VALUE Life.

The Coach's book

2011-03-06T21:22:00.000-08:00

I think what inspired me the most today about leadership today wasn't power or strength or teamwork ;but rather it was plain imagination and determination.

Today down 24 at the half to the Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs Coach, Greg Poppovich told his team these at half time, "We've got them exactly where we want them! They had that first half too easy, from now on, everything goes right for us and none for them!" Too bad they lost, but there's a truth behind this. No matter how far behind we are God always puts us in the right spot. We have complained for so long that of we were just richer or a little younger or taller or whatever change we thought we wanted, God just made us perfect. We think we need more time? God thinks otherwise, He's either trying to tell us that we can do it or trust Him. Either way, here is God telling us that in all his knowledge and wisdom telling me that I'm in the best place possible to get an A in a test I'm so doubtful off and asking me to make a new commitment to the church to become a member and serve there in my hardest time. Yet, I've had my best weekend these past two weeks. They have been so fruitful and worth it to recover my being and I just believe I'm in the best possible position to win this. I can't think of any better way to finish. Sometimes, I wish I was just a little more talented, changed a few of my plans in the past or made certain choices ;yet I seem to think that despite all the daring changes I've done, I've started with doubt and fear. I wouldn't have even touched this plan with a 100 foot long pole! I saw uncertainty, doubt till I convinced myself that God was with me no matter how far I went. Today God was here, telling me one thing, "I have you where I exactly want you".

On the other side of the bench I think I saw the next coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, the other All-Star Pau Gasol ran to the bench being called on, it wasn't a sub or to grab a towel or to even talk to the coach, it was to hear out teammate Kobe Bryant on what to do next. Bryant has been the most vocal leader in the NBA next to Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics. On the bench, Bryant constantly analyses, talks and yells night in and night out to tell people what they're doing wrong, where they should be, how much space to give him so he can work a play or how much space they can create to be open. So much of these can link back to Bryant's 10-year career of studying his game and his mistakes.

If we could play our life in rewind could we see the same, I often go back to time where I regretted my attitude or my decisions or words. I regret the time I let my anger get the best of me or allow myself to get rid of a problem by simply ignoring it. I regret the time I didn't give myself enough time to study or analyse my work correctly. I also look at what worked for me and what didn't work for me and realize that I often took too many risks and sometimes what worked before didn't work now. I just know that I can make mistakes but I can't point at others till I point them at myself. I have a plan now to live and save money but I know I have to execute it and at the same time stabilize my life and work on a weekly basis while finding time for God. I took a lot of my time this week to catch up with whatever I've been missing. I know now how to study backwards and learn patterns that can help me be a better person or driver of my life. We need to vocalize towards ourself and be our self-critic to find our way out of our own troubles. So many time we never utilize the third or fourth best option or source of criticism which is ourselves. This is not self-blame but self-examination. Being able to see our own faults and really see how we can bring out the best in us without putting more pressure.

Instead of dealing with the jitters later , deal with them now, sit in a classroom and attempt a difficult question without books or answer guides; realize your potential and don't be afraid to get stuck rather move to the next one and with confidence master it as if it was your own art and your own form.

2011-02-23T23:20:00.000-08:00

I think we took a little to far. God pushed so far off the cliff but I was like an hollow dot on the end of the line. Unable to reach his limit, knowing that there is still a higher power. I know I have a higher purpose. We can't just go down swinging but we have to swing knowing what we have to hit.

I spoke to a friend and for the first time I couldn't answer the question "What has God been telling you lately?" It was then and there that I realized I haven't held my end of the bargain with God. I couldn't imagine for one night not being able to know what was happening and what was going on; I went nuts in a good way. I just knew that I had a lot left in me to be a servant of the Lord. I then got this idea, I wasn't going to give up and I wasn't planning on giving away my life to just myself. I wanted to give some of it back to God. I remember the story of how a man kept his promise of giving God the same amount of offering regardless of his condition, he kept his end even when he couldn't pay the bills that week or for the payment on his house, with so much uncertainty, would he stop giving? No he never gave up and continued to give. I never knew the name of that story but I knew that it was true, when we leave it all to Him, there's nothing we can't fear.

If we give up on our faith, we give up on God and Life all together. Never say die.

V-day is upoun us and so is life...how much longer before you reach that time?

2011-02-10T19:17:00.000-08:00

We were not born to be losers. We were made with a purpose and by a plan. We are part of the plan. I often question the mental aspect of telling yourself everyday that you can make something happen today whether it's an A or a D.

In each and every part of man, there's always that motivational factor that we hope pushes us further than usual. It can go from a small click that pushes you to a large smack on the face that we often get. The question sometimes is whether or not we can handle the responsibility of taking care of ourselves. Times have changed where in people are more independent. The Asian culture of our life has always taught us that we need to win the big battles in life. We need to win in college or at work or make the most money. Thankfully there are those who still remember to win at home, being home for the kids or the parents or the house. Little victories such as making dinner or reading to a child make life more worth while and give us that motivation to work harder on our bigger victories. Sure making money is a big motivation, earning the paycheck to pay for a new home or a new car. It's all in the big world of the human mind that we would someday be set for life with no problems but what are they really? They are simply things that will keep you at home with no worries of the big problems so that you can win your little victories or giving the house the life that it needs which is you. Let's face it, the real victory is not making money but finding one's purpose in the world. Finding out how much your worth in life.

I sincerely believe that I needed to succeed on a higher level not from the one high step to another but from the bottom ground even when you fall. We need to learn how to make adjustments that can change the results of our labor. At the same time, we need to realize that time is precious. Whether I put my time in the little victories or big victories, nothing in my result will change. It will only change if I don't put in the effort in which case I take longer to finish this race in life. So rather what is the result or purpose or end game that I will get, why not ask how long will I get there? Why not do some things now rather than wait?

Valentine's day is just around the corner. There's that one lonely person for another, how long will it be before you accompany them today? It doesn't have to be your girlfriend or boy friend or the person you like, it can be just someone in need that you know is in need of a friend. How long are you going to get there? In this case we know that the result can't be always love but the result one's action can be fruitful to another, there's an end game on Monday. I just question if I decide to put off that time or use that time a little wiser and just go.

Hard humility

2011-02-08T12:19:00.000-08:00

The word humble is a rare compliment. Who wants to pass up some attention or recognition? Very Very Few. Being humble is hard even to oneself. Jesus said that we need to completely lay down our pride and follow him. That what it means to be humble.

We can only hope to be worthy of that word. It's hard not to find something wrong with what we are good at. If our forte is Physics and feel that we know everything, we sometimes need to learn that even if we heard of gravity before we still need a book by our side to teach it. I think that's what God tries to tells us. That we always need to go back to the bible, to relearn our Christian faith and values.

As I'm studying for my Physics Mid-terms, I spent an hour working on one particular concept with I couldn't understand. Thing is it was something I learnt before as an engineer yet I never took the time to understand it. All that was in my head was the A+ i got 2 years ago proving that I knew it inside out. It took me an hour to realize a horrible truth, I didn't understand it I only memorized it and didn't look back. I ate some familiar humble pie and learnt it the hard way. I was definitely not ready for this.

Humility hits us hard and it never changes its tune. It's a teacher that we must all face. Sometimes it strips into the very core of our principles or helps us adjust the little nuts and bolts that are loose. Either way, it's hard humility. How humble are we? We claim to follow Christ but fail in our time management to honor him the best we can. We claim to do our best but always fall behind and cram in our studies.

In conclusion, we can never be truly humble. Humility is not something we earn or achieve. It's something we just need to listen too and if we listen hard enough build on to maturity as a Christian, Student and a Person

Why it's basketball....

2011-02-06T15:15:00.000-08:00

I never understood why I put basketball in my blog name. I guess I wanted something a little silly but serious at the same time. I always saw basketball as the first outlet of anger and stress in my life. Sure I played video games and has cable tv but my mom wouldn't have none of it of me sitting around all weekend long. When I wasn't studying and I watching TV, she tossed me the basketball and told me to make as many free throws as I could for 1 hour. My time decreased as studies became more. I only took time on the weekends and played one on one with my cousin who embarrassingly beat me despite being 2 inches shorter and at least 10 pounds lighter. I always got bullied by my cousins on the court but of course that's what you get when you take bad shots miss defensive assignments and tend to forget to bring basketball shoes and shorts to the Sunday Gatherings ( I didn't get to till they held it at my house, what can you do with so little time after a 2 hour drive from church?) That made me into a "dirty" player, means someone who does all the dirty job, rebounding, diving for loose balls and taking charges.

Those things helped me earn a tough geek image in school, I didn't get that till maybe 2nd year of High School. I didn't get to play a lot and people teased me trying out for the team. I didn't get in because my dad saw that I got sick from playing so late at night (I still had a bedtime of 9pm then) My friend on the team said that I was considered for my dirty work. Nobody really saw me as soft. It taught me to show others two of my sides, one side I was a Christian at heart and the other side I was always willing to do dirty work no matter where I was.

Through out those times I was weak, I always believed that God was my coach and strength telling me what to do and to work on what. Lately I haven't been doing that, I struggled to get myself working sometimes then now I remember how hard I had to work on someone so much bigger than me having to overcome some really big guys or some faster or more athletic people around me. I remember what it's like being pushed around and beaten up. I learn to stand up not on my own two feet but on God's power and to remember that if truly give it all I have the result is still up to Him. Like David Robinson said, in basketball, you play knowing you and your opponent can't go anywhere else but this court and that's where we fight and grind out the win. Here in life, we grind as much as we can night in and night out knowing that God wants us on our home floor, nowhere else to go but His way up or down. People have seen me in really bad situations and my face looks so dumb founded free of worry that's because I know where God leads me.

What scares me the most in life isn't my inability to win, it's my ability to live my life to the fullest and regret never giving it my all for my Lord and Saviour.

Investments and Fish from the Book The Spotlight of Faith written by Bill Crowder and given to me by Lianse

2010-12-22T15:57:00.000-08:00

Background, the Book discusses Andrew, the Brother of Simon Peter. Andrew is actually highlighted many time in the Gospels as a frequent listener and helper. Andrew was the one who brought the boy with 5 loaves and 2 fishes for 5000 people. He also asked Jesus if Jesus would entertain the Gentiles.

Despite his roles, Andrew was always in the shadow of his brother Peter. He wasn't with Peter when they saw Jesus with Elijah and Moses or the miracles. Yet, here he is playing a small but significant role in the ministry of Jesus. When I look at Andrew, I realize that God sometimes will put those we mentor ahead of us. Sarah Lim, a teacher I worked with at Toa Payoh Methodist Church, encouraged us to continue teaching the children bible stories. It didn't matter if they heard it already of didn't understand it. She just wanted us to teach them what was right and what was wrong. I realized we were building foundations in this children. When I was a kid, I always wondered about the feeding of the 5000. I took a small piece of bread and tried to cut it into as many small pieces as possible. I saw that it was impossible! Yet, I remember the action of the child and Andrew and how they trusted God with something so little and became so big. If we could give God all that we have no matter how small, it can be bigger. Maybe not for us but maybe for someone else. I would love it if someday a child would be able to retell a story of the Bible. of 10 maybe 1 or 2 will remember but I always remember how God used 5 and 2 to become 5000 and more.

Another person is Barnabas, Paul's former helper. I say former because they had a dispute. He was entitled the encourager. One who raised some one up. Out of all the people, he was the one who encouraged to bring in Saul after his conversion after none of the Christians would touch him with a ten foot pole.. When he was in Antioch, we got the name Christians. He stood up for John Mark who had sort of failed in his last mission with Paul.

Barnabas wasn't the best of the best. He was a encourager. He wasn't one of the original 12 but he supported them by selling all he had. He was assigned to missions to encourage young churches. We know that Acts was mainly focused later on the adventures of Paul evangelizing to other countries but Barnabas was one of this who helped build them up. He also took many risks by taking in Paul and defending John Mark. Imagine taking in a potential spy and a guy who already failed them (in Paul standards) majorly. Yet later, we Barnabas helping build John Mark to the point he was a son to Barnabas. Barnabas teaches us something else aside from giving to God all that we have. He taught us to trust God where nobody else would. Imagine jumping into places people would know they must but are scared too. Risk investments in Paul and Mark. Maybe he did fail a few times but he still made results. Here we learn that God wants us to makes investments but He also wants us to stick with them. Work with what you gave God because he's not gonna let you stick around to see if the stock goes up or down. He wants you to make your own stock go up. Diamonds in the rough. The toughest eggs to crack and the ones with the best potential. Those are the people God wants us to work with. Many come but few are chosen to do this but if everyone doesn't even try, how will we know who the Few are? Try something and have a spine to do it. That's how we need to make an investment.

Worst DAYZ to :)

2010-11-29T17:38:00.000-08:00

Everyone needs to have a bad day. It just tells you your doing something wrong. If there was no such thing as a bad day, we wouldn't be able to make our good days. I told someone that if they had a bad day, just get it back the next day. If you lose day, think about what to do to win tomorrow. If you had a lazy day and took a break and remind yourself you already have a day off. It's never easy to call out a bad day. When you call it out, there's no point in it. You keep calling out someone who's never gonna come out of that cave. You can stay there all day, shouting his name to get your day back but it's never gonna come.

Jesus said that bad or good day, we give Him our all. Nothing more, nothing less. THat's all He wants, for us to simply give it our all everyday. Bring it home. So what if we had the worst day ever and just didn't feel like doing anything else? That's on us but it's gonna stay on us unless we give it to GOD or forget about it. The next day comes whether we like it or not. The day's going to come. Night passes, day come, and the cycle goes on. Treat everyday like the clock never stops and keep working till there's absolutely nothing left in your gas tank. That's how we make the most of the bad day and smile and joke that it was the worst day ever. :)

Patient heart

2010-11-27T00:27:00.000-08:00

It's to often that we fight with our heart. That means just going plain crazy on our work. There's a saying where we'll just write whatever's on our mind. Squeezing our head during our exams, trying to get some energy for our next basketball game and looking for new or unusual ways to win. I remember some terrible basketball games I played. I tried virtually everything against the guy, he was bigger, stronger and a lot more skill. I kept telling him to come on, I just started using really difficult moves (moves that would probably work on 1 in a 100 times. When your losing badly, you still wanna go out with a bang with nothing just stopping you. I did get like 2 to his 11. It was bad to lose but at least I got to play some defense.

A lot made me think of who I am, off whether I see it half full or half empty. I try to see it half full as much as I can. There are times that when I see it half empty, I learn that God often shows as much of the other half as He can. He teaches me one thing. To be patient and see how full the glass is the next day or next time out. What are we looking for? Something in our glass? It not going to often that we get a chance to get it full and I think that if we wait whether long or short, we'll know when is the right time to make it full.

A patient mind can work with a determined heart. When we have an intellectual determination, we strategize with perfection not just fight. Planning gives one confidence and strength and this can lead to higher success. A fighting spirit is strong but a patient one is just as strong and smarter. Plan ahead and think beyond. That's how we should learn. That's how God wants us to learn. Moses was patient, Jeremiah was patient, and Gideon. They all waited and finished with a full glass. What happens when we get over our heads? ask the Israelites who wondered around the desert for 40 years and were attacked by snakes before entering the promised land. Planning, Prayer and a little Psychotic mind to put it all together.

It's true, I rather see it half empty than half full sometimes

2010-11-16T22:33:00.000-08:00

I got a little frustrated today. I can't believe I let it happen but it happened again. I'm pretty disappointed in myself but I can't be sad now. I like seeing it half full but that's just half the good news. I can't say anything just like the NBA players to the refs...hahaha

I'm working on it is all I can say in school. I got a essay due in 10 hours or 10 minutes, I'm like I'm working on it. No Point in saying how hard it is or complaining the living hell out of it.I get frustrated, I get hit; but I can't let it get in my head.

During my test, I had one thing in mind. Knock it out. I've seen so many screwed up tests that I just decided I wasn't gonna leave in a judge's hand. I decided to make it easier for them, I decided to just knock it out and after that I just let it all out. Last time, I missed two or three questions just because I panicked. I just feel that if you wanna do something, finish it and don't leave it anyone's hand but yours and God's.

I read about how Kobe Bryant would dedicate himself in a psychotic matter to his work. He study game tapes before the game, he has an I phone with a guy sending him videos of how people would defend him or where he would find open spots. Dedication.

I just needed to show how psychotic I really am. I had a crazy time back then and I'm still having now. I'm pouring in full glass and no excuses. I just know I can do something much better. I'm just going to lay it all out.

running through walls again....

Calling your own fouls and getting hit

2010-11-09T19:50:00.000-08:00

I heard from a friend who plays basketball with some Filipino kids that they were sore losers. I was a little surprised that they called their own fouls and even said "Prove it" when someone protests! I had to admit if they were in a real Filipino basketball court in the Philippines, they would get pounded. When I did play, I never call fouls. I feel that it disrupts the street ball game. Sure you can say foul when someone nudges you on a drive but I think it's being a sore loser and it stops the fun of street ball. To me, part of the fun of street ball is getting hit and knocked down and doing it the same to someone once in a while.

When I was in Singapore, I played a little extra hard. I was a little above everyone else in the beginning and played rough and everyone suddenly backed off. They said, they don't play hard hit or something but they didn't like hard fouls. Once in a while, I did get to play with those from China and Indonesia or the Philippines who didn't mind some hard ball. I did it again in Junior College and boy were they mad. It was my initial reaction to hit hard when the guy is bigger than me so I was a little. The last time I played in Singapore was with a young kid and he was really skilled but I just put a forearm on him and told him to take it and he did. Being that good, you were sure to either get hacked, forearmed, elbowed and hell yeah a clothesline will come out of nowhere!

Point is, life gonna hit hard. If you can't take it, your not gonna grow up. It gave me toughness and some mental work. So the next time you get hit hard and hit the floor, appreciate it. It's a lesson we can never forget and stop learning. We're gonna get hit.

Happy Day and why it's not worth complaining over a bad day

2010-11-07T17:41:00.000-08:00

It's good to get your frustrations out for awhile. How does it feel? How does a person feel better having reminded him or herself the dilemma they face?

I seldom complain. If you ask my mom, she'll say I barely do. When I was a kid, I found complaining to be nothing. When my parents didn't let me do something that I want, I realized that they had the right to do so. I had no problems with that. I trust them and I try to earn their trust. Last time, I said I was no angel so I'm still on thin ice if I do something really wrong. I often get into headaches problems but I find it's not worth complaining over. On Friday, all I could think about was third midterm of the week and basically told anyone who would listen. I was pissed at myself. Why the heck would I complain about that? I went through a lot of exams already and I should have thought better. Worked better. Handled my ego a little better. I was really out of character then. It wasn't bad but I still should have been more disciplined mentally.

So maybe I do complain, I complain in my prayers but not to anyone else. People already have enough of their own problems. I take complaints from friends or family because I know I can do something about it: Pray. I know if I pray I can help someone out. I know God made it not for us to feel good but to help us talk to him. He's there always and never gone. Even if we don't feel him, he's still there. Doesn't matter what you do before or after, He's still listening to every word and every thought.

When I heard about how 1 Corinthians 14 showed people complaining in minor matters so much that it became the main thing, I realized how too often it happens. We can't elude it sometimes because we make a big deal out of it. How big of a deal can it get? Lebron-Cleveland big? Yes it can. Say the word and it can happen. It's up to us to stop our bickering and complaints and learn that life can simply be just so much more if we just be a little better than ourselves. That's why God tells us to cast all our cares upoun Him because He cares more than anyone else

Not so nice....

2010-11-07T00:18:00.000-07:00

I'm no angel to be honest. I often bully people a bit now that I'm a little older. There's always that temptation to mess with someone's head when you work with them. Take for example my friend Chocka, he was a really tall big guy. Not fat or skinny but built like a brick building. He was a nice guy and I tended to push him around a bit. In turn, we talked a lot and I knew enough to know how to push his buttons. I'm not gonna say how but I admit whenever I had the time I did try to see how far I'd go. I was older now, not so shy or complicated like I was when I was a kid. It seems I de-mature sometimes when I got either freedom or pressure. It was weird. I was supposed to act my age and yet I come off like a thug or punk kid on sugar rush ( I don't even have a sweet tooth! Ask my dentist.) I guess so many years of getting picked on, my bullies actually became my friends. After a while, they still bullied me but they respected me. I guess I started to see why guys bullied each other, they either had a little switch in their brain to be macho or just wanted to see who was someone who could take a beating and earn their respect or maybe both just to find a fellow macho man or YMCA. I don't know about me but if someone around me gets talkative (Chocka was a little talkative and fun to trash talk with) or cocky, I tend to try pushing their buttons. Nowadays I learn to stand up a bit, I used to just take jokes but now I'm thinking not so much. I can see older people don't tend to mess with each other so much unless they get into some drama moment. It's a little funny when I see people talk shit and start looking like kindergarden. Maybe it's all these independency, my parents would never let me get away with such things. My dad is a bit of a prankster himself. He scares my nephew and steals my cousins phones and teases them constantly but in the end my whole family likes a good laugh out of it. But i can't get away with the same thing, I once rammed my Uncle Robert in a competitive basketball game at least twice and my dad was like "don't do that and be nicer next time", he knew I was rough but he still had control over me. Actually without them, I probably would be even worst off now maybe with a few more detention records in my high school script. My dad showed me how to be a nice guy and made sure I had fun but not cross his line.

Slowly, I think we'll start to draw our own line. To be honest, the idea of lines are that they are ment to be crossed. My dad crosses the line that making false texts to my cousin's girlfriends or boyfriends from their cell for simple awkwardness that can be fixed. I think my line is somewhere between doing something to people when they fall asleep out of exhaustion or food in the face. Oh man, I wonder how far will my kid's line will be from mine. Maybe I should draw it back a little. That's how it works I guess.

Reviving wisdombasketball.blogspot.com

2010-10-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

I think it just hit me. I still want to write, I still want to work hard. There's no problem in that except I'm too quiet!

So here I am, beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia. After 3 months , I'm up here studying for a Physics Major Degree with a new start at Douglas College. To be honest, it hasn't been that new. I got work to do. I got things to write about.

I think I like this blog because it keeps me sane in a way. I won't have time all the time but I guess I'll have too.. See ya all around!

Back on Top!

2009-08-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

I was really sulking it all yesterday. I wasn't sure. Am I really giving my best to life? I went to the gym after it became uneventful and just poured out 2 weeks of frustration and crap. I saw friends and Muay thai club and it cheered me up a bit you know. I got myself back up by saying, I can;t think too much about giving up. It's gonna be there but I ain't playing with it.

Why do I keep changing my mind between surrendering or fighting back?

I can't understand myself and I can't get my life either. One day I'm down and then the next day, I'm up like nothing happened and I told myself I can do more and will do better.

It was a hard day on Monday. I literally went over the time in my presentation and it took me the full 15 minutes to just get through half-way. I thought I did it right, no splits or whatever. I don't think it was any better than the others but I guess it's all up to God now. I got faith in Him and hope I can push through for the next semester. Thankfully, we rushed some projects and got it done no problems. We lent each other laptops, helped each other print and bind our reports and it came out pretty swell.

I was wondering half way through my choice of helping lead cg next week until Leah said " Wisdom speaks".....that was that....lol, I was thinking yes anyhow and I'll get on that.

Looks like Leah, Ravi, Hannah got a lot of stuff to handle now in University. I think it's just right some of us gotta step up real soon to help them out in Church. My cg maturing really quick.

BAck on top, can't get any better than this now.

Dancing Inmate's Michael Jackson tribute

2009-06-30T05:51:00.001-07:00

2009-06-29T05:43:00.000-07:00

The world's changing.

Michael Jackson passes away. His charisma and enterntaining music which changed pop music and paved the way for a new generation will never be forgotten. He was a the boss of pop music and dancing.

I can't really say my feeling here now. It's too private for this. I did read Faithful to the End by Gordon Wong. All I can say is that I need to stay faithful and strong to God especially with the stuff at home. Even if life hits me hard, I'll just get up and stay strong and smart. Faith doesn't just encourage us to be strong but encourages us to be wise not reckless but relentless and smart. Learn how life works and how we can manage it. It's not difficult; just hard to finish. The Win is there but we gotta take the long road to get there. I've learned it take preparation to win and it takes planning along the way to be assertive and that nothing is impossible when GOd is there. I learned that from a certain girl who knows really well that with God all things are possible.t Thank you to all my friends who's been asking and helping me out on the way. It's a day by day battle but I guess this is how we need to treat life to focus on the day at hand and not look to forward and get lost in our dreaming of the future. You want your dream to come true? Wake Up! hahaha...

2009-06-29T05:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, so my prediction of the first few picks in the NBA Draft 09 probably was extremely inaccurate, but I got excuses. HAhahaha! If you don't do basketball, please move lower to the sentence after 4.

1. I didn't expect Ricky Rubio to fall so far because of his buyout but the T-Wolves are smart. They're not trading him at all. They know they like this guy. I can also say their a little either smarter or dumber by taking Jonny Flynn. Flynn is a really good fit for the team which suffered a lot last season with their second year into the post-Garnett era. AL Jefferson falling to injury. Their coach gone and two of their top scorers traded away for Rubio and unproven center-Forwards. What I think made Flynn look better than Stephen Curry was probably his natural competiveness and speedy play and athletism. He brings energy and a rare mix of abilities that will help the T-Wolves solve their PG problems. Even if Rubio plays this season, he will have help in bringing the ball up. Defense, FLynn doesn't back down easy i believe and Rubio proved his worth in the Olympics. Now they just have to learn how to do it for 82 games.

2. I had no idea Stephen Curry was highly wanted in Oakland. The GS warriors probably had him in the radar incase Jordan Hill was taken but when the Wizards bolted for two new scorers., Hill was available, problem? so was Curry. No doubt, Curry is more ready than Hill to help a backcourt in need of firepower. Hill probably will have a good start in New York and he can do more reckless abandon down at the Garden. The Knicks need it.

3. That Tyreke Evans is a hell of a combo guard. I had thought Kings would go for this but Rubio was thought to be too good to pass up but I was wrong. Evans will give the Kings a good slasher which is not located in their current backcourt of Ben Urdih and Kevin Martin. THey can shoot it, not slash it.

4. Tyler Hansbrough probably is overrated but he's been underrated that a lot of teams expected him to go down. Larry Bird wants this kid. DeJuan Blair. I was looking for him all day. I was stunned when he fell like 30 places off. I would understand but a kid with a liver condition was picked over him.

well, long excuses and probably not understandable to the basketball mind so I'll talk a little of ufc here. People should really read UFC wiki page to see that the rules make it safer and helpful for a good clean fight.

UFC100:
My predictions:

Dan Henderson VS Michael Bisping

I have to say Bisping is the better boxer but Henderson is more well rounded. Bisping will have to look at his loss to Rashad Evans when he was taken down repeatedly. Henderson has been doing this for years. No doubt he'll be willing to stand and take some shots but he'll still be looking to mix his attacks with takedowns and wrestling. If Hendo gets it down, Bisping is in deep trouble. I would give a slight edge to Bisping as his camp has been making some noise with Rampage Jackson and team UK winning the TUF 9. I'll say Hendo split decision.

George St. Pierre Vs Thiago Alves.

Alves is a beast and big. St.Pierre is the one of the most unique and efficient fighters ever. They way he trains in his camp and how he challenges himself. I have no doubt he'll take Alves down a few times here. Alves will be on his back so he needs to stand up and defend it right to get himself together. St. Pierre will have to eat Alves punches because he will get rocked since the fight starts standing and will have to try to avoid those leg kicks which punished former victims. St. Pierre will take Alves down. GSP via submission or decision.

Frank Mir VS Brock Lesnar.

Mir has reinvented his game very well and he probably needs to upgrade it too against Lesnar. Lesnar is a pure beast at 265 outweighing Mir by over 30 pounds. Mir will have to work from his back to find submissions but will need to anticipate Lesnar's ever evolving game on the ground. His fight with Couture shows that a round with him is probably hard. He has heavy hands and will be difficult to take down. Mir is a BJJ ace before and is still. He's also an improved striker and could wear Lesnar down standing. Taking Lesnar out is possible because he still has holes. I'll go out and say. Lesnar via TKO or decision.

2009-06-21T00:24:00.000-07:00

I'm just trying to become more of a gym rat nowadays. It hasn't been easy you know, finding the time to go after work especially when i was taking some meds 2 weeks ago. I learned a few things along the way like you need to push your body a bit to get stronger and you need not be ashamed if your not exactly dragon boat guy material or beach body material. Although it's always cool to look ripped and good, it's a matter of how you feel when you do your thing on the basketball court or the mat.

I played basketball a few nights ago and my shot was really off. I hit just one 3-pointer and was missing all my mid jumpers and i had a feeling i should have tried more three's. Too bad, I was having a good night cutting into the basket against guys that were a bit taller than me. God bless me, if I was a foot taller then , I would be playing for the Singapore Slingers. I knew my way around and split defenders to get to the basket but I didn't finish as well as I hoped. I missed a few shots I used to normally make and I ran out of speed early; plus, I got hit in the throat with the ball. It was pretty good considering that our opponents were taller and that I got a good breath of fresh air out of it.

Believe it or not, that small time on the court is heaven for me. No matter how bad I play or how bad i beaten up, I'll always have a good time. Basketball reminds me so much of home and family and how it deepens my relationship with my dad. It's almost a better taste than going to the mall or just out. When I'm on the court, it's just the shot and the game that matters. They say it's just a game and that's all that's in my head, just my game. I don't have to think about how to this or that or why i'm not getting to the goal and stuff; I just feel the game so well; I can just run on instict the whole time. If I play and my opponents better, I make sure he's not gonna get an easy win; if I play and i'm better; I still make it hard to win and just start playing with him a bit, like hesistating, fakes and stuff. I don't do it out of mind it just comes to me; as soon as some one tries to block my path or get close to me I body him up and start backing him down, if he's too far, I'll shoot a long jumper or drive close enough to catch him at the post with a jump hook or lay-up. It's too routine sometimes that I naturally do different things over and over again.

Happy dad's day to my dad. I'm proud of him in every sense of way. I look up to him and I love this guy. I neve had a brother but I have a dad I can follow in terms of principles and just plain work. thanks dad.

An unusual fight

2009-06-14T06:59:00.000-07:00

I didn't get to follow the fight between Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva. I was stomped but I expected such. A decision for Rich Franklin. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a TKO but I was like if it goes the way I imagined it probably will go to a decision. Too good of a fight to end by knock out.

Silva seemed to be looking more to slow his pace down and explode down the stretch. I like the was Silva seems to be changing his game, utilizing his ground game a little more to conserve that knock out power in his hands. His agression has always worked one way or the other. He either knocked someone out or got knocked the wind of him. If I had any advice for the next guy he's fighting, it would be don't throw leg kicks unless you can move your damn head fast. That's how he gets them, throw a shot and he will respond with a furry that few ever survive on their feet. I'd say let him fight the top middleweights like Patrick Cote or Thales Leites. It would be interesting to see how guys like Alan Blecher or Nate Marquart respond to another Silva monster among their division.

Rich Franklin? What more can I say? He's in a packed heavyweight divison but a win over Silva should push him somewhere near a title shot. He should fight another contender, like maybe Forrest Griffin after he takes on Anderson Silva(no relation), winner of Matt Hamill vs Brandon Vera , Keith Jardine vs Thiago Silva(too many Silvas). He should get a rematch with Lyoto Machida I feel as the theri last fight was like two or three years ago. He has too much respect and should be one or two fights away from reaching that level and he can definitely show up to the other lightheavies. Silva was probably his toughest test in the division to date and will probably have more problems against more mixed fighters like Griffin or Jardine. heck he might face the fighter he coached in TUF in Rashad Evans.

I got a good week out of this. Honestly, the only thing that keeps me going at times is knowing that when I make it to the weekend I got people at home and in church. I been fired up a few times this week just because I knew I had good people around. Any time I get something little or big, it just gets me fired up. Tells me to buck down and get back to work and just crack my head a little harder. I get the boredom part but I guess when you find something to think about, it just disappears. My brain's been working harder lately just so I can do something to keep it occupied, sky's the limit right now and I;m thankful to God for all he has done and worked for.

I feel maybe I'm letting my problems get the better of me and I'm letting stuff get the better of me even though I know I can do well. I know I can fight harder and hit harder and I'm gonna. I can't assure victory just that I'm going to bring a world of hurt on myself to win and work hard and buck down. Not gonna let anything easy pass me by and quote Dwight Howard "We're not handing over the championship yet." I'm not ready to hand it over yet and call it quits. I'm not going away. I got a lot of good people around me and I love them to death. We all have unusual fights and it's not easy.

2009-06-07T03:13:00.000-07:00

It's been war at work, peace at home, and even more peace at church. The weekend was pretty cool you know. It started a little sour.

Friday- I'd miss the Finals between the Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers. I'm routing for the Lakers and Kobe Bryant as always and just saw the thrid quarter replays. It was awesome. He just did a bunch of things. With 8 seconds left, he took the ball at least 25 feet away from the basket, crossed, drove into the goal where he met three defenders at the rim and hung in there and switched the ball right to left to lay it in before the shot clock expired. Next he took his defender one on one and spun back and forth before jumping forward, hangs and double pumps and banks in while getting fouled. It was amazing 40 points. My jaw dropped when I saw the score 100-75. I didn't at all expect it to be that close. At the free throw , everyone in the centre was just going "M-V-P, M-V-P", the loudest I've heard in a long time. This was a different team from the one at Denver and Houston.

ANyway back to Sg, I took a walk, I don't know if it was the cold or the heat or my lunch, I just wanted to get out of the computer table. I just took a little lesson from my teacher/boss whom I say is really good at what he teaches and afterwards I just wanted out. I wanted to walk to the Crusade office first to say hi to my friends there but it was closed and i found Jun Ming, a part time leader at Crusade and we talked about what was happening then about the events they were having and freshmen they had and how senior year has it's x's and o's. On the way back, i headed for the library and found another friend, Melodie. i seriously, had not seen her and I thought she grew shorter or it was the shoes i was wearing that day. Anyway, she was going on a long walk up the hill so I walked her up and kept her company till we reached makan place. It was pretty cool to talk to her, she told me to not goof when i was during our ct's. she was doing all projects and she always left herself online so I'd chat with her for a minute or two and was being scolded to get back to work. I could use that again. hahaha.... anyway, great to talk to her she gives me a lot to think about more that she knows it.

After work, took time to hit the gym and put some iron on. I've been cleared to work out this week and it felt good. I did some skipping the night before and been doing light stuff the past few days. I lifted a few weights and stayed there around an hour and helped a guy with some weight lifting. My only regret is not having done running or swimming or endurance tests aside from shadow boxing and skipping a minute or so.

Saturday- Was supposed to go cycling with Taby whom I went to east coast with but she had a briefing in the morning and I had plans at noon. I took the time instead to stay home in the morning and headed for the Bradell to check out a sale of Christian books. btw, it's at yellow pages building and inside on your right at the guard post is the small door, last two days are on monday and tuesday till 9pm.
I had a quick meeting at church after the sale and pretty much finished the day watching The Ultimate Fighter 9 and The Seige. Slept early before talking to a friend online.

Sunday- I lost count of how many kids I was watching. 6-9 maybe? I'm just glad it wasn't 15. Got lost in the story line and pretty much got a little confused and here i am now watching re-runs of game 1 NBA finals. Before, we took some umbrellas from my place which is next to church to bail friends out of the rain. I actually just wanted to walk in my rain jacket but Leah just told me to share with her. They're a really cool bunch who I wouldn't mind helping out anyday. They've encouraged me a lot in many ways to stay in my ministires. They're involved in one thing or the other every now and then and thanks to them so have I. just really thankful for the people in church , home and school. Love ya all, take care fellas.

PS. not posting videos or pics of lakers. I don't wanna jinx them. hahaha....

2009-06-04T22:26:00.000-07:00

The world is different is every way imaginable. It can be cruel, it can be nice, it can be beautiful, it can be terrible; but most of all, it can change you or break you. It's not a good world. You can believe all you want that it is but it's not.

If you owned a country, people can either love you or hate you.

If you knew people, their either your friends or enemies.

If you had family, their either the closest thing or the farthest thing.

Truth is, I'm sad. I'd cry for those who have no friends or family. I cry for those who are pushed by many just because of greed. I'd cry not for the world but for the people. I'd weep as I see the disasters, killings, break ins, and mistakes. I'd cry for the friend who's getting pushed around. I'd cry for the bad stuff i see.

After all that, I'd still be smiling to first guy I know on the way to work.

I'd smile that I get to catch up on a friends life. I'd smile because even though their having problems they're not letting it get to them. I'd smile for the fella who gets support from friends and family. I'd smile at the bird on the tree. I'd smile for the beauty of the sun. I'd smile when i see one smile from my friend or even just on it.

Beautiful, Sweet, Cruel, Disastrous, and most of all, life's just plain Unpredictable. Can't say what'll happen, or when I'll cry or smile or laugh next.

I can say this, I'll cry when I see it happens and I'll smile when I see it happens. Life is IT.

HARD AS HELL? BRING IT.

oh yeah, so can you.

2009-06-01T02:22:00.000-07:00

I really am starting to get the Christian life thing that God has been putting me through.

Having my daily challenges at school and work which is the same place;

keeping an eye as my younger sisters grow and making sure they have their freedom;

making friends outside of school and becoming closer to friends in Church and knowing them more personally;

finding ways to solve life's daily problems; learning that life can never go too fast even when your left behind;

knowing that even if I can't get back on track, I still can look forward to another day when I wake up to my radio cd player.

knowing that I have the choice being a friend to people;

knowing that I got an idea of how things change and that it happens all the time;

Sometimes, I don't know if I had made the right choices in life; I'm having problems and doubts with my future because i really wanna further my studies; I disappointed my parents a few times; I ran myself into a wall a few times, I lost my trail and my drive a few times; but, I'll know that I'll value these moments of love and caring that my parents had for me; I'll value the mistakes i've made and I'll value the people that care for me and pray for me and sits in the same row of seats I sit in during service. I value this times and say a little prayer for them.

Like my time last Saturday at Sentosa with my cell group FOOTPRINTS, I never threw a frisbee before and it felt weird when the thing just runs out of air or something; I haven't played a volleyball game in 6 years, but i haven't had such a fun time with friends in 10 weeks. that day will probably be one of those days I'm gonna remember in a long while till we have another one.

i'm having the time of my life and i know i can make it last. keep my head up high ,pray for the people around me, and just keep fighting no matter how hard it gets. i keep my eyes on the ultimate proze of life which is finishing 'The Race" which God started for me and end it His way not mine but His.

2009-05-29T01:32:00.001-07:00

Yeah, i read that poem probably while i was in my sec 2 year. It pretty much stuck to me. there was also 'oh captain, my captain', ' the arrow and the song', 'I sing the mighty power of God'...imagine, I passed english because I memorized all these and I understood them deeply on how life was back then and how things sometimes never change.

i'd write my own poems and I'd probably never get it into Hallmark or a greeting card

Love is here

Never far from my heart
Or far from my mind
Neither too far from my ear
I can still hear the words and cries

Doesn't listen all the time
And life's work gets in the way
Maybe a question can bring me closer
Or end up in tears

It's never easy to love
Neither is it easy to solve
But one thing's for sure
It's there and crystal clear.

yeah i'm bad at rhymes. that's why I don't write raps

maybe this

JOY

A little too close for comfort
A little too far for thought
It's never about thinking
It's all about heart

How much do I want it?
how much can i give?
Everyday's a battle
Which i feel i can never win

It's all I think about
The battles and bruises
The weeks and months
The pain and joy

It's a person's path
A warrior's joy
A life that not many creatures take
but worth our toil for life's joy

2009-05-28T02:01:00.000-07:00

THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH

BY Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Under a spreading chestnut-tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron band.

His hair is crisp, and black, and long, His face is like the tan;His brow is wet with honest sweat, He earns whate'er he can,And looks the whole world in the face, For he owes not any man.

Week in, week out, from morn till night, You can hear his bellows blow;You can hear him swing his heavy sledge, With measured beat and slow,Like a sexton ringing the village bell, When the evening sun is low.

And children coming home from school Look in at the open door;They love to see the flaming forge, And bear the bellows roar,And catch the burning sparks that fly Like chaff from a threshing-floor.

He goes on Sunday to the church, And sits among his boys;He hears the parson pray and preach, He hears his daughter's voice,Singing in the village choir, And it makes his heart rejoice.

It sounds to him like her mother's voice, Singing in Paradise!He needs must think of her once more, How in the grave she lies;And with his hard, rough hand he wipes A tear out of his eyes.

Toiling,--rejoicing,--sorrowing, Onward through life he goes;Each morning sees some task begin, Each evening sees it closeSomething attempted, something done, Has earned a night's repose.

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,For the lesson thou hast taught!Thus at the flaming forge of life Our fortunes must be wrought;Thus on its sounding anvil shaped Each burning deed and thought.

2009-04-19T05:48:00.000-07:00

Chuck Liddell. The Iceman.

The first big name I ever heard since watching MMA. Honestly, I never saw him fight till I saw hime fight Rashad Evans, where he got knocked out. I wasn't a big fan of stand up fights back then. I actually prefered watching dominant wrestlers and ground and pound games ;but watching some of Chuck Liddell's higlights made me change my view of MMA. To him, it wasn't just about fighting the right opponent but simply taking it to wherever he leads them. I have great respect to MMA fighters because of Tito Ortiz and Quinton Rampage Jackson and Liddell.

Why?
These are the kind of fighters who i first saw and faught anyone available and it didn't matter if they'd lose, they'd fight the next guy right away.

Ortiz. I feel he still has a lot of fight left in him and he'll be a good match to Renato Babalu Sobral. He has really good ground and pound and he'd stand up if needed. He'd take people to the ground most of the time but always gave his opponents a hard fight. He also I feel was the most impressive in the Celebrity Apprentice. He's no sissy in business and proves he is not afraid to lose. He just wants to fight.

Rampage. He's also like Ortiz but he'll keep it standing more than the ground and pound stuff. He never has a boring fight. He'll keep pushing his opponent and you bet anyone who comes into the cage with him will be instantly scared of those hands which took out Liddell and Wanderlei Silva. His list of victims also included Dan Henderson who's been know to take tough punishment. He fought all kinds of fighters, wrestlers , kick boxers and unorthodox. He doesn't take a lost well and he proved that by improving his overall camp training and conditioning which was evident when he defeated Keith Jardine. He probably should get the next shot and somewhere down the road fight the other man that took out Liddell, Mauricio Shogun Rua.

Liddell. Whatelse is there to say? He was a wrestler turned Kickboxer and used his power to strike fear in his opponents. He built a legacy of stand up fighters and showed the old-fashioned style of no fear and take on all opponents. He'd strike fear into the eyes of his opponents just by stepping in. Only a few were either brave enough or stupid enough risk getting ko'd by his deadly counter right. People should be respectfulof his accomplishments which includes wins over Ortiz, Randy Couture, Sobral, Jeremy Horn, Victor Belfort, Vernon White, Kevin Randleman, Guy Metzer, and a list of victims. Today, we see so many fighters who follow in Liddell's foot steps in terms of style or dominance. Liddell was and will forever be one of a kind. A man who had no fear and was ready to fight in the octagon. A fighting life is about to end but a fighting style which raised the bar to a whole new level.

Our generation has raised a new bar and we need to get there. There aren't many Chuck Liddell's out there. Someone who has the abitlity to raise the bar in a sport that it forces the wrestler to learn to box or the muay thai to start rolling in BJJ and train with wrestlers.

Rest assured this is not our purpose in life. Neither should it be. Liddell just wanted to fight. We just want to study. We may not get the same stuff we usually get but we will win just by working hard and running everyday to get to the next level. Step by step people step by step

2009-04-02T04:27:00.000-07:00

It's been pretty rough. I've been sick before but not in a long time so I've forgotten pretty much how painful this is, especially, after a few aches here and there.

My right leg feels really bad. It's got a nagging pain in it and been there since morning. Even while carrying some heavy equipment, I'm pretty happy that my supervisor allowed me to use the rest of the day to rest. I got another long sleep and feels like hell.

Anyway, I'm not the only ones who had a bad day. Dozens lose their job, loved ones, got caught in traffic, poked in the eye, and etc. My friends are having their university applications now so I'm praying they'll make it. Time is even more precious now. That's why I hate being sick. I miss classes, trainings, and it's shit trying to get better. I rather go all out and die in the end of the day.

On the good side, I get to spend time with my little sisters and catch up on the sleep I often lose and gives my other pains time to heal without getting stressed.

I do hope my friends can get in. Right now one of them, she's applying for Accountancy and in her blog she's thinking about SMU and NTU and she hears a lot different things, when that happens I know from experience that it can get really confusing. People say one thing and another says another.

Truth is there's no easy path or perefect style and that we have to go to where we relate the best. When I went to Ngee Ann Polytechnic, the teacher gave me a tour and when I had concerns about what I could learn and my opportunities he answered my questions properly and well. I felt I could relate to this student body and challenge myself.

I hear University is harder. You have to show your portfolios, interview, CCA records, and good grades. Ravi right now is in National Service. I'm praying nothing goes wrong because he needs time to apply and he only has Saturdays. He's applying for medicine.

I love my friends to death and I do hope they get into their spots but it's God's will now and I'm supporting them all the way.

2009-04-01T08:04:00.000-07:00

Patterns

They hide the truth.

They distract us from our true intent.

Often times they need to be solved, sometimes they need to be thought through and through. People have said that they don't need a rocket scientists to untie a knot.

Once there was the Gordian Knot, which was famously could not be solved, Alexander the Great however would not allow such a small thing to stand in his way. He didn't try to untie it from the pole or even touch it; instead he sliced it in half with his sword. He would not allow such a small thing to stand in his way of greatness.

Boxers often use an unusual technique of bob and weeve. They would leave a slide of their face or chin open to confuse their opponent. As they move left and right, they continually bob their head in and out of their opponents reach or strikes. They would then use looping punches to strike their opponent in hard to reach areas such as the temple or the rib cage.

Nowadays, bob and weeve is only effective when used over and over again in fights. Speed is not everything, the user must be able to analyse and predict his opponents punches and he must constantly change his pattern until the opponent falls into his confusing dance.

Why is it effective? Imagine trying to hit a target that is moving and you feel your very close to hitting it yet you continue to miss over and over again, would you quit? Sometimes yes, sometimes no ; yet it is often that we do keep trying over and over again to hit the pattern. Sooner or later it falls into a cycle until the striker realise it's too late or time is up.

Yes, repeating patterns are often distractions. They sometimes hide our goal or true intent yet the bib and weeve has it weakness. The user will soon realise that his movements become too evident and too noticeable. The opponent is then able to calculate roughly when or how far the user moves in.

The weakness of patterns is that it reveals itself too easily. My friend gave me the idea when I and her fell into a cycle. Work hard and fall short, but such things are just bad luck. Maybe we did something wrong, maybe we're reading something wrong.

However, Possibilities are endless outside of this pattern.

Bob and weeve has one final weekness, thinking outside the box. By ignoring or disregarding the pattern, we can do whatever we want. We can focus on what we want to do.

The world doesn't control our lives, it merely creates circumstances where we feel we can't win or hit or excel. We can choose what we want to do in such circumstances.

Sure it gets harder when it's older but truth is my friend, it'll pay off. Hard work pays off one way or the other. It maybe achievement or ethic or habit but it's a habit worth picking up.

Nothing we do is ever useless. Everytime we work hard, it's never useless. It may not reflect on our results but it definitly reflects in our scars, memories, notes, journals, diaries, words, our heart, our mind, and our attitude.

It's not how whether we achieve or not but how we tried to achieve and how we can make ourselves better from trying.

Win or lose, learn to change and never fear failure.

2009-03-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

check out this link with the kid who has all the moves!

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Video-Introducing-the-Celtics-new-dancing-phen?urn=nba,146237

2009-03-22T08:36:00.000-07:00

School's probably the tougest thing I've always had to go through but I think it's not the studyiung that kills me, it's the exams. I love to study. I'd read and watch science stuff and maybe go back to basics. I watch Mixed martial arts because I want to study a lot of stuff.

Maybe I do need to go back to basics. Start reading a book on my line of work or interest. Start working on myself and remake my thinking. i think everyone in my class had a rough time and I tell them not to worry because school is tough and when you do your best you can't always get what you want but you'll build yourself up.

It's probably the hardest when we give effort and can't match our peers. It's like getting put in your place. I love the people I work with and study with. I couldn't imagine getting through school without them. The lesson is I guess for me is to be just thankful that i got through with no failures. I'm happy that I got two more semesters to work on and that my parents still have confidence in me to excel. I'm happy that Renee had the best grades in her semester because she got a lot of help, I don't think just from me but from herself and all who helped her out. She and my classmates helped me study just by studying with me all week to get my head together. My classmates grades, some good and some same, some not so good. I don't want to elaborate on it.

I'm still not happy though. I'm not satisfied.

I considered Quiton Rampage Jackson as my favorite MMA fighter but the guy who hit me the most was his opponent at UFC 86 Forrest Griffin. Forrest survied a fury in the first round but he came back and went to Jackson's weakness, his foot work and conditioning. He slowed Jackson down and even got a takedown. Forrest was a very different man from his pro fight against Stephen Bonner where he simply brawed with whatever he had. He changed after his KO lost to Keith Jardine and stunned Pride standout Shogun Rua. He was tough but at the same time he improve his game. His capturing of the UFC light heavy weight title against Jackson marked his comeback to the top since his stint of winning the Ultimate Fighter season 1. Aside from that he became a coach, where his protege Amir Sadollah won season 8. Before being Ko'ed by new Champ Rashad Evans, Forrest was winning on the cards and admitted his mistake of letting Evans get the better of him on the ground. i don't think his satisfied.

Frank Mir wasn't satisfied with his ground game against a legend in Brazilian Ju Jitsu Antonio Norguira. So he and Ken Hahn, worked on his boxing and striking and knocked out one of the hardest men in MMA history. This was after he went through a serious motorcycle accident in September 2004 and losing to fighters Marcio Cruz and Brandon Vera. He returned to top form by submitting Antoni Hardwick and Brock Lesnar. But his true renaissance was defeating Norguiera and capturing the interm title.

I don't think I'm done yet. I still have a lot to prove and you guys too. We can make it work. Keep working hard. Be that everyday fighter who come in to the office and works hard and harder everyday and at the end of the day it's just another day in the office with bread on the table the next day. Don't be sad, just be happy and work hard. We'll push through someday my good friend.

Forrest Griffin will fight next at UFC 101 against Thiago Silva. Frank Mir will have a rematch against another interm title holder in Brock Lesnar for a rematch.

2009-03-15T08:27:00.000-07:00

I don't know. Everything's working like clock work now a days. Ain't the same as school. Every number has a different door, work or something. I'm still opening doors and stuff so not really sure what else I'm in for. But this is not me saying what did I get myself into again. But rather it's me saying I should be ready for what's to come because I got myself into this. I'll definitely be ready and well-rested for another week and just keep on working. Nothing else.

Preparing for the worst is hard. It's about draining yourself physically and mentally to just force that untapped power in you. I get drained a lot and often times, that extra tank runs empty but I think I got a lot more in me. I ain't giving it my best. I gotta push the pain on myself to get more.

It was pretty much a smooth week which is good news cause it warmed my mind and strength up. I work well with my partner and it's been very smooth so just gotta get ready when big things come and take it day by day.

I'm trying to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep just to recharge my batteries also so that I fully exploit that extra tank I have. I may not have it for the next few weeks but if you can really do an extra mile or extra 10 push ups you can really fill that extra tank up. I got it while rock climbing. I realised I could just breath harder and I can feel it getting into me and pushing me a bit more. I even yell sometimes just to get it out. Nothing better, nothing less of my best for what I do. Just work hard and make no excuses.

Funny: My friend said she heard me on the bus and knew I was there. Nope, she didn't see me, she HEARD me. She only saw me later when I was coming out. hahaha

2009-02-26T06:11:00.000-08:00

quote Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in training in the UK for his upcoming fight , "Someone's gonna pay for making me train so hard in the cold, I really don't wanna be in my opponents shoes when he faces me."

People do a lot to get where they are. Jackson promised that through all his hard work he's been keeping his anger in store. When I train, I don't have any enemies in mind. When I study, I got my grandparents in mind because they gave so much to us. When I work my mind and body, I have my family in mind because I know I gotta be strong. Nothing else says this is what I need to work for when I have my family in mind. I start attachment march 9 so I'm marking that down. During this week, I'm gonna be focused in getting in shape and gettin my mind ready and working.

No Holidays this time. Got to go ut with friends last night and it was great. We ate monster burgers down at Shokudo, a Japanese movenpick, @ Heeren Orchard. It was pretty cool to just go out and have some fun. Talking and shopping are just somethings I really don't do everyday so it's pretty cool. Thanks everyone for a good time.

I really hope I get to see my friends during the 6 months we're appart like a few Saturdays together or so. Till then it's fight hard and stay strong. We'll get something going soon.

Since the other student in my attachment program is going back to school, I'm considering returning for training since our training days are the same. It'll be good to get back in shape while continue learning even if I have to start from bottom or so. I don't think I'll be a professional fighter but maybe semi-pro or at lest get one professional fight just for the experience.

Exams are all over and I'm glad but this fighter's just getting warmed up.

2009-02-23T06:09:00.001-08:00

It was extremely tough today. These guys were really trying to KO me in the first round out of IAP. I'm not satisfied with it. I wanna get tougher. So I stayed back and got an upgrade on my brain and attitude; it'll definitely take me to the next level mentally and spiritually. Total reliance on just being mean and tough on myself and work ethic.

I really liked what I saw in the UFC 95 card. Everyone kept saying how it was gonna be a boring fight with unknown fighters or no top contenders and that the main event would be two sluggsih fighters who weren't really into it with one poorly malnourished and the other not so impressive. I really beg to differ.

Diego Sanchez will be in every fighter at 155 lbs 's Nightmare. Especially Joe Stevenson after getting dominated. Sanchez wasn't tired from cutting weight. From the report, he was really fit. He was his old self, fast and stronger than Stevenson.

Whether winning or losing, I guess it's about what we do when we fall. Picking yourself up is one thing, pulling yourself together is another. I lost a lot of times in life and I admit it. I accept defeat too early because I was really scared. Now a days, I'm a bit more daring but knew that I had to be focused and strong in the tough times. I've grown and learned how much I need to push myself to get to my peak.

When your at the peak, your at your best shape. You know your gonna give it your best on fight day. Fighters after weighing in by losing water; rehydrate and warm up to get themselves together and make sure they're at their peak when they fight. Despite staying in Las Vegas, some won't even stay in a hotel. Instead, they'd continue to train and warm up in some gym with an extra room. They live like soldiers to get their mentality check. So, it's basically sleep, eat, train and finally fight. I sleep, eat , study and test. That's my mentality because I wanna be ready when the time comes for me to be called to fight. I wanna fight. I want to experience that adrenaline rush when you get in the ring and just be in the heat of the moment. It can be a chess game or a test of who can take more KO's. I wanna be at my peak tomorrow so good night guys....

during my one week vacation, I might try some fitness training. Might post them here to see how they turn out.

2009-02-17T05:08:00.000-08:00

It's really no excuses now. I gotta get my head together. Yeah sure, we can treat it as another day but truly it's about learning how live life to the fullest each day.

When I train or study for major days, I feel I get distracted at home a lot. So I spend more time in school. Believe me, sometimes I rather be back in secondary school or Junior college studying chemistry, physics, mathematics, and social studies. Where were the days that all you had to say was 2+2= 4? Speed = distance/time? salt is Sodium Chloride ? the sky is blue because of the reflection of the sun in our eyes or which light goes through it?

Honesty, I didn't know whether I could handle being an Engineering Student. Being more practical minded, making it through shear work ethic and knowledge power ; but life here has become more complex. Sometimes it's our peers, sometimes it's entertainment. Stress makes us do crazy things.

That ain't gonna happen to me.

starting Wednesday tomorrow, I need to isolate myself. Sleep early, exercise, study, focus, eat right, and work harder.

Diego Sanchez VS Joe Stevenson

Both are at their crossroads. Honestly, they're fighters with gyms invested in them. They get $30K or something every time they fight and not to mention the promotion they get. But despite all these. it comes at a price. Sanchez has given up his sunny side beach training camp in California for a higher altitude in the mountians to train more. Stevenson has isolated himself from friends and family to train in the old desserted area living like a marine and training everyday.

Josh Koscheck trains by living in his gym. He stays in a small apartment with only a bed, some music, a fridge with protein bars and shakes, and some clothes. And he does nothing in there but sleep and eat and train.

Why do I wanna change hairstyles? I wanna change my life. I don't wanna be a lazy fella who sits around and watches the news. Nah, I wanna read my own day and how I can become a better person as I live and how I can be a better student, brother, son, friend and worker.

No excuses now.

2009-02-16T09:04:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's a time for a change. Should I shave my head again, make it long and curly again, go for a mohawk or get braids?

I got loads of work and preparation to do. My motivation now is dominance not perfection but dominance. Pure hardcore work and mind set to not just settle for a split decision but for a knockout or a unanimous decision.

Everybody knows what a knockout is. a unanimous decision means all judges scored it your way. Split means only 2 out of 3 scored it your way. I ain't settling for that anymore.

NBA all-star...

I love shaq dancing

I love Kobe and Amare just having fun out there

I love the fact that Lebron James promised a 13 foot dunk

I love basketball no matter how far I go into MMA.

WHy MMA?

easy..."What doesn't kill me makes me stronger"

you have to learn to survive and be the aggressor in life and make things work for you. I may have God but He not asking me to sit around. He's my corner man, coach and He wants me to fight for my life out there.

anyway, tag the board if you got any good hair styles for me....maybe I'll surprise you next week or month....hahaha

2009-02-14T07:08:00.000-08:00

It's Valentine's day so I decided I rather be lonely for reasons only few know. I know I involve or name few names on this blog because I'm a little hesistant about it. I don't wanna insult anyone but I rather thank that person and stuff.

It was a good day to study. Ya know, not a lot happening, my friends are all out, NBA All-star game around the corner and I had to subscribe to the sports channel for $20 to get to watch it but pretty much worth it.

Watching UFC Prime Time, it really motivates me the way BJ Penn and Geogres St. Pierre train for their fight. My favorite parts were when St. Pierre showed his past of getting beaten up and motivated him to learn karate in his basement to fight off the bullies. Years later, he honor his master who passed away by completing in his first MMA fight and winning it. He then went up and down winning some and losing very few (just 2 Matt Hughes and Matt Serra) and from there he would come back stronger , smarter, more disciplined and determined to win the biggest Prize in MMA sports, the Welter Weight division Championship. He would avenge both losses in dominant fashion. After being taken down by Matt Hughes and losing via armbar submission in the final seconds of round one, he would win the welterweight from hughes and lose to Serra an underdog in the fight. St.Pierre would return to defeat Josh Koscheck and MAtt Hughes and avenge a loss to Serra all by dominating the figh by decision on Koscheck, armbar on Hughes(the very same way he first lost to him) and turning Serra into a knee bag (TKO via knees to the body). Serra would defend his belt against Jon Fitch and BJ Penn ( greasing allegations). Despite the greasing and all, I think a lot would know it was unintentional. why would a champ need it? He had proper defense against Penn and Penn was clearly outmatched in wrestling and stand up.

I believe in hard work. While training St. Pierre built a team of fighters around him and sparred with every one of them, One for each round. It really helped him adapt.

Today, I feel like applying the same technique to my studies. Train hard and smart. You don't become a champ by fighting someone weaker than you but by beating the best. I'm looking at things I don't know the most and improving on them.

I studied a KAP Mac's with a friend today. It was quite alright. I got to work on a lot of things I'm still not completely sold on. Teaching her a bit of mathematics and stuff really got my brain working. I haven't seen her in a while. I feel much better after reconnecting with others. I finally broke my silence. God really helped me out. I can't really get my head together on my own and some things I'm not just ready for.

Even played pool wit her, lost 2 out of 5 i think. you fix that. thanks you helped out more than you know it.

I had lunch with another friend. Rode on the bus home with another friend. Talked to another about trashing someone next time( watch out chook). Learn Muay Thai after exams if I get IAP and if not continue training in school if non-IAP. Up to God now. Hey, if I do end up running around an island, that should be a work out.

I have some stuff I can't type now till next next week. It's preparation week and fight day in 7 days. Time to dominate and just kill the master(my exams) quote Kenny FLorian......

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=7593&zoneid=13

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgxz26eSiEM

2009-01-26T20:34:00.000-08:00

Honestly, I'm not that into Chinese New Year. My friends asked me the other day whether I celebrate it or not. Well, I do because it does bring my family together and you get to spend that quality time you don't usually get. My two younger sisters are still pretty much babies coming to their own but becoming wiser each year. My parents are getting older. I'm reaching my prime. So, why not have CNY, it brings us together.

Leah in church asked me if I was going to visit relatives. My answer was we were going to see some close friends this year. Actually, I have a cousin Almerick who became a scholar here and an aunt as well who has a family here. We have two families who are close friends and have children coming to their own time like my younger sisters.

Maybe I do celebrate it, maybe I'm not too into it. Yeah, it's been a good break but whenever I'm not out, I haven't left the classroom at all. I've been studying hard and concentrating on making my own life this year. Be more Independent and hungier for that adventure and that life we truly desire.

I read Psalm 37 today, and I haven't looked back on the choices I've made this year. Maybe I haven't been able to look at it clearly as well as I did in Jan 1. After all, I was an hour late for the new year, but still I got a lot to work on. A lot to fix. A whole lot to give. I love my family, friends , and God. I don't love my life because of my choices but I love it because of the people in it and how they have changed it. Well, I guess I did celebrate it after all. Gong Xi Fa Cai.......eh ....Happy CNY.

2009-01-16T05:46:00.000-08:00

I don't think a lot of people realize. You've turned 20. I turned 20 just 3 weeks ago.

5 weeks ago, I earned my drivers license and drove my mom and little sister to the mall with the guidance of my driver. He joked that it would be my turn to wait in the car.

A month ago, I was climbing at Climb On! 08 and was with some climbers from Singapore Polytechnic. 3 weeks after, I'm throwing punches in kick boxing to try my hand at Mixed Martial Arts. Even while climbing I was already interested to enroll in Brazilian Ju Jitsu and Submission Wrestling and watching Fight Quest and Human Weapon.

4 years ago. I was in a whole new world coming into Singapore. My dad rode with me to school just to check out the place, but I haven't really grown up then even though I was feeling ready. I still thought I was someone who needed to prove something, I didn't do well in my entrance so the Vice-Principal challenged me. I fought my authorities in a way but I also fought my demons. I was more fatigued that usual and getting fit was a huge problem. I walked longer roads and longer bike rides. I walked or rode to church , the market, or just for fun. I didn't do movies or shopping. I watched sports all the time and just tried to learn not to mess up.

5 years ago. I was at my mind's prime. I wanted to become a journalist or a detective. I learned to consider all possibilities, explore my chances, and win on my court. making a lot of important choices.....Family becomes my first priority right away.

Today. I've been working out. I feel great. I'm at the best shape of my life and I'm looking to make a good chance and opportunity to help my family in the business. 21, your on your own, parents leave you alone but talk to you once in a while before you leave the house or when you sleep.

You can say all you want to say but when it comes down. It's here. Let's win.

2009-01-11T07:19:00.000-08:00

Somebody just hit me hard. Twice I forgot the same thing. I've been lazy. I've been tired. After pushing through the week, i went broke on the weekends.

I'm broken down and really low. Reasons why I have been silent and inactive, I lost my cool in a way through boredrom not anger. People usually lose it through anger but I really lose it through boredrom.

I just push anger in another direction. Push it into energy. On Thursday, I was really mad I couldn't handle the training as well as I used to do. I was just really mad I was really to break the coke machine. I did punch it. I yelled a bit. I don't know. I don't remember. My shin hurts.

Some of my body parts hurt. I don't know why. Maybe I haven't been working out well or something.

I'm slightly depressed but not completely. Just don't expect me to talk too much on the bus.

I'm really not into it.

If we really can't put it together, we really need depression. It helps us get back down to earth. Look at the mirror and work it out. Depressed but not knocked out. I'll probably be down in school tomorrow sulking a bit and lost.

I actually like being this way. Gives me a lot of motivation to just work twice as hard. I'm not backing down. Ever. D.

2009-01-01T06:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas passed without me blogging. It meant I didn't have time to do so. I was really caught up in the moment. So this is what I wrote in my own little time on the plane back home......

"Everybody needs a home. On Christmas day, let’s look back on our memories good or bad. Christmas means that Jesus Christ came to earth born as a baby on one holy night. It’s also only a few days before the start of the new year. Maybe, God put it there intentionally for all of us to have something to love or appreciate each year. We may still have three months to pay the rent, another 3 months of school, another period of tests to come by, a thousands miles from family and friends, but what we’ll always have is a Christmas cheer and a reason to be thankful that we have a short one day where we don’t have to work and can sit and enjoy a home cooked meal. To me Christmas has always been about giving wherever I am, whether with family or friends I always wanna give people a reason to smile or be happy this year. It’s not easy to find something to smile at or be happy about but it’s always worth the while to make someone’s else day. When people say it’s the thought that counts, just look at a friend’s face when he or she gets a greeting or present for you. Our present may be cheap or something we didn’t want but the thing is that this person cares for you and wanted to let you know that your special this year.

Every Christmas it feels great to be able to have a simple party for all the workers at my dad’s factory, we have our toys and snacks for the kids and money and food for the parents. It just feels great that you could give something this Christmas. I can never forget the faces of orphans I visited a few Christmases ago when we went over and had a huge party for them. There five orphans who lived in the school while the rest lived on the streets. I saw some kids who even saved their food for thier parents. Some of us willingly gave up ours to give them something to eat too. It’s always a great to give.

I just wish that every Christmas we can make someone happy and that would make my day to make someone feels special. Look around you, it’s Christmas, something would be wrong if everybody didn’t do anything. Our family wants a little attention from us to just be with them. A few friends just want a little “hello” and “how are you?” to make their day. People don’t know it but they always want to be remembered on Christmas day. I remember every person I met this year and thank God and pray that I can make them smile by letting them know they’re remembered even if they don’t remember me I know my family and close friends remember me and that’s enough for a Christmas cheer. Merry Christmas everybody."

Yeah it's a little late but I've been gone so long I just thought well might as well post it.

It's never easy to win. Neither is it easy to ever end the year on a good note. You'll never know when your gonna have the time of your life, you'll never know when your gonna fall in love. You'll never know when your gonna fail, you'll never know when your gonna die ; but, you can still enjoy life as it goes by having the time of your life everyday even on a bad day, you know you can never give up on something you haven't given a chance to grow on you, you know that you can make someone happy through love , you know you have a family that loves you and cares for you, you know that your gonna die someday but God's gonna decide on that day and I leave it to him.

I'm happy where I am now. I wanna travel the world. Everytime I look at someone's else blog they say they wanna do this and that. I never did take a piece of paper and write it down.

1. Love God and my family and my friends

2.Travel around the world even if it's just a few days.

3.Get a job that make people happy even if they don't know me.

4.Make my dad and mom proud even if it's just seeing me graduate or get my diploma.

5.Reach high for a degree.

6.See my younger sisters become more successful than me.

7.Keep in touch with friends even after school's way over and when we begin our careers.

It's what I most want right now......not an I-pod, I -phone, a pair of shoes, a million dollars......just this.

My New Year's Resolution....get hungier.

2008-12-14T18:43:00.000-08:00

Lechon!

Harley Davidson

Disney!

I'm back home for now. I'm really happy to have some time off after a long 2 months in school.

It was a long day on Friday, my last common test. I meet up with nhan and Ishrat and started studying BSPA which I only started to revise at 10am in the morning, thanks to a doctor's appointment I almost forgot about.

The knife.

I kept a pocket knife in my pencil case during the whole of the exam. I was looking for some stuff and found it in the drawer. It was a gift from my dad years ago so I decided to keep it for a while. I took it out to try and take off a sticker in the pencil and Nhan asked me why I would bring it to school. I told her it was just for fun and stuff but in reality, it reminded me to just work harder as sooner or later I would have to put the bread on the tabel soon enough.

The trip.

We arrived way early and checked in at least 2 hours before our flight so we had sushi for lunch since I had to finish two huge steaks for breakfast. I ended up taking photos of my younger sister in the imaginary house and later one with an old motorcycle. It was pretty cool until we took too much time and boarded at the Last Call. We arrived just before they were letting everybody in. On the plane, there was a lot of stuff. I wanted to stuff two bag into the compartment and I could only put one a few rows down. The rest was just alright. I watched tomb of the dragon emperor and ate fish for dinner. After that, more music and some just for laughs video. On arrival, we couldn't find any carts so we just strolled them off each. I saw one of the bags on the belt fell right in front of me. I thought it was heavy at first but then there was nothing in it! Minutes later, I saw two 32 inch Sony Bravia LCD's coming out. Boy, that must have been some Sitex sale. I didn't eat at all when I touched down home. I pretty much got home and slept at around 12 midnight trying to arrange my stuff.

SUnday

I woke up trying to figure out when my cousin Glenn was gonna pick me up turns out he cancelled plans for basketball that week. So i took a bath and went out with my dad and older younger sister to buy food for later. We headed for a Lechon shop. Lechon is like roasted pork except imagine the entire pig skewered and roasted on fire. Everything goes. Bought around 3 KG of meat then after that it was braised duck at an old Chinese restaurant. The lady there was Chinese Filipino like myself and spoke about how she didn't like the fact that kids were stressed out in Singapore. I also agreed in a way. My friends could whack their brains till brain dead or brain strong. Though it builds strong minds but not good habits.

B-ball.

Me and five other cousins played ball, me , Glenn, Wesley, Gerwin, Webster and AG. We played really loose and we couldn't drive or run on the slippery floor of out roof top basketball court. I couldn't jump or run properly and trying alley oops was even worst. I sprained my back on a bad fall and finally got to drive and pound some points inside. Glenn kept blocking me if I couldn't get around him. Gerwin was the surprise. This chubby kid was beating me all day. Well, he's been improving. I haven't played ball in a month anyway. I rested my back the next few hours and went shopping and stuff. It was pretty crowed and later I saw an old friend. We looked at each other and smiled but didn't talk. I couldn't get her number yet so...you know I'll probably see her on friendster or something.

2008-12-07T03:33:00.000-08:00

The Pacman takes it all. Needing only 8 rounds with the Golden Boy to send him home, Manny Pacquiao proved that he could stand together with the greats in such a dominant fight. After the fight, Pacquiao had everyone thinking a match with some of Oscar Dela Hoya's rivals, Floyd Mayweather Jr. or even Ricky Hatton.

The Philippines will be celebrating tonight and I have an extra reason to smile and be proud to step on my homeland on Saturday carrying a big heart for Christmas to see my family and friends.

I found out about the stoppage from my dad when I asked about the fight. My cousin Wesley has been following it and said that the fight was stopped and Dela Hoya had quit in the eigth round. I was really excited and I guess Jin Jin and the rest didn't quite get it. I think now they do. THis was the biggest figth in boxing history and Pacquiao was no doubt an underdog. For him to winin such a manner, just made things a lot more interesting.

I'll continue my fight for now and will be ready 100% on fight day. Laban Pilipinas! Pround to be PinoY! Take that haters and doubters and jokers!

2008-12-06T09:01:00.000-08:00

Manny Pacquiao Vs Oscar Dela Hoya.

I wanna watch. I'm praying for the Pacman.

I got exams and Pacquiao in for a big fight and I also can't wait for mine. I may not be fully ready but it make me hungry. Makes me stronger. A reason I ran today. A reason to keep going.

Let's go Pilipinas! laban!

The Pacman VS Golden Boy Comes

The Headhunters top 15 Head kicks in MMA

2008-12-06T01:08:00.001-08:00

Found it!

2008-12-04T06:18:00.000-08:00

You never really know how hard a kick is until you experience it. During light sparring, the kicks were really slow so you could duck and cover fast. In real life, a kick can hurt really bad and it's damn quick. So, the guy Hadi was teaching me kicks, he told me it was more about technique than strength. I tried just making my kicks hard but they were really slow and they looked strong with the way other threw them. I thew a few and they said it was right even though I didn't hear a hard hit on the pad.

Technique = force. The shin in naturally hard but it's the force that kills.

In mma, I always wondered what was more effective, kicks or knee. Well, knees but they're hard to hit because you want to hit the head. Unless your in a clinch, it won't be that effective. A low kick which I'm trying to learn seems to be used to hit the thigh and lower leg. That force kills the part that helps you walk or jump; so, in a way, it renders you vulnerable to punches. What I don't get is head kicks. They're so unpredictable. They can knock you out cold. With the right force, it will just plain hurt and it hits you in the head, neck, temple, or face. It won't break bones, hopefully ; but it will knock the wind out of you. It's trauma. Imagine hitting a wall that's your force against yours bouncing back. Imagine you walk into a moving wall! Imagine a head moving to avoid a jab or a punch, normally a hook will go in, but what if it was a full round kick. The force isnt from ground to head ; it's from turning from your back with a centrifugal force that will hit the head. Imagine a snap, throw a stick straight. Now swing a stick, that's the force we're looking for.

You gotta learn technique. Be smart. Perfect the art. Find a way that doesn't need so much work. You can work hard all you want but you suddenly find a way to make life easier , you put the same amount of effort but produce more. When you think and slow down, you can win. I always rushed my projects but at my practical test, I stayed calm. I slowed down and made my moves like a chess player and it payed off. I got two waveforms even though I finished almost last. It works. Even if your not a chess player, which I am terrible at. I guess when you know and understand the game like a figther understands the human body or a basketball player that knows the ball and bounces well, we can win.

Take your time. Work smart. But keep working hard. All the best to all my friends in NP for our common tests

2008-12-03T00:01:00.000-08:00

Whether it be in the ring or the octagon, fights are always unpredictable. It's never easy to predict what will happen in the ring. A fighter may say he's going to knock his opponent out or destory him for 5 whole rounds, still won't be sure of what will happen until the fight happens. We can use science , math, records, knockout percentage and luck ; but nobody ever knows what happens when we get in the ring.

Why the ring? This is our battleground. A place where we do our grimy fights and workouts. A place where we settle business with life to earn the next living and the next pay check. As much as I value my time in the battleground, I know I can't win if I can't even win at home.

The reason I come out of the battlefield alive each day is because I know I have something to live for. I have something to do for my family. I have something to do for my dad. I know I have something to live for and fight for. I know it's not about grades but about success in life. It's not just hard work, it's about playing smart and not giving up. People always say they'll die today just by looking at the work load, some will say they'll take it easy but in reality have already given up but trying to little. Some go till they die. Some go and keep looking for different ways. In the end, it's those who remember home and family and a reason to live that keeps our hopes alive and drives us to our graves.

I wanna live hard and fight hard. My exams are next week and that's my ring and battleground. Grimy, dirty but right and wise, I'll fight it all out for 4 rounds. I wanna win every one of them. I can't predict the future but I can do something to make it happen and mine

2008-12-01T06:00:00.000-08:00

First Time for everything

I'm gonna give my analysis for UFC 92

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson VS Wanderlei "THe Axe Murderer" Silva
Why Rampage would win.
-He's by far the better athlete and wrestler. He's got that incredible knock out power not only through his hands but in his slams. He's more versatile and knocked out Chuck Liddel who beat Silva by unanimous decision. Silva also likes to keep it standing where in when prolonged could prove adavantageous to Rampage.

Why Silva would win.
-He has that knock out power in his hands and good ju jitsu for defense against Rampage's wrestling skills. He's always looking for a KO and has the skills to prove it. Though he lost to Liddel, he came back by knocking out Keith Jardine. When he does take someone down, he grounds and pounds rather than go for a submission. He also holds a KO victory over Rampage during PRIDE and not to mention a mental edge since many are unsure of Rampage's mental condition.

Overall: I love Silva's style but it could go to the ground. I'm going with Rampage because he looks more prepared than he was against Griffin and he's much more improved that the Rampage in PRIDE.

Forrest Griffin and Rashad "Sugar" Evans

Why Evans would win.
-He's name says it's all. He's a very multi-dimensional fighter who can wrestle, box with those deadly hands that took out Chuck Liddel and 3 others and has won by ground and pound with extremely effective take downs. Sugar can prove his worth right here.

Why Forrest would win.
-He's so improved and made a statement with that huge victory over Rampage. He also has better submission skills and equal stand up with Evans, if it went to the ground, he could have a better advantage but it's very hard to take Evans down as well as knock him out because of his craftiness. Forrest has shown he can turn around against the odds. He can also turn himself to a legend by giving Evans his first loss.

Overall: fight could go either way, I expect both men to go all five rounds and people would still be scrathing their heads after the decision. I think it will go to decision by Rashard Evans.

I haven't seen Frank Mir and Antonio Noguiera fight so I'll guess Noguiera as the better BJJ guy.

Family

2008-11-30T17:23:00.000-08:00

I miss home when my dad's not around.
I miss home when I spend Sunday alone.
I miss home when I see my cousin's pictures.
I miss home whenever I visit lucky plaza.

I miss home but I'm not sad.
My family is here with me.
We visit my relatives and grandmother twice a year.
We go on vacations during Christmas.
I'm just happy the way things are now and I hope I can go further to where I need to go.

I wanna make my Dad proud.
I wanna love God and my family on Sundays.
I wanna cherish memories of the fun things me and my cousins do.
I still go to lucky plaza for a hint of Filipino food.
I'll work my ass of to make myself stronger and wiser.
Takes time but it's a sure win.

None

2008-11-30T17:08:00.000-08:00

Waterfall from the botanical gardens. It's a really beautiful place and it's good to jog or just spend some time with your folks. Just be ready to walk at least 3km around this place.

Gerwin, Me, and Glenn. Both are brothers but together they're my cousins. We went to the same school before I came to Singapore.

Shadows, simply dark

Cat that sleeps near the mailbox at my place.

The longest my hair grew so far

Stuck up

2008-11-23T18:50:00.000-08:00

My first day of secondary 3 school in Singapore wasn't a good impression for me. My idea was that they were hard-working students especially since there were only 20 -30 students unlike the class in the Philippines which was 35 -40. Eventually, I saw that some people were pretty rude and ignorant and especially immature. I mean, come on, even the worst guy in my old class had more respect for the teacher. The teachers were pretty hard-working and those in my class weren't that concerned. I think it wasn't 50-50 pass or fail but rather 10-20-30-40 excellent, trying to pass, trying, trying not to fail. The foreigners were pretty hard-working. Well, for around 8 out of 10, since 2 were raise here and I found out later that they just barely got through sec 2. I also found out that a bunch of them didn't even know how to spell my nationality or my country. All they knew was that my country sent maids over sometimes or workers. I just didn't get a good first impression but later in the years I found them responsible and they grew pretty well for their age. I think maturity here just grows a little slower with the certain comforts people get. I just don't know why people would ignore their studies and feel comfortable being so small and yet confident with talk and trying to walk.

Enough of the old days, eventually, I made good with them and towards the final year those who wanted it more just got what they needed and I'm pretty glad a bunch of us ended up in the same polytechnic even though we don't see each other much except for Azhar who I see a lot when my course comittee meets. I'm just glad and a little sad that the phase of childhood is over.

I doodled a little about Meng and CHooka. They were talking about someone. So i drew up a picture were Chooka was an owl and Meng a fox. The owl was trying to see something and the fox just wanted to see but could only hear descriptions. I think it's also the first time I heard the phrase "Universal Descriptions".

I'll post the thing until I can get it scanned. Vaish kept laughing at it and I think I could make an animal out of everyone in class. I'd probably be a turtle, Vaish a bird, Zul a bat, Izhar a fish, and Edos as a dog.......oh, well, life goes on...cartoonists may not be my thing anyway

Randy "The Natural" Courture VS Brock Lesnar

2008-11-18T07:25:00.002-08:00

This was shocking. Lesnar was a beast. Courture looked really good at the beginning. Aware of Lesnar's advantage in size and strength, Courture used his wrestling to keep the fight standing and avoid being taken down. The ground game also showed Courture's experiece making Lesnar continually work when both were tangled or on the ground. Courture was no Heath Herring who fell to Lesnar's brutal full guard; in fact, he stayed active and moved, enduring Lesnar's "Lunch Box" fists. Near the end of the first round, Courture had slight control after finally getting out of Lesnar hold and reversing it against it despite a good take down by Lesnar and good movement to keep (Courture) down ;but could not takedown Lesnar. Another attemped take down by Courtue in the beginning of the second round resulted in a knee for Lesnar and a right by Courture. Courture could have taken him down but once again Lesnar was too damn big and Lesnar used knees and punches effectively to slow down Courture. Courture was a bit worn down but it was Lesnar's speed and athletism that did the trick. After a series of exhanges, Lesnar sneaked a takedown attempt which Courture got out off by reversing it but took a knee which connected solidly. Back on standing, Lesnar threw another monster punch that sent Courture to one knee and later on his back and Lesnar smelled blood. Lesnar took advantage and Courture's wrestling couldn't stop Lesnar from pummeling his head with hammer fists and punches and probaly elbows if the refree hadn't stopped the fight.

Lesnar didn't have a lucky punch. He made a good move and took advantage of an openning and avoided being out wrestled by Courture. He then used his speed to get on COurture and finish the Champion off.

Courture could not have played his game any better. He made very good takedown attempts and sligthly neutralised Lesnar's size. What he couldn't have probaly anticipated was being knocked out by a right hook which caught him off guard, and forced to give Lesnar that openning that he couldn't close.

I'm really looking forward to the next few fights. Forrest Griffin Vs Rashard Evans.Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira vs Frank Mir (Winner faces Lesnar). Quiton "Rampage" Jackson Vs Waderlei Silva "The Axe Murderer". UFC 92. Yeah!!!

I'm having problems with my jabs and movement. I can move but I'm struggling to read my opponents as well and anticipating a hook or straight. My jabs are very weak and I don't think I can do much with those unless I can get a better flow or learn to throw other punches and kicks. We also had sparring sessions. Me and my partner didn't know that we were only supposed to punch so we threw push kicks and low kicks at each other. After changing partners, I accidentally hit the guy on the forehead and the chin but it was light shot so he was fine.
I have a presentation and red camp tomorrow so gonna be a long day.

Happy B-day to Nhan and all the best to my seniors on their last year and a promising future to my fellow school mates!

Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture Full Fight

2008-11-18T07:25:00.001-08:00

First Punch

2008-11-17T06:02:00.000-08:00

I took three or four steps forward and tried to throw it at one of the four bullies I saw. I was Primary 5 and it was pretty week considering we were city kids with no gyms and stuff but when your young you feel you can beat anyone. I was wrong. Next thing I knew, the guy punched me in the nose and I went down bad.

Secondary 2, I was stuck in a Sec 1 Chinese Class. I always sat behind a shy girl and another guy. Even though, I was older. The guy tried to bully me. I didn't bulge. I didn't mind getting teased and stuff. I always did more work than talk. That was my way of life, I'd leave it all on the floor with my hands, not my mouth. By then, I hated violence and stuff. I haven't thrown a punch in two years. Unfortunately, this guy looked like he was pushing the girl around and she cried one day. I took a punch and took three or four more into it and the guy started bleeding. The teacher sent me out and I went off during a break to my cousellor. I told on myself and said that I made a misunderstanding. I was a good student so I didn't get into much trouble.

A year later, I was on the basketball court. A fella ran through me and threw an elbow. I pushed the guy a bit and tried to take my post. It was a really rough game and the refs allowed it. A minute later, a guy three or four inches taller than me has the ball in the corner. We were desperate for a possesion so I got in his face and tried to just push him off or tried to steal the ball. Finally, he threw it away and his teammate got it. It wasn't the best game we had but we played hard and just tried to win.

First Punch. Kickboxing. They though me how to throw a jab with my left. I found it weird. The way it really is thrown is very different from watching it. You see it in the fight videos and they don't seem to use their hip as much as your supposed to. I found it awkward at first but later I took it to a higher level. Simply just punching till they told me to stop. I was grouped with others who were new to the club. I pushed hard and threw rights or crosses. On thursday, there was a lot less of us so that gave me a chance to trying throwing kicks and mostly I learned how to duck and move to avoid hooks. My main problem was my feet. Everytime I moved, my feet weren't right and I was open to leg sweeps. I was also slow on my mind. I think I could naturally avoid and look out for punches; but everytime they ordered me to go right or left or front or back. I went opposite. I also figured I wasn't supposed to go diagonal. I also needed to push a little harder. Next day, I was aching in the back and legs. I couldn't bend and I still watched the horror movie "Mirrors".

Scared. Yeah, I'm ok with it but nothing to scary. I mean, I hid in the bathroom watching "Jaws" hugging a pillow.

Still the fight's probably 3 minute rounds so I have to train for recovery and stamina. I have it but my running doesn't show it.

I don't back down and I don't like failing. I don't like not psuhing. I don't like not winning. That's me. Since, First Punch.

PICs huh?? hmmm....

Watch my head

2008-11-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

I'm trying some new stuff tomorrow. i better get used to studying late cause I'm feeling the burn. I got no time for the gym. I have a feeling the gym stuff in my locker is gonna have to wait for at least a week. Good thing I'm gonna try a new CCA tomorrow. Guess it'll be a time to see whether I am that kind of guy or not.

Ok, it's kick boxing. As much as I am of a nice guy, I've always had the desire to try and kick someone's ass. I always hesitated in a fight. I wondered how bad would I hurt the guy. I can barely hold my own against geeks. My fight record is a street fight in primary school and two near ones in secondary school. My credentials is a white belt in Taekwondo which I never found again and which I dropped after I got swimming classes. Don't know if I have killer instinct or a knack to punch someone in the face but it's something I always wanted to try since watching Anderson Silva knock Rich Franklin out in the first fight I watched. I then heard of other names such Chuck Liddel, Tito Ortiz, Ken Shamrock (someone I recognized when I was a WWE guy), and sooner or later the UFC. Some of my favorites were Waderlei Silva Vs Keith Jardine and Silva knocked him out 24 seconds into the fight. Then, George St. Pierre Vs Matt Serra. Then, Rashad Evans Vs Chuck Liddel. I like watching the sport but now I wanna see if I can give it a try.

I better watch my head now. I don't wanna get knocked out on my first punch. My country men are known for taking punches. Especially Brandon Vera.

Wish me luck. Oh yeah, I might be calling myself Darryl for a while. If you haven't completely noticed, I have second name so call me Darryl sometimes.

Day...???? and dogs

2008-11-07T21:17:00.000-08:00

What day is it? yeah novemeber 8, I know. It's just that I have no idea how many days have I used? How many have I spent on video games? how many have I spent on my future? How many days studying? friends? Sleep? So it's back to day 1 to day ????

I'm wearing shorts, a white shirt , and a hat that makes Jason Mraz proud or not. It was a hard week but I just realised I have nothing to do for this weekend except church and practicing my Lapace Transfomations because FCS requires it. Me, edos, and Izhar tried our ESA lab 2. Turns out something went wrong and now I have no idea how to fix it. ESA lab 3 promises me two more weeks of work and PDPR another two late nights. People say I;m unlucky, stupid, weird, cursed....truth is..that's life. nothing to it. when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Mangoes, I eat them, apples? eat them. grapes? throw it into my mouth. live chicken.......i don't know, I'd keep it as a pet.

I tried to keep a chicken as a pet to bring back to the city after I hit my mom's home province a couple years back when I was 14. I thought it would be fun. unfortunately, my dad didn;t agree. so when we forgot to mention we were still considering taking it home. well.....I got slaughtered. I wasn't too sad, I knew it for two or three minutes. Right after, my dad gave a Labrador to keep. Jordan, I had him for 4 years till I left for Singapore. I also had another one which we called Kitty because it was the only thing that we ever said that made it look at us. Well, Jordan is now a guard dog in the office while Kitty is a guard dog for my aunt's hardware. I'm thinking about bringing in Kitty here to Singapore if she's healthy enough and if I got the cash to pay for a one month isolation program as required by Singapore. My uncle once sold some german sheperd puppies too. My other aunt living in my mom;s home town are raising some home grow puppies.

I also saw an old house dog we used to care for, Reo, a sit su. My little sister got it from Oreo. It was trouble some for a small dog to run around the house. For one, it favored my room as a toilet; two, I had to be the one to get it out when it's under the bed; three, it's troublesome to find it every five minutes. Lucky, my little sister played with it all the time so, when I watching basketball and NFL games in my room, I was pretty safe. It did pee next to my bed one day and I ended up almost being late for school because I had wash off some dirty stuff from my socks and feet.

Let's see I also took care of crabs which later got lost in my house, same with mice (not hamsters), a cat which gave me allergies, a turtle which died after it was a friend for so long and finally, a beloved German Sheperd which followed me everywhere till I was five. It passed away a year later. I'm still wondering why I couldn't remember it but I did get a few memories when I was in primary 2 then I still can't remember the time I dropped a marble on my foot and
the time there was an earthquake and a aquarium smashed my arm...I think....oh well, I grew up rough but not all rough thanks to my parents.

I asked my dad if I turned out as a black sheep or troublemaker in the family. he said that I was better than expected aside from studies. he understands me well, sometimes a little better than I do myself.

thanks dad. Well bay to Day 1...till day ????

WIld night @ NP@45

2008-10-31T20:09:00.000-07:00

Friday 31st October started with Sydney my baby sister leaving for Mt. Kinabalu ,Malaysia. I was her first trip alone or with out us so my mom is pretty worried but right now, we're pretty sure she'll be fine.

I ended up screwing up my resistors for my PDPR and couldn't finish on time so I was basically screwed and I was really mad about it since I knew I should have just double checked before putting it in. I had a lot to finish because I didn't diagram properly enough.

FCS lecture was bit for more. I sat next to Shao Ting and while the teacher was fixing his comp Me, Edos, and Meng went down for snacks and I still had to play waiter to Shao Ting and Ngan( buy snack for them). Lessons flew quickly then lunch with friends from the other class in my course and flying around to submit my final print outs for my PDPR's other project. I was over my failure by then, knowing I just needed to be smarter next time and update my I-pod on better music than R N B and Hip Hop. (Playing Kanye West during soldering wasn't a bad idea though..Rhianna and Chris brown? not a good choice especially when circuiting). We finished MI lessons and struggled through the practical because well, I didn't know the teacher wrote down the stuff we needed on the board by then and Chooka was actually following them. I'm really not good and paying attention to simple stuff. Hahahahaha....

I ended up almost on my own. I followed Edos, Khairul, Syukri and Ifri to the Motorcycle parking lot at BLK 5. They were taking bikes with another guy who rode one of those Motocross bikes. It looked scary and I barely had the guts to ride on the back of Edos's bike. After they left, me and syukri found Chooka and his friend Jovin. Jovin was supposed to video graph the whole event for the tree planting and prize giving. I took the camera a few times to shoot some people who were performing before the event and mostly were hi's and peace signs. With the tree planting happening else where, we had to run up slopes to get ahead of the group to get shots of the tree planting and going to the green mall to take shots of the prize giving. I headed of to the NP@45 at the convention centre where it was already crowded with at least 400 -500 students by then but i was thinking much more. I spotted some friends by then, Aifah, Suren, ST then at the bag deposit, Sean and Jaslyn. Edos, Ifri, Syukri and Khairul where there then and they headed off inside first since I needed to get Jovin in. I spotted Meng and at the same time with a girl and later with his twin inside. Me and Jovin went around till his camera battery went flat and we seperated afterwards. I followed Edos around where Khairul ending up dancing with some girls they saw and it was pretty crazy. I found Katherine with her Taekwondo friends inside dancing too but I didn't stay long with them though I'd bump into them three more times. Edos and Syukri pushed me to dance with the other girls but I wasn't having it. It wasn't me to do it either.

The weird parts were almost a blur but unforgettable. There was my friend Joshua Simon in make up as the Joker in Dark Knight and later a bunch of guys in white masks. The weirdest parts were a bunch of guys dressed up as girls then some fella as a European actor then a nurse and then...most were just plain scary anyway.

Some where in the middle I found Suren and his hockey mates dancing on the open space. Then surpise, I found Charleen who I haven't seen since my 1st year. She was hanging out with he ECH friends and Hi-Club friends. It was really cool to see her again.

I found Stacey (Zheng Yi), classmate from CAEM 2, Dancing with her friends near the stage. There was this one guy in headband and scarf started trying to dance with them. I got infront of him and did some moves of his own with three of my juniors and stacey watching. Not sure if I either made a cool impression or made a fool out of myself but we had some fun at it, shaking hands with the fella later after the music ended.

I headed of around 10 pm and headed for the bus stop were I met Pei Xuan my PJC schoolmate with a fellow guitar club membet Hui Khim. We took the same bus home so I had company rather than just my I-pod.

Wild night @ Np. Couldn't get any wilder or weirder than this.

Tribute to Christian Martial Artists - He Will Carry Me

2008-09-29T17:25:00.001-07:00

Christian mma fighters

2008-09-29T17:17:00.001-07:00

It's so dangerous. A hard fight but this is what they live for. It's scary but there's a reason why we have these three guys here. They went down a long road of struggle and saw fights which ended either way for them. In the same way our lives or work, can end either in a knock out or you could push it to a decision. It can be anything. It can destroy you or make you. but these three feel that it has made them stronger by being Christian. learning to live life God's way and following his will. Rich Franklin, Quiton Jackson, mat Hughes. Powerful Men but also serving a powerful GOd. Let's remember that GOd has given us the power to be strong and courageous to stand between the living and the death. Amen

After burners

2008-09-08T18:25:00.000-07:00

Pretty weird. I'm almost jobless. No call backs or email offers.

I followed the fight of Rashad Evans and Chuck Liddel at UFC 88. I didn't see the knock out. I have to wait for the DVD to come out. The best KO I've seen so far was Wanderlei Silva on Keith Jardine. I did watch re-runs of the The Ultimate Fighter two which Evans won. He was just 220 pounds then and had to face off with a 260 pounder in Brad Imes. Evans was like all over the place when he wasn't in front of Imes. He moved well until the last few moments when both men tired out and they just tried to punch each other standing up. Evans then moved to light heavyweight at 205. He beat or knocked out his opponents by being versatile and moving all the time. He made people worry. He made people scared of what he could throw out, a take down or a sudden Upper cut. Hence, the nickname "Sugar" for the boxing legend Sugar Ray Robinson. Liddel, I was thinking his boxing would be too much for Evans to handle but that one moment he got stunned and Evans took it home. IF you wanna read go to Yahoo.com > sports > MMA > UFC 88.

TKO's, Submissions, Fighting, I was really hyped about these things. I got tired of that old fake WWE stuff and please the TNA stinks. I wanted to see how real it would get. It was awesome. people imposing their will on each other. Not knowing what to expect. I like to see close fights where two versatile fighters just try different tactics to get into each other and beat each other up or knock each other out. It was a very unique sport and I really liked what i saw in the figthers. They had a lot of heart and fought in a dangerous sport. It's not something I would let kids watch but a grown man should see and get some.

I'm still trying to ingnite some after burners. I need to study more these days to get an idea of my course. I'm reading books which will hopefully give me an edge in my course. I've been seeing someone also lately. Jolyn. She's been great. Helpful and a good perspective. I think she balances some of the dumb things I do in life. She's pretty smart and works hard. She;s now in Poly and we're taking our time. See where it takes us.....

Bottom Feeders of the NBA part 2

2008-08-07T23:03:00.001-07:00

Previously Bulls, Bobcats, OKc, and Knicks

The T-Wolves went from big time trading of Kevin Garnet to a rebuilding block. Al Jefferson has been solid and the trade for Kevin Love was at first some what puzzling. OJ Mayo would have been a quality player and would have turned some heads in Minnesota. He was the Most NBA ready next to Beasley and would be a leader on the floor; yet they end up with Love, rumored to be good but over weight and undersized for center. However, let's look at the positive side. He worked with RUssel Westbrook who was a gym rat and became slimmer and stronger entering the draft. He possesed a good inside and outside game which would compliment Jefferson. He was also used in UCLA as an average rebounder. In the worst case, Love would become a Eddy Curry but at the best he can turn into a Chris Kaman-type guy and possibily something of Jefferson's caliber. Wolves also strengthen their backcourt with Mike Miller from the trade while getting rid of Marko Jaric's and Antoine Walker's contracts, also Jaric's Brazilian Supermodel girlfriend and Walker's shimmy. While Gerald Green is gone, the team remains intact with the resigning of Ryan Gomes and Bassy Telfair. Telfair was effective as a point guard and could do better next year. He's very different from his cousin Stephon Marbury. He's not overpaid, just underachieving and sligthy too much expectations yet Kevin McHale knows that without a proven point in Randy Foye he'll need Telfair to run things. The back courts finishes with Miller and Rashard McCants who's been like Telfair but he's showing his true form soon. Corey Brewer needs to be more than the wing man that can be an above average guard. He needs to gain some muscles and some shooting if he wants to get consistent minutes. Rodney Carney "traded for Money " adds more scoring off the bench with returning Craig Smith. SMith reminds me of a Charles Oakley type of guy who can just bang around but get buckets. The starting five should be Foye, Miller/ Brewer, Gomes/ Carney, Love, and Jefferson. Wolves won't make the play offs much they should surprise some teams along the way. don't expect them to be the same bottom feeder team again.

The Heat is on Riley to make some moves. He's signed some strong and experieced Swing men but haven't gotten the point guard and center they need. Riley has strict work to come with a NBA contract. He has Dwayne Wade, Shawn Marion and Michael Beasley to build around. Not part of the plan but their only useful center is Mark Blount. Blount hits the occasional jumpshot and lay up but he needs to rebound and do more. Udonis Haslem could do better and Blount's contract could move some players around . CHris Quinn and Mario Chambers looks like the point guard for this season though I expect RIley to get a thrid string or veteran guard to come around. James Jones will be a good addition to the team. His shooting alone should make him the fourth scoring option behind Marion. The expected line up should be Quinn, Wade, Jones, Beasley and Marion. Or Blount, Marion, Beasley, Jones, wade. I don't know, let's wait longer

The Grizzlies should build around Mayo and COnley and Rudy Gay. The log jam in the backcourt could present as an opportunity for Ivarioni's fast tempo game. Conley, Lowry, mayo the Gay at the 4 spot? Criterron is perfect for trade material. A big guard who can score and defend, if he stays he'll play at 2 more and mayo will be three. The frontline has never looked thinner without Pau Gasol until they added Darrell Arthur. Arthur should fit well with Darko Milicic and Hakeem Warrick. Warrick was solid in the rotation and milicic was rebounding but troubled. Lucky they have the rights to Marc Gasol who was MVP of his Euro League. Gay should continue to fill the stats sheet fast and help turn things around. He's a proven NBA player and should spend time between the 3 and 4 regardless of who plays center. If M. Gasol becomes the player that his brother was, then they have a chance of completing in the west. Milicic time is limited but if he controls his temper, he should turn from that former draft bust label he's had since the Pistons traded him to a more legitimate center. Starting five; Conley, Mayo, Gay, Gasol/Arthur and Milicic. Strongest five, Conley, Critterion, Mayo, Gay and Gasol/ Arthur. Run baby Run all over Memphis. They should be fun to watch with Jaric's girlfriend on the sidelines and Walker shimming everytime he makes a shot like once the whole night when their down 20 but still running up the score.

Bottom Feeders of the NBA

2008-08-07T06:50:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of teams in the bottom. C-Bulls, OKC, Charlotte Bobcats, Minnesota T-wolves, NY knicks, just thinking about how ready they are.

The Bulls looked strong. I have to blame the fans for chanting "Kobe, Kobe" all night when Deng and Gordon where doing their best to just make the team win. The Ben Wallace experiment is officially over. What i didn't like in the trade was giving away Joe Smith but he basically helped make the trade work. It did get rid of that weak log jam in the front line. I think Del Negro is a good risk. He's fresh and so is 1st pick Derrick Rose. The only problem now for the Bulls a log jam in the guard position. They obviously have too may guards that can score. Rose, Hinrich, ben gordon, Hughes, Selfosa. These are guys who basically need at least 20 -30 minutes a game. I can see it working for Gordon coming off the bench with Rose and Hughes starting. I think Hinrich can be the back up for Rose. They may elect for a three guard instead meaning Deng can slide to PF with Joakim Noah or Tyrus Thomas at center. Nocioni and Gooden are still around and can contribute as the veterans on this team. My advice is that if all hell breaks lose the team, give Hughes, Gooden, Nocioni, Hinrich and Luol Deng the starting spot. They should get to a 50-50 team there and the young ones can just come of the bench time to time and gain experience and hopefully turn into a playoff team next year. I say 70% chance they'll be a .500 team with a good record but doesn't make the playoffs. 20% chance of becoming worst than the Knicks. 10% chance of becoming a playoff contender.

The Knicks. Worst. Bad. Betrayed. yet, Popular in all things. They have a young but strong core. Danillo Gallinari is the best player on the team right now. They need to turn misused players into stronger players to get better. They have good point guards in Chris Duhon and Nate Robinson and Anthong ROberson. They have Wing players like Q-Richardson, Jared Jeffries, Wilson Chandler and Mardy Collins. The backcourt is not good enough to win but they'll be fun to watch. Chandler and Robinson in particular are the future of this team. D'Antoni needs to get this two guys running to get this team on the block. He'll probably start with Duhon, Richardson, and Chandler as 1,2,3 with Balkman gone. For the frontline, David Lee will finally get his chance. After a Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry experiment and let's not leave out the Jerome James signing which is worst than the Marbury extension, all gone wrong; Lee should get the chance to prove himself a double-double guy. Gallinari in the mean while will have to be hidden somewhere in defense before he gets plowed again. 300 pounds and bam! Bad back and out of the summer league. He can definitely shoot. Critics can't take away his experiece and i think with his jumpshot alone, He'll be a 14ppg guy just coming off the bench. Curry on the other hand will have to remain the team's center of he wants to prove himself worth the while. Randolph will just need to keep doing his scoring thing and 20 -10 stuff and stop throwing towels at teammates. Curry is fine but just don't expect him to play with Randolph will. I think Curry can come off the becnh more. Predicted 4 and 5. Randolph and Lee. Other possibilities? Curry and Randolph? not gonna happen.....I think they sink and Gallinari will be in Europe again if he doesn't work out but he has too much exprience to fall off. Where do you get a player who's 18 but has the composure of a veteran?

Where are we? Bobcats. Larry Brown will make them better. The pg is clear with RaymonD felton and DJ Augustin. Augustin is the real deal, i can and the other spot has Jason Richardson and Gerald Wallace and behind them is the long line of Matt Caroll , Adam Morrison, and Jared Dudley. Caroll and Morrison are interchangeable with Richardson and Wallace but I think Dudley will be the more used player in Larry Brown's system. Coach value defense and toughness and Dudley will get his share. The front court has just been bad luck but Dudley has been a good helper there. Emeka Okafor will be back and staying put which is good and his defense and rebounding is a perfect fit for the Bobcats needs. Nazr Mohammed is the next best center and i think he could be down for a starter. Ryan Hollins and Jamario Davidson will be back-ups with French project Alexis Ajinca. Sean May is the key man. If he can be healthy and become that old-fashioned low-post presence he used to be, the Bobcats will have a perfect compliment to Okafor. This is the most solid the team has ever been since it's beginning. Now it's time to put in the effort. They have the best chance of the group to advance and match up with other teams. They're the most well-equipped to pull this off. Now it's just effort from here on. Predicted starters? Felton, J-Rich, G-Wallace, Okafor and Mohammed. Augustin could be the starter by the end of the year with or without the playoff-making thing.

OKC- Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook are the top-three players right now. CHris WIlcox is the best of those entering their prime. Collision and the other projects in Petro and Sene will have to pay off soon. The team has been looking for another Shawn Kemp since 2003. Wilcox could be it and the team looks close to improving each year. Ridnour will be quality starter/ backup. I don't predict them to make moves but they'll bring some excitement to this new city. Best back-ups will be De-von Hardin, Damien Wilkins and Earl Watson. Keep this core intact and they can turn things around a lot. They need time but I don't see them matching up well to other teams in the West soon. They'll have long way to go. Starting five for season? Ridnour, Wilcox, Durant, Green and Collison. By the end of the year? Durant, Westbrook, Green, Wilcox and Sene/ Hardin.
Too be continued.......I have two tests tomorrow!

Been too long, NBA season

2008-08-06T03:30:00.000-07:00

I've been looking a the NBA for quite a while and it tells me a lot of obvious stuff.

For one, Gilbert Arenas is a smart guy. Taking $16 M off the big contract? That's basically giving the franchise a chance to sign better players. The Wizards lost so far Roger Mason to the Spurs and I haven't seen them make some moves which could impact the team aside from drafting Javale McGee, but they seem like one of those teams that doesn't really need changing. They have their starters coming back next season. Arenas, DeShawn Stevenson, Caron Butler, Antwan Jamison, and Brendan Haywood; and like the Lakers they have a young but strong bench, Andray Baltche, Nick Young, Antonio Daniels, Dominic McGuire, Darius Songalia, McGee, Perchovic , Etan Thomas.....can't remember all but the bench gets better every year. They could use some help at center or a back up guard or forward. Currently signing someone like David Harrison or Devean George would look good but the Wizards look formidable already with out them.

Detroit is too young and raw without it's veterans. If all but two or three starters are left, who would be the starters? Rip , Affalo , Stuckey, Prince, Brown? Not good. Rip and Prince are the most valuable players right now. Stuckey and Affalo will become guys who earn around the $5M to $10 M in the long run to replace Billups and Wallace. BillUps will continue to be the leader of this team for years to come but eventually, the Pistons will need to rebuild with better guys other than Prince and Stuckey and Amir Johnson. I like the signing of Brown because even though he's already labeled first pick-bust. He's still a solid player. He can bang around and get boards. Honestly, I think I rather see him start and get McDyess to come off the bench better. Brown can be a 20-35 Minutes guy with around 9-10 rebounds a game with a 8 ppg average. Adding another offensive minded veteran to the mix could be a good idea. They could risk signing and trading for players like andre Iguodala and Josh Smith or JR Smith. Wallace or Hamilton could fall into the deal for Smith or Iguodala for a better deal. Sixers would get the ability of Hamilton to find the open spots he'll have with Elton Brand attracting a lot of attention. Wallace can fill out the hole by Josh Childress and Smith by being bothe scorer and rebounder although it is unlikely the Hawks will take him. Like hot-tempered and veteran presence and scoring and shooting and 14ppg average for guy looking for $12M , fan-favorite, high flying, possible all-star in their twenties? not gonna happen unless the Hawks get more like adding one of the Young Pistons to the mix. Pistons getting Brown and trying to pry other players from the free agent pool means Dumars could be making a last stand in the Eastern Conference for the next 2 years and show that they can still be a championship team despite their breakdown for the past two years one against lebron James and another against the Big Three Boston Celtics team. Now this year, they have added threats in the form of a Full-powered Wizards team, and a rejuvinated Elton Brand Sixers team which pushed them to the brink without a proper post presence and the ever resilient Raptors could be chomping below.

Speaking of the East, it's new beasts are already getting attention. Micheal Beasley and Elton Brand just made it harder to guard the paint. Miami Heat are in-danger of losing Dwayne Wade in 2010 if they don't make any moves. They have a young core in Mario Chambers and Michael Beasley but they need a center and the Free agent market is getting thiner. Unless Shawn Marion or Udonis Haslem can play that post, the Heat are probably rebuilding. Some teams could use Haslem as a power Forward. Even if Alonzo Mourning returns or Mark Blount becomes a better post presence or rebounder for his $10M a year contract , that could save the team some money or chemistry. For now all eyes are on their young new duo of Beasley and Wade and on former All-star Shawn Marion to keep the Heat afloat. On the bright side, signing James Jones, a talented shooter and long wing guy will be a good addition but unless Wade plays the point then Jones could play the big guard. The 3 and 4 will be either Marion or Beasley and center would be sigh.....Blount or sligtly shorter sigh.....Haslem...whew! Jason Williams could come back but he would take a huge cut. Chris Quinn and Chambers looks like the only options they have right now. Heat are in the pits right now but with hard work they could go back to elite status in two years time if Wade stays put with Beasley.

Not much for now...more to come

CHat with GOd from an email

2008-06-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

This is an excellent conversation between 'God' and an unknown ' - 'Me'. I don't know as to who has been the composer of such an interesting and captivating conversation ; but has he/she has definitely put in good amount of thought into crafting the same. *Those who don't believe in God, may also find it worth reading once. Enjoy and Think ! *
God: Hello. Did you call me?
Me: Called you? No.. Who is this?
God: This is GOD. I heard your prayers. So I thought I will chat.
Me: I do pray. Just makes me feel good. I am actually busy now. I am inthe midst of something.
God: What are you busy at? Ants are busy too.
Me: Don't know. But I can't find free time. Life has become hectic. It's rush hour all the time.
God: Sure. Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you results.Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it.
Me: I understand. But I still can't figure out. By the way, I was notexpecting YOU to buzz me on instant messaging chat.
God: Well I wanted to resolve your fight for time, by giving you some. In this net era, I wanted to reach you through the medium you are comfortable with.
Me: Tell me, why has life become complicated now?
God: Stop analyzing life. Just live it. Analysis is what makes it complicated.
Me: why are we then constantly unhappy?
God: Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. You are worrying because you are analyzing. Worrying has become your habit.That's why you are not happy.
Me: But how can we not worry when there is so much uncertainty?
God: Uncertainty is inevitable, but worrying is optional.
Me: But then, there is so much pain due to uncertainty.
God: Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.
Me: If suffering is optional, why do good people always suffer?
God: Diamond cannot be polished without friction. Gold cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials, but don't suffer. With thatexperience their life become better not bitter.
Me: You mean to say such experience is useful?
God: Yes. In every term, Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and the lessons afterwards.
Me: But still, why should we go through such tests? Why can't we be free from problems?
God: Problems are Purposeful Roadblocks Offering Beneficial Lessons (to) Enhance Mental Strength. Inner strength comes from struggle andendurance, not when you are free from problems.
Me: Frankly in the midst of so many problems, we don't know where we are heading..
God: If you look outside you will not know where you are heading. Look inside. Looking outside, you dream. Looking inside, you awaken. Eyesprovide sight. Heart provides insight.
Me: Sometimes not succeeding fast seems to hurt more than moving in the right direction. What should I do?
God: Success is a measure as decided by others. Satisfaction is a measure as decided by you. Knowing the road ahead is more satisfying than knowing you road ahead. You work with the compass. Let others work with the clock.
Me: In tough times, how do you stay motivated?
God: Always look at how far you have come rather than how far you have to go. Always count your blessing, not what you are missing.
Me: What surprises you about people?
God: When they suffer they ask, 'why me?' When they prosper, they never ask 'Why me'. Everyone wishes to have truth on their side, but few want to be on the side of the truth.
Me: Sometimes I ask, who am I, why am I here. I can't get the answer.
God: Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be. Stop looking for a purpose as to why you are here. Create it. Life is notmerely a process of discovery but a process of co-creation. You are my co-creator.
Me: How can I get the best out of life?
God: Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.
Me: One last question. Sometimes I feel my prayers are not answered.
God: There are no unanswered prayers. At times the answer is NO.
Me: Thank you for this wonderful chat.
God: Well. Keep the faith and drop the fear. Don't believe your doubts and doubt your beliefs. Life is a mystery to solve not a problem to resolve.Trust me. Life is wonderful if you know how to live. 'Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that took our breath away!

NBA draft prospects

2008-05-22T07:10:00.000-07:00

I only saw these guys on videos but based on team needs ( maybe first three Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Seattle? Oklahoma City Sonics) and what I hear and see.....

Mike Beasley- a top pick. No doubt about his rebounding and offensive skills. He can only go either to the Bulls or Heat.

With the Bulls, opponents already had problems with Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich running and scoring at will and with Luol Deng on the wing. Imagine an inside presence like Beasley, not to mention those wicked perimeter jumpers which he'll be throwing up all night. The Bulls in a team play might need to actually adjust on this one. Beasley can actually go at it on his own and might take a few bad shots early but if he's like thrid or second option, he might develop a nice pass and solidify himself as a power forward in the NBA not just scoring I mean.

With the Heat, He'll look a little better, I can imagine Pat Riley pulling some nice deals for Shawn Marion and Mark Blount. Though he and Dwayne Wade could turn into a nice 1-2 punch in Shaquille O'Neal's departure, he'll be paired up with Udonis "Undersized, Underrated" Haslem, who's 6-8 as a center. Riley will need to pull some nice size out of the Market if they get Beasley. With Marion at 3, it might not be bad. Marion can wreck all the havoc he wants on defense and the offensive glass while Wade and Mike "Beast" Beasley (yes, I gave him a nickname) can just keep shooting and slashing and posting. They'll need a point guard to get that ball around right and not throw it at one of those two all the time. Wade can go into his combo guard thing and Beasley can be his usual 3-4 guy self while Marion just rebounds and blocks shots and in the long run, guard really big guards and forwards (eg. Lebron James, Paul Pierce, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Tony Parker). Nobody really realises that Marion's length and jump can stop or slow down those guys and, with a good PG and a hard-working center, I say, Beasley can help the Heat get back on track in the East.

Derrick Rose- Top two picks, I don't think he can reach the first yet. Rose is incredible with his drives and jumpshots. I hear he doesn't have the right shot yet like Lebron but he can be deadly with it in the long term. Long term is the key here. I may be underestimating him but Rose needs time but he can help two teams out.

With the Bulls, he'll probably be regulated to the bench and start during mid-season after he gets used to the 82-game run. He'll provide a lot of offense and regulating and could either get Bulls GM to trade a guard or two. He'll probably become a combo guard and a 1-2 punch with Ben Gordon or Luol Deng. Rose will probably get the Bulls somewhere but not the play-offs, yet.

With the Heat, Riley can finally get rid of Jason Williams. With all due respect to Williams, Rose will be a perfect fit with Wade. Rose can develop into a pure point guard and a good jumpshot and play making skills from just playing pick-up with Wade. He's athelism also compliments well with Marion and both might become key defenders against really tough guys.

OJ Mayo- first round material not top.

With the Sonics, if things work out for the best. Mayo can help himself and Kevin Durant get better. Both are young and need to get into a passing game as well as a good flow of team work. They may easily get trigger happy but if all else fails there's the possibility of Mayo being a sixth-man instead and having each wreck all the havoc they want on their own. Though, I'd let Durant become a 3-guy rather than a big guard at 2.

With the Wolves, he'll force some trades. Rashard MacCants, Marko Jaric, and even Randy Foye might be looking for a trade if Mayo comes in. He won't turn the wolves into a contender but in the long run they might look better that the Portland trail Blazers. Al Jefferson and Mayo, inside and out will be the new key on the Wolves offense and Mchale can make up his Garnett trade for a stronger center to pair up to Jefferson. The Wolves will be looking for a player who can make an impact so Mayo can be a good candidate.

I haven't seen the rest but this blog has to go somewhere

Faster than you think

2008-05-11T00:41:00.000-07:00

Boom! It just hits. Life just hits you so hard you forget what your supposed to do, your supposed to make some new proposal in church and you forget about it after sleeping the whole day and going into a weeks worth of training and school and busting yourself up. I only remembered it on the Sunday when I promised it to be done. Well, I guess I'm just that. I get lost sometimes. Everybody does. I don't know how but it's part of us. We forget because.........

We don't know. We can make up a dozen excuses about it being wrong or just plain dumb or watching too much TV. Bottom line, people forget and we'll just move on. I can remember three things a week and the rest in my phone calendar; we can remember a few things but the rest is stuck up somewhere else. We don't forget. We just get lost.

Life's just too fast sometimes and we end up pushing the gas instead of the breaks to find out where we are. We get lost, forget our names, numbers and people we know but every once in a while, I sit down and think about the people who need help around me as I take time to pray. Nothing much is easy with I and E coming my way. You see, each day we do this and that we go in circles sometimes but we don't care. We just wanna get some where and run like nobody's business.

We wanna get good real fast in sports that we lose the balance of technique and fitness.

We wanna get good grades or fast things done in school, we get too used to runing with out shoes and forget our friends. We lose the balance between school and friends.

We wanna make some money. We forget the balance of service and selling.

We wanna eat fast. We didn't realise it till we ate 6 fast foods a week and forgot the home food our family eats together.

Maybe we go faster than we think. Maybe we just lost it or just never took the time to thing.

Point is we need to slow down man and get it together before things become messed up

Peace

just words

2008-03-28T05:35:00.000-07:00

I was playing basketball with my buddy matthew today. We were playing one on one when this little girl started watching us. I didn't think much at first and tried to pound matthew a bit more (He won anyway, who knew his shots would go in?). I later tossed the ball to her during our break. She picked it up and just tried to throw it back at me as far as she could. A thing about these kids, they're really talkative. First she talks about us (me and matt) playing basketball then she asks me to guess her age. This 6-year old kid just played around tossing and passing and stuff even dribbling. Then she just talked a lot, she talked about her dad and siblings(a brother and two sisters). Later, she tells me about her mom. Kinda hard to take it in at first. At first I wasn't sure about what I heard, but it just hit. Her mom died of cancer. Hard to believe a little girl like this could take it so well. No kidding she was brighter than those kids I took care of in church. How many kids could do a full line of monkey bars and climb 9 foot poles in the fitness corner? I was like wow this kid has big future in sports. She went home after some time with her grandfather. I played one more game with matthew before we ate out and tv and playing station games later.

The time my grandfather passed away, I could still remember it. It was hard to take. My dad called and it just came out then it was a really slow time from there. It was hard for my dad and my uncles. To make it short, it was like time slowed down every minute and it was never easy during the mourning, and never easier in the burial. My dad and I still go down there with fresh flowers and all to visit the grave.

My grandparents were really unselfish. They didn't desire too much expensive stuff and didn't like it much either although they appreciated it a lot when we sent gifts from Singapore. It was a sad time for me. I enjoyed playing with my grandfather during those times even when he suffered a stroke he still played around with us. He probably could hear us playing in the basketball courts just outside his room and everytime we came in, I alwats felt that it lifted his spirits till we were just bugging him. I didn't remember a lot about my grandfather but what his life really spoke more about what he wanted to do in life. He raised kids who became smart and disciplined ,and me and my cousins were kinda following in his footsteps. Family always came first for him and pretty much just took care of us with my grandmother later on. Now my grandmother is still here, we're still taking care of her and in a way she's taking care of us. The caring never really stops. Whether it's grandparents or children, caring is a 24-7 job that we do. It just goes on.

I love it. I love the game and the intensity it gives. All I have is words. I just say that yes I love this game. I love this sport and I want my actions to speak louder than words.

Just words.

just happens.

Just move on.

Who Am I?

2008-02-17T01:18:00.000-08:00

Who Am I?

I was created by God and saved by His sacrifice on the cross. I was called to Singapore to take care of my family and make the most out of my education there. I was to be a mess and a wreck and yet God changed my life. It was His Grace not because I was good or any good deed I did but by His Grace.

I'm still a mess. I made a bad choice with a friendship. I still have a hard time trying to focus on studying. I'm inconsistent in being fit or even prepared for tests. I can forget friends i don't talk to for a long time. Yet, God has been good. By His Grace, Here I am. He makes me work. He reminds me who's important. He reminds me who's in charge and He reminds me who's in need. WHo Am I?God knows me and that's who I am, His.

A dedication for Valentine's Day

2008-02-13T08:43:00.000-08:00

Family

Dad- took care of us taught me everything about work and family

Mom- took care of us and taught me about love and friendships

Sisters (Sydney and Sara)- I still have to take care of you two

Cousins(Dad and Mom side and whoever is related to me by Blood, took me years to find you!)- everything else you need to have with a reunion

AMa- Family is important I wont' forget that

Uncles and AUnts- caring and helpful

Friendships

Natasha- for being such a good friend when I was in Junior College and helped to get to know some wonderful people such as Tina, Jolyn, Jia Xin, Jamie, Al, and well can't remember them all but thanks for inviting me to your BBQ.

Daniel Ng and Daniel Low - For having a heart of a brother, to care and help out and teach bit by bit.

Ravi- someone I can look up to ( literally) but mostly for being a good brother

Footprints- for taking me in

Blink and Allan- Helping me out in my first year in SG

D-Team- Look forward to working with you more

John Lin- for helping me discover a different side of Bible study.

Jolyn- For helping me find a nice CD store, a Junior College which was worth two months, and a friendship that taught me about relationships.

Sock Kian- for helping find a use for what I do best, taking care and teaching my younger sister.

Eunice, Mei Ling, Sheryl, Choomin, Psychology students, Joshua Simon, Melody, Caleb, Chelmin, Mass Communication students- helped me see the world in a different view and learn how to treat people right and how helpful friends can be; Caleb for being a great leader and brother; Joshua Simon and Daniel Koh for just bringing in some energy during X.

Ariana and Wendy- The most energetic duo I've ever met

Sharon (Campus Crusade) - for introducing me to good bunch of young Christians such as Moses and counselling me about some stuff I needed to know

Winnie (Campus Crusade)- Encouraging me in helping other people

Ron(Campus Crusade)- For having me on the team

Renee- For just being a good friend and encouraging me a few times down the road

Taby- For helping me settle some things and a truthful friend

Constance, Hannah, Michelle, Sarah Wong and any ECH student- for helping me decide to stay in the Children's ministry and to those who are SM's for taking care of your DG
Seth, Kenneth, Willis, Titus- for volunteering yourselves in camp, for being good brothers in Christ.

Seth- a true servant who I can fool around but also just talk to about a lot of stuff

Titus- giving me some chinese music in my I-Pod and being a good bro in Christ

Kenneth and your brother Terence- thanks for memories in BPSS and just being good friends

Willis- Worship man

Joel, Fred, Joshua, Daniel Liu- For being a really fun and brotherly bunch

Jophillien- a good friend to talk to and told me about worship

Jonathan Hwa- giving me tips on rock climbing and helping me fit into the group

Weege, Naufal, Shaun, Jason, Afis, Aleen, Celine, Janice, Juer, Rastus, Rasmus, Lyon ,Wei liong( Sorry if spelling is wrong), Sue Ann and Rock Climbing club- for just being a fun bunch to be around and helping me grow as a climber.

Krystabelle- for keeping in touch during those times I was in SG and in the philippines

Her batch and Classmates- thanks for all the caring messages and friends

"A Lifetime is not too long to live as......"

Tiffany Shui ngo- For being such a wonderful friend and showing me true frienship and even keeping in contact after indonesia

BPSS 4E4 and Band- for helping me find my place around school during first year in SG.

Benjamin Toh- Helping me fix some computer problems and helping me out in band

Azhar- Bro , why do you think your here? hahahah.... Thanks for being a good friend up to now

Kai Ling, Kai TIng, Fang yu- teaching me music and letting me make some tough choices

Kimberly Li, Ryan, and other filipino students in SG- Pinoy diba? kasama kayo! Mabuhay!

CHino and Jenina- you don't know each other but I think we're the only filipinos in school so far as I know....thanks for basketball and friendship

PJC s0722- thanks for a great time in JC.

PJC, NP, BPSS, GCHS(philippines) teachers and cousellors- guidance through education

Biomedical Engineering Year 1 Students Class H12- for being a good bunch to be around, I'm lucky to have good classmates like you guys. You all my friends.

Group mates and close friends- thanks for good teamwork and friendship

Suren- for just being a cool friend bro

Petrina- a caring friend

FOC GL's and Dagonet group mates- haven;t forgotten you guys, it'll be time to remember during FOC '07 and I;m wearing the shirt as I write this! Jocelyn, Kai, Marcus, Yining, Qian Hua, Jazreel, Bryan, Yat, Amy, Matt, Evan, Weege, Nina, Jerry, Rastus and so on.....

Sailing club- even if it was just a short while, thanks for having me.

I still have a long list, so I just thank everyone who's my friend today and whoever's on my friendster, facebook ,met, talked to, my phonebook, I'll remember you all. Whether I said good, caring, cool , energtic.....we're all the same. happy valentine's day yo.

Just love the people i my life

This post isn't enough for me to put all the names down, Memories and kept in the heart and they last more than a lifetime for us to enjoy and live life. Sorry, if I forget, but if you need anyhelp, give me a call and same to ya all.

Everyday is a battle

2008-02-10T00:17:00.000-08:00

I was always told I couldn't fo it on my own. I was told that I would always be reliant on someone. Yet, I always had the desire to do it all on my own.

Yeah, I know. You need people. People need people. I won't argue with that. My style is just different. I'm never in the mood to ask for help but always in the mood to help out. It's kinda hard for me to ask for help on stuff that I know I can do on my own. Like math, I know I can do math right and make it look good and all but when I'm stuck I let it go and wait for the teacher to show so I can understand and remember it. I guess I do need help sometimes. It's part of being independent. It's part of who we are and what we do and when we ask help.

I admit, I made it though some times with help but when it's my burden and my problem, I'd like to keep it and deal with it alone. Oh I talk to God but when He talks back it's usually through the book I read. Sometimes it was from my friends, sometimes just other ways. It was hard. It was tough but I was growing up.

I'm trying to be independent now. Learning to solve my own problems, my own work, my own course. Sometimes i feel stuff is just between me and God. Sometimes I just share it with him and don't share it with nobody except people I know who can give me a tip bout it. It's the hard way but the road is blessed. My road ain;t perfect but it's been blessed.

I thank a lot of people for helping me out to learn. Your making me independent and my sucess is your sucess, But our sucess is God's and His alone. I was just his vessel his using. I know he loves me. I know he doesn't give up on me. Maturity, Independecy, and Workmanship. Things we need to learn as we Grow. Where you going now?

TIME TO PLAY THE GAME!!!!!!!!

2008-01-03T05:32:00.000-08:00

Last time I heard this was when I was watching a wrestling show in the Philippines. Yes, I watch WWE but not as often as usual, I check in their website but I barely care for what's happening there.

2008. What can I say? I ended on a bad note? I ended on a good note? Who cares? It's about how you start prepared. Yes, When you enter a game, you warm up, jog, get your body in shape, try a few easy moves and meditate on the next few minutes before it starts. It kinda gets scary from there, sweaty palms and all.

I remember my first basketball game with my school team. I played 10 minutes and comitted 4 fouls. I think I had a flagrant too. I look back and say, "well, we'll all have bad starts."

I can't remember any worst start than the Miami Heat last year. They got honored and their championship rings from winning the previous year and got pounded by 20 points or more by the Chicago Bulls, the same team that swept them in four games in the playoffs 82 games later, well not exactly a good ending to them too. It was no fun to get beat so badly after just having won a championship the year earlier. Just ask the Los Angeles Lakes in 2004.

WHat do we do with bad starts? Do we keep trying something we did before and try to do the same thing over and over? (wouldn't that be boring but effective). Or try something new?

Something New to the Game? A new dimesion? strategy? schedule? work place? attitude? heart?

Depends on how your going to play it. Decide, the Game just started and it's called life.

Fair Play

2007-12-04T05:20:00.000-08:00

Mr. Terrific. The man-made comic book hero. He may not be well-known but he is as good as Batman. His motto was the inspiration. The first Mr. Terrific, there were two, had a motto called Fair Play. He was a skillful fighter and a wise guy of the first Justice Society and had always fought on the grounds of fairness or fought for it.

Well enough about this guy. What's Fair play? A game of basketball five on five? I mean, a team can be much larger than the other but in basketball it was fair play. Why? Because of the the rules! Rules states that any team can put any five guys in. A coach can throw in five 7-footers and he can throw in five 5-footers in the game and it would be his choice and he's allowed to because the game doesn't give a height limit or anything.

It's the same way with the world. A man can be born on a field and be raised to work hard as a farmer. Another man can be born to the richest man in the world and inherit an already successful company and just need to do what his dad kept doing. You can say the farmer wasn't born into richest but that's life. We're all in a field of fair play. We have different situations. We have different journeys. The one thing that is similar in all of us is that we live life and are in a field of fairness.

Fair play but the one thing that's the difference is what we want to do in our life. Are we going to look for opportunities to be Successful? Strong? Rich? Happy? Or we can go into a different part of the field......

The field of sharing. Not all are born into riches or a happy family but if we have time we can help those on the same field as us. It can the neighbor next door. The old man playing "Jingle Bells" on his flute or harmonica. It can be the poor vendors in the train stations. It can be your classmate, enemy or friend or stranger. But in the end, I believe it would be a good choice to help a soul this Christmas.

I think that was Mr. Terrific 's motivation. He not only wanted fair play but wanted to give people a good chance in life so that they too can be fair players in life. He doesn't care whether they'll be successful or not. He just wants to keep life to as it is and let those he help learn to take hold of that fair chance in life to decide on their next path.

Who will you be this joyous season? Fair play, your field, your game, your choice.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I miss it....

2007-12-01T00:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas. The time of the year I could just go off and give to others.

I think it was almost 3 years ago when I visited a Bible school and gave the poor kids and a few orphans a Christmas Party.

Our team was simple, the entire Sunday School of Secondary 1 to University. I was a secondary 1 student then. I wasn't sure at first then what I would do. I could tell stories so I brought my old bible story book. When we arrived at the Bible school, we were given a tour of the chapel but I accidentally went the wrong direction and ended up being the center of attention in a basketball court. Imagine, I was wearing a white collar shirt with a green sleeveless coat and the kids thought I was a reporter! I dismissed that by taking my coat off and picked up a stray basketball and started throwing single alley-oops and dribbling in crossovers. Soon a bunch of kids joined me and tried their in stealing the ball from me. No chance. I was swarmed with 6 - 7 kids until the teachers finally got things settled. We immediately got into games and started making groups. There were a few wet stuff but not that much. Every kid was having fun and took every advantage to grab a prize for Christmas but little did they know that everyone was getting something home. We gave the kids snacks, bags of prizes and a dinner of spaghetti and BBQ chicken. Some even refused to eat to give to their mothers and fathers and siblings. We eventually got them to eat by giving them some of ours. During then, I was able to tell the story of Christmas to an orphan and six other poor or homeless kids. I lived next to a homeless estate and I knew how it was like to be deprived of such education and stories. It wasn't a good day or a great day. It was tiring and sometimes it was hard to keep the kids in control but it well worth the while to be a brother to these kids who often just wanted friends. It reminded me when we visited an orphanage and they didn't have families but their teachers and fellow orphans. To the few orphans or homeless kids, I was more than joyful to be brother to them not only for a day but to let them know of a caring God who gave the greatest gift of all, TIME and LOVE and baby Jesus Christ who gave His life for us.

I miss such days. It's December 1st and Christmas officially starts for me. From that Christmas, I learned to be grateful for having a family and for the things I have in life. It may be simple but it helps to be a giver once in a while. I wish all the best to my friends who are having problems right now. I hold a prayer for each of you. I hope you guys have a great Christmas. So that every Christmas, there's a gift and giver and receiver for each person in the world who'll be thankful that he received or gave.

Contenders

2007-11-29T23:45:00.000-08:00

The Los Angeles Lakers will no doubt become contenders. They don't have SHAQ but they certainly have Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson and his supporting cast is just getting better and better.

Andrew Bynum is a 7ft monster who'll average 14 points and 12 rebounds for years to come. Right now, he's averaging 10ppg and 9rpg but you can bet what Kobe said will make his impact earlier.
Jordan Famar is doing much better. He'll probably be the Lakers best back-up since Lindsey Hunter. He may even get starting minutes and he already beat star rookie Jarvis Critterion who in my opinion should join Coby Karl in the D-League.

With Derek Fisher back, the triangle runs more smoothly with Luke Walton and Lamar Odom.

Odom is probably just struggling because he's still coming off that injury he had and adjusting. He's someone who I believe can still work even though he's inconsistent. Don't doubt him.

Ronny Turiaf is also growing and has been competing for a starting spot against Vladmir Radonomic who has been superb. They're overrated but there's no doutb that this is the best Kobe has. Young Talent and Fisher, Odom and Vlad. Oh yeah, Trevor Ariza will be the guy giving them a better line-up to match faster teams. Someone can do the guarding while Kobe does the scoring.

Not this year, No championship. Maybe they stay behind the suns and get 50 wins if Bynum improves and the bench and support comes nightly.

Denver Nuggets.
George Karl is probably hoping Chucky Atkins can get better. Allen Iverson can score and pass but they'll be better once they have a good PG-SG rotation with J.R. Smith, Iverson, Atkins and Anthony Carter.

Carmelo Anthony is the prime suspect in every game. He works on both sides and is growing into that elite status of the NBA. He's in his prime and will make Denver and championship contender.

While Marcus Camby stays healthy, Nene and Kenyon Martin need to get it together and recover fast to win. Martin is on the fast-track but it will take a while to get back in the swing he was when the Nets reached the finals.

With Eduardo Najera and a recovering Nene, the Nuggets won't get it together for a good 50-win team but may at least go above .500 for their standings. When they're fully healthy with Anthony, Martin, Iverson and Smith making buckets all night, it'll be a better match versus Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix and Houston. Health and consistency is the key.

a bit of rest and thinking

2007-11-08T06:41:00.000-08:00

I'm way to laid back. I've been pushing for higher goals to challenge myself. It's been what I want for my life, challenge. God has satisfied me with the necessities for life and enjoy the simple life, but He has also thought me to go for higher goals.

I'm now determined to win in life. Improve myself. Look at my direction.

In my rock climbing, our president, Jonathan, told me I needed to challenge my self to become a better climber, I wanna do it. I wanna fight for for it and go on this journey. I don't want to stop. I want to go beyond my limits.

In my studies, I'll do it for family. No more loafing around, I need to take this seriously. My family needs me. I need to take responsibility for my actions.

In my life, I need to start thinking for others even more and look at their lives and see how I can help.

In my walk with God, I need to be more dependent on Him. Never forget how life really is and never forget what I'm living for.

I gotta continue and walk the talk. God bless ya all. thanks to those who prayed for me brothers and sisters! Let us continue to do good for in due time we shall reap harvest

Prayer and keeping awake

2007-10-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

A lot in my mind right now. My work habits have been terrible. I have a dozen unfinished work problems. I still have more to learn in the mazes of calculus. I have a competition on my mind it's less than 10 hours away. I just hope I'll have enough sleep then. If anyone does see this, do pray for me. THanks to all. I know GOd is watching us.

Hardships can often be GOd whispering, "I'm still here". It's beautiful to hear such. i just know he's the reason I haven't crumbled to pieces yet. When all is lost, I find Him as a source of strength.

Pray also for my brothers in Christ Rastus and Rasmus who made the school rock climbing team and that God will guide them in they're development. Pray also for our sisters in Christ on the same team Sheila, Janice, and Kit. Pray that we can also be a tool for God to touch lives and climb on for Christ! God be with us tomorrow.

THanks to all and if I had a tag board, I'd ask you to place your prayer requests there but instead, just email or msn me!....God bless and to all!

Up and running

2007-10-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

I got a lot in mind right now. I have work to finish, a school semester to prepare for, and a competition in three weeks, as well as the training we'll need to go through. As for work, I just need to finish Saturday and Sunday up then get my cash.

For the school semester; I have to get my books, lecture notes, a new program for my computer, and choose a sport or a program for my sport and wellness program. I hope to get it together by Monday or at least when I need them (books). I'll take it one at a time to get my stuff together. We gotta take things slowly to achieve it properly and easily.

For the competition, I'll have to train hard and work hard to prepare for the competition. I still have a long way to go for climbing. I gotta watch myself and hope that I can do well. I'll be depending on God's strength and guidance once again. Bouldering is something I'm not very good at but I know I gotta try. Gonna be hard but I'll go through it. Nothing comes easy but if we prepare ourselves, we'll be ready.

I'll be looking to improve my physical condition for my sports and wellness, hopefully via Fitness and Conditioning or other sports with train endurance. Pray for me this year.

My prayer for this year is that I dedicate it to God and get myself together for a strong run for strong finish. Finish Strong for Christ.

A Stand....Unnatural

2007-09-09T00:36:00.000-07:00

It's unnatural to be a Christian. The way I live my life is different. I committed my Life to God and Love. I may have ambitions but I pursue them with God's everlasting strength and peace. I'm having fun but is serious about my work at the same time. I'm full of stress but I am at peace because I know God is with me. I look to win but I'm willing to make friendly competition. I like my friends and don't mind if people don't treat me well and I would forgive them and help them out.

My stand to continue rock climbing to scale new heights and become a better person. I'm leaving the dance ministry but I know God will send me back there someday. I'll stick around to keep an eye on my younger sister Sydney. She's rising up and becoming a better person. She'll be glad to be in Christ in the Dance ministry. I'm really glad for her.

As for me, I'm into more training more than ever. I'll do whatever I can to become a better climber and to learn more about climbing. God is with me and I know it and in whatever I do, I'll continue to do my best and work with Him and surrender all to Him. This is my stand and where I continue my journey.

So I'll stand
With arms high and Hearts abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKd1OVxH1tE

Get up and Go!!

2007-08-29T06:21:00.001-07:00

I just finished my camp for my ROck Climbing group in NP. I just wished it wasn't planned on the same day as challenger's camp which I also looked forward to but I guess I'll have a chance another time. For now, I gotta keep working and pushing for rock climbing.

Tuesday, I was still in camp and showered up for our training at climb Asia even though I was the only one who did after the games we had that day earlier. It was a long bus ride but most of us slept or just rested for the day before climbing. I guess it took a while for me to get it together. I wanted to go 6 laps up and down but after the first two my arms suddenly ached so bad I just stopped. Though I managed one more time to go up, I had to stop and think about what happened. I suddenly forgot how to climb and just stopped. I started to think and pray quietly on my own and lent my belaying device to my belayer JJ to give some the rest a chance to climb since plenty wanted up. It was a lot of thinking then afterwards I felt God prompting me to pray to him and dedicate every climb I do to Him and be aware about it. I wanted to do it for God so, I gave it to Him. I later learned that endurance wasn't easy and I'm glad I took the hard way to learn it. Physically. I had God to be my strength because I still felt a little shaky and saw that I was still far from my goals. I learn to value what I can do to improve myself and try not to be a slow learner or ignorant of my weaknesses. I gotta learn to get up and go and I thank God for helping me through. My climb is now His and I regard Him as my source of strength and power and motivation.

I'm happy my little sister has a good approach to her dance ministry and stuff. She still needs to learn a lot but God helps. I just pray she can become a better person through her time in the dance ministry and work harder in school and become a better person and make more friends.

I'm looking to concentrate on the Children's ministry for now as well as the discipleship team. I'm also enjoying my time in my new cell group Footprints. They're a bunch of good people. Jophillien and QIng Ying from my old cell group is there and my good friend Ravi, whom I met through a buddy program in church before, is there. I also got to know Leer, Chloe, Stephanie, Hannah and the two leaders Cheryl and Daniel. I'm happy God led me there after my old group needed to break up, I still keep in touch with them.

God has blessed me with good friends and I had a great time with everyone in RC camp. GOd bless to all.

Right here, tough on the outside, soft on the inside

2007-08-12T22:57:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to prove that I could be tough as steel. In counter-strike games, I called myself M@x Steel. I never knew what it meant to be as tough as steel till I listened to the song Warrior is a Child by Gary Valenciano http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoGXA8g4Low . Never in my dreams would I have imagined that if I was the strongest, I would never as for help or catch heaven's grace. Yet, with all I am now, weak and small, I depend on God. I'm insecure but I'm never afraid to take a chance. I'm weak but I'm never afraid to tangle with the strong. I'm slow but I'm willing to run as far my legs can take me. It's passion, heart, desire, and a lot of Grace from God to get to a goal. Only if a person is truly ready to accept a soldier's, farmer's, and a servant's role will he succeed. The soldier would put it all in his heart to fight for his country, the farmer would not stop working till the day was done , and the servant who is always willing to help the people around him and be humble enough to accept defeat and move on and ask for help.

"You have no choices about how you lose, but you do have a choice about how you come back and prepare to win again." -Pat Riley

Explosive and a journey into Sports

2007-08-12T04:59:00.000-07:00

What is it? Explosiveness. Is it to summon a burst of energy at a limited period of time? Is it when a basketball player just suddenly becomes on target with everything and hits 14 straight shots or scores 10 straight points or dominates a quarter? Is it when a soccer player is just all over the place or scores two straight goals or just sprints out of nowhere? Do athletes need it? Yes.

Ever since polytechnic started, I always wanted to be more sports oriented. I tried music and I actually wanted out two months into it and still went on four months due to some stuff I didn't hear about. I truly enjoyed Physical Education. It got me involved in a lot of different sports. No offense to the band but I really wanted to change to athletics.

I finally got my chance when I applied for the first three months of Junior College. It was temporary so it was no harm to try. I quickly took off in my P.E. lessons with a 3.2 km run, I nearly didn't make it but I pushed through. The department at first recommended people like me who were from band, chinese orchestra, dance or other CCAs which were common to both secondary and Tetritary to stick with the CCA we were in before. I wanted to try something else so, since it was an optional choice. I opted for Basketball ( I was thinking dance but I decided it would be awkward especially with auditions and all and choosing music or genres.). In basketball, I didn't make the team but opted to stay on for training. So, I did the work. Worked out, ran some extra tracks during my P.E. and even went on a road game to SAJC. I struggled and even had to back out on one drill ,but it taught me valuable work ethics which I didn't posses. I felt I lost in transition then. I couldn't play well, I was the slowest on running drills, even my lay-ups were as terrible since grade school ; but I still battled my way through two months and left the third after it was eventual that I would be heading for a Polytechnic.

It was a new leash on life when Polytechnic year 1 started. I first needed to find a sport I was passionate about and free on Thursday(Campus Crusade for Christ) and Friday (Basic Mandarin). I wanted an adventure sport. I tried Sailing and liked it but missed the basic sailing course due to a planned overseas trip. I decided to switch to another kind of sport. At first I heard about Rock climbing and tried to contact them via Adventure Rope course but had a class representative meeting to go with it. During the meeting however, I met a student who was into rock climbing and met the group. My first day was a good try but struggled a bit but a new friend of mine got injured; and I decided to stay on till the ambulance came in. ( met her a few weeks later, she was much better then.). A few more weeks in, I went for a Level 1 course which approved me for belaying and basic theory on Sports Climbing. I'm now waiting on whether I can make the competitive team. If not, I'll try again and again and work harder. It's attitude, explosiveness. Passion to continue. I want that. I want to work on my shot, explosiveness, stamina, and everything. I gotta do it. Not for winning, but for the passion and heart for God and Sports. God fuels my passion and the reason I probably struggled in basketball, sailing, and rock climbing. To let me know that, I'm not alone in the sport and that it's a team effort whether it working out with the team, climbing with the team or just belaying, God is there and pushes me to work hard and maintain my passion.

I'll Never Stop.

Garnett traded

2007-08-01T01:38:00.000-07:00

Kevin Garnett, the best offensive and defensive player in the West in my opinion, was traded to the East Boston Celtics for 5 players and two draft picks. Well, there goes my dream of seeing Corey Brewer, Randy Foye, Craig Smith, and Rashard McCants (even though he's been injured) run with Garnett in Minnesota.

I felt it was something that never should have happened but happened. Garnett was the core of the Minnesota Timberwolves. He lead them in Rebounds, blocks, points, and was the disciplined leader of the suffering squad. He should have made it, it just didn't gel as well as expected, Mike James was a bust, Troy Hudson got injured, Ricky Davis's and Mark Blount's Contracts were too big to move around (especially Garnett). The Wolves will now have to rely on the leadership of Davis, Juwan Howard and even veteran Trenton Hassle to help raise the future of Randy Foye, Corey Brewer, Rashard McCants, (from the Celtics) Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes and maybe even get Sebastian Telfair a new start (3rd team in 4th season). Jefferson and Gomes will probably round up the package, Jefferson is a low-post warrior and Gomes is a good Wingman. Green is a rising star and Telfair is still growing but will probably back-up Foye.

As for the Celtics, the key now is to build more around Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. Rando Rojo might be the best choice but signing recently released Timberwolf Troy Hudson may help out. Garnett wanted Hudson a lot to come back to Minnesota and convinced the management to sign him. Kendrick Perkins will have to work on defense and rebounding and being an extra low-post threat. Leon Powe and Glen Davis( when he signs) will probably compete for a starting spot. Gabe Pruit will also fight for one.Brandon Wallace will probably also get a good chance in backing up Pierce or Allen or even Garnett. As far as things go now, Tony Allen( who was nearly lost all season) will probably become the sixth man to back up R. Allen or Pierce as well.

It's a new start but we'll see where it goes.

Rock on!

2007-07-21T08:39:00.000-07:00

I can't imagine what it would be like if I was in Singapore Polytechnic rather than Ngee Ann Polytechnic. It would have been a better choice. Fast foods almost weekly and probably a lot more walking and probably in crowded CCA's but more flexibility and choices and higher class of education and a lot more food choices. (Well, I'm imagine I probably would have gained at least 3-4kg if I did eat fastfood for a week.) Though SP was the better choice, I felt a good thing about NP. NP had a secondary school outlook, didn't have any fast food places and was definitely the closer of the two. Also, they're interdisciplinary studies attracted me and felt that I could be a better and more flexible professional there. In addition, my choice is starting to make good, I have a good fellowship of friends, a great CCA in Rock Climbing (I hope they can give us a wall next year.), recently improved the place, John my mentor is just next door to SIM, and my cousin is possibly moving there (SIM) for further studies. note: I don't regret going to NP or hate SP or advertising it.

I'm starting to enjoy my studies a little more, it's a matter of a love-hate relationship, you love your course but you hate the fact that your struggling. I guess I need to work harder. I need to study my mathematics( I enjoy it a lot), biology(needs work), IBME( needs a lot of work and reading and asking ).

It's hard to imagine that after looking through all these during the O level break, I finally made it. I got what I wanted. I got into a sports CCA in Rock Climbing though it wasn't my first choice and is working out more than ever in terms of physical development, the inter-disciplinary studies are making me work harder than ever, I'm growing as a Christian in Campus Crusade and I made good friends even met some in the unusual ways.

I hit SP with some of my fellow Rock Climbers for Level 1. I'll remember those term and maybe I'll hit a real rock some day. The wall up there was tough as it replicated a real rock formation with crevices and all. I got to learn to belay, use the shoes and a few tricks in difficulty and started getting used to using my arm strength a little more with my legs and everything-you-need to know about sports climbing. My legs are my strongest gear in my body and my mind is the best thing to control that. I still have a lot of work outs to go through including pull-ups or chin-ups to keep my spot and prove myself that I belong to this sport. Competition is coming up but I have yet to step into Yishun for some competitive training. For now, I gotta train more and make the most of my opportunity in West Coast Recreation for further trainings and buy my shoes. I also gave a Gospel tract to our instructor.

It's pretty hard to keep up with friends in Pioneer Junior College and I recently met up with one of my good friends who stills studies there to catch the Potter movie. She was well and we worked out some stuff, I gotta be thankful to her for being honest and caring and I wish her nothing but the best. She ordered the last book(H.P.) in advanced and I got to peek at it when one of my RC mates was reading it before our Level 1 course. Another friend is SP has been distant but I kept in contact with her recently while I was in Canada but haven;t talked to her since touch down in SG I just hope I get to meet her someday soon, she's a nice person and I wish her all the best. Another PJ mate in NP, he used to in basketball and played in the last game with him, he's now in canoe and I wish him all the best as well. He's in the top course and I wish him well. Another friend who was in my OG and NPSU group like the PJ mate from basketball has been really having a hard time according to her blog and I just support her and hope she pushes through. FOr others, I just wish them a good time including PJ Live.

I guess I'll rock on. Not the music part but the Rock part. I'll be hitting a lot of Rocks but I'll be also hitting a lot problems, I'll rock on For Christ and Life.!

what's the best thing for the Kings?

2007-07-10T06:54:00.000-07:00

What's the best thing for the Sacramento Kings? well, they have a new coach in Reggie Theus and a new prospect in Spencer Hawes. Hawes is showing good signs in the Summer League as well as Justin Williams and Francisco Garcia in the game against team CHina. However, the path won't be easy in the regular season, especially with some players who are a bit discouraged coming off one of the worst seasons in their careers after nearly pulling off a miracle two seasons ago in the 2006 playoffs.

Mike Bibby, Kevin Martin, Ron Artest is probably one of the strongest backcourts right now in the NBA. The problem is the back-ups. Garcia can't always back-up for both, if the Kings can get a good free agent pick-up, they should get a good back-up . A back-up for Bibby is also crucial for the kings, so they should get a solid veteran or young guy in their roster. Brad Miller is still a force I believe and will have a good back-up in Hawes or Shareef Abdul-Rahim or Williams.

Free Agents to get:
Unfortunately, Devean George, ANdres Nocioni, Grant Hill and Rasheed Lewis is taken..they were on this list.

1. Jason Hart-L.A. Clippers- he plays a good game being a good back-up. He's well-balanced and steps up well.

2.Chucky Atkins-Memphis Grizzlies- He's be looking for big $$$$ but he can provide a solid bench play next to Bibby.

3.Jacque Vaghuan-San ANtionio Spurs- he played well behind TOny Parker so he can play well behind Bibby.

4.Derek Anderson-Charlotte Bobcats- He and any of these point guards will be really helpful. He has a good shot and can relieve Artest and Martin of the scoring load. He can also defend well.

5.Jeff McInnis-Bobcats He played well right? He still can. If he's the same guy who played next to Lebron James a few seasons ago. He should provide some good play off-the-bench.

6. Ruben Patterson-Milwakee Bucks-He;s an explosive veteran who can come of the bench and be an offensive wing-man. Might be heavy though.

7.Gary Payton-Miami Heat-Old but he can still provide a good back-up for this season only. but he probably won't like that to much as a closing of his career.

8.Jumaine Jones-Phoenix SUns- He has the offense to back-up Artest. I think...

Trades-

KIngs can package some veterans like Kenny Thomas or Abdul-Rahim to get themselves together for a younger core. They can afford risks here and there but right now, I have no ideas

Rising...

2007-07-07T22:10:00.001-07:00

At first , the Phoenix Suns looked like someone ready to go to the playoffs and head for the FInals. They took Rudy Fernandez, a good player with a shooting guard and fastbreak mentality and was part of Spain's recent World Championship.Suddenly, they didn't, they gave the guy away for cash. That's not what your supposed to do. At least get a decent big man from the deal to help out Amare Stoudamire. ANyway, they still got Alando Tucker( who got a two year deal) and DJ Strawberry later in the draft. I guess they needed more cash to pay a good player.

The Suns still , however, look ready for a title. They're keeping the nucleus of Steve Nash, Stoudamire, Shawn Marion, Raja Bell, and young guns Boris Diaw and Leonardo Barbosa. Another good news is that Kurt Thomas will still be around and Grant Hill will be joining them soon. They also traded away James Jones as soon as the Portland deal gets done. To me, the Suns can capitalize on this years free agency. tough youngsters in Tucker and Strawberry will help but adding some muscle can help too.

free agents to sign, no rankings, just suggestions.

1. PJ Brown CHicago Bulls, Brown showed that he can still play with the youngsters and was often in the frontline next to Ben Wallace with the Bulls. He adds another tough defender in the post to the Suns. Kurt Thomas is already there but another body probably wouldn't hurt their salary or at least trade someone like Jumaine Jones or Jalen Rose for the guy.

2. Chris Webber- Detriot Pistons- Webber played center for the Pistons and was go-to-guy with the 76ers. Adding him brings a guy who can play with the Western conference bigs and will probably add another good passer to a team with a past-first MVP point guard. The only downside is his age and running game but he will be looking for a veteran's wage and most importantly, a championship.

3.Chris Mihm, Los Angeles Lakers, Mihm is a big question mark. If he's fully recovered from ankle surgery, HE can be a force on the block as well as a good back-up to either Stoudamire or Marion. He's been to the West and can also defend some big guys like Duncan and Garnett. He's asking salary and question mark is the downside and the fact that he hasn't played that much in the west as Thomas did.

4.Anderson Varejao- Cleveland Cavaliers , Varejao went to the Finals with Lebron James and may stay in Cleveland since he became a star there. His hustle and defense are a good fit for the Suns. However, he doesn't do much scoring and Stoudamire will probably take his job so, he's not a must sign guy.

5.Jamaal Maglore- Portland TrailBlazers- He has good experience and is as good as Brown. He's also younger but might ask as much as mihm is asking and didn't have a good season last year.

6.Austin Croshere- Dallas Mavericks- He's a good shooter and fit well with the Mavs. He's probably a good fit with the Suns too. A good get but will ask for a long term deal.

7. Kevin Cato- New York Knicks- old but a solid player. The Darell Armstrong- center guy.

8.Rafael Araujo- Utah Jazz- The Jazz wants to keep him so he might be something the Suns can work on.

9.Andray Blatche- Washington Wizards- another defensive gem but will ask a lot. Money does keep people down.

10. Joe Smith- Philadelphia 76ers- Showed he wasn't a small part in the IVerson trade. might not be as expensive as some think.

11. Grant Hill- Orlando Magic- brings flexibility and shooting at the back court next to Bell or Nash.

12.Darko Milic- orlando Magic- the Magic didn't want him so why not bring him in with Hill? might ask for $6 million as well and a long term deal but worth the price.

13.Kevin Willis- Dallas Mavericks- He says he can play! The Mavs took him and he wasn't used much. He's the oldest active free agent but can be risked at a veteran's wage. He's big anyway. Suns get desperate.

Either sign one or two of these guys can make the suns a championship team. They already are. They just need to win. Rise SUns...Rise....

Falling behind but learning to get up.....

2007-07-05T06:53:00.000-07:00

The Los Angeles lakers better make moves soon or else there won't be much left. Resigning Luke Walton, a verbal agreement has been made. Lakers want him, Kobe Bryant makes him happy, and Walton wants to come back. The only trade material I see here right now for LA is Smush Parker, Andrew Bynum (on the block), and Lamar Odom( only for really big moves because he's extremly valuable). Jermaine O'Neal would be nice but the Lakers need to make sure they get their roster right. They need to survey who's worth keeping and who's not. Kwame Brown has been big at center but needs to step-up more. Odom may be a good player and has played two seasons but he might be better off in a new direction and so are the Lakers. Bynum is a big kid with a a big question mark, can he be the next generation of youngsters like Jermaine O'Neal in Portland to Indiana or just a role player to be or, in short, is he worth the risk? Trading for a dominant big man is hard but with the right combo, it just might work.

Free Agents the Lakers should get:
1. Luke Walton- plays well in the system. They say Odom would be a bit like Scottie Pippen but Walton looks more suited for that job. Odom is more of a scorer to a lot of people.

2. Mo Williams or Steve Blake- Probably the most hard to get point guards next to Chauncy Billups but both can play well next to Kobe.

3.Chris Mihm- a center who can run the floor and play with energy, he's ranked 3 because he's still in a limbo after missing the whole of last season with ankle surgery. Like Bynum, a lot wonder if he's worth the risk.

4. Darko Milic- if Kevin Garnett or Jermaine O'Neal can't be taken. Milic might be the best option next to Mihm to take. Milic was dropped by the Orlando Magic recently, so a new deal with Hollywood might be a good take.

WIld card sign for the Lakers: Chris Webber or PJ Brown or Mikki Moore- all three had a new start last year but could be risks but are worth the try. Webber is a veteran and is still a solid presence on the block and a good teacher for a growing Bynum. Brown can solve problems guarding Tim Duncan or Amare Stoudamire. Moore can compete in the east but can he be a force in the West? It might be better to keep Bynum ,or sign Milic or Mihm.

Another Idea- Anderson Varejao- He's a risk and is asking a lot but will help significantly. anyway Maurice Evans and Kwame Brown can do the job he does.

Lakers could trade for:

1. Indiana Pacers- get: Jermaine O'Neal- He can be the big man the Lakers has been looking for to be a force in the paint and open up the floor for Kobe Bryant to operate. His style can be good with the triangle. Give: Lamar Odom with ANdrew Bynum or, if the Pacers agree, Brian Cook. Odom will be attractive for a veteran leader in a young core as well as Bynum. Cook can be a compensation if the Lakers decide against trading Bynum

2. Houston Rockets- Luther Head or Rafer Alston- either guards are shooters and the rockets are looking for Big men to help Yao Ming. Give: Brian Cook or Kwame Brown with an extra Smush Parker for another player or send him to another team for a 3-team deal for a big man.

3. Memphis Grizzlies- Pau Gasol or Hakeem Warrick- both are big men and while Gasol is hard to get, Warrick filled in nicely in Gasol's absence. Give: Lamar Odom( for deals with Gasol only), give Bynum or Brown if Warrick's worth the price but this is highly unlikely.

big trades- Kobe Bryant for anyone or anyones worth the price...hahahah...

People are falling these days, losing focus on what's important. These past few days. I need to get involved with GOd more. I need to get in touch with him. I need God. Just gotta learn to play my game better...GOd bless and good night

Draft night

2007-06-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

I guess I was just another NBA fan waiting for the moment.

I logged on to nba.com and found Greg ODen at 1 and Kevin DUrant at 2.

1. Greg ODen and Blazers- Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge becomes the twin towers. Aldridge has exprience and has shown that he can contribute both offensively and defensively and the addition of Oden makes opponents think twice about going inside. The only downside is that it will take time. The trade of Zach Randolph will mean the lost of a guy who gave 20 points and 10 boards a game last season and would have been Oden's mentor and partner in crime. Still, Portland has Jarett Jack and Brandon Roy and becomes an attractive place for offensive players like Rashard Lewis or Gerald Wallace. Aside from that, they still have Darius Miles, if he recovers, and Ime Udoka, if he comes back.

2.Sonics and Kevin Durant- Ray Allen to Celtics. I was thinking signing and trading Rashard Lewis to the Celtics would be better, but the Sonics went a new direction. THey have a young talented future all-star Kevin Durant. Hard-working players like Chris Wilcox and Jeff Green and still get shooters in Wally Scaerbiak and Delonte West. SO, the future still is bright. Sonics are my wildcard for this year

Finals to Draft

2007-06-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

Firstly, congratulations to the Spurs for winning the title one more time. A trade mark in the Tim Duncan lead franchise. Congrats also to Tony Parker MVP and husband to be. Michael Finley for his first and Robert Horry for his 7th. Unbelievable.

Now , time for draft day.

1st pick- Trail Blazers- Greg Oden- He is the next franchise center and will stand with the likes of Shaquille O'neal, Tim Duncan, and will remind Portland of the great Bill Walton. THe Blazers just secured their future and added a huge advantage to their young and talented team which also has rookie of the year Brandon Roy.

2nd Pick- Sonics Kevin Durant- He is a mix of Kevin Garnett, Rashard Lewis and the most offesively versitile forward in the Draft. The Sonics will take him and get another man to be Shawn Kemp who can play along side Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, if he comes back. He has the inside game to compliment Allen's outside presence.

3rd pick-Hawks- Al Horford- the Atlanta Hawks need a strong big man who can contribute immediately. Horford is a winner and helped and virtually lead the Florida Gators to back to back Championships. He also played in the team that with stood Greg Oden. The Hawks will have a man who can compliment Josh Smith or play center along side him or Mravin Williams or be a power Forward next to Zaza Pachulia, who had a break out season.

4th Pick Grizzlies- Mike Conley Jr. Usually Batman picks his Robin. For this one, the Grizzlies will get someone who has played alongside Greg Oden for a long time and can play with a talented line up of Mike Miller, Rudy Gay, Hakeem Warrick, Stromie Swift and Pau Gasol.

5th pick- Bucks - Yi Jian Lian- An big small forward on the wings of the Bucks next to Michael Redd. He will develop well in a good offensive team with the Bucks and can show up with a tall line up next to Charlie Villanueva and ANdrew Bogut.

6th pick- Celtics-Brandan Wright- He has a Shawn Marion / Josh Howard Mentality. the Celtics get an immediate Contributer who can play into Doc Rivers system. HE will relieve Pierce of slashing to the basket and relieve Al Jefferson of Rebounding duties.

7th pick-Wolves- Jeff Green- A versatile forward next to Kevin Garnett. Wolves get someone who can compliment Garnett at the post and fit right into the wolves system of big man.

8th pick- Bobcats-Corey Brewer- A three-point threat and wing man who can be insurance when Gerald Wallace bolts. On the other hand, He and Wallace compliment each other well with an inside-outside, it's just a matter of who's better at being a shooting guard or small forward.

9th pick - Bulls- Spencer Hawes- big man who can play next to Ben Wallace, Andres Nocioni, Tyrus Thomas and Learn from PJ Brown who may comeback next year.

10th pick- Kings- Joakim Noah- Energy and Passion. Something the Kings lack can come from Noah. Noah is a mix of offensive and defensive Rebounding and may wake up Brad Miller who has had a bad season since Chris Webber and Peja Stoajkovic left.

11th- Hawks- Acie Law- Perfect, a point guard who can go big next to veterans Lue and Claxton and play alongside Joe Johnson

12th-Sixers- AL Thorton-leader, athlete, and scorer, another piece to the Sixers young talented team

13th-Hornets- NIckYoung- best shooing guard in the Draft. good fit for a need in the Hornets line up and compliments Chris Paul well.

CAvs and Spurs in a dogfight, not only against each other but also the media and world

2007-06-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

The Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs are in the finals and there are more critics than ever. It's 3-0 in favor of the Spurs. I still expect it to be a battle to the finish.

Why is it a battle to the finish and why did I say that it's more than a battle against each other? Well, the Spurs are being labeled as boring and are blamed for causing TV ratings to go down. The Cavs are being blamed for not doing enough and Lebron James is being hounded by critics and are calling him immature and all. I'd say some are wrong. For one, both Tim Duncan of the Spurs and Lebron James of the Cavs are being good sports and are great players. Since Hakeem Olajuwon or Shaquille O'Neal, Duncan is becoming one of the best power forwards to emerge in the league. He has some of the best moves in the NBA since Olajuwon's "Dream". He has the lasting strength and spirit of an NBA champ like a young SHaq ,and discipline like his former teammate and friend David Robinson. He has the leadership of a true warrior. The one who serves his team.

James also is one of the greatest players. He didn't blame Donyel Marshal for that missed three-pointer in game 1 of the eastern conference finals and didn't balme Anderson Varejao for that missed shot on a drive in the Finals. He didn't make Larry Hughes' injury an excuse for losing or call Gibson's playoff performance a fluke ( of course, we all know it isn't.). He also didn't blame Gibson or his teammates for missing so many three pointers or use that as an excuse for the lost. HE leads by example and acts as a leader of the team. He's still competing even though their down 3-0 or even when he's being labeled as not as good as friend Dwayne Wade. James is fighting and is proven as a true NBA warrior and will be champ. I still believe James can win not just because I believe but because I see him play and see him complete. the Spurs will still have their hands full at all defensive stations. He kept fighting even though the shots weren't falling and got a block and steal against Duncan on the other end and hustled for every chance.

Nobody should call these guys bad or boring or not good enough. They're all winners. They represent and clearly show what true NBA glory is. It's not about just winning but completing as a team and fighting despite all. That's how warriors are.

James, Daniel Gibson and Cavaliers push through...

2007-06-03T05:16:00.001-07:00

From defeating the struggling Washington Wizards to overcoming the three headed beasts of the New jersey NEts and to the demolishing of the Detroit Pistons towers of defense, the Cleveland Cavaliers are now at the top of the East. All thanks not only to Lebron James but the entire Cleveland Cavaliers. It was James who dominated at least in three or four games in all three Series, it was Sasha Pavlovic who played defense on Jason Kidd to keep the Nets at bay, it was Anderson Varejao who hustled for loose balls and played defense on guys bigger than him and it was Daniel Gibson who helped tear apart the Pistons in the Conference Finals. Gibson played tough defense and hit timely shots as well as free throws to help Cleveland gain Finals glory.

They kept their cool and made no excuses when Donyell Marshall missed a wide-open three pointer which could have won Game 1 ,and when Lebron James missed and could not get the call he wanted. In end, in games 3 and 4, Cleveland used it's home court advantage to the fullest to even the series , and who could forget James unforgettable historical 48-point effort including 27 of his teams 31 final points to win 109-107 in double overtime (see previous entry). Finally Game 6, Cavs once again keep their cool and play defense and Daniel Gibson explodes and all James ever did in the regular season to make his team better paid off. Therefore, the Cleveland Cavalier are on top of the NBA next to the Spurs.

It's hard to say. San Antonio might dominate in this finals but the Cavs have been able to stop the Spurs in their regular season meetings. James got through Prince, now he has to push pass Bruce Bowen as well as Michael Finley, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli. It will be a great series.

Before, I said, we need to step-up in life, Gibson did it, will you? I made one crucial mistake on missing out on one more thing to step up...support. I guess sometimes, we have to rely on someone else to make us better then we step up. My dad made me more disciplined than ever and I owe him a lot for making it this far in school. becoming a Christian by accepting JEsus made me a better man. God bless to all

James gets back

2007-06-01T00:07:00.000-07:00

Man, Lebron James just gave me a shock! I was thinking good-bye Cavaliers with three minutes left and being down by 7 against the Detroit Pistons. Considering how close the game was in terms of defense, that was a difficult situation. Out of nowhere, James who just had 21 points at the time I left the game site, scored 27 to send the game to 2 overtimes and win 109-107. I had to admit, I underrated James way too much. I didn't expect that.

It surprises a lot of people when such a youngster puts up such a game. He was just big. The Pistons was like an Iron Wall on defense and James blew it up with a tank of lay-ups and three pointers. I believe everyone will have a chance like that. To just step up and show up in crunch time in life. A kid who rushes his studies and gets the top score. A newbie in a job and suddenly puts the company on top and goes beyond expectation. We can all be amazing but will you step-up? You just gotta find your grove. Looks like my wish is coming through...Seeing Lebron James and the Cavs in the Finals.

First round

2007-05-31T08:08:00.000-07:00

Hello! Finally, my first blog.
Tim Duncan and the Spurs are back in the Finals and I'm hoping a match between them and the Cleveland Cavaliers. I'm hoping that Lebron James will lead his team to victory over the Detroit Pistons.

For the Spurs, it was about grinding it out. The Spurs wanted another shot and after it took out The Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns and recently the Utah Jazz. They look unbeatable. Duncan is a solid inside presence, dedicated to make life miserable for opponents on defense and offense. Manu Ginobili can make opponents think twice about doubling Duncan or leaving an open lane for him. Tony Parker just runs circles and scores. Bruce Bowen is the man who does all the dirty defense on the opponent's fastest or trickiest players. Robert Horry and Micheal Finley can hit big time shots with Finley having the ability to create one of his own and Horry being able to provide extra defense and rebounding underneath and can be a headache on the hustle board. The newest member, Fabrico Oberto, simply works around the basket and has earned a starting spot by being the unsung hero for the games against the Jazz. His energy brings the Spurs closer to victory each night.

It's a matter of waiting for now. Pistons will bring their experience and defense to the Finals: while the Cavs bring the best player in the playoffs. It will be a matter of who wants it more for this series. If the Cavs continue to pressure Chauncy Billups and Richard Hamilton with Daniel Gibson and Larry Hughes, if he comes back, it will be the best turn around since Miami Heat last year. There's more to detail but it'll be more when the time comes.

Speaking of underdogs, it's sometimes the second time that's the charm. Example, the Jazz and the Spurs weren't the Favorites. It was actually the Suns and the Dallas Mavericks but the Mavericks were eliminated by the underdog Golden State Warriors and bad judgment caused the Suns their series against the Spurs. The Spurs are the oldest team in the NBA but they have a new chance to show that they can be a dynasty. A second shot at glory. THe Jazz had a bad ending to the regular season and was underdogs from the beginning. Their home court gave them a second chance. With new found confidence, they ousted the Houston Rockets in Game 7 at Houston and later, beat their underdog counter parts the Warriors by winning an all important Game 4 at Oakland.

Sometimes, a second chance is not given but earned and taken. Maybe for us, our second chance is there but we just need to grab it before it disappears. We just need to open our hearts and eyes and ears. Stick around because, this is also a second chance for me. God bless to all