Procrastinating

Thought about writing out New Year resolutions, then decided it's best to K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple Stupid); so it will be sticking to just B.L.E.H :p (Be Living Extremely Happy). Then I look at the amount of books I have yet to finish reading, and at least 4,000 photographs I have left to look through and give some minor editing. From Slingers game vs Thailand Tigers, to my trips to UK, Siem Reap, pictures of cars and girls at FD, SIN events. It's insane especially when US is on leave till 4th Jan and things are slow at work, yet still busy with gatherings, drinking and lots of stuff. Well, procrastinate so I will, it is after all -Yuletide season.

Attempting to fly while blading at high speed is not advised without wrist and knee guards.

 

Luckily I busted my wrists from rollerblading, and after 2 weeks of rest, it got worse from go-karting last Sunday, so I am going to take a break from sports to fulfill those inner peaceful moments till 2010...with my soul PS3, books and PC.

Till then...my final 189th post of the year; ~65% increase from 2008. Thanks for reading and sharing my world...except the twins, you guys should stop reading and go read xiaxue's blog instead - this is an insightful post by her which I have shared on Facebook and still applauding her for exposing this crap diplomatic immunity incident.

Have a fab 2010

Cornering at 80kmh with my 125cc go-kart with great panning skills from Andrew.

A mighty fine 2009 as we close it out, despite the recession looming, I managed to keep the heart pumping on go-karting and great travels ...especially at the 2nd half of the year with 2 great vacations. Ticking off one of my long-awaited concert list - U2 in London, and a great photography trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Fulfilling a new country every year list (so far 121 cities in 22 countries), next year's one is already in planning - Next photography trip to Vietnam with double the number of great photography pals..super excited on the potential shots we will be taking at UNESCO sanction Halong Bay!!

The past week has been awesome, X'mas celebration with my close buds started Wed late night, with more drinking with family/relatives on X'mas eve and an unintended wrong choice Christmas party, which was meant to be a slow wine-aka-detox session but turned out to be a crazy night of singles and lots of booze and drinking games. Finally after an awesome 44-point victory over Rays on Saturday, a great stag night for the best ass buddy one can have - Jase. Congrats to him and boo, can't express how happy to see this couple finally getting settled down.

 Family and friends, things we can never take for granted and always try to stay close to.

Next stop back-to-back parties - Ed's NYE party and Jase's fabulous wedding.
Onward to a great 2010...and thanks for being part of my life guys...Happy New Year!

Giving and power of masses

In light of the X'mas spirit, here is another example of giving.
Source: CNN. The power of just $10-20 by an individual goes a long way when the masses come together. The website in focus by the article is http://www.modestneeds.org/ .

Last night, I couldn't get seats to watch Avatar again, this time in 3D. So I caught my fav actor Donnie Yen's new show called Bodyguards and Assassins. This is a Sun Yat Sen historically-linked movie which showcase the fight for democracy in the face of dictatorship rule of the Qing monarchy. More importantly it took 10 years and 16 Asian stars to make this movie.Jacky Cheung had a small part from the start, and with no spoilers intended, his one phrase which was a quote from Abraham Lincoln meant for true democracy and in hope for the 400 million Chinese people, made an impact to me.

"...that government of the people, by the people, for the people..."

The movie's underlying intentions showed that the sacrifices of individuals made, their combined effort, can save millions more and for future generations. This altruism act is what's missing from our society these days. Everyone from bankers to politicians, are all about themselves and they want it now.

Being contented

Some people strive to have everything to be happy. While others claim that by not having anything, you will live happier. Hubbard once said, "It is pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness; poverty and wealth have both failed." Well, I guess it is better to be sad when you are rich then when you are poor.

Here is an article which highlighted the fact that we can be happy if we are contented and have a better quality of life, be positive even if it means earning 75% less and if one can no longer afford the lifestyle one use to live, no cars, no fancy big houses. Do we really need those material things we are working for now?

The other article I would like to share is about being charitable and his acts brought about how civil servants should be. He made me understood the meaning I found in the bible "Blessed is he that considereth the poor." and this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson - "The greatest man in history was the poorest."

Source. South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak, who rose from childhood poverty to the top office, has donated 33.1 billion won (26 million dollars) – 80% of his personal fortune to a fund for needy students. Since he took office in February 2008, President Lee – an elder with a Presbyterian church has also donated his monthly presidential salary of 14 million won to low-income households.

His acts are admirable, something I find missing from my country of highest paid civil servants in the world. And the watered down effect is obvious from observing the people around us as the income gap widens year after year.

"I yearn for this country to be a country where we care for one another." - South Korean President Lee.

Think hard what's going to happen to the Singapore we live in now, and think even harder - do you even care?

"If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich."
- John F. Kennedy

Kennedy's quote is akin to Confucious's.

"In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of."

Cheap Plastic Flash memory

Throughout my semiconductor career, I have always been dealing with Non-volatile memories (NVM or widely popularly known as Flash). And my basics were from a Japanese fabrication plant under a pupillage of a great boss who had 16 years of Flash experience when I first met him. A team of Japanese researchers from University of Tokyo recently have a new breakthrough - cheap, disposable, flexible plastic Flash memory. The basic technology behind it is using an plastic substrate consisting of polymer and metal oxide. Without the need for silicon, it is cheap to process.

Right now I am thinking of the wonderful possible applications it will hold for consumers in the future like OLEDs in time to come. But also thinking of the amount of waste it will generate and hopefully, the material can be biodegradable. Check out the pictures from the Tech Review website linked earlier.

The Fun side of a Slingers game

It was the last match before 2010, so it was a Christmas special where the Slinger gals don X'mas hats and became Santarinas for the night, entertaining the crowd with some dancing. The Slingers will be taking a long hiatus as the next game will be at home against the Philippines Patriot on the 6th Jan 2010 at 8pm.


As I mentioned earlier there was going to be Celebrity match against the Media during the half time show in the Slingers game against Thailand Tigers. The Celeb team has Allan Wu, Benjamin Heng, Irene Ang and Adele Wong; while the Media team consists of journalists from 91.3FM and ESPNSports.

How much you want it

Finally back to our winning ways...Slingers over Thailand Tigers 69-66.
The expressions on their faces tells us how much they wanted it. Badly.

Check out Coach Neo and Manager Johnson's faces!

Anyway joined in their celebrations shouting and got my voice hoarse and couldn't speak much during my late night conference call. So happy for the boys!

Reviews and pictures here.

Singapore Slingers vs Thailand Tigers Rematch

So who's going to the game later at Singapore Indoor Stadium for the rematch with Tigers and to check out the result of Coach Frank's  revamped training methods?

Go Slingers!! Get back to our winning ways!! You can do it...

Anyway here's a great previous game review with great pictures from Keith@Singapore Addict. Enjoyed the way he analysed the guards' contributions when our starting lineup failed to score.

See you guys!

2021

Unlike my other happening travels for 2009, from U2 concert to spotted skies in Perth; Siem Reap seems to have a hold on me...making it one of the trips that I really enjoy. Why I wonder...

 A Cambodian child praying at the temple along with her family

Maybe it was the time alone and the fact that this was purely a photography trip with great company, learning the nifty workings of my new camera body with great guidance from my "pro" friends. Or perhaps it was just the innocence I found from taking rustic pictures of ninth century temples and Cambodian children doing the simplest things. Having them looking at me through my lens...made me find the need to look back.

Monks at Angkor Wat giving me a look back as I snap a shot of them walking through

As I took my flight from Kuala Lumpur, the long deliberate strolls within the Malaysian city still brings back memories as the streets I once walked 10 years ago. But back home, the buildings and streets which I fondly tried to remember, is now replaced with newer concrete, building material which triggers nothing but a sense of loss. Slowly I come to appreciate that I no longer clamour for modern spanking buildings in Tokyo and Shanghai. This sort of revelation made me realised that I had finally grown older.

2009 is the year I have fulfilled many of my goals I have set out to do and finally did it, from hitting the weight I once last saw 6-8 years ago to attending the concert I have always wanted to since I bought the Joshua Tree album in 1990. Next stop, 2021.

Here's looking at me 12 years ago, and onwards to 12 years from today.

Finally a persevered win - Spartans vs VS

Photo courtesy of PK, owner of Jammers league.

I never blogged in detail of my amateur league games before. But for the benefit of many of my teammates who were away, and the fact I only played 4mins with injured wrists and had to focus on coaching or in my own ways strategically managing the team - this is my account of what happened resulting in an 3-point upset 55-52 over last season's #1 team.

Rematch - Slingers vs Tigers

So we lost to them by 3 points...so we suck at FTs... and at crunchtime, the locals crumble.

So in the words of our Ministers, it's an honest mistake...Let's move on. Let's start to get our confidence back, get the wins. Buck up on the aggressiveness, buck up on the shooting practises...make 10,000 shots before 17th Dec.

So come on, let's keep supporting the Slingers! Oh and besides that, I heard there's going to be a Celebrity Death Match at halftime! Oops..not the MTV version but a half court 3 on 3 match. Celeb vs Media match during half-time for the upcoming game against Tigers. So far the confirmed players are Allan Wu, Irene Ang, Benjamin Heng who will play against sports journalists such as the people from 91.3FM and ESPNSports!!

Going to enjoy watching Irene Ang play!

See you guys.

Date: 17 Dec (Thu)

Time: 8.00pm

Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

Simplicity in Life

A great trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia over the weekend. Bought some sweets before my flight there. Real eye opener and a reminder that life in its simplest form is the happiest.

The little kids in Siem Reap know only a few words, "One dollar", "Tang Guo" or "Candy". It takes only those 2 things, which somehow never fails to light up their faces.

When leaves can be crowns. Cambodian kids enjoying role playing. I somehow envy them and not the kids back home.

Slingers lost to Thailand Tigers

In a slump? Doldrums time? Anyway we lost to Thailand 65-62, a good review from Slingerrocks.

Pretty much sucks for true Slingers fans who came down to watch a self destructing final 4 mins of poor ball handling and selfish plays ....and the same poison that kills any bad team including my Spartans... Free Throws - pure unblocked open shot with referees setting the lanes up for you.
Slingers could have won it if the FTs were all made..but then again Thailand wouldn't be in this tight situation in the first place if they had made their FTs.

Watching the game from my hotel room in Cambodia.

Food that hurts so good

Need to try this when I get back to Arizona...8000 calories in one burger!



Anyone for franchise in Singapore?

Jammers league timing inconsistent

So I turned up late for last week's game..pissed off with myself but in fact it was a change in timing which I did not noticed. It changes so often on Jammers' website, I think I should shift my attention on getting pissed with them instead. I mean timing and location was planned out long ago, how come games can change within the coming week? Are these changes made to accommodate teams' line ups or because of court booking? Hope the league can explain this...pissing me off.

Here is the original schedule

New schedule

So from 1220pm vs Sunday Old Folks at Balestier, we now play 115pm against Braddell Eagles at Queenstown... man I miss playing at Balestier. Hope we don't lose more of our squad since myself and Jase won't be playing this week.

(Thanks to my blog reader who brought this to my attention for the inconsistencies)

Singapore Slingers vs KL Dragons

So to avoid wasting Slinger fans' time from reading my personal life and sometimes social news, links for my friends, I will blog over at Singapore Addict's blog with regards to Slingers. This is also for friends who don't really enjoy reading basketball stuff. So my first blog entry of my review of the game against KL Dragons is here.

Pictures found here..

Happy Thanksgiving

With great friends enjoying a great time on NBA Live 10 on a 50in flatscreen with massive speakers @ a nice pad.

I am thankful for great friends, for a great family, a great boss and company to work for. And finally, always thankful that my photos are appreciated in someway or another.

I didn't know they notify you for stuff like that...

Weekend of Losses

So the Singapore Slingers have lost their 2nd ABL game and 1st home loss to KL Dragon yesterday - 74-86. It was something of a forthcoming bode which was made the day before by yours truly, though I seriously thought we can easily handle the Dragons, and Slingers can break the trend.

In the same sequence,

Jase's Celtics lost to Orlando  78-83

My Nuggets lost to Clippers  99-106

Our Spartans lost to Winning XI  51-68

The last occurrence which happen was just earlier this month in my blog entry Day of Losses - Deja Vu or a mere coincidence? I remembered watching this show Celtic Pride about 2 basketball fanatics, which have their usual antics of wearing this and that, and if the game is first half, they need to sit this way or that. Basically having trends to ensure their fav team Celtics won.

So we cannot have all 3 teams lose again, in order for Slingers to win!

But anyway the KL Dragons really played well from an uptempo intensity observed on the court, where Slingers defense was unable to stop them from a high percentage shooting. More photos and game review will follow next.

Rain rain rain

Been raining all week, can't get to shoot any hoops...
That's the problem with Singapore, not enough sheltered courts, and expensive indoor court booking charges. How to produce sporting talents when resources are not available? Food for thought for our Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports if he does ever read blogs.

Anyway my fav rain song...from my fav movie

Why I don't Photoshop

Normally my photos are as they are..except a bit of composure cropping and resize to make the file size smaller for uploading since per shot size is from 12-22mb. Anyway I don't advocate digital editing on photos because fundamentally I think they belong to another category for creative eyes who make adjustments to their shots on computers to create an art, while Nat Geo type of photographers create "art" from their eye through the lens. I do not mind a bit of HDR, airbrushing but I have seen many which seems to be way edited, though I really love it because of the mood and perspective it gives which might be impossible to photographers. Anyway to each their own, I am just old school for now, who knows if I might change later.


Anyway here is Photoshop at its worst...

Demi Moore's fat hips were obviously seen to be Photoshopped away on the latest December cover of magazine W.

It's almost Friday!! Another busy weekend ahead...had dinner with my JC girlfriends last night - apparently my schedule is so packed, I have excuses to stop dating. Duh....anyway so far my travel schedule is filling up till next August similar to this year's travel plans, traveling overseas almost every month. So it seems like singlehood is not by choice.

Slingers Number 1

So it seems like Alex Hartman did not keep his promise of 40 points..be it him scoring 40 points or trashing us 40 points. Well the results for now are as follows:

1. Slingers at top of the ABL table: 5-1 with 11 points; recently beating Satria Muda 61-59.

2. Leading 59-58 with 39 seconds left, Hartman missed two FT.

3. Hartman with 13 points, 6 of 15 FGs. 1 of 4 treys and 0 for 4 FTs.

So remind me to "remind" Hartman when he comes back to Singapore Indoor Stadium, think he plays better under pressure and with me,the turbanizer.com and Botak Jones corporate box guys taunting him. Haha

Do read more here:
http://redhoops.com/2009/11/14/satria-muda-slingers/
Red Hoop rawks! They have excellent overseas coverage of the Slinger games!

More of my previous post against Indo's Satria Muda here:
Local defence - D-Glove.
Hartman's promise.
My pictures.

So who's coming to the grudge match between Singapore vs Malaysia?
KL Dragons are visiting us at the Indoor Stadium at 4pm this Sunday 22 Nov!!!!
Bring the Singapore Flag if you have!! Will snap pictures of fans with flags and post them here!

Till then see you guys as I'll be sitting at courtside taking pictures and selecting players to taunt..haha

Oh and btw...Michael LeBlanc blogs as well!! Can see pics from Jase and mine in there..so he reads our blogs? Haha...but no credit for the pics used though...tsk tsk
Like reading players posts to see the game from their perspective...like how Darren "Doc" Ng used to blog about his games. But do hope Michael can share more about training programmes and the recovery therapies conducted. This will help avid basketball fans.

It has always been intelligence

Guys who liked them big can now attribute the attraction to intelligence. Perfect excuse to spotting smart women in a bar!

TGIF...tonight's going to be a good good night!

Wassup!

Used to watch all the Budweiser adverts during University (back then there wasn't Youtube)...the guys are back after 8 years...love these American ads, demonstrating real democracy which even reminds beer drinking folks to vote for change. Watch the 2nd advert before the first, if you never watch the Bud ads before. (Jase should love these..he introduced me to my first Bud at age 18)



In case you are too young to have beer back in 2000, here is the original ad.

Quote for November

Haven't been travelling lately, it has been a while since I shared a quote.

"We sit silently and watch the world around us. This has taken a lifetime to learn. It seems only the old are able to sit next to one another and not say anything and still feel content. The young, brash and impatient, must always break the silence. It is a waste, for silence is pure. Silence is holy. It draws people together because only those who are comfortable with each other can sit without speaking. This is the great paradox."
— Nicholas Sparks

A nice Sunday stroll

Typically I think when I take trips abroad. It is good when you leave all inhibitions behind in Singapore and try to start on a fresh mindset. But strangely, last Sunday on my walk back from Bishan after a basketball game, I had some thinking done to straighten my mind out about a few remaining open topics. Perhaps it was the sunny blue skies which reminded me of the ones in Australia or USA.

Either Singaporean Smokers cannot read or

Starbucks Coffee Drinkers can't. Two indulgence which I cannot come to terms with.

Taken with my Canon 7D with Diana F+ Lomography Fisheye 20mm lens

D-Glove - Desmond Oh

Desmond cutting past Hartman for a fantastic pass to Jeffers for an easy layup. 

So now Desmond Ho has a nick called "D-Glove". A great video made by Slingerrocks, showcasing Desmond's defense and great ball handling. In the video, Slingerrocks captured the move in the picture above.



Have lots more pics of Desmond Oh in the Indonesia Satria Muda game, which I will upload here.

Learn to shut up

Found a blog entry which reflects somewhat ground views, but it isn't exactly something I am advocating. As I have many foreigner friends and I do support foreign talent scheme by our government - so for my foreigner friends who are trying to settle down here in Singapore, sometimes try to understand from a local perspective and curtail your criticisms...as it is REALLY reserved for us Singaporeans who lived here and undergone the school curriculum; having to purchase out of reach public housing; having to serve 2.5 yrs of army and up to 40 days of yearly reservist training till we are 40 or 50 years of age depending on rank... You see, we are proud of this red dot, but there is much more to be done...and you do not see what we see or hear, so respect us as we have respected you being here. Do learn when to shut up and spare us your disingenuous criticisms. Yes our forefathers were foreigners as well, but they contributed to the nation building through blood and sweat and fought the Japanese invasion on this soil; as am I with my annual army duties, but more often to protect foreign investments more than "real" enemies up north and around. Poor arguments do not justify the fact Singaporeans love to complain...blogging is an avenue for release as studies have shown it helps mentally and emotionally by sharing...so now everyone has to take it like a man and stop bitching about realistic concerns? Have you taken a walk lately in the alleys of Sungei Road or Chinatown? Or are you just another elitist, Wee Shu Min devoid of compassion and  understanding?

A quote from Albert Einstein - "The world is evil, not because of the evil doers but those who see evil being done and do nothing."

In case the entry mysteriously disappears, I read this forum letter sent to ST as well, over the weekend in state newspapers.

ST Nov 7, 2009

Be prouder of this great little red dot

I REFER to Thursday's report, 'Singapore a top choice for migrants'. I am a new permanent resident, and this report not only makes me proud, but also affirms my fundamental belief that Singapore is destined to be a global centre from a financial standpoint and a cultural and social perspective.

After living most of my life in Sydney, Paris and Tokyo, I have embraced Singapore as my home - I never felt so intimate with the other cities.

My only beef with Singapore is that its citizens do not necessarily share my passion for this country. From personal observations, I have noticed that Singaporeans are both competitive and in a constant pursuit to improve their daily lives, whether economically or in some other sphere.

In this challenging environment, it is natural that one loses perspective of the overall big picture, which is that Singapore, a country of about 700 sq km, has come a long way from a backwater trading post to establishing itself as arguably the financial and technological hub of Asia.

Perhaps Singaporeans should be prouder of their country. Cab drivers complain about everything and university graduates I come across talk of saving up and moving to Spain or Italy.

Perhaps it is time citizens took a step back from the frantic demands of everyday life to reflect a little on what their country has to offer - a safe, ecologically aware and technologically advanced metropolis with excellent public transport and infrastructure, a thriving arts scene and a welcoming multicultural local population.

If foreigners from all over the world can see this and are coming to Singapore, why can't Singaporeans?

Sam Ahmed

I guess  this blog will be void of local criticisms when I decided and successfully migrated and go on to blog about new adventures and issues face. But I for one will not be writing to local newspapers of my new country and telling the locals how to live it and stop bitching!

Basketballers still ostracised

Many a times, I find it so hard to explain to expat friends on why we have so little NBA telecasts here, and why Singaporeans love to slap themselves.

It was a twinge of joy when I hear that Singtel won the EPL bid from Starhub. Some years back, myself and several friends cancelled ESPN subscriptions to show some fortitude in disapprovals to Sports channel price increase due to crazy price war between Singtel and Starhub to score exclusive rights to showcase EPL soccer, whom we being avid basketball fans somehow were penalised with no increased coverage of live games from NBA. Believe me that we tried to raise hell calling up or emailing ESPN prior to cancelling the channel, especially when my family are throwing arms about not being able to watch tennis/F1, so occasionally we turn it on for a month during US or French Open.

But my joy was shortlived when Singtel announced the price packages. $23 for soccer and $2 for ESPN...woohoo so cheap..but wait - You cannot get ESPN without soccer. Damn it, price is similar to Starhub's price plan but of course no need to pay $4 for setup box and no need basic package lar. But already used to watching Nat Geo, Discovery, CNN and AXN leh.. What if I don't enjoy watching soccer? Why do I still have to pay $23 to turn on something I do not watch? So looks like I have to contemplate paying $99 for NBA Broadband access for all the games; or wait for Starhub to pull a rabbit out of the top hat with maybe NBA TV?

Now even in digital phone services, there seems to be an issue over at Singtel - seriously when will our seemingly oligopoly competitive GLCs learn that primarily, consumers' interests have to be taken care of? What's the point of creating competition for the WTO's criticisms of government's monopoly stranglehold on telecommunication services, if in the end, consumers still lose? Now instead of a win-win situation, to the outside world, we look like idiots slapping/out-bidding each other from the deep pockets of GLCs whose paymaster is eventually the government.

Starhub is 56.9% owned by Temasek Holdings. Source
Singtel is 54.1% owned by Temasek Holdings. Source

Press Release about Slingers loss to Patriots

Just got an email from Bob about the loss yesterday...

After defeating the Philippines 74 to 69 in round two of the ABL competition, the Patriots were able to turn the tables on Singapore with a solid 70 to 53 win in Manila.  It was our first loss of the ABL season although the Slingers still sit on top of the League.  Make sure you put Wednesday, January 6^th in your calendar as the Slingers will host the Philippines in the tiebreaker of their series.

Coach Frank Aresgo had plenty to deal with even before the game got underway.  Starting point guard Al Vergara was doubtful right up until game time with an injury sustained in the win over Indonesia last week.  Al had a bruised knee but decided although he was not at 100% he wanted to play in front of his family and friends.  His on court presence was also important as backup point guard Wei Long was diagnosed with chicken pox the night before the game and could not take the court.  He will have to stay in Manila until early this week.  His teammate Wai Sian was also diagnosed with chicken pox and could not take the court.  Coach Arsego was already shorthanded with the unavailability of Steven Khoo who was on National Service duties.

The Slingers will now turn their attention to Indonesia to try and get back on the winning track with an away game on Saturday, the 14^th.  We will also try and get everyone healthy!  Singapore had a solid 96 to 72 win over Satria Muda last week but with the home court advantage no doubt Indonesia will be out to avenge their embarrassing loss.

The Slingers next home game is against arch rivals KL Dragons.  It is Singapore VS. Malaysia so spread the word to keep building the crowds.  Let’s Roar Singapore!

Go Slingers!

Bob

So we lost the game due to a lack of players, but the crap talking still goes on in the Facebook ABL fan page. You can see fans going at each other. It is easy to get carried away because fans are often a passionate bunch, and seriously I welcome a good flurry of "healthy" exchanges, especially when it doesn't involve contact and its all just words. I remembered reading that Michael Jordan often cut out news clippings on journalists criticising his games, and pasting on his locker to remind him, to drive him and to piss him. We all have our own ways of getting motivations. So I say remember the losses and use it to our advantage when we next meet the Patriots on 6th Jan!! I hope the crowd will be more than balanced in our favour!

The Pervasive Growth

This morning I had a nice good run to Bishan to meet up with some new found friends to have a decent 4-on-4 game. Been a long time since I play half-court games. And decided to spend some loose change to get some water.

Picture credit to SNG CHIN SENG, since I cannot find one to take a photo of.

 

It took me 20 mins trying to look for a Mama shop or a nice old provision shop or at worse, an Econ Mini mart. Well I gave up trying as all the old shops that I remembered in Bishan are now replaced with Cold Storage's 24-hr 7-Elevens. I guess I haven't been moving around Singapore. Having to live with $5 packs of chips, I now have to witness disappearing neighbourhood shops and wet markets. I have become unfamiliar with what I lived around me for past 30 years and in a short 3-4 year span, everything I used to take granted for has gone missing.

The price of growth - we lose old flavours to big conglomerates or GLCs. I am becoming a stranger in my own land. Damn, I hate change, but somehow it now seems less painful if I have to familiarise myself in another country.

After the game, instead of running, had a long stroll home...love walking in the clear blue skies on Sundays, help to provoke some thoughts. So more to come...

Day of Losses

So I woke up to see a losing Celtics - an end to 6-0 run.
Then on my way out to hear that Nuggets have lost, an end to their 5-0 run.
Then played a losing game with the Spartans as our Season 2 starts, barely a run.
And now Slingers have lost their first game in the ABL League, an end to 4-0 run.

Live stats to the Singapore Slingers vs Philippines Patriots game here. They lost 70-53 with the local boys only contrbuting 8 points.

Hmm we didn't do much better.... for the Spartans vs Rock Dogs, the score was a dismal 102-72. We lost by 30 points to a much stronger team today, but it seems we lost the heart in the 3rd quarter over much unforced TOs, which we counted easily 4-5 out of bounds + at least 7 travelling calls. Strange thing is that it happened to mainly 3 persons who all came late for the game today. 12 TOs equate easily to 24 pts to the opponents and that attributes to morale going south, which makes the part of having heart. Nothing is more tough fighting within ourselves.

As usual, we had a long post game debrief in order to know what went wrong and we learn from our mistakes. To win games, despite it being in an amateur or a professional one, we all have to bring our best to the table. We started with 6 guys with a sick center and a one-eye point guard from a terrible bacteria eye infection. We had 3 players who came late despite not playing last week in our pre-game warm up against O2. Somehow, perhaps complacencies set in as I see the next game with newly form teams in their new uniforms bringing in more enthusiasm - full squads of 12 came on time with warm ups completed.

No excuses, I need more practise these coming weeks as we push on in a more competitive Jammers league, where teams have made their changes and trades to better themselves. Go Spartans! Go Slingers! Go Celtics! Go Nuggets!!

Optimism in my perspective

Back in the school days, it is quite often I get a "He is a happy-go-lucky...or the well-liked in class, especially amongst his classmates..." comment on my report card, which I intentionally left out the full picture that I was rather disruptive cracking jokes to girls and I am seen often to be bored displaying symptoms of ADD which requires me to pay more attention during lessons. And the truth of the matter is that my teachers were more than kind with those remarks, yet nothing escapes my sharp observant mom going: "You must be creating a lot of trouble for your teachers!" More often, the truth is found out during Parent-Teacher sessions or when my Principal/VP calls my folks in. Basically the following words were never found in my report cards:


Examples of Positive Adjectives that Describe Children Being Used by Teachers:

Considerate     Well-mannered     Responsible

Fair                  Friendly               Brave

Thoughtful        Thorough             Self-confident

Intelligent         Cooperative         Helpful

Honest             Respectful           Efficient

Talented           Self-disciplined   Sincere

Responsible Hard-working    Dependable

Creative           Generous           Kindhearted

Mature             Curious             Artistic

Enthusiastic

LG sucks and reflection of time schedule

Life has been really busy lately. So I have no time to send my mobile phone for repair and thus, friends who don't message or call me...will slowly drip off from my schedule..which isn't really a bad thing. I am also known to be a procrastinator to such unimportant things which can wait and coincidentally this blog entry was due 2 weeks ago. Apparently I have been wearing for weeks - one of my fav t-shirt that goes "Procrastinator Unite! Tomorrow..." bought from my favorite Target mart  in US.
Also never believe in product ads on youtube and reviewers anymore. Below is a video review of my LG Renoir which supposedly can withstand baking, washing and even running over by a car...but apparently not by my go-kart going at 90-100kmh which is considerably lighter than a car..haha
Here is my go-kart aka long time army friend Jonathan's account of it and his wise words of advise on what not to do on a go-kart.



Anyway here is my typical after-work schedule which prevents me from actually having a relationship.

Mondays: Rest day from a crazy weekend since US is still Sunday...well that is until 8pm. Normally no conference calls so time is spent with the family or with my buddies at usual drinking hole.

Tuesdays: Normally 8pm conference calls. Otherwise tennis with my ex-colleagues or last minute movies with my movie buddy.

Wednesdays: Typically 10pm conference calls, otherwise alternative basketball scrimmages/tennis date or last minute movies.

Thursdays: Strangely normally conference calls only start at 10 or 11pm, in time to be back from my 2-hr Wing Chun classes which start at 8pm.

Fridays: Conference calls around 8-12am otherwise party or drinking time, otherwise it is NBA Live 10/Command and Conquer online with friends till 2-5am.

Saturdays: Morning check urgent work emails and noon is basketball matches at Jammers League, night is gathering with friends who have pre-booked in advance.

Sundays: Either morning photoshoots or in JB for go-karting followed by either shooting live basketball with Slingers at indoor stadium or buddies drinking gathering.

Noticed a lot of drinking...well here's a reminder that drinking is good for cognitive brain functions and helps in sleeping when you have too much to think.

Ignorance is bliss and I have no country

Weekly worthy reads - Singapore is a city and that's the truth. As the years go on, the occupants of this island should wake up to reality that we are merely renting a hotel on the island. This is not a country, since the bulk of us can't vote anyway, we just need to be obedient and dutifully work and enjoy live basketball games, with self-paid nanny millionaires governing the state without you needing to worry. Just make sure you pay your taxes on time and enjoy peace.

And of course, to be part of these millionaires, you must love to be ignorant despite many years of quality education.

“Our approach has therefore to [sic] been to ignore the criticisms which make no sense (to us).”
Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Law & Second Minister for Home Affairs
26^th October 2009

Nice approach, takes the pressure off needing to be accountable and answerable. And seriously, criticisms? Humbug..like I f*%#ing care what you 200 nitwits lawyers from the New York State Bar Association International Section think. Our drone-repressed citizens enjoying being plugged into the City Matrix and enjoying the fabulous ride.

Pretty screwed scrawling seen at a traffic crossing somewhere near Ang Mo Kio MRT

Ooh hoo..did I mentioned I need to do NS in the City Matrix? Upcoming March, wondering if a new software upgrade with PRs or FWs doing my NS since this is not a country anyway? Hope I can still keep my job, as my US boss was unaware of my 40-day NS liabilities as I was headhunted from Hong Kong. Ding!

Remember

There are 2 things worth remembering today...

The game started with a moment of silence to remember Lawrance Chow, as we stood by the courtside awaiting the game to start, we wondered who is Lawrance. Well, only now I know that he is the son of Slingers Deputy Chairman Chow Yen Lu but more importantly Lawrance is someone who love sports and with it...life, here is a great write up about Slingers by Lawrance; and that is how I briefly know him - through his words.

As we start the game, it was clearly shown that the Singapore Slingers were playing well tonight. And Indonesia Satria Muda Britama team were not themselves, being #2 in the league standings. Slingers rolled over them, winning 96-72 with the local boys doing everyone proud, which I will blog in details later with pictures but for now just look at the scores - even Prasad scored his first 2 points!

turbanizer.com corporate box with their MISS sign - quite effective I must say!

Almost at the end of the game, emotions got the better of me as I sat in front of the Turbanizer.com corporate box. Those guys are great fans screaming and often with their dangling MISS sign during free throw shoots and this time round, they even shared it with the Botak Jones' corporate box who took over that responsibility of pissing the opponents off in the 2nd half. Well, how exactly did I got too emotional? I joined in and started screaming with them at the Indonesian import - Alex Hartman you suck!

Botak Jones himself taking over the MISS sign in the 2nd half, as the team switch sides. 

So this Hartman guy actually replies to our taunts, and says this to us, well wait till you guys come to our court. I'll make sure we trash you by 40 points. I shouted back at him "Yeah right!" and he replied 40 points. I shouted back, "You do that, I'd hold you to that!!" Arrogance in another degree. Early in the game, he shot an air ball, and I overheard him saying to the referees that they did not call a foul, "No way can a professional player like me would shoot an air ball on a hook shot."

Let me tell you this. I watched Michael Jordan live in action, he missed a dunk and he shot air balls, and he is the undisputed greatest basketball player in the world. He displays more professionalism that you. Just to put you in place , the following pictures are for you and I will remember your promise to me. 40 points.

Hartman getting a LeBlanc block, who was waiting for quite some time

 

Here is Hartman trying to dunk - trying because this is actually a throw in as his fingers only touch the rim after the ball bounced off the rim with an off arm pushing Desmond Oh.

Hartman - you suck!

Happy Halloween!

Have a good scare tonight everyone!

I just had one myself...first 20-pt game in my basketball career in a full match. 6 treys and a pull up jumper on a fast break..freaking scared myself. Haha at least my pre-warmups of 3 treys were not just for show..
shit and this wasn't an official game and no video recording...damn

Anyway, we lost but to a great team. sad that the opponents O2 will be pulling out of the Jammers league. Nice guys who played cohesively well and always friendly off the court. Hope they come back together soon.

Can I opt out?

Just a scenario which somehow points my tiny dot island to a socialist/communist plus capitalist type of an economy but is this something we really want?

Capitalism - Where free market dictates the economy, and anyone can get rich leaving to economic forces. Where democracy is based on the principles of consent and political equality. Freedom of choice in everything from playboy magazines to choosing a minority as a Head of State, but you pay your own house, take care of your own medical bills etc.
Communism aka State Capitalism - Social welfare where everybody shares everything. Government takes care of its people, provides housing, jobs, healthcare, education, burial plots etc. But in the downside Government controls your life, your thoughts, your love life etc.

#5 Wei Long - Slingers' clutch shooter

When I saw this, I knew I gotta share it, not because my photos were in there, but Slingerrocks got some nice videos of the shots which I see differently through my lens. Great mix and love the last words - 
Come Down to Support the Singapore Slingers!! 
If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a video worth?

Courtesy of Slingerrocks who has some good write ups and nasty videos of the Slingers!!
(Hmm..I love to shoot treys, I am about 174cm, 77kg now and I wear #5...what a coincidence)

Singapore Slingers vs Philippines Patriots

Sorry for the late post, as I was really busy with my work schedule as my boss arrived on the day the Slingers played the Patriots. It was a great day. Why so, besides for me, it being a fulfilling day where I ran over my own phone with my own go-kart at 100kmh thus having to rush back home to get my backup phone and missed a good 10mins of the match. Which I found strange that there was still a long queue outside the tickets booth!! And the crowd was strangely filled with quite a number of locals. So it was a great day as I finally heard half the crowd shout "D-Defense" with the passionate Filipinos coming in to support their Patriots.

Anyway much love to Nic and Daphne as always for indulging me with the best seat in the house - by the courtside. Together with Jase who was on ESPN by the way ... in case you watched..he was in pink, you can't miss him. Since I was late and had bad positioning, here are his great pics and complete review.

Enhancing hardware for photography

I hate to edit/process my photos...like to have them as I have taken originally. But lately realised that my hardware is not catching up with my photography hobby and decided to upgrade my Canon DSLR to be able to take better shots like the one below taken during the last home game vs Philippines Patriots:

It is an edited shot, which I only managed to capture 2 frames of Michael Wong shooting...the rest I have to edit and put in blended ball shots. With my new baby, I hope to improve that coverage and bring you guys better pictures of the Slinger games!

By the way, Slingers beat Brunei Barracudas tonight away at Brunei homeground 82-80.
It was a tight game with Slingers losing 3-4 pts in first half and break away in the 3rd quarter. Michael LeBlanc was hot with 32 points!! Yeah we are the only team unbeaten in ABL!!
More stats here and review here.

And by the way...do join this new Facebook group started by Gordon, if you are a Slingers fan!

Singapore Slingers Number 1 Fan Club

For now, loving my new camera body...will bring it out later on a Sunday morning to test out the speed - 8fps!!!

How things are all related - so wake up!

This is how things really work around here these days. Sorry if you do not understand what I am trying to saying (you can actually google all the terms if you bother) - all I can say is wake up and open your eyes, read more and start to care, because things work in cycles.

It's getting more expensive here

It's getting more expensive here in Singapore. This packet of tissue bought at a 7-Eleven cost S$1.35 a pack as reported by a Stomper. So looks like YJ's S$1.90 can of drink bought at the 7-Eleven couple of weeks ago was not the only shocking thing. And to think I refused to pay S$5 for a pack of Doritos Nachos last week to match our whiskey drinking session...is hyperinflation here already?

Time to seriously rethink retirement location if Gahmen plans to make a bottle of mineral water cost S$25, as the term Monaco of the East is indeed coming to reality.

ABL 18 Oct updates

Arrived late for the Slingers game today as I was go-karting in Johor in the morning. All close ABL matches this Sunday.

I would love to say, finally today's atmosphere at Singapore Indoor Stadium was generally even with alot more supporters for the Singapore side...love it when everyone shouted DEFENCE! Feels like the crowd of  ~2000 was evenly split for both teams' supporters.

Check out the ABL results for this Sunday.

Singapore Slingers 74 – 69 Philippine Patriots  - Great 2nd straight win, official report here. Slingers report here. Fiba Live States here (only starters' stats).

  

Brunei Barracudas 73 – 76 KL Dragons - official report here with Jamal Brown doing well at Dragons.

Thailand Tigers 75 - 78 Satria Muda BritAma - official report here.

My detailed report and pictures will be up soon..

Singapore Slingers vs Brunei Barracudas

Sorry for the delayed post due to a busy week and will be worse next week as my boss flies in for a visit. Anyway, first ABL match against the Brunei Barracudas at home and from earlier post, we all know Slingers won big 87 – 69. Both teams battled it out in the 1st half, and from the look of the wordings found on the compression arm sleeve of #36 Lim, I thought he was going to have to eat his words with the Slingers winning 20-13 in the first quarter.

But Barracudas' import players of #13 Michael Pilgrim and #45 Lonnie Jones were strong finding their touch in the 2nd quarter chasing back to almost even the scores at 38-37 . The turning point was the 3rd quarter where Barracudas had more turnovers from the heightened defense of the Slingers whom capitalised to convert 50% of their field goals. However, do note that we only shot 20% FT in the 3rd and overall only 38%, which is rather painful to watch. The boys really need to go work on their FTs especially Weijian, Wei Long and Marcus. The reason being they drive to the hole often and is expected to be fouled. Games can be lost from FTs either by close games or demoralising the team overall.

The Slingers played well with the locals pulling quite a fair share of the weight scoring 38 of the total game points ~44% of the total score. This is a point Slingers need to note - There is no pure shooter in the team this season. Previous seasons you have Darren "Doc" Ng who is known to pull over 20 points a game with a consistent .3-.5 3PFG. Michael Helms who is the go-to guy for shots or drive to the rims. Right now, we have a more even squad, but clearly we have no star player who can score at will or even a 3-point specialist who can draw the defense out to the 3-point line. Wei Long did that tonight and someone really needs to keep doing it. The Barracudas may have lost tonight, but that's because they did not have the training or warm up games that our boys have. They have since trashed KL Dragons away at MABA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur  76 – 94.

Amazing shot

In light of the recent return to skating, missed my old times of roller-hockey. This nine-year old, Oliver Wahlstrom's nifty move in the Boston Bruins's 1-on-1 competition is amazing! Watch it!!

Inline Skating

Saw this video link from a german friend on Facebook. Got me all excited and now I want to get back to skating every weekend. But need to get new blades, my old one is really dying on me as all the plastic straps have broken and I need crank straps to hold it in. Anyway for those who love inline skating here is the clip.

My weather-beaten Roces, only my second baby in my 16 years of blading!

Saw this new Skate park at East Coast couple of weeks ago. Have to try it some day! 

Local Basketball Amateur league

Having just completed our first season at Jammers League, I am so looking forward to the next season with my amateur league team - Spartans, which will begin in Nov after a month of rest. We did well to achieve our personal winning goal of 50%, in fact 55% of 11 wins and 9 losses and to finish 5th place out of 11 teams. The ride was enjoyable and so far we are limiting the team to only our friends and work colleagues as we tend to shout and scream, support and encourage each other. The need to have harmony in the team is crucial to a having a fun time since we are only here to try our best while enjoying our games.

My team Spartans have been playing together for about 5 years for now and we have played in the BBAXN league as well for a good 4 years. Quite often it was upsetting with the referees being "short-sighted" and sometimes we get "blind" ones as well. Haha but the league over there is rather competitive and hardly warm in feeling - we saw many fights and injuries over the years. Anyway we finally shut down our 1st team in that league and concentrate in the Jammers league which we found new friends and a hell lot more fun!

The Jammers League is endorsed by the Singapore Sports Council and organised by Project Hoopz. They try to bring a fun and enjoyable environment to the many basketball fanatics in Singapore. Project Hoopz organises basketball all year round, be it tournaments, leagues or scrimmages and also provide services such as customised jersey design and production. So do check out their website, if you are interested in joining a team or starting one. Hope to meet you guys on the court someday.

For some video clips of the fun we are having, please go to the jammers youtube channel.

Third World minds from Third World TV programming

This is a great post by Yawning Bread, which highlights how creativity and imagination is stemmed from a controlled local TV programming. In that blog entry, he covers the direct and indirect effects of having local TV shows mutilated by censorship.

The crisis in local television is a harbinger of the crisis that Singapore as a whole will soon face. In a nutshell, it's an inability to compete in a world of ideas. Censorship and authoritarian politics are the root causes.

True to the fact that most of the time, my family is either tuned to some Taiwanese variety show or Korean drama on local channels. Otherwise we are glued to Starhub AXN/Star/CNN/CNBC/Discovery channels catching better quality shows. Parents these days have subscribed to Nickelodeon or Disney channels for their children; whilst young adults with access to fast broadband speeds are watching everything online like on Youtube - they make up the fussiest age group with their short attention span and the fact that the internet offers them a wide variety. Why would anyone watch local TV shows anymore? I have observed over the years, more advertisements are being shown on cable channels these days - is this the result of the recession or the declining viewership on local TV channels?

So lucky for those who can afford fast broadband speeds and a slew of overseas programs on a Starhub/MIO TV subscription. They have alternatives, but what about those who can only afford the basic TV license for free-to-air channels?

A great quote from Yawning Bread's article:

Innovation needs a nurturing environment. A bright spark without that environment typically amounts to no more than a flash in a pan. Our politics have ensured that we don't have that environment. So the intellectual desert we see on free-to-air television is a vision of Singapore's future, when we are outclassed by the rest of the world in an age when ideas, knowledge and creativity matter more than ever. And gently, all the while entertained by the best from abroad via the internet, we slip into the Third World.

As we slowly progress on to international quality shows on the internet and paid cable channels, I wonder when can we stop paying TV and Radio licenses? Perhaps that can help to speed up the inevitable - kill off poorly made local productions and drive MediaCorp to really think out of the box to produce good quality content. Why waste taxpayers money to even bring back Phua Chu Kang? A sudden urge for nostalgia? I hardly think this even qualifies as a desperate attempt to help integrate the new PRs and citizens with our local Ps and Qs of Singlish.

Personally, I rather watch old re-runs of Seinfeld and Friends on Star TV.

Air Multiplier

A child friendly bladeless fan! Wind is created through inducement and amplification of air flow.

The Importance of Defense

Got this clip from a basketball friend on Facebook and got me all excited though I should be resting my infected eyes, instead of blogging and editing photos. Thought I should share it with basketball fans of my once revered team - Chicago Bulls. And always remember besides MJ, there is always Pip.



Defense is not an easy thing. You need speed and you need precision timing. The difference between a good block and a foul is just a matter of a touch.

Here are some pictures from the Slingers game vs Barracudas.



#11 Michael Wong giving no room to #33 Tan whom have to divert his shot to a pass


#14 Wai Sian all ball contact stopping the layup from #18 Avenido


#12 Camaso clearly smacking #35 LeBlanc in the head instead of blocking his shot

A state media coverage by CNA.

This Sunday 18 Oct 2009 home game against the formidable Philippine Patriots, whom also won their first game against Indonesia. It will be an exciting match because the Patriots are favoured to win the league; and our Slingers with a decent outing against the Filipino teams in the Challenge Series should give our boys good exposure and learnings from the passionate Filipinos. Go get your tickets from Sistic and support Asean Basketball!