Live Strong

Going for floorball training week in week out, the one thing that has been constantly on all our lips is this whole topic on "mental strength".

What exactly is mental strength?
According to Merriam Webster online dictionary, the definition for mental and strength is as follows:

Mental: of or relating to the mind; of or relating to intellectual as constrasted with emotional activity

Strength: the quality or state of being strong : capacity for exertion or endurance, power to resist force

Within my floorball peers in Penang, we have this inside joke about "mental tak kuat", a term we coined while we in Perth, Australia for APAC 2008.
As floorball training gradually intensifies by the weeks, this whole concept pertaining to mental strength seems to be the talk of the town, well at least to the floorball folks in Penang.
Then during the course of this week's training, my floorball coach enlightened us about a women softball team in the States who in effort to mould and build their mental strength, they were registered into the NAVY SEAL training.
For those who are familiar with it, the Navy Seal training is regarded as the world's toughest military training ever.
For further reading on this, click here.

Reading that article sparked the curious cat in me.
If there is one athlete I can interview to question about mental strength, it would be this guy -

Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong has always been an athlete I look up to.
Well, I'm not particularly interested in cycling.
It's his life, both on the tracks and off the tracks, that appeals to me.
Talk about mental strength, I'm pretty sure he has it.
(For more background on Lance Armstrong, read here.)
I put my researching skills into good use and look up some articles about him and content relating to mental strength as well.
So I thought I'd share some of it.

Mental toughness, according to Cameron Schaefer in his article entitle 'Building Mental Toughness: Simple, But Not Easy', is "the ability to will oneself through less than ideal situations and conditions whether that be battling cancer or simply waking up early to go workout".

There are several ways to build mental toughness but for most of us, consistent and intense physical exertion is the most accessible and common way to do it.
Schaefer included several keys to building mental toughness:

(The following are excerpts taken from Cameron Schaefer's blog)

1. Show Up -

“Everybody wants to know what I’m on.

What am I on?

I’m on my bike busting my ass six hours a day.

What are you on? ”

(Lance Armstrong)

What separates a guy like Lance from 99% of the world is the fact that he showed up everyday, when it was raining, when it was hot, when he was sore, when he was tired….

He showed up everyday.

JUST SHOW UP!

What happens after you show up is where the real fun begins, but most people can’t even make it to that point. If it’s working out, tell a friend you’ll meet them at a certain time so you will be less likely to back out. If it’s battling an addiction, make yourself go to a recovery group every time it meets.

2. Hurt Vs. Injured -

My high school football coach, John Deti, used to always ask players that limped to the sidelines during a game, are you hurt or injured?

This may seem trite to some, but he was keying in on a fundamental issue. Soreness, stiffness, bruises… These are just parts of any game or any physically demanding activity, but they should not keep one from continuing. Injuries on the other hand, like muscle tears, broken bones, etc. are a different thing entirely and should be taken care of. One of the best ways to develop mental toughness is extreme physical exertion…

If there is no discomfort , you aren’t pushing yourself hard enough.

This is different from causing injury which hinders you rather than helping.

3. Unfamiliar and Unexpected Are Your Friends -

Part of building mental toughness involves being comfortable performing in stressful situations. One of the best ways to develop this trait is by consistently doing things you have never done or trying things a different way.

Fear of the unknown keeps many from ever developing mental toughness, but by consistently placing yourself in unfamiliar situations you can learn to deal with stress and fear.

Some good ones that I’ve tried include rock climbing, attending the Air Force Academy, swimming (what is recreation for most used to stress me out since I was a terrible swimmer until recently) and mountain biking. You don’t have to do something crazy, just something that you don’t normally do and something that puts a little fear in your heart.

4. What’s Your Motivation -

Whenever you find yourself in a tough position you will need something you can focus on to provide motivation. I don’t know exactly what Lance focused on during the hill climbs of the Tour de France, but I’m sure it included a mixture of other cancer patients he had met along the way, yellow jackets and a finish line. Lately, for me it has been my daughter and my desire to have her look at her father’s life someday and say, “Wow, he really pushed himself and accomplished some great things.” I want her to be as proud of me as I am of her. Whatever it is, everyone has to find something to focus on for motivation. If you allow your mind to focus on your pain or your laziness you will have a hard time pushing through any adversity.

5. Constantly Challenge Yourself -

What most people fail to understand is that mental toughness is something that has to be practiced and developed over time.

The key to this is placing yourself in challenging situations… constantly doing things that are hard.

This is a fundamental principle of military training. Sure, push-ups and sit-ups help develop you physically, but after a couple hundred of them it becomes much more of a mental game than a physical one. The military uses physical training and yelling because it creates a stressful environment that breeds mental toughness and forces one to deal with intense discomfort and anxiety, the fact that it gets you in shape is a side benefit.

6. Surround Yourself with Lance’s and Beau’s -

As with most things in life, you will become who you spend time with. So, if you want to get more mentally tough, spend time with people that already are. It’s contagious. I always love working out with Beau because just when I’ve had it and am ready to leave the gym he is just starting…he pushes me by his example. Lately I’ve been pouring myself into training for a marathon. Being as I’ve never run one I have tried to meet and talk to others that have in hopes of gleaning some insight and motivation from them. Whether you are training for a marathon or not, surrounding yourself with other mentally tough people is a sure way to become mentally tough yourself.

Other mental strength techniques that have been used widely around the world are things like the self-fulfilling prophecy, visualization, getting into the zone, etc.
Reading these articles made me see what the human mind is capable of doing to the body.
It's both enlightening and somewhat scary though.
I googled up Navy Seal training and the things they go through just to hit optimum performance both mentally and physically is sickening.

Amazing stuff.

I'm still contemplating whether to join the Penang Bridge Half-Marathon.
Today is the last day of registration.
Mental tak kuaaatt.. :P

I leave you guys with this quote by the great Lance Armstrong, one of my all-time favourite athletes around
(Did I mentioned that he's extremely eloquent with words as well?) -

“Pain is temporary.

It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year,

but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place.

If I quit, however,

it lasts forever.”

(Lance Armstrong)

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All About Me

Take note that I don't believe in this sort of "fortune telling" blogthing but just thought I'd main main.. :) It says I think alot, I'm compassionate and I'm artistic.. Hehehe.... True?

Your Birthdate: July 16

You're incredibly introverted and introspective. You live inside your head. You spend a lot of alone time meditating and thinking. People see you as withdrawn, and at times they are right. You are caring and deep, but it may be difficult for you to show this side of yourself. Your strength: Your original approach to thinking Your weakness: You tend to shy away from others Your power color: Pale blue Your power symbol: Wavy line Your power month: July

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

People Envy Your Compassion

You have a kind heart and an unusual empathy for all living creatures. You tend to absorb others' happiness and pain. People envy your compassion, and more importantly, the connections it helps you build. And compassionate as you are, you feel for them.

What Do People Envy About You?

Your Brain's Pattern

Your mind is a creative hotbed of artistic talent. You're always making pictures in your mind, especially when you're bored. You are easily inspired to think colorful, interesting thoughts. And although it may be hard to express these thoughts, it won't always be.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

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"I love you..."

I always wonder what goes through peoples' mind when they say "I love you".

Do they think about the other person or do they think about themselves when they utter those 3 powerful words?

Or they don't think anything at all, just mere words?

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Just Smile

Life always has its funny side.
Well, it works both ways actually.
You make people laugh, and people make you laugh in return.

I know of people who claim themselves as melancholic.
As melancholic as life can be, there's always that humour in us that makes us human.
I always believe that there's a funny spot to everything that may seem tragic.
Well, when I say funny, I parallel it alongside words such as "reason".
There's always a reason behind a consequence.
There's always a reason behind an action.
There's always a reason behind our desire.
There's always a reason.

Most of you would know that I'm currently working in USM.
But what most of you wouldn't know is that I'm taking up a part-time job.
A rather interesting one actually...
Let me give you a teaser...

Big shoeeeeee... like the ones Macdonald wears...

You should be able to guess what I do by now...

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Yes, I work as a part-time clown.

Why?
Simple.
I love kids.
Can't get enough of em'.
But above all, I love to see people happy.
What better way to see people happy than to be the person who makes them happy through the stupidity of my actions and words when I'm wrapped up in that costume!
I call it a bounce-off effect;
I make people smile, and when people smile, it makes me smile.
A smile bounces off each person's face.

People also say, don't smile if you don't mean it.
I beg to differ.
I'd still smile if I'm feeling sad.
Why burdened the people around you with sadness when you can make them happier than you are?
And by doing so, wouldn't it lift your inner spirit a bit more than before?
Nat King Cole put it the best in his classic song perfectly entitled "Smile",

Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though its breaking
When there are clouds in the sky, youll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
Youll see the sun come shining through for you

Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
Thats the time you must keep on trying
Smile, whats the use of crying?
Youll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile

Thats the time you must keep on trying
Smile, whats the use of crying?
Youll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile.

Mother Theresa once said this,

"Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing".

Indeed, smile is a beautiful thing.
It's the simplest way to love.

P.S: This one's for you, J-Buddy! :P Vian pinched my noseeeee! Bleh! ;P See, I just made you S.M.I.L.E.!

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The Grip Tightens

As he clutched his grip a little tighter,
he could feel the vibration in his ear drums resonates his name.
People were yelling, commanding and demanding.
Everything sounded blurry.
It was barely two minutes, but it felt like eternity.
His breath was playing catch-up with his heart, pounding ever so severely.

"Focus... focus...", he reminded himself mentally as he brushed off the sweat dripping down from his forehead.
The intensity of the game was building by the second and his body language affirms it;
The stiffness of his hands, the tensed muscles, his unmoving eyes.

From defensive, the opposing team switched to an immediate offensive blitzkrieg penetrating from the flanks.
A loose ball was found rolling in front of the goalmouth.
"Win the ball back!", he heard his players yelling.
He got to the ball first and managed to pull it into his control with the back of his blade.

"Steady... Steady..."

He looked around to find a space to pass but a player was closing him down real fast.
As he released the ball to make the pass, a blade intercepted.
For that split second, his whole body lagged in response.
And the next thing he knew, the ball was in the back of the net.

"Line change!"

He sat down on the bench, gulping down the bottle of water.

"What the heck were you doing?", he thought to himself as the game resumed on court.

The underlying problem has always been that he lacked confidence.
He was fully aware of that.
That is probably why he is always cautious and conscious of both his internal and external performance before, during and after the game.
He had the exact opposite of a Superstar-syndrome.
Where "Superstar" feels the pressure to perform due to the expectation that has been tagged along with them, he on the other hand, faced the pressure to perform because he knew he was not of such status.
Therefore, his pressure was to perform so that he could stay in the team.

He looked at his team mates who were on the bench, experienced players.
His mouth kept silent but his thoughts were bickering within.
Too many things to work on yet so little time in hand.
The present says he is weak but the future believes he can achieve.
The grip between the present and the future tightens.

"Line change!"

He grabbed his stick, uttered a silent prayer and stepped into the court.

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Running the Distance

I read this entry posted at FES blog, Mugz n Buzz, not too long ago and I thought it was something good to chew on.

To Run or Not To Run

“When you hit the water, reality will hit you. You're not dead yet, but will you live?”

God was dealing with Jonah, but He was keeping him alive too. Disappointed and running away from God. YET, when times got bad, God still heard him.

Then there’s the people of Nineveh who understood their lesson - you sin, you die.

As Christians, there is a danger for us to think: "Oh, I'm past that already. I'm already saved." If you've notice how hard Jonah struggled, you might already realise that your struggling has just begun. God is not content to leave you as you are. Jonah is a story of a passive man facing a very active God. A God who is telling you to look beyond your own salvation.

“I'm glad you're saved, Jonah, what about this great city? My heart is bigger than yours, and I want you to care more than just a plant. As my messenger, I will look out for you.

But before you teach others, I will teach YOU. The lessons that you bring to others, must pierce your heart first. Every day, you and I will check if you are going the right direction, and I CARE enough to stop you when you choose to go the opposite direction.

You will see moments of grace, when you stop running and come to your senses. I will show you how it's done - how to care for people who are different than you, hateful to you, even. You will find moments when you will feel very strongly about something, and you may be WRONG about feeling it.

You will have moments when the sacrifice seems too much, and I will show you how shallow your heart is, to care so much for things that are so small, so temporary, when there are bigger things, things that matter more in eternity - and these are worth Me working with You to reach out to.

As I make you fit to be My messenger, your lessons will help you see My heart. In my relationship with you, I want to bring you to other people whom I also care for. And when you deal with them, I want you to turn to Me.”

Jonah had his call and a message to bear. And a people to tell it to. It’s been less than a month since we heard the message of Jonah. How easy we forget, that we are Jonah many times over. We are Jonah when we….

We invite you to help each other recall.

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Whenever I flip through the pages of Jonah, I always ask this classic question -
"Why was he running away?"
From a classic question you get classic answers like,
"He's afraid",
"He had no desire to go to a foreign land",
and "He couldn't be bothered about the conversion of the Ninevites".

I had lunch with a friend yesterday and had a good chat with her regarding this whole issue of self-appointed-expectation.
Like it or not, it is natural for us to place our own perceived expectation of ourselves in each area of our lives.
For instance, at work, you expect to perform well.
Floorball, I expect to improve each time I go for training.
Often times, these expectations derive from something outside of us;
The people around us.
We expect to do well at work because we feel that our superior expects us to do well.
I expect to improve each time I go for training because I feel that my coach expects to see results.
All of that is true.
Our personal expectation, however, gets distorted by peoples' words and actions and we then, demand a whole lot more of ourselves.

I believe, to a certain extent, Jonah faced that conflict.
God commanded him to a task beyond his comprehension.
He then felt this enormous weight of expectation befall him, one which he felt he could not carry.
He then decides to run away, going the opposite direction.

God doesn't expect us to go more than we can at one go.
You see, I think Jonah was thinking to himself,
"How can I convert the Nineveh? Is He picking the right person or has His compass gone haywire?"
But Jonah forgot one very crucial thing.
All that he was about to do in Nineveh comes not from him but from Him.
We always think that we have to do this and that just to meet God's expectation but we lose out on the bigger picture -
It's all about listening, obeying and understanding that all that we can do or will do in the future comes from Him alone.
To be radical, you first need to understand, and to understand you need to listen.
Get our radar with God on the same wavelength first.

I'm one who has high expectations of myself in different areas of my life.
In some ways, it's a "good" kind of pressure I guess.
It keeps me going for more.
However, there are some things we just gotta take baby steps with.
God develops us as we make a conscious decision to take a step forward with Him.

We crawl, we walk, and only then, we can start running the distance.

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Dreamer

I can still remember the time when I watch the first Rocky movie.
I had goosebumps all over my body.
The moment when Rocky Balboa knocked out Appollo Creed in the ring, you can feel this rush of sheer inspiration in the stream of your blood flowing into every corner of your body.
And for that brief moment, I felt like boxing was my calling. Haha.
I was young and gullible lar.

You gotta admitt that there's always something special about this kinda movies, in particularly, sports related movies.
It's a cliched plot.. How an underdog team goes against the best team in the world.. blah blah blah and in the end wins the final game.
Standard recipe.
Yet, it never fails to tantalize our human senses.
Rocky, Remember the Titans, Mighty Ducks, Any Given Sunday, A League of Their Own and many more spearhead this genre of David versus Goliath movies.
Made to inspire.

I was talking to Kuan Yang, Penang Floorball Captain famous for his "death-turn" (my turn to promo you sikit.. Hehe), about movies like that.
Since our mental tak kuat, we needed some boost of inspiration to raise our spirit up and what better way then to watch a movie.
So he introduced me to this movie call "Miracle".
It's a Walt Disney production based on a true event.

Plot Summary (Imdb):
The inspiring story of the team that transcended its sport and united a nation with a new feeling of hope.
Based on the true story of one of the greatest moments in sports history, the tale captures a time and place where differences could be settled by games and a cold war could be put on ice. In 1980, the United States Ice Hockey team's coach, Herb Brooks, took a ragtag squad of college kids up against the legendary juggernaut from the Soviet Union at the Olympic Games. Despite the long odds, Team USA carried the pride of a nation yearning from a distraction from world events. With the world watching the team rose to the occasion, prompting broadcaster Al Michaels' now famous question, to the millions viewing at home:
Do you believe in miracles? Yes!

I managed to get hold of the movie online through my "researching" skills. Hehe.
Watched it and guess what...

I had goosebumps up until my neck.

It's a movie I could find common ground, unlike Rocky.
Boxing mana aku tau main.
But this movie is about Ice Hockey, the "mother" to Floorball.
It's something I found myself glued to because I could relate.
There were many scenes where I visualise Floorball instead of Ice Hockey, a ball instead of a puck, a floor instead of ice.
There is a scene where the players had to do suicides, or "killers" as we would call it in our floorball training (either way, it serves the same purpose, to "kill"), in which their capacity to go beyond the distance were put to the test.
With each shout of "AGAIN!" by Coach Herb Brooks, the players kept the suicides going.
The severity of how far the players were pushed is mind-blowing.
It will come off as either adrenaline-pumping inspiring or just plain old torturing.

In terms of the "sports" lesson that I have learn from this movie is how essential the conditioning of the body is to the performance of a game.
There's a scene where Coach Brooks will tell his players that the only way to break-down the Soviet Union is to be able to outlast them until the final whistle is blown.
And they did.
They outlast the Soviets.

But there's movie and there's reality.
People always say, movie is just a movie.
Movie merely reflects our imaginings.
Then again, this movie is made because of a reality that has taken place 28 years ago.

I leave you with this quote by Coach Herb Brooks,

"You know, Willy Wonka said it best:
We are the makers of dreams,
the dreamers of dreams,
We should be dreaming.
We grew up as kids having dreams,
but now we're too sophisticated as adults, as a nation.
We stopped dreaming.
We should always have dreams.   

"I'm a dreamer." 

(Herb Brooks)

Here's a clip of the actual game between team USA and Soviet Union.

The original USA Ice Hockey team that beat the once undefeated Soviet Unions.
Mike Eruzione, captain, celebrating after clinching the winning goal.
Team USA won 4-3.
Miracle on Ice.

Whoever said movie is just a movie was wrong.

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A Faded Memory, A Lasting Experience

A new beginning lies ahead.

You see, the past couple of days have been insanely torturous.
Words simply cannot explain what I feel.
In fact, I don't even know what I feel any longer.
It's like having a splitting headache 24/7, the only difference is that it's the heart instead of the head.
As strong as I thought I would be, I wasn't.
As prepared as I was, I still broke down.
That's how harsh reality treats you; when it hits you, it hits you like a train.

I've been arranging my days to be as routine as possible.
Everyday begins with the same cycle... Well, on most days at least.
Reason being, I'm programming myself to be able to do things by myself all over again, a trait I once had but somehow lost along the way and also since now that all my friends are back in their hometown, it'd be something I have got to get use too sooner or later.
Not easy at all but I'm slowly adapting to it, just need a little more time.
Friends have been advising me not to do it especially since with all that has been happening, but I insisted that it's something I have to go through.
A long walk I just have to pace myself through.
Better face it now then hiding away from it.

People asked me, "Don't you feel angry at all?"
My honest answer?
I don't.
I really don't.
The truth is, there's no room left for anger and bitterness.
That space has been filled up with overflowing pain.
Disappointments.
The pain of knowing that it was never real.
I dislike harvesting grudge or anger when it comes to things like this.
I never contemplated standing in the way.
The choice was given and the choice was made.
So be it.

Some may even say I'm stupid to handle things the way I did, but I believe God assured me it was the right thing to do... though it hurts beyond words.
I truly believe that the Big Guy has been teaching me a whole lot about doing, saying and standing up for what is right through the course of these events.
And though doing the right thing doesn't neccessarily leave you with a happy ending, in fact, it leaves nothing but a deep scar, yet, you know it must be done His way.

It was simple really, honour Him and He will honour you - well, I don't see how He's honouring me right now but in time I believe He will.

The thing about me is that I'd rather bear the pain alone than to cause more pain to others.
As much as it hurts right now, I guess I was brought up and taught to always put others first.
Being Sacrificial - It's both a strength and a weakness.

I knew that this would be the last straw.
As long and as far as I've been holding on to it, it was now time to let it go.
Knowing and doing is a whole different thing.
I know I must let it go, but it's so hard to do.
You wouldn't understand.
It was from everything to nothing.
One cannot overcome all this overnight.
Eventually, I know I can...
I must.

I was telling a friend how idealistic I was throughout this period.
That was probably the drive that has kept me going for the past 3 months or so.
I had an ideal rosy picture of how I could make a difference, how I could be the one to transform certain things, how I could be the source of joy, how I could be the comforting companion, how I could be that very person who can light up the day when everything else goes wrong..
That very person, I wanted to be...
But the reality that I didn't want to see was this -
I never was that person in the first place.
Never had been.
And that's a truth that will need to live with.

Was it then worth all my energy and my commitment, I asked myself?
My answer is without a doubt,
"Yes, it was."

Why?
Because I simply did it out of love, nothing else.
When you do something out of love, it will always be worthwhile.
It will always be satisfying no matter what the outcome may be.
As painful as how things turned out to be, it showed me my very capacity to love.

How can I feel this way with everything going against me?

Because He first loved me and I love Him.
God is Love and He taught me how to love.
In spite of everything, love still does exist.

As I move on and close this chapter of my life, I believe I've learnt and gained a whole lot out of it.
Good or bad, it's still a lesson to be taken note.
However, I can assure you that it is hard.
I know it's just something I will need to face, no matter how much people advise or try to comfort me, it's just a phase that I will need to see myself through.
I was talking to a friend who went through similar experience and she said, one's physical and emotional state can only contain so much pain for a period of time.
Yes you'll cry your eyes out but once you've passed that stage it'll be alright.
You'll survive.

I know there's a purpose in all this.
There's a lesson.
There's a blessing.
There's a beautiful tomorrow.
There's a new beginning.

In all its ugliness, God still paints beauty into the picture.
You just gotta look at the right spot.

*An entry I wrote quite a while back but never publish it because the timing wasn't right.*

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Some sand in between the toes.

Sa-wa-dee-kapppppp!

From Penang to KL to Krabi to Phi Phi Island and finally, to Phuket!
All that in the span of 4 days.
It was exhausting physically but somewhat liberating spiritually and mentally.
After months of planning and talking about this short trip, we, a bunch of friends met through the many FES events that we have participated in, finally executed it last Thursday.

At LCCT before departing to Krabi.

Landed at Krabi International Airport... From the moment we landed, we all had a hard time calculating our monies. Totally not used to the Bath currency... Each time wanna pay for something we had to stop and calculate mentally. And that also we had problem doing.. Maths memang koyak rabah lar...

Arrived in Krabi town. Taking a "taxi" to the pier to get to Phi Phi Island.

We decided to spend two nights over at Phi Phi Island, with the package of a one day island hopping trip, snorkelling included.

Phi Phi Island.

We stayed at this place call "Harmony House". Not too bad a place.

It was Awwwweesoooooomeeeeeeee...
Phi Phi Island is really great to just chill but at the same time, you can do stuff like snorkelling, rock climbing, etc.
Quite a good mix of activities.

Getting our gears!

The place we snorkelled wasn't exactly the best spot..
But for the price that we paid, we couldn't complain much.
It was still something to treasure and experience.

FYI, I can't swim!

Whoopie! Fishy all around us!

Jo, Ngee Ying and Kim actually jumped off a cliff! (Too bad we couldn't get that on camera)
Very daring of them... But once they came out of the water, the first thing they said was
"Waaaaah... backside pain weiiiii kena the water... " :P

From snorkelling, we went to several other islands to explore and just chill...
The boat ride was pretty crazy. The boat literally flew over the waves a few times...
The girls were screaming their lungs out.
The beaches were really niiiiiiiceeeee.
Penang punya beach kalah teruk teruk...

Rejuvenating.

It's a scene you'd picture out of a postcard.

As for me, I see "S" in everything...
This was the product that came out of spending too much time on the beach...

Not bad eh?
Oh wait.. You guys think that was okay only ar...
Check this out then...

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Ta-Da!!

I scuplt it out of my ham and bread breakfast!!
Don't believe me?

HAH!
Betcha can't do that, can ya'?? :P
It requires precision oKAYYY. Hehe.

Er.... Sorry...
Syeok sendiri... Hehe...
Got cape all some more...
:P

After a long day of snorkelling and getting burnt, what better way to pamper yourself than to stuff yourself with fooooooooooood.... Yum! Yum!

Food, glorious food!

From Tom Yam, to green curry to prawn cake to Singha to super cool Thailand bottle of water... MMMMmmmmmm...
But it wasn't as spicy as we expected it to be though.
Oh well...

We spent the last two days at Phuket, Patong Beach.

Phuket Town.

Honestly, I prefered Phi Phi (pronounced as Pee-Pee-Island :)
Phuket is more of a shopping hub whereas Phi Phi is more of doing outdoor'ish things. Nonetheless, it was nice.
Since we were there, apa lagi, shop lar.

Oh did I mentioned I got "molested" by one of the saleswoman there. *Sweat*

Serious wei.
I was bargaining for some of my friends there and this saleslady tiba-tiba came up to me and stroke my er... chest area. Gosh.
Freaky.
That's only the first timeeeeee..
The second time what happened was we were all walking along the shops at Phuket town and you know how they are famous for their "massgae parlour" right?
Each time you walk pass these places, the "ladies" will come out trying their best to lure you into these shops.

"Sa-wa-dee-kap... U wan massage.. Very nice one.. Come come.. "

And suddenly, this lady came to me with her hand and my chest area and started to push/pull (wasn't sure what happened) me man.
She was agressive.
I lari lar.
I cepat cepat stand in between Christine and Kimberly. I was suppose to protect the girls but end up they protected me...
Takut giler okay.

The sunset at Patong beach was beautiful.
It's one of those jiwang moments captured live.. Hehe.

Jiwang.

A reminder that God's beauty is painted everywhere around the world :)

Did I shop? Mestilah....

Chris T & Chris K got ourselves a pair of new slippers.

Did I kena con? Mestilah... Crap.

Christine got a bigger bag than me with the same price!!
Tak Puas!
Got conned big time!! ARGGGHH!
Tan Poh Choy, you owe me!!!! :P

Although it was really a short trip, 4 days, it's still something to cherish.
I've always said that it's not the place that makes the difference, it's the people that you go with that makes a difference.
Indeed, they have.
Great friends to chill out with, jaw-dropping scenery, a million and one shops to check out and great food, whatelse can you asks for?

What I've learnt?
Life is like having some sand in between the toes.
It's irritating at first... but in time, you learn to enjoy it.
You know perfectly well that the waves will wash them over.
But you also know that eventually the sand will find its way back in between your toes again.
A cycle that will repeat itself until we get off the shore.
So don't try and clean the sand in between your toes cause so long as you're on the beach, it won't go away.
Feel it...
Learn from it...
Enjoy it.

From left:
Jason, Chris K, Chris T, Kok How, Jo, Ngee Ying and Kimberly.
You guys rock!

Thank God for keeping us safe throughout the stay there in spite of slight fear with all the riots that's been going on in Bangkok.
We're back in one piece!

I'm happy!

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*Away*

Finally, the long awaited get-away!
I'm off!
Will be back next week with loads of photos for sure!



=)

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Floorball on National Radio!

I usually take a slow drive back after floorball training while tuning in to fly.fm.
It helps me unwind.
So after last night's training, I did the same.
One of the callers at fly.fm caught my attention with the word "FLOORBALL".
Yes, believe it or not, "FLOORBALL" was mentioned on national radio.
I blasted my speaker and then the voice of the caller started to resonate a certain familiarity.
"Deiiii... I know this fella..."

The d.j asked "So are you like a national player?"

He went, "Er... Yea... Sort of... *trying so terribly hard to be modest*"

Anyway, this caller made an "adverstisement" while he had air time.
This is a paraphrased sentence of what he said... It's more or less something like this;

"If you guys out there wanna check out what floorball is all about, be sure to be at Sports Plaza, P.J, on the 18th and 19th October because there will be a friendly between the National Floorball team against the Scandinavian All-Star team. It's something you wouldn't want to miss if you're a sports enthusiast... Be there!"

WAH.
Not bad.
Ada promosi for the friendly on national radio...

Yea, we're having a friendly next weekend.
To all of you who still can't quite picture what floorball is, do come and check us out.
And of course, support lar sikit...
18th October 2008, 4pm at Sports Plaza and on the 19th October 2008, 9am.

Oh, the caller?
He's our national team captain :)

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At the Crossroad

Standing on this road I feel so lost,
The signboard filled with aimless arrow,
"Where art thou, Lord, who died on the cross?
O' grant me strength to face tomorrow!"

This road is gloomy covered with fear,
Grey clouds of doubts descending within,
"I'm terrified, Lord, I need you right here
Tell me, Father, where do I begin?"

The greenery of faith seeps away,
Thorns of uncertainties sting the soul,
"O' streghthen me, Lord, make me your clay,
Come, restore my faith and make me whole!"

I look around but see nothing,
Total darkness consumes my being,
Then from the stillness I hear something,
In the gentle wind, he is speaking.

"The stars above are your guiding light,
The sand beneath is my unfailing might,
Abram lived by faith and not by sight,
Trust that I am with you in your plight!"

"Take a step forward to the unknown
Don't you know you are not on your own?
Remember, your sins have been atoned
Henceforth, you shall never be alone!"

"Don't be afraid, my child, I am here,
Daylight will come and darkness will clear,
The roads are rough but please persevere,
My time will come for the end is near!"

I see the sun rising from afar,
The warmth of grace caresses my face,
A faithful and loving God you are,
To you Lord I will run and embrace.

He holds my hand ever so tighly,
His palm covers mine with tender care,
The splendor of his smile shines brightly,
All my sin and shame He chose to bear.

Now I stand at the crossroad of life,
Not knowing what lies ahead of me,
Be like Abram I will surely strive,
To have faith in Him who sets me free.

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