wow! teo ser luck running for election 2006! now, that's something. if he was running in my election zone, i'd give him one-up!

so it seems, that an acs (independent) student actually lost his brains and bit and stamped on a sji rugby player's head last week. what utter disgrace. and i'd thought acs(i) to have gentlemen who respected the rules of engagement. tsk tsk.

hopefully he grows up and repents.

i didn't realize there had been another update until my good brother-in-bikes mavic told me... it's good, that things are moving.

i can concentrate on what i have to do now. photography is not an easy market, but it's exciting, compared with slogging in the classrooms. granted, there is no paycheck, but as kiyosaki said, people who are used to paychecks would say,... "where is my paycheck?" which condenses to w.i.m.p.

i'm glad i'm taking steps not to be a wimp.

i do not know how He gets things done, but when he does, he just does it. the cheque for that mind-boggling amount at this point of life has come in already.

yesterday was a fun day - though tiring, but i loved the day completely. as so the saying goes, "carpe diem" - i am glad that i immersed myself completely in whatever i did. from going to catch bullfrogs, milking a cow, chopping up a live bullfrog for food consumption, or pat an alpine goat... i did them all. drinking this unlikely essence of bullfrog with cordyceps (which tastes just like essense of chicken with cordyceps, unbelieveably), drinking 1.5 liters' worth of goat's milk (hey, i like it!), lifting up and lowering down rental bikes over 50 times in a day... i'd devote my life to do it.



it did feel a lot better than trying to teach students things in the classroom.

the classroom is a place i don't belong, it is more like a prison. so i've said it, but education is still crucial in all modern societies - but the experiential learning that can take place, is even more important.

surprisingly, though nothing's really working out, i don't feel bad in any real sense of the normal definition. i'm glad for the ride yesterday, which turns out to be one of my most enjoyable days since childhood. how often do you see cows poop and pee while eating, smelling the natural scents of a farm?

the army colonel who died in the safra biathlon on sunday was a well-known man in local army circles.


the late Col Bernard Tan during an army photo session in july 2004.


and speaking of the recent deceased... bill "big guy" nikonopoulos. deceased the previous saturday due to a motorbiking accident. photo taken during the desaru long distance triathlon in september 2003.

three things to remember from my initial fcbc service today:

1. a bankrupt heart
2. a broken heart
3. a bowed heart.

of the two crashes at the saca road race in the late morning... i saw the aftermath of the second crash. o-u-c-h. and the guy was in shock.

met up with a good friend in the evening to discuss general business ideas... and met more friends along the way too, despite the ultra-low level of human traffic on sundays...

fruitful day indeed.

came back from safra yishun, learnt how to belay using a figure-of-8, abseil, and jumar... all in less than two hours! that's some exercise for the day.

washed up my bikes... and learnt that polishing wax is the best way to get rid of stubborn grime on the frame! incredible!

by the way, don't be surprised if this sehsuan.clubsnap.org address is not accessible tomorrow onwards. my webhosting will terminate tomorrow. check back at sehsuan.blogspot.com instead.

came back from this dinner with my collaborative group of photographer friends, whom i worked with for a major event.

as one of them sent me back after i told him about my circumstances, he said, "wan shi qi tou nan", which roughly translates to "it's hard to start, for ten thousand things".

makes good sense there!

went out to meet a couple of friends, and got a few bikes ready for tuesday's expedition.

not big money (can't expect that now), but hey, it's better than no money. the bonus? it's something that i enjoy doing.

if i want to register with gebiz, i'd have to register with acra. if i want to register with acra, i have to register with hdb?!?... what a round-robin chase.

i know that when a person is stagnant... mcdonald's? hey, it is better than rotting away at home.

fabian and sis just left; he'd said something about a contrite heart. seems it's psalms 51:17 - "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart - These, O God, You will not despise."

this may well be the longest marathon i've ever embarked upon, with the most unknown of conditions, probably rivalling la ruta de los conquistadores. what a race, what a ride. but i know that thorought the entire race, the Lord will be with me.

no matter how long, how tiring, how uninspiring, how boring (???) the entire race will be, i'll do whatever i can to get the most out of it.

also, sharon yang's blog also has quite a lot of inspirational stuff on it. she was my polytechnic classmate for a year or two, if i remember correctly.

shalom.

the big change is finally done. i'm out of teaching now, after tendering my resignation a month ago - on february 22nd.

only thing is, i need to pay back to the ministry, $36,452.28. yes. that's thirty-six thousand, four hundred and fifty-two dollars, twenty-eight cents. which is probably the cause for my somewhat delirious personality these days.

if you want to lend me your support - do it by supporting my photography -



sorry i can't give you a standard quote on your assignments, because each assignment is unique to the next; do give me a call at 9640-8500 to discuss.

went for the bike race this morning. have to credit bikeseeker for this shot... love him to death!



final race timing: 1:42, inclusive of an approximately 300m grass loop ride on every lap... which works to about 25 minutes per lap! i'm much better off that last year now! yippee!

went over to yishun to get some shots of the dragonboat comp. got caught in a sudden downpour, and as claimed, the 1d with the 70-200 is didn't die from the rain! incredible!

like what fabian said, my life is indeed like that of a butterfly going through metamorphisis - now's the damned hard time of breaking out of the cocoon, but which is oh-so-necessary for future survival. family dinners will never be the same again.

just got my new business cards today - popped over with yonghao and shirley to the bike boutique, and picked up a saris bones 3 rack.

met kale in the evening at tbb too; i went over to seng chu hin to sign up for the weekend race, and met franke, nivek.

happened to meet lenny at jurong point in the morning, after i met up wee lun at the ntu src, and had a good chat regarding photography in general. reached the city fairly early, chatted with kelvin about his doing of cycling and adventure racing... hmm. wonder how he looks out from his uniform?

woohoo! today i met up with cindy and got to see her giant xtc (2? 3?) that was redone at gilbert's. met her other half john, and also happened to bump into ah lai and lai wan at the shop as well.

but most memorable part of the day was that... i got my hands on the eos-1d finally!

did God say, "go forth and multiply..."

and forgot to add, "by one times" for me?

i am in the process of acquiring a "replacement" main camera body from a friend - let's see how the financing works out. then the big change can ease over into transition.

i felt like homer simpson tonight, working in a nuclear reactor... the intense tension got to me! but! i remember a simple catchphrase - "if it makes you happy being miserable, then stay miserable"

"what doesn't kill you, will make you stronger."

that makes perfect sense - the logical way; but i'd rephrase that as, what God has in mind for us to come along at us in our lives, especially when it seems disasterous, is meant as an opportunity for us to grow in our spirituality - and gives us a great chance to grow up in all manners. thank you, Big Guy in the Sky.

you know that singtel advertisement about some girl calling back home to singapore from where, london... and all the special effects?

yesterday i informed my sister about the big change, who relayed the information to my brother-in-law. he gave me a call, and prayed for me over the phone. i can't believe it, i actually shed tears of... being touched. now i won't see things and dismiss them as impossible anytime soon.

also learnt that big greek rider, bill nikolopoulous passed away on saturday due to a motorbike accident. read more about it here. i had acquainted with him during 2003, because of some photo orders he made with me.

i pray that amy and family can cope with the loss.

went to get my namecards printed yesterday afternoon. by the time i was finished, trying to flag a cab was hard to do along cecil street. i went over to robinson road, but it was just as exasperating... until one gentleman told me that

met hui with her church kaki eunice, my old campmate vinson, long time vjc pal jeric and my school's smc member, mr chua. coincidentally, jeric was working in the same building that my good friend was working in.

i accompanied my good friend over to sgh, where a teammate lay there in a particular ward resting after what i guess would have been a freak accident.

fun to shoot taekwondo with a good friend.



even better to have dinner with a special friend at ikea, bumping into matthewk and geraldine (vjc hnf club), and having my friend coming over to my place and give suggestions for my name card.

better still the company i had all along from the evening.

had dinner with my good friend, and her cell group mates at jumbo last night. hopefully things like this would happen all the time in the future. will have to wait and see.

the countdown has been paused; will carry on once term 2 opens.

two more working days to the big change.

the only constant thing in life is change.

gotta print out new namecards soon for distribution.

it's as good as meeting the in-laws - the meet-the-parents session is on tonight.

three more working days to the big change.

have to go cold turkey not being able to see someone for a couple of days.

"When Dream and Day Unite"

You have a melancholy side to you, but usually you
leap out at people and really enjoy life. You
stand out from the crowd, sometimes even
scare them just a little bit with that dark
side you show every now and again. But make
no mistake, you're a bonus at any party!

Which Dream Theater album are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

"Seize the day and don't you cry, now it's time to say goodbye, even though I may die, I will live on."

had dinner tonight with a good friend; though she did seem less tired than when i saw her yesterday. hope she catches up with enough rest soon!

team bobo will be in action for the adventure singapore race come 2nd april... all systems go!

a short meeting, no matter how short, no matter if many or any words were exchanged, could be a very pleasant thing; regardless of state of rest - fatigue or high energy.

oddly enough, i don't really feel too... awkward talking about some things in my life now with some people. i guess this is part of the growing process... and the last part of it was probably accelerated by the cause for the big change.

my pe lessons today all unfolded in a very calm and energetic way. no need for me to really shout or raise my voice - instructions were way clearer than i first started. i guess time does change a lot of things; regardless if you want them or not, good or bad, conscious or not.

four more working days to go.

i'm very glad to meet one person who i enjoy company with.

takes a deep breath

take it slow, take it slow...

5 more working days to the big change.

it was a cool night ride with a friend, and we stopped over at the yishun dam. we took a longer detour around sengkang, punggol and hougang, and dropped by tiong hin.

it was a good ride - how i'd wish it could happen more often.

big change coming in six working days.

the ride at pengerang to desaru, and back to beluangkor was good. tiring yes, but for knowing one person better from the entire experience... was really the best thing of all.

will see if anything evolves or not... but i'm not gonna hurry or anything.

seven more working days to the big change. hmm.