos Sam Leong would be v pissed and leave Singapore. That wouldn't be nice.

- Make a profit ^^v

- Take said profit money and find a nice place with a condo and hold a pool party. Get Botak Jones catering, cos it's damn good food at damn good price. Nobody cares about buffet food during a party anyways. Play solid party music. Drinks for everyone. Hire a bartender or smthing.

- Invite friends only, and perhaps young and single cousins. Yes party for the cheapskate crowd. Dress relaxed, come in bikini if you're single and horny. Everyone is happy cos there's lotsa drinks, and lotsa babes and dancing like in a club. You oughta be happy in a club right? There's a pool to dip if u really want. No boring ceremonies, no fretting over what to wear to a formal dinner too, just party clothes! Lotsa cam-whoring, lotsa drunk people too. Red packets optional, but of course if u never give the next time i go ur wedding i also know what to do lar right.

- Make more profit ^^v

- Take leftover money, go on a luxurious holiday like Johnson said. Have great sex.

- Make nice postcards of wonderful holiday and mail to everyone. I'm married. Woohoo!

See. Good plan too, though abit more troublesome. But it's ok!

For holiday, i'd really like to bring the top half of my suit, then walk around with half-suit and berms, while Shirui wears a modified short skirt gown thingy. Then we take pictures in them. Since being tourist, we're already sorta alien to the locals, so might as well up the alien-ness! Then everyone we see will know we're married, and would be happy to take photos for us too. Fuck the professional photographer! We'll take photos everywhere, in taxis, in front of nice mountains, in some cafe, while taking a theme park ride. Wedding photos with a wild twist.

And then take said photos to make the very nice postcards and send to people. I'll write "Sorry but u guys have been missing out. Studio shots sucks".

Roar!

Workout Log:
Yday:
5 sets of:
-1:30 plank
- 20 trunk twists
- 20 single leg deadlifts
- 3 x Shark drill

2008-10-15T02:29:00.002+08:00

You know you really love what you study when you get so involved in helping your friend solve his probability questions. Really wonder wtf Berwin is teaching in GEM2900. The questions are so challenging even for a year 4 like me. I wonder why stats majors couldn't take the module, it's not easy u know.

Matching problems. Disgusting.

Long day, but i managed to get some of the tutorials done ahead so as to free up time during my free days. Good strategy i guess. Rather waste time at home than waste time in school. :P

Nice to see so much support for my exciting wedding plans. Told u guys it was a brilliant idea!

Sleep sleep. Hope you are sleeping good too. *you*

2008-10-14T01:35:00.001+08:00

:D lazy to blog again! :D

To Joseph: Fuck conventions!

Workout Log:
5 sets of:
- 50 pushups with ball
- 20 trunk twists
- 1:30 plank with ball
- 20 dead lifts

I'm so gonna do the shark drill nxt time. Grrr

2008-10-13T01:10:00.002+08:00

I'm starting to feel disinterested in blogging, cos it's always the last thing that i do and it gets easily forgotten or ignored. Not that it's a bad thing, but it's just one less thing for Shirui to read.

Speaking of Shirui, i din know she hailed from india: Shirui from Manipur, India

Vel-come to Singapur.

Dunno wtf NBA.com is doing but they are pushing for this new video site which kinda fucks up the whole viewing experience so far. Laggy and limited videos. There oughta be a better balance. I want more vids!

Somehow i think most relatives are over-rated, and yet i'm obligated to help them if necessary. I wonder why. They are people whom i almost never see and bother. There's a chinese saying that loosely translates to "Far relatives are not comparable to near neighbours". Which is very true.

I have this idea for my wedding:
- Hold a banquet/buffet for everybody tt's either obligated or invited to attend.
- Bride and groom enters, everybody claps.
- I say: "Thank you for coming, appreciate you guys. We are flying off to Rome now. Enjoy the meal. See you in 2 weeks!"
- Guests look bewildered and confused but claps during our exit anyways.
- Leave the country with my wife and having great sex in wherever we are.

Isn't it a wonderful plan? Since 90% of the guests dun really give a shit abt me, and they probably dun even want to be there. The banquet is just a another networking event, for relatives, old classmates and old friends. That's it. Nobody cares abt the bride and groom, they care more about the people they are sitting with at the table. As such, just give them the obligatory good food, and i fuck off with my wife. No hard feelings.

My wonderful plan probably wouldn't materialise, but it's a worthy shot. ^^

Even better still, fuck the banquet. Just quietly get married and fly off. Then when we come back, hold a buffet at my house for housewarming. 2 in 1, saves everybody the trouble and pain. Same effect, more casual, everyone is relaxed. Can check out my house at the same time and dun have to bear with horribly boring slideshows and cheap MCing. I'll probably have stuff like Xbox, karaoke, mahjong, soft toys corner for kids and jamming room set up. Everyone can have a good time.

Oh someone added "Nobody's Going Home" to his soundclick station. Which means he wants to torture himself everytime he listens to that playlist. Ok maybe Shirui's singing is not horrible like mine, so i guess tt's a good move on his part. I wonder if i should recommend him some of the other songs....

Speaking of which, i'm extremely disturbed when Shirui comes over my house and starts listening to my songs! And then she purposely skips "Nobody's Going Home", which is like wtf. And then she goes on to tell me to write more instrumental songs. -_-

I only like to listen to my own songs when i'm alone. Dun ask me why. I can't explain.

Workout Log:
Yday:
Swim 14 laps
Today:
Run 6.4km

2008-10-11T00:05:00.003+08:00

The NBA is so worth watching this season. Every team has at least one worthy player to check out. Thanks to the major player trades + 0809 draft class + coach sackings, almost every team looks and feels different. And the smaller/weaker teams are coming up, so watch out!

I've "transcribed" one issue of GT already, and it's like adding another 50+ licks to the collection. Madness stuff. I have about 20 issues more to go. Woo. Licks galore!

Greatest find today: Gigapedia! For all your e-book needs. Register to download via Rapidshare. Disgustingly disgusting stuff! (Thanks darling's colleague for the hot link)

Can find almost all sort of books. Insane in the membrane. Insane in the brain!

I see how the markets fall this few days and i can only laugh to myself. Haha. Have you cashed in your money yet? Your assets could be gone tml! ^^. Speaking of which i should really hunt for some aussie dollars. Hmm.

Somehow i feel like Nostramadus. Roar.

Workout Log:
6.4km run
3 sets of
-10 chin ups
-20 situps

2008-10-10T00:54:00.002+08:00

I'm really liking my random number system to select the licks for guitar session. It keeps everything fresh and interesting each time, and as i add more licks to the library it will get more and more diversified. I've already ripped through my tab collection, now i'm thinking of ripping through my guitar techniques magazines. Gonna be tedious work now. But it's worth it! Anything to keep me interested.

The key objective here isn't really to play as fast as possible, but rather to play as much as possible, and as widely as possible. Of course right now it's mostly rock/blues/metal stuff, but i've got some John 5 in which adds a nice little country element, and probably gonna get some jazzy stuff too. We'll see ^^

My favourite guitarist is playing my favourite Jay Chou song:

Fierce la he. The rate he transcribes and records is quite stunning. Like 5 vids every month? I think he's damn free too.

Ok forgot what i wanted to say.

Workout Log:
10 at A,B,C,D
50 Threes
13 consect FTs
100 Jumpers
30 consect FTs (Woooooooo)

2008-10-09T00:51:00.002+08:00

NBA pre-season has started! Finally some basketball action. This year is proving to be more exciting than ever, with a buttload of trades and a buttload promising rookies. I've never followed NBA so closely before. Good stuff!

Can't play guitar now, cos my bro and Hapi are sleeping over in my room. Yea house got guests so there's some shuffling ard. Was planning to work on more sweeping, but i guess i will sleep earlier tonight and wake up early to play. I'm really getting the hang of this sweeping shit. It sounds better each time i attempt.

Botak Jones again, to reward myself for doing pretty well for my midterms. One more to go, not really confident with graph theory tho. No helpsheet, so tt's like studying for JC. Gotta practise the entire book's question to assure myself. Bah.

K gonna sleep.

Workout Log:
3 sets of:
-50 pushups
-20 trunk twists
-1:30 plank
-20 dead lifts
-20 step up shoulder press
-3 Shark drill

2008-10-07T00:22:00.002+08:00

To Johnson: Never! Must... Be... Selfish...No lar, y not u also start your own collection. Then we can trade and share ma. If i always just give u, then there is no return, u probably also wun value it as much, becos u nv understood the trouble to collect and tab the stuff.

Be amazed at the master:

It's music at it's highest level.

Alright it's some spoof bullshit. So funny.

Here's some serious skill:

Really creative stuff.

I'm beginning to get the mechanics of sweeping. Was able to perform a quite few streaks of good consecutive sweeps. Seems like less gain more muting is the way to go. The issue with sweeping is that no one performs it slow enough to let u have a good idea of how good/bad it sounds when really slow. And sometimes it sounds painfully bad when i play it so slowly. Ugh.

My NUS Science of Music Prof Bernard Tan has quite a number of orchestral songs under his belt. This guy is serious stuff:

Bernard Tan's MP3s (thanks Johnson for the link)

Finally put in some effort for my FYP. Gonna ask the shit outta LJL tml. And he better have some good answers! Rarr.

Time to sleep. Long day ahead.

Workout Log:
5 sets of:
- 50 pushups with ball
- 20 trunk twists
- 1:30 Plank with ball
- 20 deadlifts

10 suicides
3 x 20 step ups.

Shag.

2008-10-06T13:26:00.002+08:00

My friend's pop duo, July Snow, has recorded a new song "对错" or "Right or Wrong" in English. Visit their Myspace to check out the song. It's typical Chinese pop, but the 2 guys can really sing, so yea gotta give them credit. After all they were from Ocean Butterfly singing school, can't be that bad.

July Snow

I dun really get the reasons behind rushing to record an album and shoot MVs and what not. It's like you're not a superstar yet what, so what's the point of spending time doing such pointless "promotional" stuff when it's better to devote the energy and time to hone and finetune the song arrangement and technique. And better still, write more songs so that you really have a good selection to choose from when recording the album.

Jay's album is coming out soon. The first 2 leaked songs i heard weren't very exciting to be honest, but of course the king of recycling is able to subtlely abuse his magic and reuse his ideas again, cheating all the xiao mei meis once more. For me the benchmark would be his ballads, so we'll wait for Joanna to pass me her copy when she buys the cd. ^^

I've expanded 2 more sections to my guitar practice sessions, namely legato/tapping and flash riffs. So that's 6 sections in total, which gives me a more rounded rock guitar practice. I mean, how can it be rock without tapping and flash riffs?

And it's actually quite tedious to tab everything into gp5. I've already cleared Beez's book, so now it's troy stetina's book, which is gonna take quite a long time to finish tab. Gah.

And and, i've devised a way to decide which lick to choose from each section by generating random numbers! See statistics at work! Abuse R to it's fullest! runif FTW.

Alright getting high in the middle of the day isnt quite a good sign. Shall sign off. Bye.

Workout Log Yday:
Run 6.4km (Actually it's 5km run, cos Chao died at abt the 5km mark, so we walked back the rest of the way.)

2008-10-05T00:30:00.002+08:00

Hadn't swam in a long time. Did 600m today, wasn't much, but i guess it's a good start. Shld aim to swim every sat morning, where there isnt much people ard in the pool.

Slept real early last night, like 9pm. Now this is really what i call a refreshing sleep. Woke up at 8 and didn't feel any fatigue at all. Must be due to that i didn't dream much, or nothing exciting appeared in my dream. Most peaceful and energizing sleep in years. Yes, i've some sleep issues.

Din really have much to do today actually. Most lectures are behind the tutorial schedule, so i can't really work ahead. Shall relax this week then, but it also means next week will suffer. Bah.

I havent ran in a week. Gosh. Nvm tml shall run. Once a week too.

Tired. Night.

Workout Log:
Swim 600m
Ball

2008-10-03T01:27:00.002+08:00

I slept early yday, but i woke up damn late! Slept like 12 hrs la. But it's good, havent felt so refreshed in a while. Was raring to go for the day. Somewhat.

Was checking out portableapps.com and realised how cool it would be to be able to run apps off my iPod. So i can bring all my kickass apps to Shirui's horribly messed up com and fix for her without her whining about me installing random crap on her com. Roar!

It's funny how some people need help in starting a conversation with another person of the opposite sex? Maybe it really means the 2 of you are not meant to be? Having stuff to talk about is critical in building relationships, be it bullshit 90% of the time. Shirui knows. I bullshit all the time. :D

I realised my dedicated scales file is too saturated with different types of licks/riffs and stuff, so i split them nicely into 4 categories, namely:
- sequences (patterns to apply on a particular scale)
- licks (memorable runs from a guitar solo of a guitar god)
- rhythm and riffs (memorable challenging riffs like master of puppets DOWNSTROKED)
- sweeping (malmsteen anyone?)

So everytime i play i just probably pick 1 from each category and i'm done. Fun and efficient. It's also really fun now to hunt for segments in tabs and categorise them. I learnt this from John Petrucci, i'm amazed that he's also such a orderly freak like me. Must...rename...songs...properly.

Ok tml midterms. Wish me luck.

Workout Log:
3 x 5 shuttle runs
5 sets of:
- 50 pushups with ball
- 20 trunk twists
- 1:30 plank with ball
- 20 dead lifts
( i realised timed rests between exercises helps to get them done faster)

2008-10-01T23:41:00.001+08:00

Kinda sleepy now actually. Dun have much to say.

Havent played team ball in a long time. Quite fatigued now though i really din exert much. I guess the body is just not used to the movements anymore.

Shld i sleep early? Enticing.

Workout Log:
Ball
50 Threes
10 Consecutive FT (made 20)
50 Jumpers (part of the fatigue comes from picking the ball cos there's no net this time. Pfft)
10 Consecutive FT(made 20)

2008-10-01T00:41:00.002+08:00

Phae: Glad someone else appreciates the total lameness.

Everyone's emo lately. Even Hapi had sudden outburst of emo by not coming upstairs to sleep with my bro. If dogs can get emo, i wonder what humans go through.

I was kinda excited to go home today. Kept thinking about all the guitar i'll play tonight, and my evil plan of swimming once weekly. Same excitement kept me up through the graph theory lecture.

I feel like a little kid again.

Apparently people question when i appear to be very lonely in school. I mean, no one's timetable is as garang as mine, and every sem my timetable gets more and more garang, how to ask pple to join me in my madness? I'd just pray tt there's someone i can attend class with on the first day of school. Expecting pple to plan timetable with is probably too much for them.

Who can take a 8am to 10pm day? Raise your hand. I'll like to take lectures with you next sem.

And stats cohort is really quite small, and saturated with tiongs. I'm already thankful i have some misfits singaporeans to hang out with me. Cool Singaporeans are classified under arts majors. Uncool Singaporeans like me will be under stats. Sad. And idiots will be taking computing (personal attackz @ Louis! ROAR!)

Shirui's going to tioman for 3 days, so i'm single and available for tt amount of time! Freedom Gundam! I shall take the valuable time to study for my clinical trials test and work on my fyp and tuts. And of course workout and shootout! Must make my shots!

I kinda have this feeling that i'm constantly under rehab, which is somewhat true due to my troublesome back and ankles and knees. Which is fun in a way i guess. Like hibernate and secret training, for no apparent reason tho.

And my hero, Gilbert Arenas made his fiancee propose to him. Haha brilliant. I shall try to pull tt off too.

Good day! Rawr!

2008-09-30T00:40:00.002+08:00

I have the funniest brother in the world. Just check out the pictures he tagged of me. I din realise i was an ING mascot until today.

Adding more licks to my scales.gp5. It's beginning to look interesting.

Hope tml's midterm is gonna merciful.

Workout Log:
5 sets of:
- 50 pushups
- 20 trunk twists
- 1:30 plank
- 20 deadlifts

I'm beginning to hate planking