a reprint of what i wrote - almost four years ago.

Sunday, March 31, 2002
oh, forgot to add in some quotes from robert kiyosaki from the "you can choose to be rich" seminar last night.

1. money won't make you rich.
2. never let "no money" be an excuse to stay poor, but an inspiration
3. if what others think of you affects you more than what you think of yourself, you're finished.
4. if you tell a child "not to make mistakes", you cripple the child emotionally, and mentally. (establishing a pattern of fear of making mistakes)
5. the hottest hot tip is "not to take hot tips".
6. the most expensive advice is FREE advice.
7. licenced accountants, brokers may not know what they're really doing.
8. when you pretend you don't have a problem, you ARE the problem.
9. the greatest risk is no education.

3 important keys to success
1. able to handle objections
2. not afraid to make mistakes
3. dare to ask from help. from smart people.

definitions
1. assets - something that puts money into your pocket whether you work or not.
2. liabilities - something that takes away your money.

by the way, robert said that by june this year, cashflow for kids will be made FREE on the internet!

p.s. i'm really interested in going for the 3 day advanced investment seminar conducted by robert kiyosaki, dr. dolf de roos and david novac... it costs S$3,500 though, that's all.

10:54 PM

i just took a voluntary history lesson on singapore, and also got a glimpse of the who's who and what's what of the bike business in singapore. simply, simply incredible. i also learnt a little about the background of the area where i live in. no wonder, my dad often harps how unsafe it is to stay out at night. in those days, a person could get mugged (or worse) in the night when he was wearing a watch. girls probably wouldn't be out at all at night!

seems like soon hoe is not an obscure shopname all along. for those who don't know, please go and find out.

sitting at the bikeshop, it's actually a wonder microcosm of the world we have out there. the good and bad of people can be seen oh-so-clearly etc.

and one thing that i learnt about a certain friend today was a relevation. he believes that by pushing your envelope each time, you'd improve. if you opt out to just draft along for the ride, you might as well not ride, since you won't improve. or worse still in the headwinds, you'd fade.

i believe i have met my second benefactor to guide me through my life.

a few days ago, handbag visited my place. we came up with a plan to keep reindeer in captivity... and this was what we got:


there was a juvenile...


and an adult reindeer...

we did two laps of bt today - handbag needed more than his 100-plus/redbull mix to finish those two laps. oops. i better not talk too much!

yesterday's achievement - 3 laps of bt, first lap 30 minutes, second lap about 30 minutes, last lap, 26 minutes. total time: 1 hour, 26 minutes. gee, it seems i really really shouldn't redline my heartrate, and just keep going relaxed! hardly even feel thirsty... and yes, the troy lee designs xc gloves, were excellent! zero wrist pump feeling... good stuff!

now, if only i could try out the gp gloves soon...

just came back from an extended dinner at seoul garden with e.c. - it happens that she didn't visit it before, just like me! so the two of us experimented with mango , strawberry, choc and chips flavoured hot plate-cooked beef and chicken. met wendy yap the runner there too.


from top, then left to right:
bell sweep xc, troy lee designs (tld) xc gloves, tld gp gloves,
661 comp gloves (for gorilla

brought back a small haul of stuff from an undisclosed location today, with handbag and monsta.

after about five hours, the new ride was born.

just finished downloading star wreck - in the pirkinning. gotta watch it... a massive 500+ mb video, 1:42 in duration!

handbag is one day closer to the bike being up now... after one crazy day of adhering oracal to the frame!

just came back from a riders' and karatekas' gathering at zs' place... and before mavic, aeroplane and flanker moved off from the paya lebar station, i happened to spot fionjo with taylor (sp?), who were heading for town...

gotta sleep soon, the brunch ride's just this morning now!

went out to the salomon sale with handbag, and while we were there, m and rod were there too! i got myself another a.r. shorts for $39.60...

phishy fang dropped by my place yesterday to get a little bike servicing done. verdict? brakes feel good now!

good to know.

later in the night, got to introduce some of my kakis' to each other - mavic, khim, cleaver were introduced to phishy, while cleaver was introduced to mountaineerbabe.

but the bad part of the introducing? i overslept, and missed the kota tinggi ride this morning. oops.

went for a run yesterday afternoon with dear chum bev around our area, she looks so cute when she's groaning over the distance left to get back to home.

monsta got his sid from deus_ex71... and we went to get it assembled up on his giant xtc team. woah! massive weight reduction from his mz comp!

samsung is a funny company. on the website, and in print, and even in the pdf files from its website... things don't match up. for example, the knowledge base on their site says all lcd monitors are 5:4 ratio, but some models get listed as 4:3 on their webpage. a download of the pdf says, the same machine is 5:4. confusing?

on the bright side, it might be corporate or regional flexibility. on the box for the 940b that i have, it says it's only for the singapore market. gee, what happens if it can't sell all the singapore-tailored stocks? i'll take a second unit on the cheap then!... whatever the case, it's absolutely a delight to work 1280x1024, 32bpp @ 70 hz now. i can't imagine how i survived with a 14" (13+" visible) crt with my first computer back in 1992...

and more importantly, it doesn't feel hot at all! this monitor is rated at maximum 40 watts, compared to my earlier 130 watt aoc. just a thirdth of the power. good enough - main effect i want - less heat buildup in my room.

got a samsung syncmaster 940b from joyce's store today - woohoo! more space on my table!



umm... actually that means, i have more working space to clear up my table with...


and a shot of my small collection of earplugs. nothing fancy.

went bikeshop visiting with handbag today - got myself a park tool cc-3 and a topeak pocket rocket masterblaster from seng chu hin. popped by for the first time at t3, and nichola recognized me - and i must say i was impressed with the layout and the stock. hope his business is doing well.

i didn't learn a single thing during the exercise. well, almost. i only learnt how to do fade in/out transitions for flash mx really much faster thanks to my hq csm. and setting things to symbols in it too, for a difference. but the real learning for me, came only today, when the exercise was wrapped up.

the ict was pretty much a reminder to me of so many things that i have failed in, in my work in school. trivial matters, but they seem to co-relate to my shoddy work attitude... but i expect a lot from other people. if there's only one thing i've learnt, this ict was a good and fair exchange for the learning i did for myself, from what i said and commented about people. my selfishness, and then the realization of it just moments after; a good exchange for the two weeks of school vacations i would have already had otherwise.

life isn't always fair. you may do your best, but people may not rate you right on top, where you should belong. but it is wiser to put that aside, swallow the injustice, and still strive to do even more than you did. i am glad to have a leader who is just like that.

i found a very good friend, in fact he's so nurturing to me, that i feel he is my second father. we argue at times, but we get constructive work done from the temporary unhappiness, and we forget about the short bad experience; and remember the good that came out of it.

this is what i respect rangers for. the sheer mentality of moving on, getting things done, regardless of whatever happens.

i need discipline.
i need to remind myself to work to the best i can, and give even more.
i need to unlearn being selfish.
i need to be less of a perfectionist, but still ask 101% of my work.
i need to focus on the work that is essential to my intended scope.
i need to be more human.

watched a little of saving private ryan today, the beach landing scene. i grimaced at the grisly imagery of it all, wondering how it would be should singapore be at war. lives would be lost. i just realized... all along when i looked at grisly images, or outright brutal visuals... i was trying to harden myself emotionally. unfortunately, i think it's the good thing, badly executed. i need to connect with the emotional side of myself and be more open to my family. i need to get rid of the emotional side of myself, to get work done. i must not get emotionally involved when i'm at work; no matter how mischievous the children may be. i need to know how to embrace my parents and tell them i love them. and this ties back with what i just said about the movie. all along, i've been trying to steel myself up... initially to prevent myself from being shocked at the horrors of war; but i've ended up steeling myself from showing my emotional connection with my parents. i really need to work on that.

from the short excerpt from the movie, i feel the spirit of going on, no matter how hard to swallow it may be, to see your comrades falling as they get maimed or killed... that is the spirit i must learn. not to fall down each and every time is impossible; it is far more possible to fall down, recover, and charge on, to the last breath.

i may never be a ranger in my lifetime; but i can learn to be one. like the m.o.e. advertisement says, "if you show me how." i have found a leader who can show me how. and i'm more than glad to have that. i can be eloquent, but my emotions now are stuck at words. i guess you know as a reader, what kind of feeling i have now.

just like how this leader wants his nsf soldiers and nsmen to be good and morally upright, it's a parallel with a teacher and a student, and most importantly, a parent and a child. no wonder... when we have been one of the latter, it's a struggle to fill up the shoes of the former. it's not an easy journey; nobody said it was; but we must do it all the same.

thank you God, for showing me this benefactor. Amen.

"you made a difference." the sentence that got me involved willingly, nevermind at times it wasn't wholeheartedly.

a company has just done it again - shooting photos and selling it on their website without being appointed official photographers. exactly the same repeated situation as nie biathlon 2004, except that the images are sold as prints this time.

check out their business ethics here.

well, just to prove that i was at the scene taking photos...


and found my good confidante whom i lost touch with for a long time... frances! she just cannot, cannot look mean. this is supposed to be a mean face ah? try harder...

saw family (andy on the half), zombie, fellow blue rider charles, anderson, ballet babe esther from ntu hall x on the half - i sure i saw even more people, but i can't recall all of them; and even more on the full today. hot hot hot weather nearing the end!

for the full - fitness spec josh and alvin, siva g (was he on the full?), and many more mr25 people.

was half a decade ago, when yours truly did a 3:16 and got 9th for men's local. wow, long time ago! no cheerleaders, no hoo-hah, it's just the hardcore people running and seeing whose legs would last all the way; playing a game of mental dare and tenacity, to see if you dared to push at a pace that can kill off your competitors (and yourself, optionally). where there was running through the housing estates - that makes me feel that i'm running a real race; not a run in the park. if marathon runners for my time were crazy, i don't know what to call those who ran in the 70s and 80s and early 90s... REALLY crazy! days of sports science were next to inexistent then, wonder how people did the training and recovery.

for the friends who know me, they will attest to the fact that for me, equipment matters. i would source the ideal racer shoes for the run; and similarly now i source for the best biking gear that are feasible for myself; this practice extends to my bike tools and my photography too. the things i get are in such a way that they wouldn't be overkill for myself, and are more than enough not to be a limitation to my work.

my advice for local marathon runners - good that you guys and gals are doing it, but do it smart. no point finishing the 42k, end up busting your knees, and screw yourself for good. there's a reason why i'm not running the local marathons now. i want to rest my knees. i want to carry on living sport, instead of just taking part. i don't want to let it last one 42k distance, and end there. i want to get it going on and on... as long as i live. the number of people with chondromalacia problems on the run, knees with structural ligament problems, those limping, walking with a modified gait... that looks painful. i was reminded of the phrase, "penny wise, pound foolish" - why finish a race, and risk not being able to do another one again? are these human runners, or human lemmings?

for those who pop by my blog, and haven't done a half-marathon, but are intending to do one or even a full 42k run, please do not do it until you have sorted out your gait, so that each step that you take is a gliding step - one that you can't feel the impact of each footstrike. instead, let it become a footglide. 21k or 42k worth of footstrikes and footglides make a lot of difference to your knees' structure. like what runner's world says - pretend to run on egg shells, or thin ice. you know you don't want to crack right through. i'm an efficiency nut, though while offroading this isn't too applicable. i'm a fan of higher cadences (at least for a mountainbike on-road)... and i'm working to up my cadence for my roadbike. we know the routine offroad. high gearing means mashing your knees; lower gearings may allow you to even spin up a long climb. which do you prefer? higher cadence, lesser input work, even though you move more. but muscular fatigue is something you will get when you are pushing the limits of your muscles - and for some, it may end up in cramps. i am proud to say, as far as i can remember, i have never gotten major cramps before. footcramps, once in a blue blue moon, yes; any major muscle group? nope. i'm pretty proud to say too, even before the pose method of running was written, i have already given the same advice to my friends - land lightly, cut the body-bob syndrome, higher cadence, don't extend your soon-to-strike leg far out (instead, push off harder that little more when pushing off the ground). it's a motor nightmare for some people, but heck, it works! watch a world class track meet in slow-mo, and you'll see what i mean. hicham el guerrouj was the best i saw, and i learnt a lot working on my trackwork then, adapting principles of efficiency to my own running.

think biking when u run
easy gear, high cadence
hard gear, low cadence
and it's the latter that cause cramps
i haven't heard of a person, spin until cramp
extending the leg in front STRAIGHT or FURTHER FORWARD breaks the rhythm of motion; hence killing your own speed

some articles from posetech that may be helpful:
a primer on pose tech
switching to pose technique

if for cycling, we talk about cadences (especially with lance well-known for 100+ rpm riding), why not running? and let's not forget. the knees are basically floating joints in the sense that your body weight is borne by the soft tissue called meniscus. how much pounding can a hard object take before it crumbles? then what more to be said about a soft tissue?

all that i wrote above, i did for myself, and saw the results. a marathon is a race of attrition, where you aggressively play mental games with your opponents, and tear them to pieces - it's the slow version of tour de france - you're running, and you're usually alone in terms of tactics. but do remember to cherish and embrace each other at the end of the day. and no matter how slow you go, a high cadence shuffling will beat low cadence walking hands down.

think smart, train smart, run smart. and go on for as long as you live. be wise, my friends.

guess it has been a very special sea games for team singapore this time round... wensi, heem wei and company scored team gold for the all-round; one gold for singapore in the men's triathlon, and a bronze in the women's. cool!

while waiting with dad for mom outside lido; i saw this man with his girlfriend (or wife?) in tow. he had a camera on the tripod head; the lady was carrying the tripod bag. gee, he might be better off hiring a model or a photographer's assistant to carry the miscellaneous equipment...

had a horrid nightmare in my sleep that left me quivering in the morning.

dreamt that i went to a bikestore, and left my offroad bike outside the shop that has a glass front; while i turned and watched some work being done on someone else's bike. and when i turned around, my bike was gone!

thankfully it was all just a nightmare.

last night, i'd stayed for the informal dining-in for the division's kahs'. surprisingly, bervyn was there too; and he mentioned that his name was on my blog. coincidentally, dy g1 did add in that i do write quite well... wait! since when did dy g1 read my blog too?!

didn't get the full course of the dinner, but hey, the soup was great!