Thailand, here we come!

Off travelling to Bangkok exactly in 20 hours 30 mins! Planned this trip 2 mths ago, and certainly didn't foresee the events shown in the news this week:

1) Apparently there's a HUGE storm heading towards Bangkok anytime over the next 1 mth, & they have no idea when that will happen yet! It's predicted to be the most serious in 50 years (that just makes it sound really bad, doesn't it?), but the consolation is that the meteorological dudes could predict it at least 3-5 days earlier, so we'd have ample time to fly off if it does come during our stay.....

2) Huge demonstrations at the PM's office for the past few days, but I guess it's nothing new. Anti-PM parties organized the rally and have been trying to force the current PM to stand down, and apparently the crowd reached a few thousand people each day. Note to myself: steer clear of the demo area!

Leaving with an empty luggage tmr as we expect to fill it up with our shopping spree! Will try to take pics and post it when I'm back next monday =)

Why Singapore desperately wanted Pedra Branca

Received this in the email a few days ago. In case you have no idea what it means, ERP stands for Electronic Road Pricing, and they have these gantries all around the small island now. Pretty much impossible to run away from it if you're driving, but it does help in regulating traffic. In fact, London has even sent delegation to Singapore to study the implementation of a similar system in UK!

Could really see the scene in the picture play out once Marina Bay and Sentosa Cove are fully built up in 2 years' time, where all the rich men with their yatchs clogging the marine traffic, so ERP on the sea is not too far away in the horizon!

'Dude, how many times a day do I have to see your ugly face?'

Caught plenty of Olympics action on TV since it started more than a week ago, courtesy of Mediacorp's Channel 5 and Channel U, which had been beaming live actions of different disciplines for more than 12 hours/day.

Perhaps the greatest action on all was set on the stage of Water Cube, the much acclaimed Aquatics center that was specially built for the Olympics 2008. It was here that one of, if not the most, greatest triumph of all time would be staged. A certain Michael Phelps, the water creature that is cleverly disguised as a human, has won 6 gold and 2 bronze medals in the Athens Olympics as a 19 year old, and is bidding for the unprecedented feat of 8 gold medals in a single Olympics.

The media had hyped up his target so much that it was impossible to miss the daily report of his condition leading to the Games. His home country, USA, had been in full anticipation of his potential achievement and requested the swimming events to be held in the morning, when usually it is always held in the evening in all swimming competitions, so as to accomodate the USA evening viewing time because of the time difference.

Perhaps what was not known was the many rivals that Phelps would have in his bid as he would be swimming in different styles & distance. He's unmatched in personal freestyle & medley, shattering his own world record by more than 2 seconds each and lead the field easily. To get to his target of 8 gold medal however, he had to swim in 3 relay events, and those were linked to the abilities of his US teammates as much as his own. The US team was very strong in the freestyle event and remained one of the top teams in the other styles, even though competition remained very keen from the other teams as well.

It was in the medley relay event that Phelps almost lost his bid shortly after his personal medley win. If not for the heroics of his teammate Lczak, who clawed back half a body length distance from the impressive French in the last 5 metres of the race and ended up winning by 0.06 sec, Phelps would have been thwarted in his bid on only the 2nd day of the competition.

The greatest drama was left on the 2nd last day of his swim events, when he competed in the 100m personal butterfly. At the turn, Phelps was not among the top 3 and he started powering through only in the last 20 metres. The Serbian Cavic was leading throughout, and looked odds-on to clinch the gold medal. Phelps had other idea obviously, and finally brought home the 7th gold medal by the slimmest margin: 0.01 second! Replay showed that Cavic already had his hand stretched out for the wall while Phelps was still in his last stroke about 1 metre away. Owing to the length of his hand (which was reported to be close to 2 metres from one fingertips to the other when he's fully stretched out), he managed to touch home and won his 7th medal!

I've got to admit I've shed quite a few tears and my heart must have skipped a few beat everytime there was serious action in every sports, especially when Phelps was on the TV screen. Each time I witnessed how he tried his best, albeit looking effortless in breaking world records that were painstakingly set by himself or other great swimmers, tears always started to well up before I realised it. It was with great effort that I manage to stop it from streaming down each time, only to have the process repeated in the next event. I guess it is because I could identify & understand the struggle and the competition that it takes to become the world's greatest, although obviously I was never even close to that stage.

He had already been anointed the greatest Olympian of all time on day 4 as he had managed to accumulate 13 gold & 2 bronze medals from 2 Olympics, easily surpassing the 9 gold medals record owned by only 4 0ther Olympians. However, the true test of his greatness would come tomorrow, and this time he would need the assistance of his teammates once more for the relay event. They had blitzed the world record in freestyle relay, cutting more than 3 sec off the clock. Would they be able to win gold no.8 for Phelps, and in the process help him to become THE ONLY Olympian to win 8 gold medals in ONE OLYMPICS? The world awaits.....

Update: Phelps, with the help of his teammates, won the 4x100 medley relay in the last swimming race in the Water Cube, confirming his status as the Olympian who has won the most gold medals in a single Olympics! His achievement is unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon, with the previous record of 7 gold medals held by Mark Spitz standing for 30+ years before it is shattered by Phelps. The fact that he's only 23 years old and that he possibly still has 2 more Olympics left in him makes the prospect even scarier. For now, bravo to the phenomenal Phelps, and looking forward to the London Olympics in 2012 to once again witness his greatness!

Time, The Inanimate

Putting on a brave front, I strode forward,
Battered on the emotional battlefield,
& indelible scars 'bestowed' by the ruthless captors,
silent tears welled up within.

& time waits for no one,
while one is grieving & entering plea bargains with God,
deterioration persists in its relentless march,
trapping the fragile entity in a strong pincer grip.

Inevitably, choices have to be made,
to weep in despair, wallop in self-pity, and sink into the 'D' quicksand,
or to buckle up and get onto the highway to redemption,
& while most will take the path in-between,
I'm determined, more than ever, to prove to myself,
that I'm worthy of you....

A single picture does tell a thousand words.... Shall try to put more colours and visuals to this dull blog soon!

Felt kinda sad today as I had to witness the downfall of an Indonesian sporting legend on TV. Still only 27, he had won the Athens' Olympics gold medal for Badminton men's singles, and while his peers with older age had pressed on with their pursuit of the next medal, Taufik Hidayat had really dissappointed his millions of fans around the world. Known in the badminton world for being the most outrageously talented of his era, he lived up to the hype by winning Olympics in 2004, and followed it with a World Championship the following year.

Soon after reaching the top, his performance on the circuit started to drop drastically, and even though he was still ranked in the top 10 all along, he had never managed to challenge the dominance of the top 2 players in the world anymore. He could have been a much greater player as he not only had the flair, but also the composure to succeed at the very top level, never panicking even when his opponents were at a better form. Success had gotten the better of him, and he started losing his form as his superstar status afforded him the luxurious life, something of a taboo to top athletes.

Losing tamely to a former world no.1 player, Wong Choon Hann of Malaysia, who had bounced back from serious injuries himself to compete at the top level, Taufik had lost his aura of invicibility that once blanketed the whole badminton arena. It was perhaps just as well that he lost earlier, as none of his fans would want to see him getting pummelled by top players such as Lin Dan, his long time nemesis and current world No.1.

Although it is a pity to see such a bright talent dropping out of the game at such an early stage of his career, it is perhaps better to focus on his glorious past and celebrate his past greatness rather than dwell on his current shortcomings. So here's to Taufik, the once revered Indonesian badminton prodigy that had graced the many top badminton tournaments with his legendary skills (especially his backhand smash): you will still be a hero in our eyes, despite all the current difficulties you are facing now!

Revisiting sg secondary sch days....

Spot me in this pic! (Try not to look at the names listed at the bottom of the pic for added difficulty!)

Then try this pic (taken on the last day of school before O level exam)

This was definitely one of the best times of my life. Btw, there are 9 indonesians and 3 chinese nationals in our class, out of a total of 30+, so basically 1/3 of our class was made up of foreigners. See if you could spot them in the pics!

For added incentive, the first person to point out the position of 6 indos and 2 chinese (from china, not from sg) would receive a secret gift during my trip to Thailand at the end of the month! Postage included, wherever in the world you are right now!

A conqueror's story

He personified grace, style, power, & dominance on court, combining superb strokes, astute strategies and fleeting footwork on 4 different court surfaces, proving they are no obstacles to his obvious talent & greatness. Already on 12 grand slam wins, 2 shy of the 14 record held by Pete Sampras, and still only 26, he's definitely on course to surpass Sampras's achievement and be an all time great of the sport. He's King Fed, a.k.a. Roger Federer, the Fed-Express.

His Spanish nemesis, a certain young man named Rafael Nadal, has been his number 2 for as long as I could remember, providing more than decent competition to his throne which he had held for record 235 weeks. Anointed the King of Clay, he had won 4 consecutive French Opens, beating Federer each time and never allowing him to come close to his title. On the other hand, he had managed to close the gap on Federer each year in other surfaces, improving tremendously and pushed him to a five-setter in the Wimbledon final last year, when his best performance previously was taking a set 0ff him in the grass court event final. His playing style is the total opposite of King Fed's: power in abundance compared to the graceful Fed's strokes, full running speed as opposed to Roger's seemingly effortless footwork, and a killer forehand stroke with heavy spin to match Fed's passing backhand rocket.

In the epic Wimbledon final this year, Roger faced a vastly improved Nadal again for the 5th consecutive time. This time, doggedness and determination prevailed over style and coolness, and Nadal finally snatched the Wimbledon crown from Federer for the first time. Since then, Federer had lost to lesser opponents in the lead up events to the next grand slam event, the US Open, suggesting that he had lost his aura of invicibility. To compound his misery, Nadal is slated to take over as the new world No. 1 after the Olympics, on the back of his excellent performances this year, regardless of how Federer performs in the US Open and Olympics.

It remains to be seen how Federer attempts to bounce back from his mental block and regain his composure in his quest to become the greatest tennis player again. His skills and techniques are unquestionably the best in the circuit, but mentally he is not as strong as Nadal currently, having failed to snatch French Open title and lost Wimbledon trophy to his strongest rival. There's one quote from the Three Kingdom's era that I found particularly apt for this setting,

"The vast kingdom, long divided, must unite, and long united, must divide"

King Fed has conquered almost all the battleground that he fought in, and now his 'kingdom' is under threat from a Spanish invasion. As the saying above goes, whether he can gather back the pieces of his kingdom, or whether it will be ruled by King Nadal, will be anyone's guess. To prove himself as the best of all time though, he will need to overcome the current crisis, and after all the hyped-up stories of rivalry, he will need to realise that Nadal is not his greatest rival; his mental block is.