Money still good.

Oh yea, some good news. Mendaki and SMU talked about the whole scholarship thingy again and decided that since it is not government money but a personal donation, I could have the money. So now, they're going to forward me the first half of the money in about 3 to 4 weeks.

Yay!

I'll start to ask for some of your account numbers soon. =) Oh and also some tips on driving.

God is great.

Superhero Fir

I came, I saw, I screwed it all up.

I went to take my IPPT today at Khatib camp right after I had a huge meal with my parents at Bugis Junction. Seriously quite full but I figured it'd all be digested in an hour or something. So after changing into my PT kit, registering at the counter and getting my tag, this motley bunch of NS men sat around to watch the IPPT briefing on a small tv screen. That done, we proceeded to the five static stations.

Shuttle Run

The equipment they use nowadays are amazing. You run under this gantry, touch metal strips on the ground and everything will be recorded and stored into your tag. I stepped up and proceeded to begin my first official exercise since I ORD-ed two Aprils past.

Timing: 9.4secs

Wow. That's pretty darn good actually. Surprised.. That's one of the best timings I've ever got. You need to get at most 10secs to score full points and if you take 11 seconds you fail. Ah well.. next station..

Sit Ups

The machine here is this black Mat thing on the floor with a red LED display showing ur tag number and score. Looked like something that jumped out of the Machine City from Matrix Revolution. I sat on the mat and strapped my feet in. Laying down there, I felt like I was about to get processed or chopped by the machine or something. I started the sit ups and the counter started.

Score: 41 sit ups (with 15 seconds to spare)

You needed to do 40 sit ups in 60 seconds to score full points. By this time, I was full of myself. Wow. No training also so fit ah.

Standing Broad Jump

Ah.. this one no problem lah. To the line, JUMP!

250 cm, 6 cm more than the highest minimum score.

What can you expect from super hero fir right?

Chin Ups

I looked at the chin up bar and thought, okay lah.. aim for eight. 6 to pass, at least 2 more for face. Up I go...

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7... ergh.. 8... 9........ 10........ 11........... 11 1/2....... argh.... down.

11 chin ups. Wow. Okay lah. needed one more to score full points but still a whole 3 chin ups more than what I thought I could do.

2.4 km Run

So feeling all super hero about myself I proceeded to the 2.4km track. The PTI told us to rest for about 20 minutes after the static stations..

PFffftt.. do you know who this is? This is Super Hero Fir! I'll run when I want to! and so I did.



and promptly after the first round, got a huge dallop serving of stitches on my right and left stomach. My stomach was so full I felt like I just ate a horse. I was in pain. I wanted to die. I did die, I think.. somewhere after the 3rd Round. 6 rounds of this? I was silently cursing all those oldies overtaking me on my right. I tried to use more of my legs, stride more.. I tightened up my stomach.. I leaned forward, I controlled my breathing... I kept going... finishing line..........


Timing: 15minutes.

ARGH! For the first time in my life, I failed running. 15 bloody minutes! A blindfolded cow can moonwalk around 6 rounds of track faster than that. 6 minutes away from Gold. you could sing a whole song and still have time to spare in 6 minutes.

my dignity now utterly disposed of, I went to school to find my solace, cramping all the way there too I might add.

So yea, moral of the story is.. Super Hero Fir? SERVES YOU RIGHT! My result slip says it all.... FAIL! try harder next time.


Oh but you wait. I'll train and I'll be back!

It's all about the..

This happened a week ago but I just felt like blogging about it now.

Some of you guys might know that I received a scholarship from SMU. It's supposed to be a $3000 offset off my tuition fees. Problem is, my tuition fees are already subsidised 100% by Mendaki due to my household income. So what happens? Money from scholarship can't come to me because it's for my tuition fees and mendaki has already promised to pay for it all... so after some discussions between the two.. Mendaki said that it's either I go for the tuition fee subsidy OR the scholarship.

$6500 every year for 3 years OR $3000? no brainer right.

So now, SMU has asked Mendaki to allow me to keep my scholarship in name, and the $3000 goes to Mendaki for this year. Effectively, Mendaki pays $3000 dollars less for me, or gains $3000 in a way.

Sigh.

I'm just complaining because this is no way an incentive for students under the Mendaki subisdy to work hard and get a scholarship. I doubt there are many scholarships out there that pay strictly allowances rather than tuition fee subsidies. I'm only sadder because I made plans for that $3000.. definitely one of the first things I would do with it would be to pay all of the money I owe my friends and get a driving license? Ah well.. I'm going to try to appeal to Mendaki and see if I can smell a bit of that money. Family really needs it now man. Damn.

Sorry if I haven't been meeting up with some of you guys or promised to chip in for a present but pulled out at the last minute... Gotta find some way of making some dough real soon.

James J. Braddock

I watched Cinderella Man today and am really quite amazed at how affected I was by it. The movie is about a James J. Braddock, a boxer who fell on really tough times during the Great Depression and how he fought back to the top when a second chance presented itself. It would have been another cliche fairy tale boxing story, I think, had it not been for Russel Crowe's quite stellar acting and how real the frugality felt to me. I could definitely connect to how it feels to have a guy cut off your electricity right in front of your doorstep. I have never had to beg openly for money to reconnect my lights but I can definitely imagine the sheer desperation of a father with 3 children to feed and having no other choice. I felt the tenacity of a man, old and untrained, about to be beaten down in the boxing ring.. who knows that he has NO CHOICE but to fight one and win. No choice BUT to win. Because he knows he cannot return home and look into the eyes of his children and tell them that he has failed and given up. That he just can't do it. That there won't be food for them. That he can't get the electricity going. That he can't keep the roof over their heads. No loving father can bear to do that.

It was only at the end of the movie that I realized how beautiful and blessed it was for the people who endure through such times to come out with something intangible, precious and priceless. With faith, we will be pressed but never be broken and God willing, we will bear out of this crucible as steel. It is during our hard moments that we know the meaning of hope, faith, endurance, it is from these moments that we know the meaning of blessings and it is after these moments that we realize the beautiful story that God has prepared our life to be.

I have tremendous respect to the people who have turned around adversity to blessings with legendary humility. Go watch the Cinderella Man and compare the stuff that we're made of to the man known as James J. Braddock.

Blurp.

Sometimes, in the midst of all the heavy discussion and workload, doing something as trivial as a blogger quiz can be quite a relief.... makes me ponder on why the need to act all pompously serious all the time..

You Are Likely a First Born

At your darkest moments, you feel guilty. At work and school, you do best when you're researching. When you love someone, you tend to agree with them often. In friendship, you are considerate and compromising. Your ideal careers are: business, research, counseling, promotion, and speaking. You will leave your mark on the world with discoveries, new information, and teaching people to dream.

The Birth Order Predictor

the sea..

Talking to Adelene reminded me of my love of the sea. If you've known me long enough, you would have known that I have been sailing since I was primary four. I've spent quite a bit of my growing years on the waters.. at least twice a week for about 9 years? I've always felt a special connection to the sea and secretly I nutured a belief that everytime I came to her shores, I was answering a silent call. The sea was somehow home to me.. a feeling I felt that might have crept up from deep within, my ancestors have always been sea-faring folk after all.

The sea has taught me the meaning of a beauty so intense, it ached. I've seen fiery sunsets splendidly emblazoned on an orange sky immersing in a sea of molten gold. Breathtaking. I've splashes of red, green, orange ink in the afternoon sky. I've learnt to appreciate and see the terrible beauty of a great storm. I know how it feels to be on a wet, white deck in the middle of nothing but blue. Blue skies above, blue seas below. I know and am constantly reminded of how small I am amidst all of God's glories.

If you know me, you would know that my love of the sea is very close to the centre of my being and you would know that my sailing experiences have defined so much of me. You will also find my sailing friends all similarly inspired and humbled.

Sigh, it's been a while.. =)