Mysteries

I was reading an article on the dead sea and i found it really interesting. How it came about is a real mystery. Geologically, it can be explained. But religion brings it own story on how the dead sea came about. So if you're free, go search it up. Anyway, today we did the 10km run for cip followed by a dragonboat race. Although we did not perform as expected, i guess its ok. After that, me, weishun, timothy and clayton went for lunch at plaza singapura. i really need to catch up on studies. other than that there was nothing much today. haha. thats all folks

Dark blue

I have (I have) you breathing down my neck (breathing down my neck)
I don't (don't know) what you could possibly expect under this condition so
I'll wait (I'll wait) for the ambulance to come (ambulance to come)
Pick us up off the floor
What did you possibly expect under this condition so

Slow down.. this night's a perfect shade of
Dark blue (dark blue)
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room when I'm here with you
I said the world could be burning down
Dark blue (dark blue)
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room well I'm here with you
I said the world could be burning 'til there's nothing but dark blue..
Just dark blue

This flood (this flood) is slowly rising up swallowing the ground
Beneath my feet, Tell me how anybody thinks under this condition so
I'll swim (I'll swim) as the water rises up, the sun is sinking down
And now all I can see are the planets in a row
Suggesting it's best that I slow down

This night's a perfect shade of
Dark blue (dark blue)
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room when I'm here with you
I said the world could be burning (burning) down
Dark blue (dark blue)
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room well I'm here with you
I said the world could be burning dark blue

We were boxing
We were boxing the stars
We were boxing (we were boxing)
You were swinging for Mars
And then the water reached the West Coast
And took the power lines (the power lines)
And it was me and you (this could last forever)
And the whole town under water
There was nothing we could do
It was dark blue

Dark blue (dark blue)
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room well I'm here with you
I said the world could be burning (burning) down
Dark blue
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room well I'm here with you
I said the room could be burning now there's nothing but dark blue

If you've ever been alone in the dark blue
If you've ever been alone you'll know (you'll know)

Im left in the wake of the mistake

Today i had so many free periods. Training wasn't that bad. People have improved so quickly. Mileage phase is the best time for me to work on endurance. Whats done is done, you just leave it alone and don't regret it. This is something i've learnt from this pass few days. I cant turn back time to change the present. All i can do is carry on and try not to make the same mistake in the future. Losing my stuff, breaking promises, getting lousy results and also having a superstar attitude which i sometimes hate myself for it. This have to change. I cant let it happen again. One life, try to make it perfect. Promos in 2 months time and i got a lot to work on. No time for other stuff. I must do well for promos. I want to be a somebody and not a loser in life.

Pictures for NCC

And that's after the 10k race which me and ZK got second. It wasn't easy but we did it i guess. I would like to thank ZK for agreeing to be my partner in this race. Couldn't have done it without you. This may be your last race before your A's. Good luck and all the best partner

National canoeing championships

Well, K2 10000m got 2nd. -_-' Me and ZK did a lousy take off which caused us to fall back at the start. After the take off, we were 5th in place. Infront of us were 2 combined schools boat and 1 nus and 1 ntu boat. After the first 1km, we almost capped at the turn. Luckily i manage to push us back to balance. We were still way behind the 4 boats. After the 2nd turn, the ntu boat capped. This made us 4th in position. At the 4th km we caught up with one of the combined schools boat and the nus boat. The 3 of us rowed side by side, pushing the pace and trying to pull away first. After the 5th km, we manage to overtake the 2 boats which got us into 2nd position, but i realise that the nus boat was riding our wash. I started to get an idea about how they are conserving by riding our wash. From then, i tried many tricks to lose them such as squeezing them of with another boat but it was to no avail. At the 8th km, the combined school boat manage to catch up to us. I took this opportunity to slow down abit so that the nus boat would go ride the combined schools wash. When the nus boat finally left us, it was clear for me and zk to go. " ZK! Lets burst all the way now!" i commanded. From then we whacked the last km as hard as we can. Before they knew it, we pulled away from the pack and manage to finish at 2nd place. It was a very good experience. It was raining for awhile during that 10km and while it was raining, i told zk that we will take this chance to recover before our final burst. It was damn WWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOO! haha. Im never ever gonna understand rowing a k2 or a k4. FOREVER K1.

Selfish? I think not

Today's post is going to be about today's screwed up training. It started of well. After the 500m mark, one pair of k2 girls capped so i had to rescue them cause there were no t boats around. But thats not the problem. After rescueing them, i carried on with the other k1 guys. Then i realised that calvin couldn't keep up and that he was causing the k1 guys to go slow. So i decided to take him and let the other guys push the pace. I rowed with him for sometime until he capped. Again i had to do the rescueing. After rescueing, i continued with him until zhi kai came and took him for a short training in an apache. I went back to the guys. This time, i realise Edmund was lagging so i decided to take him and let the faster boats push the pace. So i took him for a few minutes until i decided to let bryan take him so that i can train. When i joined the pack, i realised QR was lagging. But this time i didnt take him. Instead, i insisted on pushing the pace. The fact that i was using a tiger and he was using a raptor really gets me mad when he's lagging. In addition, he does so much more training then me. He's not doing justice to himself. Its either that or he's training are all fake. I dont mean to shoot you or anything. Anyway, after training, boss called for pack up but instead of following his orders, i decided to train with zk for a mere 15mins? I wanted to make up for all the rescueing and the taking of slower boats during training. Its not that im trying to be a rebel or anything. And zk is only training today. If i dont row with him then i'll be racing with no k2 experience. How unfair is that? To make it worst, during debrief, it was fricking obvious that you were talking about me. The both of you. Just to let you know that im not angry with the fact that you were shooting me throughout the debrief but im angry because you didnt consider how much time i wasted during the rescueing and pacing. Is taking 15mins more wrong? Cant the team function without a qm to monitor the keeping of boats? If you dont like what i do then say it clearly. Use my name. DONT go and say " some of you here ". Refering to me then just say it clearly. Some people just have a F***ed up attitude which i cant stand at times. Its really sad to see you act that way.

(-_-') so lamb

Today started of with a screw up. Shan't talk about it. Mr lum hates me. In fact, all my teachers hates me i think. All because im not a genius and that im a little bit lazy. Maths remedial every thursday double periods. WWOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHOOOOOOO!!! Im gonna die. Malay lesson is the best lesson of the day, because, my teacher was absent. Ended up having double free period. Sat at canteen with the guys till about 4.30. Following that was malay listening compre. Easy? I think so. After comparing answers after the paper, i realise i only got 1 mistake. Tmr racial harmony day = no lessons so trg will be early. WWWWWWWOOOOOOOOHHHHOOOOOO! NCC must at least get top 3. haha. Oh! and guess whats the colour of water. hahah. The answer is water colour. haha. Cant believe i fell for that. hahah. Oh well. Life goes on.

WOOHOO!

More photos from nationals

All the best to Zi Qiang and Lucas for the world juniors champs and good luck to all the canoeists who are participating in NCC. May the best canoeist win.

Let's kick it up

Preparations for next year nationals begin today. After a talk by my coach, i realized there are alot of things that i need to improve and that if i work on my weakness, i can cut down my timing by at least 5 sec. I know that my best is yet to be reached. If people like sam lim and zi qiang can do it then i dont see why i can't. I need to be fast before i reach ns. I want to see how much i can mature in this sport. Having only about 3/2 years of training, im already at a disadvantage as compared to the other rowers who have at least 4 years in canoeing. There are many people to beat and many others who want to beat me. No more playing. Training have to be intense and not wasted. Like i said, many things can be improved on and i better start working on them. Shortly after learning about this sport, i've learnt to love it. Some people say im talented or im damn good at canoeing but all i can say is that i really love canoeing. And i believe that as long as i love doing what i do, i can improve quickly. Last year, my coach told me that no matter how long you train, there will be a point of time where the rate of improvement will be constantly low. Some canoeist may even take a year to shave off that 1 or 2 sec from their personal best. The thing is, i don't think i've hit that limit yet. I couldn't have, its too early. I want to see myself be one of the best in this sport. Next year, i dont want to be seen as a no-threat to the other rowers. As long as im in the competition, no one is going to win easily. Every step i take will bring me closer to my goal.

It ends here... for now

Its the end of nationals. For some it may be the last race, for others it is just another race. The joy of winning and the pain of losing. Why are people happy when they win? Is it because they manage to get a medal? is it because they have beaten others? is it because they have something to be proud about? And why are people sad when they lose? Is it because they regret not giving their best? is it because they couldn't get a medal? or is it simply because they feel that all their effort preparing for it have gone to waste? Only oneself will know the reason. But whatever the reason is, winning and losing is part of life and that everyday there
are races. Be it against time, or against others or against one self. Its there. Im happy that i got 3rd at the same time sad that im not good enough to be the best. All the trainings are still not enough. If i get to join scf then may be i can shave off a few more seconds of my personal best. Lets not forget my studies which is really bad. I really need to focus more on studies for now. I'm not going to retain and waste my time in nj. Next year nationals will be really tough. They'll be more strong rowers who i am really looking forward to race with. The heats could be the finals for me but i'll try to prevent that as far as possible. Next race NCC. Hopefully i can take k2 10k with zhi kai. and any k1 event. haha. Races coming up will be NCC and the Master series. Promos in 9 weeks i think. WOoooooHOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo! im so dead if i dont start studying.

Peace

Today the whole canoeing team went to changi airport to send Mr Yong off. He has finally left for his death valley run which i think is really cool. Its like being a superhuman being able to move for 217km at 50 degrees temperature. Before he left, he told us his purpose for doing such a thing and i realised that being unselfish is really something. Alot of times in our lives have we done unselfish things unconsciously which i think we should sit back and reflect on our own character towards others. He didn't have to go to such extremes to show others the true meaning of unselfishness but he went on with it, sacrificing his time and effort and also risking he's very life during the challenge. Now that's a really significant C.I.P. yea.

Complete

Today was the finals and my prediction was right. Lucas 1st, Boon Gan 2nd, Aiman 3rd. It was a good race and i really respect them. Though it was close, a defeat is a defeat and i cant deny that they are better then me. Well, Nj did win the title for both A div guys and girls and B div girls so i guess its good enough. NCC is next which i plan to race it for fun ( as usual ). K1 1000m is really fun. Hope i get it again next year. Grats to those who made it into combined schools which i think is the coolest thing. I was that close to making it in. Some pics to end this post with:

Final round

These 2 days have been fun while it lasted. Getting 1st in heats and semis is nothing to be happy about cos people may be conserving. Tried a new race plan today and it felt great. Hopefully tomorrow it will work. It will not be easy as im going against the giants of k1 1000m. Vasin is really creepy. Wonder if he has been hiding his power all this time. No more holding back. Im going to blast from the start till the end. I cant afford to let down the team and im not going to let all my 'hard' training go to waste. haha. So if anyone who's going against me tomorrow, pls dont expect to beat me without breaking a sweat. It will be fun tomorrow. Getting a medal may be easy but its the colour of it that matter and it will be determined by the desire in any of us. Currently we have equal number of boats in the finals as hci so i guess its all or nothing. 1 screw up and we're dead. To all njc canoeist, my race tomorrow will be for you. I may not be able to ensure 1st position but all i can assure you is that all this 6 months of trg, im putting it in for tmr's race. Every drop of blood, heart and soul, and im gonna go the distance tomorrow.

Nj whoosh!

Stage 2

Here we go, here we go again. Heats is done and semis is next. Heats was really slow today. Timing is sooo lousy. Im gonna get thrashed in the finals i think. Boon Gan, Vasin and Lucas are my main contenders. Finals wont be easy but it will be fun. Hope there's no black horse in the semis tmr. One screw up and im dead. No crossing of lanes, no false start and no capsizes. Today so many people got disqualified. Even experienced rowers. Bedok is really a tough place to race in. Its really tough to control directions and due to parallex error, one may just go off lane and not know it. Racing is not a game, but a battle to be the best. Anyone whose racing tmr, i strongly advice you to look up and stay alert when racing. Side wind is constant there so please be very careful. T1's especially. Stage one is over, Stage 2 is next and it wont be easy for me as i think im going against Vasin and Lucas. Oh well. I hope it will be fun. haha. Edmund, grats for making it to the semis. ahah. Lucky ass. Lets see if you make it to the finals. Finally, to those of you who did not make it, reflect and react to ensure that the next time you do make it.

Mistakes cannot be undone but it can be prevented from happening again.

Day before tomorrow

Tomorrow will be the start of the long awaited, most anticipated, exciting, heart pounding race ever. Its the nationals schools canoeing championship and guess what, I'm gonna race. -_-' Anyway, today we had a nice short, brief, easy, relaxing training which is 1/2hr of easy rowing. K1 tigers are only fun if the rudder is working properly. haha. Today, i was damn free. After morning training, which ended at about 8am, i sat in school till about 3.15pm before heading down to macritchie for training. I read a book, sleep, read again, went for lunch, and slept again till 3.15. What fun it was... Ate sushi for dinner courtesy of gill and bee. Thanks! Can't wait for nationals to end cos i can eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat till i drop. Harry potter is screening in the cinemas on the 12/07/07 which is the final day for nationals. How cool is that? Anyone interested in supporting the young canoeists of Singapore tomorrow? It will be at bedok reservoir from the 10th to the 12 of july. Finals will be on the 12. Admission is free.

Racing with the best will bring out the best in me.

Weird community

Some people have really bad dressing sense. Unsightly facial piercings, dressings and even hairstyle. I'm telling you, its really weird. Hair colours from white to green to red and even purple. Piercings on eye lids, nostrils, tongue and even in between the eyes (upper nose section). And the way they dress, its amazing how they can come up with this kinda fashion. Guys wearing thick jackets, beanie, singlets and shorts. haha. Wonder what they're trying to do. Guess some people dress up to help them get a new identity or just to attract attention. Why cant they just dress up decently like just a shirt and a pair of jeans? Smokers are really inconsiderate bunch of people. Breathing out fumes from their mouth. Don't they know that smoking is a slow suicidal kind of thing. And by breathing out those yucky fumes, they're shortening the lives of those who breathes in those fumes. Anyway, bought a nice book today on lance armstrong. haha. My first book that i bought. Hopefully it can inspire me.
(:

Bo(red)

Sunday is the most boring day of the week. Simply because there is absolutely nothing fun to be done. Nationals in 2 days i think and im still slow. I can't even go below 4.10 for 1k. Too slow. My strokes are wrong, my race plan is screwed, my confidence is below average and, im not used to bedok's water condition. The wind there is really strong. haha. I really appreciate macritchie now.
Maths va and gp va to be done. I promise to do it after nationals. Common tests was a waste of time i think. haha. Good luck to all those who are competing in natls in the few days time. I'll need it alot. Gave my boat a good polish yesterday with some synthetic liquid wax. Cool eh? haha Hopefully it will be nice to me and help me win my race. haha. Training tomorrow. WOOOOHHHHHHOOOOOOO!!!!! haha. Gonna be fun cos we will all be using k1 tigers. Its been awhile. Lets play! After natls will be NCC ( National canoeing champs). Another race where i think i will have fun.

The birth

Aiman's blog is born on 8th of july 2007 at 1.54pm.