leap year?

time flies, let's fly

Saw Mr. 杨俊斌 today

A familiar face, throughout my 6 years in high school

Of course, after 5 years of graduation

I wouldn't expect him to remember me

Given that he has taught so many students..

He remembered me!

Time flies..

11 years ago he was my history teacher

Till now I still remember how he taught history in class

With all the colourful reference books and background stories

I think I fell in love with history because of him

That's how good he is!

People who has seen me grown up

Now witnessing me stepping into the workforce

Starting to earn my first dollar in a full time job

That reminds them of their age

Not necessarily in a depressing way

But rather a rejoice, a genuine expression just to see someone they know do well

I felt loved, A LOT!

That gave me confidence and enough stamina

To stay strong and embrace the challenges ahead

And friends around me are doing well

Heading forward in different directions

But towards a better future together

That positive energy is contagious

And the constant encouragements we have for each other

Simply amazing!

Last but not least, a loving family & faith

Wouldn't have done it without them

Are we losing it? To technology

Born in 1988

Certainly the word "internet" wasn't heard of..in msia at least

Yea probably not much, but I did grow up fighting for toys with others

As the eldest, I didn't have to fight a lot for toys

But when I did, and when I lost the 'fight', I had to wait

Patiently or impatiently, I waited

We even take turns, to have a go at Super Nitendo (yes the console with cartridges inserted)

And then, we grew up...

Technology has an exponential growth nowadays

The speed of a processor just got faster and faster

From floppy disk to iCloud, it took less than 20 years

Less than my age, yeap!

And those price tags of computers are at a constant battle with time

Losing its value in every second, a tech product ages quickly

Take a look around you

I bet you're reading off a screen

You're surrounded by technology

It's inevitable

It's essential

It's constructive, but I think, yet destructive in a way

Ironically, without it, I wouldn't be able to write this post

And you wouldn't be able to read it too

YES, it's ESSENTIAL!

It doesn't happen everywhere, but surely somewhere

Take a step away from a group of people, a family for examples

Look at them..

There's 5 of them

But all you could hear..sound of a keyboard, artificial fruit slashing sound effect, news report from a tv channel, the leaked music from someone's earphone, occasionally, the dad's cough or the daughter's sneeze

Weren't there suppose to be any conversations?

They're so close together physically

But they're so far away..

So far away that you tell facebook (the world) your problems and the person sitting right next to you has no idea that you're struggling at all

To me, that's sad, really sad

Imagine just 10 years ago, just picture it, the differences

I know this is not something new, or some new phenomenon that I've just discovered

It's known, that this world is getting smaller. However, the distances apart between humans, are they getting any smaller, too?

Certainly, some communities are doing better than another

Some appreciate the closeness and warmth of a random conversation

Some would regard a stranger who starts talking a weirdo or a fabulist

Have facebook checking become part of your life every 30 minutes?

Anticipating that notification have become your second nature?

The words you utter everyday just got lesser and lesser?

These aren't wrong, in a sense, they're totally fine and normal to do actually

BUT, are you ignoring the person sitting just less than a meter away from you

Or is he/she ignoring you too?

And you both are just staring at a warm but lifeless screen of incredible resolution, but not noticing a being with 37.4 degree Celsius body temperature?

Why not just start a conversation?

Why not just ask "how are you?"

What is love?

I just know that it's more genuine between two living beings that communicate

Come on, tell the world that you're actually alive!

Take the time to listen, and be patient please, we humans are not as fast as machines sometimes..

Don't stop believing- J-Lin inspired

4th February 2012, definitely a special day for Jeremy Lin

A career high 25 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists performance as a NY Knicks

And I seriously nearly shed a tear to see him play so well, even-though I don't know him personally

Just a glimpse...

Looking back on this "not so long but long enough road" for J-Lin

I would feel terribly relieved if I were him!

After being criticised by the media, despite all the supports that he get

Ups and downs, he been through them

Sometimes, you just gotta believe that this is all a work of coincidence, be it God's arrangement or not

Things just have to happen, for one to get from one place to another

If it hasn't been the "leap of faith" decision made by Coach D'Antoni, putting J-Lin in early

He wouldn't have the chance to show the world what he is capable of

But I guess the most important thing that gets J-Lin there..

Was his constant believe in a better future and his perseverance despite the hardships

Hope this game opens up great opportunities for him

Like he said, getting in rotation, starting point guard, playoffs and finally championship!

All the way back to JB, Msia

Finally I had my knee surgery done, about 1 month ago

Still recovering but I'm glad with the progress

Doing rehab has become a daily routine

Yea, my new ligament, donated by my hamstring..

Laptop and books have become my best friends

But lucky enough, I still get dragged along to movies and dinners by buddy Wonder

Everybody in the household take care of me, and sometimes I feel like a king :)

Might as well enjoy the moment while I still can, haha!

Road to recovery, a long road indeed

Minimum 6 months to basketball

Minimum 3 months to jogging

6 months without basketball, I wonder what else I could do

But that's ok, hopefully work will take care of it

Not knowing what the future brings..

I anticipate the working life in sg, which will come really soon in March

Looking forward to my first ever fulltime job as a pre-reg pharmacist

Looking forward to help people in every single degree that I am able to reach out to

Definitely, looking forward meeting new people, old buddies along the way

No pain, no gain!

And ohya, countdown in Sydney! Best so far!

Danza Kuduro- Don Omar

Found this song carries the happy + holiday mood

Got it from Fast & Furious 5

Trying to make sense and make a link

10-9-2011

A date to remember

After wrestling with the fact, my stubbornness brought me down

Resisting to rest, I kept on playing, putting stress on my injured knee

And then, a "pop" sound ended my season, finally..

When I look back now

Comparing to the my current stage

I start to understand

Understand the reason why people said rejoice while you're going thru struggles

I didn't remember myself getting overly upset about the injury

You can say that I've injured myself so many times that I was already used to it

That's quite true, over a period of 2-3 months, I've been lifted off the court countless times

Till a point that I'm officially termed a "glass man"

However, the MRI result really stunned me..

At the same time, brought me to a whole new chapter of life

It's like I was refreshed!

Yeap, the injury not only made me a more cheerful person, but also a more determined one

I admit I did look back and thought about what I should and should not have done..regretful much? hmm not really tho..

Why did I feel refreshed?

It all just seems to happen at the right time

I was going through some low/soulless times before the injury

I felt so lazy towards many things

Because of the "not quite there yet" injuries (before the acl tear)

I felt like my joy of playing basketball was taken away

Even though I tried very hard to play or even just shoot the ball

I still couldn't get the joy of playing, AT ALL

I stopped going to gym, I stopped being passionate about many things

I stopped being myself, the always motivated me

For that few months, I felt so weak whenever I looked into the mirror

The only thing I held on to, is my faith

Even though I was barely there

Somehow, a special force would always come at the very last minute

Just when I was about to let go

The joy of sacrifice would always be there, whenever I chose to do something for someone

So for those months, I held on to this special force, with just a little bit of strength left in me

AND the times come..

And slowly I started to accept the fact that a tear is a tear

And after countless basketball videos and praise and worship songs sang

I finally found my motivation, the long lost one

I started going back to gym, I started waking up early and try to sleep early, again..

And gradually I felt rejuvenated, and stronger than ever

This is when things started to change, for the better

Thru church, thru basketball, thru people

My life was put into order again

Thanks to the blessings and care from the people

And new people was put into my life

Just as a dose of hope, which I've dearly missed

I am able to smile and laugh easily

I even started to cry more easily, out of joy and not sorrow

This injury has become THE topic starter

I was able to feel people's love and care thru this injury

I was able to be hopeful again

And joy was poured into my life abundantly


Basketball wise, I've never been calmer on the court
(As I still secretly play a bit, no big movements)
I started to figure a lot of things out
I become a better passer, discovered a better court vision
And a better shooter as well
All thanks to the fact that I can't run fast and jump high
I start to play with my brain more
Instead of relying on my brainless muscles every time

It has been almost 2 months now

I can't said that my life was changed radically

But definitely, my heart and spiritual life have been transformed to a whole new level

I've started to trust more

I've started to worry less

And loving people, has never been easier now

And this effect is inside-out

THANKS TO THE ACL TEAR!

It all makes sense now and things link!

I'm loving it! I can't wait for more!

As I continue to trust and live for Him!

"Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."

What's coming?

Have you ever got a feeling that..

Time slows down when you're anxious and worried

It speeds up while you're having fun?

Tougher times are harder to endure

Obviously you don't have to put up with happiness

But often what we forgot about after coming out from that tunnel of hardship

Are those bags of memories, lessons in life

I look forward to life ahead!

And anticipating all the good things

Without dismissing the possibility of bad ones to happen

Not too late to realise that failure makes people stronger I guess :)

I used to find excuses for my failure and shortcomings

And piling up lies on a foundation made up of lies

And lies are like cement powder without water

You can poke with your little finger and they'll collapse

That's why lies are not good if you haven't figured it out!

Sometimes it takes a lot of courage to admit that you're wrong

It takes some character to be the first to say sorry

It is about loving others and not being selfish

Often when we figure it out, it's not that hard really

But I guess it takes lotsa practice to have that kinda thought in mind when challenges come

When you say sorry to yourself, you made a decision "to try and do better next time"

Even if you fail next time, I guess you'd be making progress

Of course, issues needed to be taken care of

So that is how you grow and become a person you are now

I'm still young, I can still take some hits :)

What's ahead? I dunno! But must be something good!