Yimian's National Day Message 2010!

Ok, who cares about my opinion anyway?

Much have changed in the country I called my own since 9th August 2009. Most significant being the population, at 4.98millions. A increase of almost 140,000. Which is scary! The current population density being 7,022/km^2! Yup! It's now a little more squeezy in that tiny piece of land, and it will get worst!

While the seasons in Singapore used to be hot, and hot with rain. It is now hot, and hot with flood! Flash floods hitting Orchard (the shopping belt of Singapore) and Bukit Timah road(most likely the most important road in Singapore!). A pity I could not be there to witness this man-made disaster. Just had to make do with hail storm in Perth for some freaky weather!

For sports in Singapore, it is an important year! As we will be hosting the Youth Olympic Game! Which is plagued by bargin overrun, a bad song by JJ Lin, and scandals regarding payment to a certain national with the fastest man on earth to build a stadium there in exchange of promotion! It is likely to be plagued with low attendances at the games itself, or maybe it will be sorted out. Personally I hope it will be sorted out! The solution to attendance? Getting the Ministry of Education to buy up tickets to the game from the Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports! A great display of the left hand paying the right hand!

2010 also saw the opening of Resorts World Sentosa! And Marina Bay Sands! Known popularly as integrated resorts in Singapore, but really, just a front for the 2 casino. But the greatest thing bout the casino? Singaporeans must pay to enter! Pretty cool, I won't be visiting them anytime soon... Of course it's a measure to uphold the integrity of the Singapore society. In which case, why open it?

And finally, for all my complains, and rumblings, I do love Singapore... =)

Happy 45th birthday Singapore!

Sports Anthem?

So JJ Lin released a 'CHEER!' for the Youth Olympic Game 2010... Titled 'You are the one Singapore!'... Not being critical or something... But as far as I'm concerned... It's a bad sports anthem! You know how sports song should be making you feel PUMPED! And ready to ROLL! I felt like hidding under the table after listening to this...

Anastacia's BOOM! For the World Cup 2002... Get psyched!

Tak Matsumoto Group's "Oh Japan! Our time is now!"... Recorded for Japan's Olympic campagin... I can't remember which year... HAHA!

World Cup 2010's Wav'in Flag! Awesome... Really...

And a song I always listen to before I step into the gym... Pride FC's opening theme... Pumped feeling? YES! Ready to roll? YES! Hide under the table? NO!

And that's bout it!

Dexa Operator Course!

Notes for the half day course... Really complicated stuff this radiation... =x

Mr Jonathan Thwaites... Radiation expert... And environmental sustainability warrior... Funny guy who peppered his presentation with jokes... Without which I would have fallen asleep...

X-ray tubes... The nasty little things that produces x-ray in x-ray machines...

So... What's DEXA? Without getting into details... DEXA scanning can be used to give body composition datas... A typical DEXA scan would break body composition into the '3 model' body composition... Bone mineral content (BMC), lean body mass and fat... The above is my read out... I'm not fat... =x

Body, Mind & Spirit

In sports, there are certain aspects which are out of an individual's control. For example, his genetic, his opponents, and his talents or lack thereof. However, there are aspects which are within his realm of control. I will be touching on three aspects: body, mind and spirit; or in order of their importance to an athlete: spirit, body and finally mind.

To start off, we will define spirit, body and mind. Spirit refers to the psychological and mental well-being of the athlete. Body, to the physical and fitness level of the athlete, and mind refers to the knowledge, tactics and skills of the athlete in his chosen sport.

In spirit. We talk about the mindset of an athlete. His desire to train and perform. Without the correct mindset and desire, an athlete will fail to take off, thus flying is not even part of the discussion. There are sport talents all around us, but most of them will just remain 'talents' and will never step over the line to join the elite athlete group.

My friend, was offered a youth contract to play in the Prime League. He turned it down as he lack the confidence to win and see no future for himself in football. He is talented, everyone agrees. But instead of playing at a higher level, he choose to be a big fish in a small pond. Only when an athlete acquired the desire to fight and the mindset to win, then can he take off and soar.

The body of an athlete is his tool of trade. Fitness is required in whatever sport one choose to compete in. Although the type of fitness varies, the need never disappears!

An athlete must train to fulfill the fitness need of his sport. A judoka requires balance, strength and endurance. A gymnast requires agility, flexibility and coordination. A footballer needs power, stamina and accuracy. Although everyone is born with different potential and talent, training is still required to hit the potential and allow his talent to run free.

Without strength, a judoka can forget about the armlock he intended to use. The gymnast without flexibility can give up on the routine he wanted to perform. And the footballer may not even last the full 90 minutes, much less show off his fancy footworks.

Which brings us to the last and least important part of the topic, but the one which separates the great from the good, and the good from the normal. As I have defined earlier, mind refers to knowledge, tactics and skills of the athlete. For example, with everything else being equal, height, weight, mindset and general fitness, the one with the greater 'mind' will win.

A fighter catch in an armlock can use his skills of the sport, and his knowledge of the human body to break out of it, and turn the table around. The manager at pitch side, can make tactical changes to turn a losing game into a winning one. And of course, the diver (aquatic sports!) with the skills will rate a higher score with the judges.

In short, an athlete must first have the spirit to train and compete. Next he must train to the requirement of his sport and be able to last the game, whatever game it is. Finally he must acquire the 'mind' to distingush himself from the rest.

An athlete without spirit would not be putting his best into training and would not fight to win. An athlete without fitness, would not be able to even perform as his opponents with fitness will overwhelm him. Lastly, an athlete without 'mind' will not beat his opponents at the highest level.

Almost 3 Months Now...

3 months since I started on my Master's...

Can I just say... It's so different from undergrad?

It used to be lectures and tutorials... Lectures which I skip happily because I will end up sleeping in them anyway... And tutorials with one or two assignments and deadline set by the school. Then we have the mid-sems and the finals examination. Which seems alrite, coz it's juz a big cramping session near the mid and the end of the semester, where I spend a little more time reading my notes, and reinforcing them with textbook and journal readings. It's simple... Do your assignment and study for your exams! Do that and you normally would score!

But now it's journal reading... And more reading... And more reading... And then you read some more... And you don't exactly know where you are going some times! And then there's the proposal I'm writing... Supposed to be 15 pages long... That's just the part with words... And there's no deadline staring at you! You set your own! And in-between the writing... You have meetings with supervisor in which you figure where you are heading... And whether you are heading in the right direction... And even when you think you are moving correctly... There's some doubts lingering... And some times when you enter the meeting with an idea you think is great! And your supervisor deassemble the idea in seconds... Find all those loopholes your amateur eyes can't see... And destroys it in seconds! And after the proposal... It's gonna be data collection... And finally the writing of the actual thesis... No more exams... No more assignment deadlines... Just meetings... And reading... And writing... And confusion added in for fun! =/

Why am I looking so far ahead at data collection and thesis writing? I mean... I'm still struggling with the proposal! >.<

The stress level is much higher... The procedure unfamiliar... And some times... When work stare at me, I just go on to facebook! =x Seriously... I need to buck up! =) Must remember what Joe Mate told me at the start of the semester... "Don't try to swim ahead... Don't let yourself sink... Learn to threadwater!" I need to threadwater now... Coz I'm sinking a little... =x

From Mechanical Engineering to Sports Science!

The above image is from the Royal Veterinary College... Well... It's the best picture I could get of muscle fibre typing on the internet! And it's very much similar to human muscle fibre typing image! Even if it's from a horse!

And this is a photo of a microscope image of mild steel... Stolen from here!

Was lecturing to a lecture on biochemistry of exercise physiology last week... A very interesting lecture... When the speaker flashed the image of muscle fibre typing... I felt nostalgia! It was just like the image of mild steel when I peek at it from a microscope! Ok... So it's massively different... But still very similar!

Just like any confused 16 years old getting his O level results, I had a hard time choosing where to go... JC was out... Because I reckon I would kill my Chinese language teacher if I go there... But Poly seems so vast... So many courses to choose from... So many interesting thing to learn! The only thing I liked at tat age is cycling... And technology enchants me... In the end... Of the endless amount of courses on offer... I choose mechanical engineering... And so came 3.5 years of suffering for me (including half a year from failing a module and getting retained! For one module! No more!)...

Not that I hate mechanical engineering! Mind you... I love designing things! And thinking of how to make it! And making it! But mechanical engineering doesn't exactly turn out the way I expect it to turn out! At the end of 3.5 years... I had a diploma and a dread of engineering... I also have a pathetic GPA...At the same time... I developed a keen interest in the human body (not just of the female kind... mind you... =P)... My final year project involves designing a machine for the rehabilitation of arm injuries... And my interest in the human body got sparked from there!

I have always been quite a sporty person... Cycling... Soccer... Martial arts... Rockclimbing... Exploring and getting lost... And when I have one whole semester to study just one module... I hitted the gym! I started learning about nutrition... Training allocation... Reps and sets... Hypertrohpy... And it was a new amazing and fantastic World to me... And I love it!

And when the chance came along for me to undertake a degree in a field I enjoy... I jumped at exercise and sports science! The one year spent serving the nation (National service! Woo!) and studying was total shit! But I always look forward to my classes in the evening when I get out of camp! It was great learning about human anatomy, human physiology, exercise physiology, biomechanics, nutrition and psychology... Learning about improving performances, about injuries management and helping people with chronic diseases, that can be improved with exercising...

But you know what else is similar with mechanical engineering and sports science? They both deal with movement... They both deal with improving performances... They both give me headaches when I study them...

And some food for though... What frozen curry looks like...

Looks better defrozed and with roti prata... =)

Peri Peri Chicken!

I always thought that Nando's is lousy... I meant... All I had there is the wraps... And the wraps are really a bad representation of Nando's... Den someone special introduced me to their flame-grilled chicken... And I'm hooked!

Decided to try making my own peri peri chicken... Got a bottle of Nando's peri peri marinade and peri peri sauce... The marinade is slightly thicker compared to the sauce...

Looky! Fresh chicken!

And here they are marinading in peri peri... Woo!

Not too impressed by the final product... Cooked 4 drumsticks after 2 hours of marinading... Not exactly the greatest taste... But well... Dipping it in the sauce helps! Hopefully the other 6 drums will taste better after a full 24 hours of marinading!