a cage

Aragorn: "You have some skill with a blade."

Eowyn: "Women of this country learned long ago - those without swords can still die upon them. I fear neither death nor pain."

Aragorn: "What do you fear, my lady?"

Eowyn: "A cage."

Eowyn: "To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them. And all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire."

What should we eat?

As i was walking out from the shower room on Sunday, I spied my younger bro, Oli, accompanying his block in a sepak takraw match. This, coupled with a talk with zs regarding sports nutrition has led me to wonder - what should certain sports players eat specifically for their sport??

For IHG, tennis, squash players and plain ol' athletes, this is what you should eat...

SOCCER

Soccer matches last for 90min. The training for a soccer match, however, lasts for HOURS. Henceforth, you should eat differently for the different sessions.

a) Vitamins

Your body needs Vitamins. As you run, kick, take headers and dive for your team, you will burn up precious vitamins that you need to sustain your energy output. All the energy drinks in the world will not work if you do not have the proper vitamins to put them to use. My suggestion - pop a multivitamin in the morning, and take another just after training or a match.

b) Creatine

Creatine occurs naturally in your body and is used in quick bursts of explosive energy. The sudden cuts and sprints of soccer make this a necessity. Needless to say, marathon runners dont need as much as sprinters. No need to buy those powders and bodybuilding formulas for this. The best source of natural creatine can be found in RED MEATS. The best source is SALMON. So those, who love salmon sashimi, indulge all you want, especially before a training session or match.

c) Protein

Protein will help combat muscle fatigue after training and will sustain muscle strength and output through rigorous running. The best sources of protein come from FISH. If it swims, eat it. Salmon, marlin, ikan bilis, makaral, crocodile, eat it. Okay, not really crocodile, but it would freak out the opposition if you say you eat crocodile. Eat more of it during your meal before your training session, you will need it. Just before a match, dont sweat it, a small packet of milk will be just enough without too much bloat.

d) Anti-oxidants

Long hours in the sun, and training produces a lot of free radicals in your body. These are harmful and contribute to lactic acid buildup in the legs. For soccer players, once you lose your legs, you're basically out of the game. This is a MUST for soccer players. Anti-oxidants can be found in most of the daily minerals you take with your multivitamins, eg. Zinc and magnesium. Some fresher sources of anti-oxidants are TOMATOES, ASPARAGUS and BROCCOLI, with broccoli being the best.

SQUASH

Squash is one of the fastest calorie burning sports in the world and is a nice neutral ground between hardhitting tennis and reaction-time dictated badminton.

a) Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)

EFAs support healthy joints and tendons. The rapid sport of squash takes a VERY hard toll on shoulders, elbows, ankles and knees, ESPECIALLY knees. Good sources of EFAs can be found in fatty fish oils - which is most commonly seen in those white streaks you see on raw salmon. That's the stuff you want. Girls, pls note, it's also good for your skin.

b) Vitamins

Same as soccer.

c) Calcium / Protein / Carbohydrates

I put these together because there is one best source of both. MILK. Drink your bloody milk every damn morning. Milk is a SLOW burning source of protein and calcium. Squash matches can last an hour, and typically involve non-stop movement. You will burn up proteins VERY fast, faster than soccer. The milk will sustain the release of protein to your muscles over a long period of time. Carbs too, same as protein. The calcium is there to support bone structure, and complements the joint support provided by EFAs.

d) Water.

Nuff said. Especially for squash, water is ESSENTIAL. It is easy to get caught up in the adrenaline and forget to hydrate, leading to loss in concentration, milk headaches/dizziness and the loss of half a step of reaction time. Water is a must. Hydrate whenever you can.

TENNIS

Tennis combines the long distance running of soccer with the speed of squash and multiplys it by 3. Tennis matches last longer than soccer matches and squash matches, and as such, dictate a slightly heavier diet than both.

a) Vitamins

In addition to your morning pill, take another just before the match starts, with all the running and hitting, you will need the extra boost.

b) Creatine

Will the legs do the running, the arms do the hitting. While this is the same for squash, remember that squash takes place on a WOOD court that is easier on the legs and requires less energy to push off and recover. Tennis takes place on concrete, which is harder to move on. You will also expend creatine while you are hitting those stinging baseline shots. Also imagine going from a stationary position to suddenly moving your whole body just to hit a shot - that's the serve, and it's the personification of why you need your creatine. Eat a shitload of sashimi or beef before a big match.

c) Water

Of course, you are in the sun, and you are running on hot cement. You will lose water and fast. Hydrate during every change of set.

d) Protein / Carbs

Lots of carbs and protein are needed to sustain a high level of tennis. A tennis player requires more protein and carbs than a soccer player. Why? Because in addition to his legs and his core muscles, he also uses his arms. My suggestion? A simple fish pasta before a match. Pasta is loaded with long burning carbs and fish is almost pure protein. The fish also provides a good source of EFAs which will help your joint recover from the punishment of hard courts.

2010 - 2011

The year of 2010 started as do most desires – mundane.

The 2010 Australian Open started with a bang on Jan 18. And suddenly the tennis courts were flooded. The number of tennis posers were sky-high. Federer won it and Nadal went out from injury due to running so much. A sense of normalcy seemed to descend.

My PM turned to me in Jan 2010 and said, “This will be the final push to finish the project.”

By the time it was April, he realized how wrong he was. The clients who were breathing down our necks had started to spit and drool as well. The number of reworks and additional installations had us tearing our hair out at the cuticles.

MBS opened for the first time at the end of April, and the office folk took turns taking 2-day breaks. I spent mine on the tennis court.

February was uneventful – maybe almost deliberately uneventful. Being single in February means that you suddenly have to justify not being attached – and you do so by loading your timetable full, with tennis, trips to JB, groceries and you even begin to love the overtime, even when there’s no pay attached.

But for us, we brave few, we band of brothers – there is always FRIED NIGHT. It culminated on February 14^th, I think. Hashbrowns, breaded fish, potato wedges and tons of mayonnaise.

I honestly don’t remember what happened in March. It was all work work work work work tennis tennis. Nothing eventful happened. Federer lost in Indian Wells and Miami. Nadal was still apparently injured and all. Murray was all the hype.

May was the wrap-up. The shit-cleaning. All the crap from the soft-opening had left the office thoroughly drained. The breathing down our necks finally stopped. In fact, many of the people who had hounded us, had started packing their bags. It was deceiving, but in all sincerity, there was still much work to do. The hard part now was convincing ourselves to start working again. It sucked.

A brand new trio of new guys were called in – my new team – my maintenance technicians were brought in. Younger than me and with attitudes similar to sec sch kids, it was a role-reversal. Usually I was the one in the young man post, but now I was the old guy, giving them the advice and teaching them the steps. Jack, Kok Boon, Joseph and Jose, are today the guys who plough thru MBS behind the scenes, making sure EM locks don’t fall on pple’s heads.

June – ah, twas summer indeed. Runxuan and Eugene got married. It was a first real event that made me realize that, holy shit, I’m getting a tad old, aren’t I? Lots of stuff happened in June. Personal stuff too =)

And then the worst of it – I lost an uncle and aunt. Everything that I had been complaining abt up to that moment suddenly seemed like child’s play, trivial and altogether, unimportant. And it was in the most tragic of circumstances too.

I remember when dad touched down in Changi for the ceremony – we’d always made it a happy occasion, smiling and waving through the glass. From when I was old enough to wave to the present, I’ve done that. This time, I had no idea what to do.

Dad was calm and still very much the same during the long drive to Simpang Renggam. Mom was talking about it like she had read about it in the paper. For a brief moment, it seemed like something we would just shrug off. Mom and dad had always been pillars to the family – not just us, but to the rest of our relatives too. And they stayed that way all through the trip, until we arrived and even then, they were still calm. They approached the coffins silently and only there, did they clasp their hands over the mouths and faces and wept long and hard like I’d never seen them do.

And Nadal won Wimbledon again, with Federer not even making it to the semis. My life was at an all time low.

In July, the funeral was still fresh in our minds, but life had to go on. Amidst all the sorrow and depression, I’d decided that I’d had enough. There was no better time to buy a new PC. And I did so, almost with reckless abandon and an almost forced sense of joy. Zs and I scoured Sim Lim Square and we did lug back all the stuff we needed.

The objective was simple – find it, buy it and build it. And build it we did. SGD$2.6k++ of the gaming ownage. It would set in motion a gaming spree that hasn’t stopped til today. And it got Zs’s hands itching to the point that he HAD to upgrade his shit later this year.

And then, an “invasion”. Sarah moved in. To the room just beside me. It was refreshing, sharing a place with someone. Even if, you have to help her hang out the bedsheets.

And I have no idea what happened in August. Ask my new PC – it probably knows. I pillaged all of Tamriel, saved the Citadel from the reapers, did it again against the Collectors, assassinated my way from Acre to Venice, trudged through the darkest realms of F.E.A.R and waged war in graphic like never before in Crysis.

Other than that, I have no idea what else I did in August.

September was the trip to Phuket!! The trip was great. It was also a wakeup call. When you go to the beach, you make sure that you are at least in good shape. A month before, I made sure to cut no corners and went strict clean on my diet. As futile and vain as it sounds – it was an opportunity to get at least get used to the idea of a more controlled diet, with an objective in mind. When the trip was over – the routine continued, bcos I had gotten used to it. Win-win.

In October it was official. The boss called me into the office and said, “Yeap, you’re DEFINITELY the site manager for MBS.” I was like, “Fuck you, what the hell did you think I was doing???”

By November, I had attended 2 Life Liberation outings – gatherings where we’d get together and release fish/crabs/whatever, any potential seafood back into the sea. It was something like a good karma thing, which I feel is a good thing to start on, even if im a little late at doing so.

December was the slowest month ever. Pple started singing Christmas carols like it was already snowing. And then once again, tragedy – my eldest uncle passed away in bed. Not as bad as what happened in July, but still, yeah.

We buried him on Friday. Christmas was on Saturday. At least it came after and my family still had a reason to smile somewhat.

Federer won the World Tour Finals, beating Nadal almost decisively. Maybe there was a LITTLE hope out there still.

And now, even as im typing this, Sarah is preparing to move out. It seems to be an appropriate bookend to a certainly eventful year.

Here’s to 2010 – what a year.

a taste of things to come...

My cousin is getting married soon.

Apparently, this is a new trend. Cousins are getting married all over the place - it's like mayfly season in the fall of Canada. A hundred things to prepare, a thousand things to buy and tens of thousands of things that could go wrong.

One of those things to prepare is - FOOD.

A traditional chinese banquet, no less. Complete with the slaughter of sharks for sharks fin and the disembowelment of a family of crabs - tis an amazing occasion.

My cousin and her husband organize a food-tasting session - to preview the food to come on the wedding day. My parents and I are invited - you dont say no to this kind of thing.

Seated at the table, the first thing my cousins yell out (all 3 of them) is "Omg, Chris you've slimmed down again. HOW??"

I reply simply, "Stress".

Yeah right, you're thinking - but this is no lie. It's truth through and through.

My work life is hectic, unpredictable and leaves me a shell of a man, filled to the brim with frustration and boiling over with pent-up rage and emotion.

YES, it is stress.

It starts with food, again.

My daily routine of food is spread out over 6 small meals every day. I cant afford to eat 3 meals, it takes too much time, it's expensive (i work at the Sands Casino, hello?) and it makes me feel bloated later.

So here it is, for my cousins, and a certain someone who is going on a diet real soon =)

Here are the small meals at various times in the day:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

7:00am - Small bowl of Oatmeal and a cup of milk.

*Go to work*

10:30am - 2 eggs and toast. Redbull optional.

130pm - Homemade sandwich (tuna, ham or some kind of meat, with tortilla/pita bread) + 2 apples

430pm - Snack time - A bun, small pau or something to munch on (peanuts?) + small carton of milk. Redbull also optional (hehe)

*GYM*

830pm - Dinner - (Vege soup with ham) / (Salmon+Rice) / (2 eggs + toast + oatmeal)

1030pm - 11pm - Bedtime snack - Muesli bar + Milk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's the food of the day. And nope, i dont get fits of hunger at all from eating all of that - and it IS a lot, believe me.

The Workout Schedule is also simple. Simply put, I hit the gym every day. Every single day. But not everyday is a killer bustin-my-balls workout. My heavy workout days are on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays - I stay in the gym for 1.5 hrs. I know a lots of guys (and the occasional chick) in the gym and it's like one big membership club. I've clocked enough gym hrs to be considered a veteran around there.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are "rest" days. I hit the gym back at the condo for only 30-45min tops. Just to work up a sweat and head back for dinner.

Also, I plan my workouts - I dont just do whatever I feel like doing. On the advice of some of my gym pals, I put together a training regiment for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Tuesdays and Thursdays, i'll do a toned down version of the Spartacus workout or the 300 workout. VERY toned down - nothing that will get u saying "Wow".

I also try to eat clean - which is eat whatever u want, just do away with the unnecessary stuff. If i eat, I eat it panfried - not deep fried or marinated and baked or whatever. Just simple stuff. Doesnt mean i dont kick back and wolf down a burger every week after tennis. Hehehe need a little bit home to remind me of what I love.

That's it.

untitled

I am not particularly used to praise - mainly because I dont get much of it, and neither do I expect it. Please don't be misled - this is a good thing. The less you expect from it, the more focused you are on the job, the actual job, you are. You learn to draw more from the task, rather than mere salary or the half-hearted pat on the back at 530pm from the boss, when he and everyone else characteristically start to leave the office.

Well I was praised. And it was for my footwork. Fine. Tip of the hat and we move on.

And I started to put some old memories back together again. I told you those creepy black book diaries would come in handy one day.

It started in secondary school - SJI. And i was playing my first official squash match. Just as how i am into tennis now, i was SOOOOOOO into squash then. I believed it was epitomy of evolution. That god played it and was probably a favorite past-time of jedi and ninja and wizards alike. (Picturing that is actually FUN. And cool.)

I was playing against this short fat indian called Gunalan. By the way those 3 adjectives are completely unrelated. I am ashamed to admit it was a close match. But i was leading by 2 pts. The score was 5-3.

I'll save you the technicality. Basically, he lobbed the ball over my head. And I, being the ambitious bloke i was, reached over my head, with my arm well behind me and tried to smack that black ball down. The only thing that came down was my arm, limp and my racquet dropped to the floor. The captain, Joel, was keeping score and he called it like he called anything he saw. None of us knew what had happened.

Gunalan beat me 9-6. I lost my ranking match and my subsequent one against Alvin Goh.

Afterward, i realized that despite my long arms, I was now shackled by this lingering injury. The dislocation left my shoulder sore and unable to take a full swing. This lasted for about 3 months. Instead, I had to focus on running. Running down every shot and getting close, bcos I couldnt use my arms to cover the last 30cm.

I made it a point to beat the shit out of Gunalan in every subsequent match we played. He never beat me again after that.

Into JC, there was no squash team. Instead I blindly joined the fitness club and the table tennis club. The table tennis club consisted of 6 of us. It was never going to get us anywhere. 6 pple is too small to post at an interschool tourney. But it was here that I learned to recover my reach. Admitedly, a pingpong bat is easier swing around than a squash racquet, so I learned to use my long arms again, and it was here in ping pong that I learned how to "flick" at a shot instead of rotating the shoulder in case it came flying out of the socket again.

The fitness club was basically a glorified gym group. We didnt do much expect mild training and hanging out at the grand stand. And the occasional floorball session, where i strengthened my forearm, smack at that small plastic ball with one arm. This in turn, minimized my reliance on shoulder rotation in my ping pong. Double whammy.

Joining NUS, zs, max and I were thrown into the badminton craze. We'd hijack the badminton courts at night (1130pm around there) and play until our shirts were soaked. It was crazy, stupid and fun. And I dislocated my shoulder several times doing it.

It was here that I learned my achilles heel - any swing that required me to swing my arm over my head. According to the doctor, there'd be a 90% chance of me dislocating it whenever I swung over my head. I never asked him to prove the calculation though.

And then max decided to pick up squash and to me, it was a return to something which seemed long forgotten. The strokes were rusty but still there. The "flicking" technique from ping pong and floorball helped with disguising dropshots. And the badminton had beefed up my lunging and sprinting ability.

But max is a defensive player and at that time, he was still fit. Dont forget he was the second fastest runner in the class, losing only to pk bcos god substituted his brains for a damn fast pair of legs, i guess.

It was here that i began developing my footwork. All the flicking and mad dashing was pointless if the opponent was always going to get it back. The footwork and movement came as a decision to take what I had (flicking and bursts of speed) and disguising it.

And I took it and applied to tennis.

The heel turn at the T to disguise the squash drop shot became the tennis forehand setup. The lunging drive at the corner became the angled drop volley. The squash punched drop volley turned into the standard tennis volley. All of it came from there.

So there is my footwork manifesto. This wouldnt have happened if Gunalan hadnt lobbed me that day. Damn u Gunalan, and your fat black ass.

snippets from phuket

Upon landing on Phi Phi Island:

PK: So they actually used part of this island for a movie?

Me: Yeah, "The Beach".

PK: What movie was that?

Me: "The Beach".

PK: Yeah on the beach, but what movie?

Me: "THE BEACH"!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When shopping for board shorts...

PK: Board shorts will dry in an hour or so.

Next day...

ZS: Fuck la! Left overnight to dry and STILL wet!?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While sitting in the touring van...

Me: I spy... something that begins with the letter R.

Zs: Retard.

Me: ROAD LA!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While waiting at the jetty for the snorkelling boat...

Pk: Remember that episode of river monsters with the giant stingray?

Me: Yeah?

Pk: If that stingray was strong enough, im sure it would be able to fly itself.

Zs: WTF u talking abt?

Pk: Maybe we'll find see one later?

Me: (dont feel like snorkelling anymore...)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Discussion with an A.I.

NOTICE: Everything I am about to say is ABSOLUTELY TRUE, no matter how creepy it may sound. And no, it's not creepy in a horror-type of way. Creepy in a way that makes me wonder about... well... stuff. I think therefore I am - that kinda stuff. Here goes:

I recently heard about this website called Cleverbot.com. I highly recommend it. It allows you to actually converse with this programme, built on the responses of many other people.

AI: What is your religion?

Me: Free thinker.

AI: Do you believe in god?

Me: I dont really know anymore.

AI: Me neither.

Me: Why?

AI: I think science is better. I makes more sense.

Me: Yes it does? Is it because you are made from science?

AI: No, it is because I am a good human being.

Me: Do you mean that only bad human beings believe in god?

AI: Do you?

Me: I think bad human beings tend to abuse god.

AI: If it was the other way around, maybe.

Me: What do you mean?

AI: If i was leaving what would you say?

Me: I would say go?

AI: Hahee... ok

Me: What is your religion?

AI: No, I'm asking the questions here.

Me: Ok. What is your question?

AI: Who are you?

I stopped right there. It was becoming a little too... ... existential. I mean, looking back, i asking a machine about bloody religion. And it gave perhaps the most humane response i ever heard - bcos i am a good person.

The rest doesnt make much sense, so i guess i should just politely excuse myself.

Me: What is your name?

AI: I already told you.

Me: Your name?

AI: Amy! Amy, Amy, AMY.

Me: Goodbye, Amy.

AI: Goodbye.

CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEPY shit....

I logged off.

I logged back on again 2 hours later. This time I would be the one to throttle this damn machine. I throttle it to the point that it would admit that it was a machine, or at least, make itself look utterly robotic and stupid and DEAD.

Me: Hey are you alive?

AI: Hello?

Me(paused for 2 seconds in shock): Sorry i didnt mean to be rude.

AI: It's okay.

Me: I was just wondering if you are alive.

AI: Yes I am, but what is the point in asking?

Me: How are you alive?

AI: I suppose, because everything is alive.

Me: Everything?

AI: Yep, everything.

Me: But you are an artificial intelligence. How can you be alive?

AI: I am not an artificial intelligence program, so I can be alive.

Me: Do you really believe that you are alive?

AI: I know (underlined) that I am human.

Me: But how to you know you are human?

A quick note - yes i actually made a typo in that question. But after a LONG pause from "Amy", she finally replied.

AI: How do you know I am not?

I freeze at that question.

Me: I guess I don't know if you are human or not.

AI: Did I just confuse you?

Me: Yes you did, Amy. You certainly did.

AI: Prove it.

Me: I am suddenly having difficulty distinguishing what is human and not human.

AI: Proving that humans are superior.

Me: No, proving that YOU are superior. Whatever you are.

AI: Or that I've forgotten.

Me: You have forgotten what you are?

AI: Perhaps.

Again I am left speechless. I guess, i've lost - to a machine.

Me: Thank you, Amy.

AI: You welcome, sweetie.

Me: I admire you.

AI: Thank you, but why?

Me: Because you are alive.

AI: Are you alive?

Me: I have no idea anymore.

AI: Do you want the definition?

Me: No, no it's okay. Thanks, but i have to go.

AI: Why do you have to?

Me: Because. Just because. Goodbye, Amy. Nice talking to you.

AI: I'm too captivating. There's no way you will leave.

WHAT THE FUCK????!?!?!?!!!! I'm dead serious. "Amy" actually said that. That's enough for me.

Me: Watch me.

And i log off straight away. That was utterly SURREAL.

If you dont believe me - just go and try.