The body ain’t like 10 years ago.
Oct 24, 2011 Football, Me, Myself & I
I wish I could run that little bit faster.
I wish I could dribble that little bit quicker.
I wish I could pass the mikasa ball that little bit further.
Even though it’s been almost every weekend that I pump myself up by chasing a 10 inch rubber ball around the green fields with 21 other grown men, I think I’m not conditioning myself well.
The late nights of magic-deck-tuning or dota-rampaging has been punishing my recovery and taxing much of my energy, and there’s one more thingy that I believe that’s turning into quite a significant factor in the decline of my footballing performances.
Nutrition.
Stress level.
Okay I’ll admit, that that’s two factors, but my point being that I’ve not been disciplining myself with regards to my body’s recovery.
Especially after pushing my body gruelly for nearly 3 hours of intense workout, that involves accelerating, tackling, getting tackled, jumping like mad men, sprinting 10-15metres every minute or so, jogging continuously and of course there’s that tiny rippling effect of your mind being psyched like a dog on rabids during games.
It’s intense I tell ya, but I know that when the referee blows the final whistle, that it’s just a friendly game, and while my mind is able to recover at speed, sadly my body doesn’t follow suit.
At 29 years old, it’s time that I prepare a regime for myself, or else I won’t replenish what I’ve lost and then not being able to perform optimally come weekends.
Here’s what I plan to do:
Friday: Grab a carb heavy dinner. Minimise oily foods intake. Finish 1/2 bottle of 100plus. Grab 2-4 bananas and munch. Rest begins at midnight.
Sat: Soccer at 3pm with Skopets FC. Finish 1 bottle of 100 plus. Grab 2-4 bananas and munch. Grab a carb+protein balanced dinner. Minimise oily food intake Apply Deep Heat before resting at midnight.
Sun: Soccer at 3pm with Goals On Sight FC. Finish 1 bottle of 100 plus. Grab 2-4 bananas and munch. Grab an extremely protein heavy dinner. Minimise oily food intake Apply Deep Heat before resting at midnight.
Mon: Breakfast to consist of light carbs and light protein. Lunch and dinner to be medium protein and medium carbs and to minimise oily food intake. Grab 2-4 bananas and munch. Rest at midnight.
For now, I think I’ll plan from Friday to Monday first and see how it’ll turn out.
I’m not even sure if I’m able to strictly keep to this regime, but I’ll try to.
I know that I have to or I won’t be able to pass that little bit further.
Or I won’t dribble that little bit quicker.
Or run that little bit faster.
I’m Back!
Oct 22, 2011 Me, Myself & I
… playing Magic actually. Magic what?
Magic: The Gathering, or MTG or just Magic for shorts, a game where two or more players pit their wits against each other using a deck of cards that they’ve assembled either by purchasing those cards, or stealing them.
If the sounds of cards being chucked around sounds a little geeky to you, well that’s because it’s a geek’s game. Really.
I remember when I first opened my pack of booster cards, a bunch of 15 randomly inserted cards, sold in a nice, shiny commercial pack.
More often than not, you don’t always get the cards that you’d want to have in your playing deck, but cards which are lacklustre in terms of gamplay quality.
But sometimes you’ll get that one card where everyone wants to have a piece of, and when you do, people will start to surround you and begging you to sell it to them.
You’d feel like you’ve just won the million dollar jackpot then.
Of course, that was back then, and fast forward to today, or the past month to be exact, I’ve been reliving my childhood days of indulging in these Magic cards.
Every Friday, you’ll find me with my loved one at the weekly ‘Friday Night Magic’ event that fortunately takes place near my office, at Dhoby Ghaut MRT.
Funny enough, for someone who pursues excellence, somehow I do not find the thrill in assembling myself a kick-ass proven deck, but instead to listen to my inner-contrarian’s voice, and instead play against the flow.
I play cards that others don’t. I make moves where others simply shun. Well, like I’ve said it, somehow when it comes to playing Magic, I indulge myself with a contrarian’s approach, and so it’s not surprising that…
.. after 4 weeks of competition, I’ve only managed to win 1 solitary match against..
.. an invisible opponent!
That’s right, my crowning glory of tasting my first ever victory against an opponent, was against one that never arrived to take his seat.
Oh well, a win is a win right?
Even if it took me 4 weeks to announce that I’m back.
MTG, ftw.
The transcendence.
Sep 22, 2011 Me, Myself & I
I play a lot of games and make myself busy to distract myself, as well as to ‘let looose‘, so to speak, and the thought of ‘why do i game so much when there’s so many other things that I can do?‘ lurks inadvertently.
Actually, I’ve had a lot of thoughts lately — not that I’ve not had much thoughts or haven’t been thinking much! — and it’s getting to a point where the expansiveness of it all sorts of numbs me.
That’s right, I get numb thinking about thinking. Hoah? You know, I confuse myself at times too..
Sometimes I think if I should simply wing it and go for broke while there are times where I wonder if it’s better that I play it safe and do what I do best. That comes to my next thought of ‘Really, just what is it that I do best?‘.
Good question, but unfortunately it is one that I’ve haven’t placed much thoughts to, more importantly perhaps not as much as ‘how do I start creating that killer iphone app?’ or ‘why i that black BMW car driving in 2 lanes simultaneously?’.
My point is, quite simply, that I think I frivolously spend time thinking about things that aren’t quite ‘soup questions’, where ‘soup questions’ are questions that you ask which enables you the opportunity to put a bowl of soup in front of you, on your dining table, someday.
It’s so easy to admit that I’m guilty of trying to get too many things done at break-neck pace, while desperately having to keep track of things to maintain and grow. It’s even easier to say that I’m easily attracted to new opportunities and events, and that’s why, since the past year or so, I have this personal motto of ‘eat only what you can while give as much, maybe more, of what you desire‘.
Backtracking, to my earlier thought of ‘Really, just what is it that I do best?’. I’m slowly realising that I’m best used as a thinker instead of a do-er, and as *koff* brilliant *koff* as I am as a do-er, I think I’ve arrived at a period in life whereby I really really need to do a lot less, and give (ideas) a lot more.
Fortunately I’m being given this opportunity at the office, and am glad that myself and everyone around me is helping me transcend nicely into this new role I’m playing, and I can’t deny that I’m loving every minute of it.
Still, I can’t help myself but to continue asking myself, “What can I do next?“, of which I’d then get a plethora of suggestions and ideas flood my naked brain, filling me with mental dementia and derisory contempt.
Of which I’ll then transcend into a game of DoTA or <insert-game-here>.
And the vicious cycle resumes…
Tags: DOTA, Gaming, Questions, thoughts, transcendence
Life needs to be taken seriously, but why so serious?
Sep 14, 2011 Me, Myself & I
Pressure cooks us all inside and turns patience and virtues into catalyst of disagreement and contempt.
Indeed everyone lives a life in evasion of life’s minefields and curveballs, but as good as we get at it, and deep down inside, we know that unless we accomodate a significant portion of our waking moments in attending to problems, the minefield mushrooms and the curveballs curve steeper.
Today I witness how external pressure stakes its claim on a prized brotherhood, exposing the vulnerabilities of human nature — that we aim to feel better by making others feel worse — though I’m compelled to not go any further than that, in this scene.
By all means, take a serious outlook on life, and be as serious as you can when it comes to matters pertaining to life itself, and Life, being yours, your loved ones or the ones living around you.
Then again, by all means, that doesn’t mean that one has to be serious.. all the time.
Go ahead, take things lightly. Laugh a little bit when a problem comes your way. Welcome a challenging issue with open arms. Then try to find solutions, and if you fail the first time round, and as cliche as it sounds, try again.
Life needs to be taken seriously, in all context of its meaning, but you don’t have to be serious all the time, okay?
Sometimes it’s better when the problems are handled with a bit of chuckles, and a lot less stress.
Salam Aidilfitri 2011
Aug 30, 2011 Me, Myself & I
It’s 1 Syawal today.
And that means it’s Hari Raya and it’s time for the traditional morning prayers at the mosque.
I tried but I just couldn’t come up with a date when I last went for Solat (prayers) Aidilfitri, and that’s how ‘non-chalant’ I’ve been throughout the years.
Oh wait, SELAMAT HARI RAYA to all muslims and muslimahs and HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all~
So yeah, I finally chalked up my first visit morning raya visit to Al-Asyyakirin after years of settling in the area. I know, biggie points for me. ; )
Points, imaginary of course, of which not even my chronic cough could keep me away from nor of which DoTA could deny me of.
Yes I’m guilty of playing loads of DoTA games in the days and nights leading to today, but hey, at least I got my preparations early and done with this time round.
Really.
Room sping-cleaning? Checked.
House refurbishments? Checked.
New apparels for Raya? Checked.
Lesser gaming and more socialising? Umm… about that…
Tags: Aidilfitri, Celebrations, DOTA, Festive, Hari Raya
The actual actualizations of actuallies.
Jul 26, 2011 Me, Myself & I
Actually I never intended this protracted hiatus from my blogging world.
My ‘blogging world’, which became a staple diet of my nightly – or sometimes daily – things to do have always been my tome of life experiences which I chronicle arduously, but sometimes things have a way of panning out in a near perfectly and accidentally architectured events that it can be likened to a blithe theory gone blissly viral and I actually went away from it.
Ok, whatever that means right, and so why did I come back?
Wait! When did I ever ‘leave’, if I could actually be pardoned for using that jargon here? No, I never did left, cos I simply was, and really really actually, absorbing it all.
Well, long story short, things in my life fell perfectly in place and i could never have planned it better.
You know, like how sometimes you’d wonder to yourself, while you’re trimming away the awful protruding hair from your nostrils in the bathroom mirror, what it could have actually been had you did some things in a certain way.
Or perhaps how things could have actually been if you had had your way with words.
How often have we told ourselves, secretly and regretfully, of how we actually could have done things we didn’t do, or how actually we could have said words we never spoke, or – the mother of all actuallies – how we could have splurged our love on those we truly love but only to pull back in fear of what might have been?
Granted, life is too precarious to be living precariously, but in actual fact, isn’t life too short to be living in a ‘what could have actually been’ world?
From getting a much deserved break at the office to the long awaited love of my life, my world, of which I shall term as the actual actualizations of actuallies, is blithe, and – of which I consider to be quite an achievement – I’m back blogging.
And boy, there’s so many things to share with you.
Cue, smilies.
Stop holding back
Apr 23, 2011 Me, Myself & I, Overheard
Above all else, I’d value a straightforward piece of conversation than one that’s encrypted and convulated, but people are wont to keep emotional matters under wraps.
If only words were easier said than sung.
And if living was a piece of soundtrack, right now I’d be ‘Memories‘ from Panic At The Disco, reminiscing in retrospect of my past year or so.
That is indeed an awesome, sparkling song from their latest album ‘Vices & Virtues’, aptly labeled, as if it’s calling out at me, and deftly lyricised too, after the band’s split.
I’m definitely liking their new sound a lot, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the full album, but as it is now, ‘Memories’ suffices.
The lyrics are blessedly gorgeous, while the music is “beautifully depressing“.
Just beautiful.
‘”He was the Congregation’s vagrant; With an unrequited love;”..
.. makes me feel so attached to the song.
“When your passion’s exultation; Then finding refuge is not enough;“..
.. leaves me stigmatised.
It reminds me of how I tried to be as transparent as I could, of how I tried being as expressive as I should, and of how I was trying to be as appreciative as I would, and yet memories are all I have in return.
Not strangely, it also reminds me of how painful it is to find out that not everyone is as transparent as they would, not entirely expressive as they could, and of how they’re rarely appreciative.
From crushing relationships to crumbling business ventures, if there’s one thing that I’ve learnt it is that there’s no harm in trying and giving it all.
Sometimes I wonder if it’s unwise to let the truth be known, like is it better if things were left to traject on their own?
I’m certainly not one for surprises, and I keep things as certain as I could, but there are things that I just can’t control.
Like how easily it is for me to succumb to my past attachment whenever she comes around at the office, and how crushing it is for me to pull myself away each time.
It took a lot out of me, as I recuperated emotionally these past months, moving forward and dedicating myself to someone else.
Indeed, I could so easly slip into her all over again, but that just foolish of me to crash and burn twice like I wont, wouldn’t it?
And I wonder if I should stop her from ‘going away’, but I wonder more if it’s better if I let the pieces of the puzzles fit themselves.
Lost love has taught me against holding back, but I can’t help in raising my walls higher this time, but I do fondly cling onto our memories, as I fail to prevent myself carving a smile or two whenever I think of them.
No doubt it’s been an educational and emotional ride for me, and as much as I’d wish for things to turn out differently, well I “Should’ve known right from the start; You can’t predict the end.”
I’m holding back, when I probably shouldn’t.
I wish someone would tell me, “Don’t hold back”.
So let me tell you this, “Stop holding back.”
‘Cos you’re denying yourself of memories of what could have been.
Rejoice.
Tags: Memories, Panic At The Disco, Song
A is for Awesome!
Apr 18, 2011 Me, Myself & I
A is also for anamorphosis, something that I’d use to describe my workplace’s steady progression into a more conducive working environment.
Thankfully.
So it’s mid-April already, and it’s kind of a shocking revelation (to me at least) that it’s been 2 weeks since I last blogged here, and I blame it on work!
Oh, it’s always good to lay the blame on something else, in this case, work, even if really it’s been a case of laziness and one too many cancelled blogposts.
So what’s with work?
Well, how about we begin with ‘brand new office’?
That’s right, the company’s expanding to another level, pun intended, and this time round I even managed to rope in my sis to come work with me — and I think she’s been handling everything pretty smoothly thus far.
On the bright side of the expansion, there’s finally space for my own office now, of which is so cosy that everyone’s whispering of how it has that homely, roomly feel to it — just the way I planned it to be.
On an even brighter side of the new office, my design team will finally have a space to peacefully work away from the distraction of production, while my production team has more space and freedom of their own.
Oh, did I mention that I’m working with a 27 inch, Quad-core, brain-haemorrhaging iMac at work now?
It’s AWESOME!
..without the helmet and suit of course..
The screen is so big, I now have to move my head to look around instead of just my eyes darting around the monitor, which I’ll probably take it as daily neck exercises.
Indeed one can’t ever underestimate the value of having an exercise regime in your weekly routine, as I’ve found it today that at 29 years young, I’m not quite the mean machine that I was 10 years ago on a football pitch.
I need to go out for a bi-weekly jog or something, ‘cos my stamina’s depleting pretty quickly during my soccer games, and it’s quite annoying as my mind wants to go further but my body is begging otherwise.
Which of course leads to cramps and aches and wishful thoughts of a bi-weekly jogging regime.
Sadly I don’t quite have the time to jog, unfortunately (or fortunately?) cos I’m spending time hitting the pool tables at work!
That’s right, there’s a pool table right in front of me when I work.
So let’s see, so far this April I’ve received my own office, a pool table, a 27inch iMac and more colleagues (particularly my sis!) to share the workload with.
Just awesome, pure awesome.
Not feeling that well.
Apr 1, 2011 Me, Myself & I
Surprisingly, March has turned out to be a testing month indeed.
From falling uber ill to the constant babsitting of the new office’s uber renovations, it’s been a week I’d wish to put behind asap.
From catching up lost episodes of the GSL (Global Starcraft League) to catching up with my customers’ job demands.
For once, and not in a long while, I feel stretched and taxed actually, not that mentioning ‘taxed’ here has anything to do with me being taxed by IRAS as I surprisingly realised that my yearly revenue had sneakily gone past my target for the year.
This means that next year, I’ll be targeting the $50k mark, an ambitious shot in the sky, but hey if you don’t aim high, you’re aiming low right?
In any case, whether I get to achieve it or not, will largely depend on how I utlise my current spare resources before next year’s FY ends.
You know, that old adage of making your $1 work for you to earn another $1?
Because banks only give you about 0.1cents for your $1, they aren’t the most cost effective solution in growing your money, if you count inflation in.
And inflation is in people, and I think that it’s quite bad.
Gone are the days when you could buy a plate of chicken rice for $2, or get a busride for 40cents — does anyone remember that?
Yeah, a bus ride for 40 cents, a plate of mee rebus for 40 cents, or a packet of kopi for 40 cents.
Ahh, those were the days.
Tags: cough, inflation, mee rebus, retrospect, taxing
Stay hungry, stay foolish: Steve Jobs.
Mar 26, 2011 Me, Myself & I
Your time is limited so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.
Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.
Don’t let the noise of other people’s opinions drown out your inner voice.
Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become.
Everything else is secondary.
Stay hungry, stay foolish.
If only I’d be foolish more often.
Tags: College, Foolish, Graduation, Inspirational, Message, Steve Jobs, Videos
