Presentation Rocked!

Thank God for today's presentation! It finally marked the closure of ed psyche 1 and also submitted my assignment! Shiokness.. Anways.. Just had a spark of creativity to do a talk-show based on my scenario. The scenario states that Mr Wong is an incompetent teacher who cannot undesrtand and control his class.

So I was the talk show host and interviewed him. To make it funny, I stated that there are 3 teachers who won this year's President's teacher's award then on the other end of the spectrum. Mr Wong won the "si beh suay" award given by the Newpaper's Flame awards. The rest of the class was laughing like crazy and even the tutor waxed lyrical about it. Haha..

Here we were rehearsing at the UID...

Start of the show! I was wearing blazer and felt so scared that the class wouldnt laugh.. To our relief, they found it funny ! Haha.. Im glad..

So here I was.. interviewing how Mr Wong cock-ed up in class...

Kelvin gave his fare share of dumb answers to tickle the crowd...
The girls came in to present the theories..
Our Group with the tutor...

The tutor said that the presentation was an interesting concept and found it hilarious! So happy.. Then She commented that I should be a broadcaster! haha.. Go Mass-comm.. Anyways rest of the classmates feedbacked that our presentation made them and tutor laugh throughout. Good la, not boring can already..

Lunch Pics.. Playing around with the camera..

Thanks be to God, this presentation was so close to FAILURE.. but Thank God that it was successful and the tutor liked it! I enjoyed myself and now have to endure teasing from classmates.. hahaaa..

Weekend Coming !! Shiok ah

Barker's Run 2008

Today was a happy and hectic day! I was so exhausted as we chiong-ed the GMD assignment and finished it at 1am in my hall.. Studied for Bio test until 2plus then slept.. Woke up at 830am to go print the assignment.. Mass panicking.. Haha.. After which went back to hall to catch some sleep before Bio prac and test.. Somehow I felt today! Maybe coz hand in assignments already.. Then I even went to GESL happy.. that was a First Man!!!

Okay back to being happy, then I left GESL at 6pm for the PESS Barker's Run!
I was signed up to pair with Aloy for the male's doubles! The whole event had a very relaxed and happy mood to it. The one word that epitomised the whole event was : SPORTSMANSHIP. Everyone was sporting and cheered each other on. This was the first time I felt how tightly-knitted the PESS family was. Right down from the lecturers to us students.. We were shouting our lungs out to encourage each other to run our best and congratulating our opponents' as well as teammates. It was as though we reached the utopian state for Physical Education and Sports. Well, we are supposed to be anyway.

For the first time, I actually enjoyed school. I didnt mind staying back late on a friday night. Not eager to go home. Haha. There was food, performances by bands and dance fuzion.. It was just so fun and cool to be there.

This was us at the dinner in the UID.. Me with Caleb and Kumar..

My male doubles' partner: Aloy.. We came in third for the male doubles category! He was super fast and was leading all the way till admin block.. then I could only maintain the lead at second place. The effects of insufficent rest was truly evident as I couldnt push my body further and saw stars when I finished the run..

At block 3, Mr K was encouraging me. He said : "Good one Alex ! Keep up the pace! you're doing well !" I was like.. omigoodness.. This guy here, my prof..He was the ex-national 100m record holder and a super legend in the sporting fraternity.. encouraging ME?! Suddenly I felt an extra turbo booster and chiong-ed like crazy.. Anyway just to digress..I feel that they should put a statue of Mr K. in PESS.. He has been lecturing since CPE days in 1984. True Legend. I'll dedicate a post solely to him another day.

The Women's double of Michelle and Eliza, they got 4th and it was a very good result already considering it was a last-minute arrangement. They helped us score the points..

The mixed team was really GOOD. They came in 2nd. They lost narrowly. Knew they were abit upset. but its okay guys! We've got 3 more years man! And this has been my proudest moment in PESS so far. We won the overall challenge trophy for this Barker's Run 2008! PESS degree year one are finally champions! I was truly overjoyed and blessed to be part of this. I thank God for sustaining my body because I know I cannot win it on my own. In fact, I felt that I could run much faster than I did today if I had more rest.

This is truly a blessing! We being year ones.. winning the overall challenge trophy! Imagine we still got 3 more years to go! But we gotta maintain humility.. Pride comes before a fall. Just continue to work hard and things will fall into place. I really enjoyed myself today and thank God for his sustainence as I dont think I could have lasted with my own strength.

Last but not least it was always cool to end with: PESS.. Success!

Evolution of the REAL Run Shirts

I was rummaging my sea of event t-shirts that i collected the past few years and find that the biggest number in my collection comes from the yearly real runs! First real run i went was in 2003 (JC1) ! Then it was still sponsored by NIKE.. then in 2005 it was New Balance..

The white one (2003) and the blue(2004) The white one remains my favourite.. Maybe because its also the first one..
Then the New Balance Series.. 2005,2006,2007 &2008

The Full Collection!!
Quite an interesting thing to do.. Gather all the shirts from the same event..

Maybe I should do it for the other Race shirts!

Life's Lessons

I had a good time of learning on sunday after the REAL RUN. Nothing to do with the run though, it was alright, but the sun was kissing my face and i did a 1hr 16 for 15km.

But what followed through was something that could get me thinking through the week. Some of my actions and thoughts needed to undergo refining. And im perfectly fine with that, for if I dont learn now.. when will I learn?



Main thing to watch out for was Perspective Taking:


Now we all know that different people have different perspectives, i.e they think and see things differently. But how many of us actually bother to step in to others' shoes or go under someone else's skin to see it from their view? I bet a very low percentage of people do that. Well if we actually do that I think that makes us very successful in mastering other people and understanding why they do what they do.


Teachers often lament that students dont want to do their homework but do teachers EVER step into their students' shoes and think whether if they themselves would want to do the work that they give out? So we gotta think of our target audience. Whether they would be receptive to what we have set out or planned to do.

Picture this : A man cusping both hands on his face, head facing downwards and seated down in an MRT with his 3 kids running around and monkeying around in the cabin. What's your first thought?


A) This guy is a lousy dad. Cant control his kids
B) Still lousy Dad, Cant be bothered with his kids being a nuisance.


What if I told you now that his wife just passed away yesterday?

How does it change the scenario?

So all this boils down to perspective taking. You CANNOT always see it from your own view. THE world does not REVOLVE around you only. We've all gotta make an effort to see each other's point of view to make things work out.

In the bible, Luke chapter 7.

Jesus raised the widow's only son from the dead as he empathised with her and saw things in her perspective. because in jewish tradition she would have been outcasted as both her husband and son have died. and they deem that as bad .

Today's QT material spoke about doing things one step at a time:


It helps. Often when we see things too far, we really feel that the task is too daunting.

We should take it a step at a time and then we "wont die one" haha..

Matthew 6:34

Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow willl worry about its own things.

"Every hill in life is too high if we think we must climb it all at once. But no hill is insurmountable if we take it one step forward at a time- With God's help"

So there you have it: I have learnt alot.


Praise the Lord!

Bio Field Trip to Sungei Buloh

Yay ! Blogger has been revived! And FINALLY.. I can upload the Sungei Buloh pics..

I really enjoy the Bio fieldtrips.. Beats being in the lab for 3 whole hours.. Drains you out totally man.. On the other hand, fieldtrips are liberating man! It lets you enjoy the nature and appreciate what creation is about. This time round we are looking at the Mangrove ecosystems! And we ventured into the mudflats where i bashed around the bushes.. reminiscing the Korbu times..

With Kelvin on the bus..

Yiting..Julie and Mich..Our guide for the day: Prof Beverly Goh. A marine biologist by specialisation, she was explaining to us all about the marine ecosystems and stuff.Think PCK-like boots can save you?!! haha.. though its not yellow, this rendition of PCK's boots couldnt save them in the mud.. they sank as deep as the rest.. and the sabo squad even put in some mud into their boots.. haahaa..

Entrance...Monitor Lizard: We saw quite a number there.. They are ectodermic.. needs to bask in the sun..

Oh this is Johor right in front of us..Migratory Bird Viewing gallery
Prof Goh telling us to come in December where migratory birds will transit here en route to down under..

aHa.. Now the mudflat route.. Super fun seeing people panic thinking that they will sink into the mud!! And I was the cleanest.. Coz i went to bash into new routes..haaa..

Entry into the Mangroves.. needa bash.. bend down slightly..prone not needed..

Look at them!! hahaa..
In the mudflats now.. it was low tight and all the crabs, snails and clams and mussels.. all are there...

Notice the mark on the trees? If it was high tide.. we would have the water at our chest level...Yucks.. Look at the mud we're stepping on...

All in all it was a fun trip! MORE Field trips please!!! Argh.. Bio prac next week. Zzz...

Adidas Kanadia Featured in Runners World

My trail running/adventure racing shoe, the adidas kanadia was featured in this month's runners' world magazine. As the headline goes: " At last! A trail shoe that really performs" Hmm.. about that, i think i really need to test and find out myself. Im actually damn happy to own a shoe that is featured in a reowned running magazine. Haha.

Went for Biology field trip to Sungei Buloh yesterday to visit the Mangrove swamps. I wanted to upload the pics here and at facebook. However, the file sizes were too big for the comfort of blogger.. Sad.. Cant post up the pics. I had fun though! Taking so many pics and also enjoyed the field trip. We saw many things and also had many people sinking into the mud.

It ignited all my adventure spirit in me.. Reminded me of my korbu days.. I bashed through fresh trails to avoid getting stuck in mud.. but got lots of spider webs though.. I really want to go back to my mountain climbing days man..

Had dinner with Jamin and Jeremy at Canopy Garden Dining restaurant at bishan park (looks like Bali) and ambience was great. Food was average though (again the pics were too big in size)Sigh.. I wish i could upload them.

Tomorrow im running the REAL RUN for my unit. PHQ PTIs ! I hope not to let them down.. 15km.. hmm.. shall update more in the next post!

What i sold my Saturday for...

And the answer is... 2 pairs of Adidas shoes!!!

The other day I was at adidas office to settle my class jersey stuff and sijie saw me..
He asked.. eh help me for the stanchart workshop at vjc this sat leh.. And i was like ..hmm.. then
he said come follow me and we went into the store and he gave me not one.. but two pairs of
shoes! Goodness.. Im so over the moon! =) ! Let me introduce them to you... oh.. but before that.. yah i sold my saturday afternoon for this two pairs of shoes! haha..

My favoured-one : the Kanadia Trail Shoe! Its for adventure racing and it looks super slick like a racer with superb traction that is similar to salomon. Colour also suits me.. super bright! i like it..The next one is the Adistar Control 5. This is the highest range of shoes in the adidas stable.. with adistar on top, supernova and then the normal shoes.. This has double-spoke formotion, making it even better for uneven terrain negotiation. I tried the cushioning that day.. It was like i was walking on pillow cushions.. that good.. :D

They gave 100plus bottles.. and i gave one to coach as well..

Keychains of adidas shoes! It looks cool..
VJC's really nice. They have nice treehouses there(yup really build around trees) and its for students to go up and hangout to chill and stuff. super cool. The whole school has a blend of rustic and modern feel with its infrastructure. What's more, they have big billboards adorned with Adidas catchlines and an astroturf to boot.

Their PE department is amazing, HOD's really organised and the department is so united. All wear some attire,courtesy of adidas and they have so many activities together. The leader of a department is SO SO important. I really think being in a JC PE dept is so different from a Sec Sch PE dept. The level of zai-ness is so evident in the JC side. They can do so much more. I really want to be part of such a wonderful PE programme. God-willing, I am inclined to want to join a JC in future !

Nanbantei Yakitori

I was delighted that school ended at 530pm for me yesterday! It was the first time i left NTU before the sky turned dark.. Met up with Jam in town for him to sign for the salomon x-trail run.. (He's eyeing the shirt too) We headed to try out Nanbantei, a specialist in yakitori.

The Chefs are at work right in front of you where they tirelessly barbeque skewered meats over hot charcoal fire simply with just salt and pepper. After which they will smear the masterpiece with their secret home-made sauce.


Sprinkling of the salt at work.. sea salt no less..
We had the Japanese beer to down with our food! went rather well. just that Jam was RED again..
The minced chicken rice bowl that Jam had.. IT was fantastic value for money! at four bucks, the chicken was tasty and so were the mushrooms. Both had been braised for hours to achieve such an effect.Tempura Udon that i ordered was a let-down. It wasnt really something to shout about. Tempura was soggy and the soup was run of the mill..
This is top-draw! Introducing..... NANBANYAKI! This yakitori is the main star of nanbantei.

Smoked beef smeared with home-made bean paste sauce. The smokiness was distinctively strong and evident. The home-made bean paste was just simply lovely.

Asparagus Maki was beautiful as well. The bacon was thinly wrapped over the asparagus but my goodness! IT was really good.

Tsukune (Chicken Balls) We played safe and didnt order the other exotic innards like liver..tongue..kidney and so on..Unagi with leek! This was good.. except the leek was too pungent for my liking..Salmon belly. This prized part was truly soft and rich with omega -3-fatty acids..

After such sumptous meal downed with draft beer! Me and Jam were truly high... But watch it.. we might soon get fat if we persist in such ways! haha.. Anyway learnt from Dr Teo that the new way to say fat is to mention Adipose!! haha..

Nanbantei is a good place to get your fix for yakitori if your craving kicks in.. I know i'll be there when mine does.