The Transition Year - 2013
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Uncle O' dropped by @11:16 PM
2013 has definitely been a year of many great changes to all of us. Be it school, work, NS, family, friends and ourselves, we have experienced much in this year. Personally, 2013 can be divided into 3 parts: NS, Holidays I had after NS and before school started and finally school.
My remaining 2 months and 4 days of NS were in 2013. Being in MPTS for a 1 year in 2012, things had almost settled down. However, there are always new changes, new faces, new problems and obstacle. I think it was great that I ORD this year rather than last year. It's just a feeling and I can't really explain why. The last run-up to ORD was not a 100% slack-off or throwing magic offs or whatever. No such thing. Rather, it was more about giving the last burst of every effort I could for MPTS before my time is up. Call me mad or what, but I really cherished every day of this year I had in camp before I ORDed, because I know that all this time will never be coming back again.
In terms of work, I may have been a little harsh towards my colleagues and put them into stress, especially during those rampup periods towards the finale exercises for the trainees. One of them told me when we met up after he ORDed. I couldn't give a proper explanation back then but after reflecting about that, I have found a possible explanation for that. I had to because I did not want to jeopardise the trainees. I did not want any of our mistakes to hinder the outfield exercise of the trainees. I wanted to give the trainees the best form of training they should be given. I didn't want to let them down because of silly mistakes on our part.
It was really a great experience to have served as an instructor in MPTS. Theintangible experiences I have learnt and took away from trainees, fellow trainers and permstaffs of MPTS were really somethingi know would serve me in great stead in the future. Many things have changed after I ORDed and I know it's inevitable. I just hope that all those changes would be for the better and my greatest hope for MPTS is that the very one day, BITW would be a united group where all instructors serve MPTS with a similar goal and that is for the trainees. It's something which I have never got back during my time. Hopefully, things are now better between all instructors.
After ORD, it was basically a really good break from March to August. It really felt great to be just having time on my own and doing things that I wanted to accomplish. While I took sometime to adjust back to this carefree environment, I think my schedule was so empty that I pondered much about life during that period. Nonetheless, things are always better when you have something to do.
So now it's back to studying and all in school. It definitely feels great to be a student, but the stress and all came back quite quickly, especially when everything I am learning now aren't that simple as it seems. I do find great interest in what I'm learning and I'm grateful so far that I have made the right decision. Passion is really important in studies and I am glad I like what I'm studying now.
I think what I have learnt greatly from NS was about time management, prioritising and committment. I have learnt to make sacrifices and put what's important to me at the front now. Studies, family, friends and myself - those are the important things right now. I don't think I can commit myself to another CCA or something right now because I know I can't juggle too many things well at the same time. I know that, so I am going to focus one by one, ensuring that I do it well each time.
Once again, as I conclude 2013, I would say it's really a year of transition. A year where I move on from one phase of life to another. From a role as a Singaporean Son to a student, I have learnt much from all the people around me. While there are times where I yearn for the past and become reminiscent about those wonderful times I had, I know we cannot go back in time. All I know is, all these moments now live in my heart and I will not forget those moments, the senses and emotions I have.
This transition stage went off smoothly and I am glad that everything falls into place nicely for now. I know 2014' going to be a great year ahead. My laptop states 11:11pm right now and I am embracing every last moment of 2013, on my own. I'm loving this with the television on my left and my kinder bueno on my right. I guess it's time to bid farewell to 2013 and welcome a new year of 2014. Let's make 2014 another memorable year which the future you will reflect and say, "2014 has been a great year!"
Happy New Year everyone!
Friendships this Holidays
Monday, December 30, 2013
Uncle O' dropped by @7:05 PM
I would say I'm gladly enjoying the holiday I'm having now since the start of December. It was not a rush into packing everyday with activities and ensuring everyday is well-spent with a load of activities. I didn't actually plan what I wanted to do over the holidays despite having that some ideas during school. I guess that was a form of motivation to keep me sane amidst the stressful period I had some 5 weeks ago.
This holidays were really just taking my mind off everything and recharge. Most of common of all was to kinda of spend two-digit hours worth of sleep in bed if not living a sedentary lifestyle like now typing this post and watching movies/television shows. Other than that, I guess it would be to meet up with old friends!
So the Saturday before Christmas, I met up with John, Cally, Hong Ye and Sok Yee. A little pity that the rest could not make it for the meet up. It was a nice gathering since I haven't really seen any of them for quite sometime. Astons for lunch and basically it was just that, chatting all the way from 1pm to 4pm on top of our constant refills of plain water because we talked too much. Really nice to have met them in person and chat like we had all the time in the world. We'll definitely meet up again when school's about to start, especially when Jesslyn and Ke xin are back!
Last Saturday was another meet up with my awesome section mates! Norman, See Ting, Ami, JJ and Cedric and I went to Sun Island Cafe at Bishan Stadium there. It's was better than what I expected when we reached there. So quiet and it was basically just us the whole afternoon. Lunch and gaming all the way before we headed to Swee Choon for dinner as recommended by See Ting. I haven't been a dim-sum goer even though I do like eating these Hong Kong delights. Nevertheless, it was awesome food with nice company.
Call it fate or what, while we were at Swee Choon, there was a group of people diagonally away from our table and they were from my primary school. Old primary school friends who I haven't seen in years since graduation (really long ago). I was not expecting them to recognise me since they were from another class. Eventually I think they realised and it was quite a coincidence, when my Primary One classmate, Eunice (I can still recall her name!), asked Norman to take a group photo for them. It turned out one of the guys in the group was also Norman's friend. I can't remember his name but yeah it was kinda of awkward I guess? I don't know what's their perspective but oh well, not like I would really meet them again, right?
Nowadays it really seems like wherever I go, I'm bound to bump into someone familiar along the way. If that someone is a familiar face who I know quite well, it would be quite a nice coincidence. If it's the contrary, it's just going to be so awkward. Well, I guess I have got pretty much 'training' for awkwardness since my time in hall during last semester. Nevertheless, awkward situations can be quite a difficulty fix at times I believe.
So there's pretty not much of activities for me this holidays but I'm totally loving it because quality matters more than quantity. Make every outing count and make it great, go big or go home. Plus, I realise that I'm not alone, I just love solitude. Enjoying every moment of my 'ME' time because I haven't had that in the last few months. It would be a pity if I had spent every single day of my holiday either going out or going school. I've come to realise this 'ME' time is hard to come by and I really enjoy it now, be it if it's cuddling in bed for more-than-humanly-sufficient hours or just sitting on the couch living every moment. Plus, as I would be going back to stay in school next semester, every moment at home is kinda of precious now (especially my mum's home cooked meals). I'm not being sore about anything or trying to comfort myself about anything, really. I'm happy for how things are going now and I'm really enjoying this relaxed and 'chill' pace of life that I'm going through during this holidays.
I've also thought to myself sometimes that I'm being a little selfish of my time, or maybe because I fear my time management skills. Because now it's more of studies, family, friends and myself. I know I cannot juggle too much things at one time, so I would rather focus on each and every thing one by one and do it well for each and every one of it. Trade-offs are inevitable I guess? It's impossible to have everything and sometimes, giving something up may allow you to have something else much more. You'll never know, and it doesn't mean that you cannot have everything either. It all depends on how hard you work at it and how committed you are into putting every inch of effort into it. If you can't, then you'll need to review you basket of eggs and determine which is more important to you instead.
Oh my, I can't believe I managed to babble so much when I initially had nothing much to say. Maybe this is what my tutor mentioned about free writing, just letting every thought you come up with flow into words and penned onto paper (in this case typed into this space).
So it's the second last day of my 2013. Now I think I have a better inspiration of what I want to blog about for 2013 tomorrow. So much ideas now, but I shall let it flow out incessantly tomorrow. Enjoy your day!
When Life's a Marathon
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Uncle O' dropped by @6:04 PM
I was thinking what I should recount on the past events that happened this year. While checking my inbox, I received an email from Pink Apple about the races they will be organising next year. So then I thought, "I haven't blogged about my runs this year yet!"
So here's my post for today to recount the amazing races that I took part in 2013!
2012 was the very first year I signed up for an official race (by official I meant paying to run at an organised event). First was 10km 2XU Compression Run, followed by 21km New Balance REAL Run, then 30km Newton Run and to end off the year was 42km Standard Chartered Marathon. I know it was a pretty big jump to run from 0km in 2010 to running 2.4km consistently in 2011 (due to NS) then to 10km in April 2012, then 42km in December 2012. Training for the long distance was pure effort and hard work. These races I took part in 2012 were mainly pure distance run.
Runs in 2013 this year were mainly more interesting type of runs. Allow me to elaborate what I mean in the former sentence. I took a break from running for 1 month, so I officially continued running again since January this year. My first race of the year was U Run 2013 in Feburary, which involved running 15km followed by climbing 30 storeys of the NTUC Building in Marina Boulevard. Pretty challenging as you need to be ensure you have enough gas to climb the last 30 storeys after completing the 15km run. It definitely feels good to have completed that run!
My next race in 2013 was the Energiser Night Trail 2013 in May. It was one significant race for me so far since I participated in 2 races in 1 day together with See Ting. The location was all the more attractive as it was held at Lorong Asrama. To most servicemen, Lorong Asrama is definitely a memorable place for its use as a training ground gazetted for military use. The grass-mud terrain of the area boasts as a trail run and the undulating steep slopes in the area is unforgiving for any runner. The first event involved a 3km obstacle race which was rigourous given that the route involved upslopes and downsloopes inclusive of obstacles which definitely takes a toll on your energy level. My second event at night was an 18km trail run. 18km is considerably sufficiently long and the difficulty is raised when this 18km is held at the terrain of Lorong Asrama. I would say the challenge posed in this race is as tough as a 21km run. I definitely felt great about this achievement when both See Ting and I didn't train for the race at all and we managed to complete it eventually!
My 3rd race was the Pocari Sweat Run 2013 which I ran with Joshua in June. I decided to take a little break from running longer distances and decided to focus on shorter ones instead. So it was a good 10km run in this Pocari Sweat Run. What was memorable in this race was that it involved running up and down the steep grass patch of Marina Barrage.I have never taken part in any race which has something like that and I enjoyed it. I kept assuring myself that I could continuously run up the steep grass patch of Marina Barrage and not to stop throughout the race given it's 10km. Plus, I wanted to break my own timing for 10km which I ran back in 2XU Run 2012. Not easy for me since I haven't consistently train during this period.
My final race this year was during the first few weeks of university education. RunNUS 2013 was also a 10km race around the university's campus. It's definitely not easy since the Kent Ridge campus is full of upslopes and downslopes. So as expected, the route really composed of the steepest slope you can imagine. Once again, to maintain or outbeat my previous 10km timing was another important goal in mind as I raced through the university campus.
Despite my mileage in 2013 to be about half that of 2012, I am definitely feel happy to have participated in these races these year, in partcular the running experiences and emotions I had as I ran step-by-step across every race route and crossing the finishing line. With school as an important component in my life, I definitely have to manage my time between the various commitments. Runninng is definitely an interest and I will coninue to train in the upcoming years. Maybe one day, I will be able to participate in races overseas and experience the various cultures and running events in different countries.
21km 2XU Compression Run 2014 shall be my next race!
Last of all, Merry Christmas to everyone!
Where was I
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Uncle O' dropped by @2:08 AM
I told myself that I would pen down my thoughts about the last semester in school here. Well, after the series of orientation camps in school, next was the Freshman Inauguration Ceremony, Rag and Flag followed by National Day. Much of that week was spent having fun, especially Night Rider where I cycled overnight with some of my peers I made from SOW. Not to forget Jesslyn's 21st Birthday and BBQ with Brave OG.
Week 1 begun shortly after all that enjoyment. The first two weeks of school was great since there wasn't tutorials so timetables were mainly filled up with lecture slots instead. Other than studies, there were still time to fill in movies, catch-up with friends. Not to forget, I also completed a 10km RunNUS, a challenging terrain with a good mix of heartless upslopes and downslopes.
So the rest of the weeks were mainly about studies and I don't think I shall go down to the details. The word "studies" should have said enough about itself. What was significant would perhaps be the rigour of the university curriculum. 13 weeks to complete content for 5 modules is no easy feat, trust me. It's really a lot about time management on each's own part rather than about the module itself. School doesn't end in the afternoon anymore, it all depends on how you planned your own timetable. Plus CCAs, I doubt the day would end anytime soon until night falls.
Running low on battery here, I shall talk more next time!
A Penny for your Thoughts.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Uncle O' dropped by @2:08 AM
Funny how time flies, so fast that sometimes we even forgot how far we have gone in our lives. I decided to come here and pour out some of my feelings before I go sleep and before the clock strikes 2am. Looking through my facebook profile before this, I realised so much happened since 2011 and how much everyone of us have moved on in our lives. It's always these moments when you start to realise how precious all these moments were. You start to ponder how you could have reacted to ameliorate all those seemingly insignificant events in our lives. Once again, what's has happened has happened and there's no point crying over spilled milk, so are those times when we laughed, we cried and we sang. Perhaps that is how unqiuely things are supposed to turn out for us. Some people may have left our circle of life, new people enter and yeap, that's life.
Scrolling through the posts that I have made or people have made were kinda of refreshing. I don't remember those comments which people and I made. Not insensitive or negative comments but just you know, those day-to-day comments one have for another on facebook. Emotions and thoughts just kept flowing back as I read through the comments and started to realise how reminiscent I can get at times. Sometimes I may appear to be ignorant to all these kind of emotions associated with departure-kind of friendships as everyone embark on their next phase of life. I may even tell you, "well, yeap so that's that." Indefinitely, I am guilty of taking a hard time to convince myself to move on. Yes, everyone has to move on with their lives. But to say "I have moved on," isn't something easy. It's takes time. No amount of time, however, would suffice that self-confirmation that I have moved on.
Nevertheless, you need the 'present' in order to have a 'past'. Time keeps ticking, and what we could perhaps do best is to spend wholeheartedly with the people you meet, no matter how it turns out in the end. It's quite amazing (or rather not so amazing) to realise how time can make friendships grow so strong and at the same time, dilute some to that as bland as plain water. Okay, maybe I'm really thinking too much in the middle of the night and I start to get emo-ish or something. Goodnight!
The Induction Period
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Uncle O' dropped by @11:18 PM
Back from watching Running Man!
The end of July to start of August 2013 was basically about meeting new people, making new friends. After CSC camp in July, I attended my last 2 orientation camps as a freshie. Well, at least looking back now I do not regret the times at the camps I have attended. First it was Temasek hall camp from 26th July to 2nd Aug which I attended 4 out of the 8 days. The next 4 days were spent at Science Orientation Week, named SOW in short.
Games during Hall camp were really amazing. It was definitely a level higher than what I have seen in camps I have attended so far in school. First, it was all student-led activities. Second, they were all pretty original. Given its authenticity (which probably may be prevalent in other hall camps perhaps), there were tons of preparation by the crew who planned those events. I applaud the creative juices and effort the organising committe managed to squeeze out.
However, what I didn't really enjoy was duration of the camp. 8 days were simply too long! I meant, if it was 8 days of continuous activities and fun, I'm sure I would have missed the camp when it all ends. However, I got a little disappointed as there were simply too much waiting time in between events. While much filler activities came in to kill time in terms of bonding games, it kinda of dwindled when we were still playing it on the 4th day. There were days which were spent actually at waiting for nothing. Luckily I was spared of that as those times that happened on the 5th day onwards. Seniors mentioned that the camp would be even more fun as the days went by. Well, it was below my expectations.
Perhaps I could not click well with hall friends. Most people from Science faculty would have chose King Edward VII Hall instead given its relative closer distance to Science. However, I chose Temasek as I thought it would actually be good to know people from other faculties too. During the camp, I realised I could not assimiliate myself into the community. Socialising and acting to be friendly to know people perhaps isn't my style. I've tried but maybe I was not good enough. At the same time, most people in the same block were already friends before they met in hall. So it was natual tendency for one to stick with the familiar faces then to go out of comfort zone and try to know someone new instead. For someone who came alone to have a whole new experience of making new friends who have no other connections with you before, it was tough. It was not a good feeling when trying to fit in the crowd. That made me wonder whether that was what I wanted. It was those times when most people would turn to their phones instead to feel safe in this unfamiliar environment. And I was no exception. I'll talk about my experience in hall some other day. For now, let me move on to SOW which I managed to escape from the awkwardness and loneliness I had during hall camp.
Attending SOW on my 5th day staying in campus was a relief. It was about meeting new faces and making friends all over again. It felt like I pressed the reset button and ended up in another new game. I was kind of accustomed to the bonding games and ice-breakers they had since after having played that for the last 4 days during hall camp, there's nothing much left to expect. Nevertheless, there were slight variations from those I have experienced in the other camps. I found it relatively easier to make friends with people from science. Perhaps of similar background and similar way of thinking, there was little barrier to communication and I felt more pleasant. I was not exactly 100% present during SOW though, since I went back hall on the 3rd day for 'a compulsory activity which everyone in Temasek hall needed to participate'. Plus, I went back hall at night to sleep during SOW so that was lesser time to get to know everyone. Nevertheless, SOW was also another great experience since I felt more comfortable with my orientation friends.
At the end of the day, I think SOW was more of getting to know friends from the same faculty, people who generally share the same interests as you do. I possibly could have a perception that I would be able to click better with friend from science and hence this outcome prevailed: Closer to science friends, not close to hall friends. I don't know and I think I may not find out anytime soon. To conclude, at the end of the 2 orientation camps, I know I have had enough fun. I got wet too many times during camp that I was so sick of getting wet during games. I know that was a sign but I'm lucky to have that experience. I really enjoyed myself over those few days and I know I need to, because the days ahead would not be as that fun when all the studying begins.
Motivation to Blog Again
Uncle O' dropped by @8:36 PM
Hello world, I have forsaken this place since July 2013. Busy juggling family, studies and friends and all, I stopped blogging for a while. Things got interesting, and maybe there were just too much things for me to blog that I got lazy coming here to tell my story. On hindsight, taking a break from here and going back as a full-time student was great. There were many times I told myself I would come here and blog about my life but resisted that temptation because I know I am guilty of poor time management. Not blogging was also a good motivation for holidays to come as there were times I really wished I had the time to record down all those emotions and thoughts I had with me. Now we're Back to December, I've finally free up time for leisure to come up here recollecting my life for the past 5 months.
Maybe my focus for this 1-month holiday would be to blog about life rather than wasting my life away on the streets or whatsoever. I'll try to blog in specific topics that happened for the last 5 months and see how it turns out before year 2013 ends.
I've currently got my first-ever personal laptop which I paid using my own hard-earned money! Trying to get used to the typing here and it's definitely a good feeling as I type and smell the scent of new electronic products freshly-opened from the box! I shall talk about this another day, off to catch Running Man! Fighting!
