Too many Cooks do indeed spoil the broth

Dejected and disillusioned would be a gross understatement to describe my general state of emotion after yesterday’s titanic clash with lest year’s runner up in the competition. We had the players to finish them off, but unfortunately, we lost to them by 5 points. What irks me most is not the performance on the court, but rather off it.

Full credits to the guys who stayed on the court, they indeed gave the opponents a scare and a run for their money. Kuncheng, though not as brilliant as he was in the 1st match, was simply efficient and professional as a point guard. Not to mention Darryl who manages to lift us separately on 3 occasions with his magical 3 pointers. Off the court, though, it was simply a case of “Too many cooks do spoil the broth” in action.

Alan (Hey, people, it’s not me), who was the manager of the team was simply no coach. He wasn’t firm and being accorded the respect that should be due to him. After all, this is only a guy who is only 19 years of age. By his side, are two experienced heads, or so they believed (I shall not name them) that are not in the team, yet with different philosophies, trying to meddle with the mentality of Alan, influencing his decisions. Not firm as he is, he simply let the voices got to him, and ended up making decisions that was simply bewildering to me. (Not believing in Darryl, allowing Xiao Y to play the whole of the game, not using Shengwei effectively, and playing Man on Man in the critical juncture of the game were all grave mistakes).

Of course as I had pointed out, full credits to the players on the court, they manage to survive with such tactical nonsense and indecisiveness from the bench. (If at this point, you, readers are wondering why I didn’t speak up to correct such things, there are only 2 reasons. 1stly, I do not wish to be another cook, I would rather let Alan analyse on his own. 2ndly, I do not command the respect of the whole team to start talking to them in this manner.).

Had dinner with the guys ( Me, Kelvin, Ah Lim, Yang and YYL) after the match and we ended up debating the existence of God till 3am in the morning. It was a case of Ah Lim (The Sole Believer) against the rest of us (Non Believers). However as all how classic arguments ended, this too ended with no conclusion and with each sides more convinced of their own convictions as before.

End of winter break, Time for the Title Run-In

Time for the title run in after the winter break. This is the period that decides where the title is going to end up and also the european spots. This can be compared to the Boxing day period where the amount of games played will decide the destiny of where the cup is heading. Xtra09...It's now the period for title run in over the next 2 weeks. Watch this space for the results, and whether xtra09 can hold on to his european spot after the boxing day specials.

Just a short Update

Will keep it short and sweet...

Midterm's break here, and i am not complaining although i feel that the timing for this break is very weird, in the sense that it's a week after the CNY holidays... As usual, i am relaxing myself during this break and doing a bit of my school work every now and then. Well, Mid Terms' next week, and i've got to prepare for it soon anyway...

Nothing much really, maybe except for the fact that i spurned a chance to know more people like B*****a Lee, by refusing to go with Victor to a Dinner. Seriously, Thanks but no thanks. No point just knowing new people as aquaintances. I am happy with life as it is right now...

Saw Junhao, Zhanjing and Sunny tonight, as they turned out for Tampines Changkat CSC in the basketball competition. They were my juniors in the Ngee Ann team. My heart goes out to them tonight as their team couldn't prevent the rout by Bishan. They did their best, especially Zhanjing. But alas, it's classic David vs Goliath...

Friday, the 18th day of February.

The day was great!
To Kelvin and Victor who will be reading this entry, we won the match (71 -32). It was not exactly thrilling, because it was a one sided affair. (Despite one very good player, number 8, in their team). Number 8 was so good with his dribbling that he ‘ole’ our dear Simon. Kuncheng also announce his comeback with a spectacular display of attacking basketball, and wound up with 13 points for the evening. I do have to admit here that it was a case of weak opponents rather than we playing particularly well (though Simon’s friends, Sherman, and Shengwei were really good). The next challenge will come next week, with our opponents, (with the addition of Xing Fa), being the runners up of last year competition.

However the best part of today actually arrives after supper. It’s been such a long time since the 3 of us walk side by side with each other. (Mr Young Lee, and Mr Yang actually went to see the match too!). Really miss those days where we walk from TPJC back to my home. It was so fun with us singing a lot of songs en route back. Those were really the days…

Lastly, went to Yuan Ching for the past 2 days. Yesterday was extremely satisfying though, because I finally manage to help Chenghao with his Maths Homework. His score for the Test was real poor, and by his usual standards, he seriously shouldn’t have failed the test. But never mind, as long as he tells me when his tests are, I will try my best to help him prepare for it.

As for today, it was soccer craze (Me, Zhikai, Chenghao, Zhong rong, Zheyi, Edward, Dominic, Calvin, Augustine and Hongyong) in the pitch beside Zhong Rong’s house. Today’s match just reinforce my opinion that Calvin and Zhong Rong are extremely good footballers among people in their age group, though I have to admit that both can be easily frustrated at times if things doesn’t go their way. That’s a wrong attitude that a sportsman should always avoid. Keep calm always at all times, because that’s when you are going to think of how to fight back and win the battle! If you do think and lose, at least there won’t be any regrets.

I think I am slowly coming to terms with the lost case of the “pretty heart gal” after an extremely disappointing week; hopefully time will take care of the rest…

Fighting against Mid Table Mediocrity...

The day before the marketing test…
True, I could have prepared for the test earlier. Instead I used only 2 days. The concepts are not really very difficult to grasp, but as Yaocheng pointed out, we can only prepare to the best of our ability, with no information on the genre of the questions that might be posed. Indeed, it will be a tough challenge. I can’t afford to falter tomorrow. I am undergoing a minor blip now, but as many successful managers (ok, soccer managers) pointed out, a blip is ok, but it mustn’t be developed into a crisis. So the bottom line is that I must eke out the 3 points (ok, another soccer analogy), no matter what.

No more depression...

I shall carry on the fight at all cost. I shall leave the depressing week behind me and not look back. Why should I care about what she is thinking and doing anymore? No way, it’s time to keep in focus. Focus is the word. If I fail to meet my own expectations this semester, the reason for it will be no other except for the lack of focus. Frankly speaking, this semester seems to be the easiest in my academic life in NUS so far. Thus, I will not allow things to spiral out of control. I’ve already lost 1 battle. I cannot afford to lose another one.

That said, I must also not be complacent either and I must remain humble and not give up too easily. Many a times I’ve lack the heart and the perseverance to go all the way. No matter win or lose, I shall not give up the dogged pursuit to meet my own expectations. A new beginning has arrived and it’s up to me to see the new dawn.

Marketing test next up on this Thursday, which is an immediate opportunity for me to put things back on the right track. Stay tuned to see if Xtra09 lives on to fight another day or not…

1st match on this Friday and we are up against Tampines Changkat Zone 1. We are the favorites for this match, and if we lose this match, we don’t deserve to be in the competition at all.

Weak in the Knees Part 2

it's now Sunday 13th Feb 730pm...

It's a been a depressing day of some sorts. Retreated to my inner sanctuary for a while from 6pm, but i dtill dunno why i am so down n glum...

1. Maybe i missed basketball this morning...

2. Maybe i didn't play soccer for a few months le

3. Maybe it's still the pretty heart gal...( ok... i admit i still don't know enough about her...)

4. Maybe it's because i've watched Finding Neverland. ( Don't think this is likely though)

5. Maybe...i am just me...

Maybe, lots of maybe and i still don't know the exact reason.

6. Maybe School resumes tomorrow...and that Labor Economics error

7. Maybe there's a thursday test...

8. Maybe there's a basketball competition on friday...

9. Maybe it's Valentine Day tomorrow...

Maybe i still don't know the exact answer after all

PS: To all those reading, it may be 1 of the many reasons or some other that i am feeling glum. But it's definitely a combination of all those above, i am still pretty sure of that i guess...101 reasons and i am still stuck deeply in this. Of course there's a solution to it ( think Ajahn Brahm), but at this point in time, i really don't have the stomach to fight...No fire in the belly...

When will i regain the fighting spirit back???

Finding Neverland

I didn't want to blog on this actually, simply because the show leaves me with a feeling that can't be described in words alone. You got to see it and and live the experience, seriously.

However, i shall just remind myself of the power of believing here once more. I am touched, in fact very touched...

Weak in the knees

I will definitely remember yesterday.
I was already very moody in the evening when i finally realise that this is my final Chinese New Year in Tampines Street 11. In future, there would be no neighbourhood khakis, bustling crowd, and night suppers on the eve of Chinese New Year's Eve. I am finally moving to SengKang...Yesterday was the final night.

Secondly, pretty heart gal is actually attached. I think iwent weak in the kness upon hearing that. Never mind i guess, but it wasn't easy convincing myself of that. So i spent the whole night listening to Jay Chou's 安静 again. Sort of calm me down. It's no use trying not to think about it. ( To think or not to think and to let go or not to let go were the 2 immediate questions in my mind) However the answers to this 2 questions are not going to be let go and not to think anyway. Even if i chose to not think and let go simultaneously, i know that i won't be able to do it immediately. So the best thing obviously is to think and not let go so easily, while letting time do the rest. After all it has already ended before it has started.

我和我最后的倔强， 我在风中大声的唱，这一次，为自己疯狂， 就这一次， 我和我的倔强。

Alan = No Life + Basketball on Weekends + A Big Wooden Block most Times

So why this description???
Pls refer to the conversation below. The main actors are me and RongJi ( RJ ), a childhood friend of mine...

RJ: Today's Saturday leh

Me: Yup

RJ: So playing ball later in Changkat not...

Me: Of Course!!! Then wat else!?

RJ: That's why ask you mah...

Art this juncture, i guess i don't have to explain myself already...I promptly change my MSN nick thereafter...( And Kelvin said it's a good description too!)

KamPung Style

Went to Yuan Ching today......
Played soccer with 2E1 Boyz...like Zhong Rong, Calvin, Chenghao, Edward, Dominic and ZheYi...
Then suddenly out of nowhere, the ball i blocked went into a huge drain and was flowing away in the dirty drain. Some quick thinking by calvin enabled us to get the ball back. You know what we did?
We got a Long bamboo pole from the scouts and a rope tied to a pail. Then we use the pole to stroke the ball into the pail and by attaching a rope to the pail, we managed to pulled the ball back
So clever!!!!!!!

Saw a grp of malay boyz...Actually it's shaiful and gang. He seems a bit reluctant to be with his group of friends who were swearing at every moment. But i guess he's probably feeling bored and don't have much things to do except hanging out with them I still feel he's a boy caught in the middle...

Blogging......

Hi!!!
It’s been a week since I last blogged…
Let’s start from the day before my birthday.
Thank you very much Yuan Ching Mentors for giving me a birthday surprise completed with cake n candles. Frankly speaking, I myself don’t celebrate my own birthday, though I do agree that we should remember our date of birth. The Phrase “Happy Birthday” also seems a bit redundant to me. Why? Simply because we should be happy EVERYDAY, not only on birthdays!!!

3 Gifts for me this year!!! (My mum forgot about my birthday, but she make up for it with 红鸡蛋, although there’s no 面线.)

The gift by Darryl and Mingcong was extremely memorable

I was recently besieged by the 2 Economics modules, Micro 2 and Labor. But I was happy in a way that I did a lot of pondering over the past 2 days on these economic problems. It was really a lot that I nearly go mad and can’t sleep because of it. But at least I was glad.
SMP mentoring is coming to an end soon. I would like to stay back in Yuan Ching though, but I guess the other available mentors are not so keen ( Some were so disheartened, but I think I can understand why) . So I would have to see first. What would happen to Zhong Rong, ChengHao, me and the 2E1 people? Let’s see man...

最近又开始想起了Pretty Hearted Gal... 真感到无奈!!!