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)