East.Side.Back.Street

I decided to blog because I have a sudden craving for prawns, and I just wanted everyone to know haha. Big juicy tiger prawns. Frying it in cereal will waste the prawns sometimes cos it destroys the natural flavour. I prefer them steamed with a touch of light sauce or some wine. Unfortunately, I dun have a prawn eating kaki now, so blackie, please come back soon.

I have been working for the past weekend, yes just the weekend, at the Toshiba Event Roadshow. It was pretty ok, the money's ok, which is good cos I'm already eating into my progress package. Went for the Coasta Sands chalet at Sentosa too, and had loads of fun. Some pics..

Nice place, nice facilities, nice company, but service sucks.















SQ seriously started the fire and bbq-ed all the way. Sometimes I hope he had shown this kinda of initiatives when together with the clique haha.















Lola liked her biscuits a little spicy.. with satay sauce haha.















I took this photo at my workplace. Denise Keller was the host for the Great Singapore Sale event. She was friendly and nice and took pics with people who approached her. I thought she was quite hot but you know what ass yuyee said when he saw this pic? "Eh song you all organise the event the prize is a 14" TV or a 14" kiss from her hahahahaha."















Was talking to Es on MSN last night. Seriously Es is a thought provoker, or a mind confuser haha. Have some things on my mind now. I needed to ask you all a simple but silly question. How do you know if you like someone and when is the right time to go into a relationship with her? Is it when you like to spend time with her? You admire her for her qualities? She fits the criteria boxes that you have come up with? Am I being too rational down here? Es said his criterias were simple. Just someone who loves him and his family wholeheartedly. Den is this gratitude or love? And besides, what about the 'magical' feeling? Sigh, I'm going back to basics. It's like Analytical Skills, I'm learning everything all over again. Silly thoughts for someone who has not actually been in a relationship for some time. Choose the right person man. Dun be like Jack Nicholson in About Schimdt, where he found himself not knowing who the person was sleeping next to him after in marriage for decades.

SJ

Guys,

And about Milk Run, it is on 2nd July a Sunday. Registration fee is 20 dollars. Registration closes 25th June. I should be back by then to settle the registration. You guys think whether you want to go for the run and please sms to Weixin:

1.) IC no
2.) Full Address
3.) Email Add

He is helping me consolidate the info. Ivy and Blackie, if you both are up for the run, mail the details to me or xin. Thanks very much.

Esmond

Dear friends,

And so I conclude my year. First year of undergraduate school. Why do I have nothing much to say?

I got what I asked for this year. To immerse myself totally in work and see how far it can bring me. Now all I wait in anticipation are the results. That will determine how I end off this year, whether this has or has not been a fruitful year for me.

It certainly has not been an easy year but I love the challenge. I guess the most difficult thing is to challenge yourself everysingle day. To challenge laziness, to keep yourself fresh even when you are tired, to fight self-doubt. Everywhere you go, you hear people say: " It's all in the mind, it's all in the mind." But how far and how much can you go before you finally reach breaking point? Have all of you reached breaking point? I guess this is an answer no one will ever know.

I have much to thank my parents and all of you for. Mom and Dad have always been a constant source of encouragement and all I think I can ever repay them is to put my best foot forward but even then it ain't enough. And having all you in mind continually remind me of my purpose in life and keep me rooted to the person I truly am. To some people god gives them strength but I draw strength from people who truly care for me. The CD you guys made for me and all the individual letters some of you guys wrote have been replayed and read over and over again, especially when I am weak and weary. Even right before the exam, there is a tinge of weakness which says:" Come on Esmond. You have done all that you could so just go out and do what you can." But to me that is not good enough and I know it. I told myself that as much as I am doing it for myself, I am doing this for all of us and I do not want to disappoint anyone of you. For all of these, I thank all of you.

Life doesn't end here. Just as pain is temporary, it has come and gone. I particularly like what Weiqin wrote on my birthday card. I quote him :" Go out and create history." Create history, your own history. I am looking forward to home now and do the things I have missed out on the past few months.

That is it for now. Take care all of you and we shall meet soon.


Esmond

Hi guys, here are some photos. In order, Oasis concert and Over the Hedge photos.
Ronan is the one in the racoon outfit (if any kid is reading this, all of them are real! they are characters from the show!) The other 2 are ladies, one of them a mascott veteran, more bubbly and hyper den Ronan. All of you should see RJ doing the sexy dance and Beyonce dance. haha.












































Life's been pretty stagnant for me so far. I need a job... badly...

SJ

Decide to post something while i listening to my nice but boring QM lecturer... Can u guys believe it, he is like another Mr Lee our physics teacher in marists. V nice but the tone of his voice is like zzzzz... Anyway, as most of you should know, my results dropped this term. ok... Drop is an understatement... It plummet... Which basically mean that right now, i'm not eligible for my double degree anymore. All is not lost yet though. I can still maintain it IF i do well next term. But amidst all that disappointment, and wallowing in self-pity, i decided to think optimistic. On the bright side, I can graduate earlier now (3 years) and work earlier and earn more $_$.

Optimism is very important in life. Pessimism will only result in depression and you will never improve anything if you do so. Why is it that cancer patients often live longer when they are happy and optimistic compared to those who remain depressed?

I'm a super duper damn optimistic person as you all know. Though there are moments where I am pessimistic, it doesn't last long. Whether or not we are happy, we have to live on. So why live in pessimisim and unhappiness when being happy and optismistic is so much easier and enjoyable?

Argh.. I seem to be incoherent... Jumping here and there without making any point. Whatever, you guys get the jist of it la...

Back to lessons liao :)

"This goodbye is only for football. I am not scared of retirement. Whenever a fan requests an autograph or a photo of me, I have the same excitement as if it was the first time. I leave very proud of my career because I have played in two of the greatest teams, Madrid and Juventus, and have won many titles."
- Zinedine Zidane

humble for a man who has achieved everything in his career

" A friend loveth at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity."


Esmond

so fast and we are all going to be yr 2s. time flies doesn't it? i can vividly remember everything that has taken place since ord. for some of us, this term has not been as desireasble as we would like it to be. this is sumthing i wud like to tok bout.

guys, im toking bout this because evidently, i fared the worst. i haven never been this disappointed in my grades since.. alwaes. i have alwaes felt alrite each time i got my grades back but some how this time it felt like a knife cut. its not because that u guys did better than me or anything. but this element of me letting myself down keeps haunting me. i dno how i lost sight of my goal in smu. before uni, we were all toking bout doing well. some how, i got lost some where, distracted. not cos of jacq. but i soon forgot wat i expected of myself in uni. this sense of lost was perhaps the reason y i saw no motivation or urge to work hard. remind urself of the goals u set urselves. dun lose sight of this. work towards it.

this term, fortunatele for jacq, i worked harder. perhaps i din work smart, or hard enuff. perhaps wat i tot was hard work is the bare minimum to many others. perhaps my expectations of myself is a lil low. i have been disappointed. some of u guys too. but wat i realli wish to sae is that once awhile along the wae, ppl stumble. its how u pick up after that. nothing is plane sailing. if only everything is ez. there alwaes have to be ppl succeeding, some failing. but if u fail, dun be dismayed. u may have lost ur grades. but try and gain sumthing from this. gain a bigger heart. gain greater determination so u can deal w this better. is heart break but i will try and pick up.

i advised huli to post the comment. He msn me just as i was about to sleep last night and we had a long talk. i make known my disappointment . But i believed that we did not talk to him before he left and were making our disappointment known behind his back which i think friends should not be doing. i told him how everything was fine before he left,the feelings shown at the airport certainly cannot be played out. i told him what he did was wrong and the raw emotions shown maybe that the 3rd party involved is someone we knew and his reputation did not help his cause. Some people should be forgiven, some people should not. Some people should be given a fresh start, others should not. Trust is a fragile thing, once broken it is very hard or can never be mend. .But as friends we should at least hear each other out first before deciding and we did not talk to him before he left. So i told him we will talk it out once everyone come back together with the rest of the guys here. Although he was reluctant fearing a backlash i told him if he is sincere he should at least post a comment to wish others well...busy was a bad excuse for fear.
i just want to say this before the emotions get high and he can clarify in person once all are here.

qin

Hi guys.. just got back all my results.. other den BGS, the rest did just average.. though I thought that I did better den last term, I din. I tink most of us did poorer den last term.. and I hate it when I do not improve from the past, cos I feel that I can be lousy, but if I keep improving, everything will be better. Looks like I din.. anyway I wanted to share with you all the mail Es sent me, Es I hope u dun mind, just that I felt it's realli well written.. so guys.. hope that this can be a source of encouragement to you all to, as it did to me.

Hey Song,

I wanted to speak more to you last night before you went to sleep so I thought ill send you a mail.

I know you must be quite disappointed with your results song, cause I know you are working very hard. (My mum told me too and from the way you write on the blog) I guess song don't let this out you down ok? It is not easy I know, but life is never easy right? Unless we are a genius which sadly we arent! =)

Anyway, ill just like to tell you how I feel about studies. I am probably not the best person to offer any advice cause my results aren't that good. I must say Song that I have been figuring out this simple question:" Why is it that all of us have 24hrs but some can do their work better than others?" Of course, hard work is a factor but how much hard work is hard work? Does hard work guarantee everything? I would think no. I believe the work ethic is super important but the technique and the tactic u employ is just as important, if not more important.

Take a football team for example Song. I know I always use football or running as examples but I think they can really relate to life and to me as well. You look at Real Madrid, they have the BEST players. Everywhere on the pitch, everyone donning the white madrid jersey is a TALENT. There is absolutely no doubt. Carlos, Zidane, Beckham, the new brazilian striker, iker casillas, guti...you name all the stars, they cost BILIIONS, but they are a shit team to put it bluntly. WHY SO? Is it the quality of players? Definitely no? I think the failure very much links to the tactic and formation of the team, no one on the pitch really knows what to do with the ball. Applying to our studies, I think we can think we know and have put in a lot of effort but when the exam paper is right in front of us, we've got to know what to do with it.That is the Champion's leagye final, if you want to put it that way. I think you have great abilities Song and I have absolutely no doubt about that. You are smart and you have the work ethic, so find out where you have gone wrong this semester. Many a times we actually know certain ways cannot work, deep down inside we do. But we have to be truthful to ourselves and rip out the evil in us, what has gone wrong, where we have gone wrong and CHANGE.

About change Song, look at Mourinho. He found his winning formula but he has got to keep changing his formation to suit which team he is playing and sometimes we make mistakes. (For eg. playing without robben for FA cup semi-final w liverpool and losing) Yes, he may have made a mistake but he made the decision he thought best to counter a liverpool with good defensive record. And I respect him for that because he is ready and willing to take a risk and believe in his choice. So Song, everyone makes mistake but I guess the key is to change constantly and find your winning ticket. Every semester is different and we need to find the winning route for every sem, only through this constant adaptation and change can we keep our learning fresh and challenging. Don't let it be stagnant Song.

Lastly Song, I wanted to touch on hardwork. I think it is very very important no doubt about it. But you think about it can charlton athletic ever ever ever play like Man Utd or Arsenal no matter how hard they train. Maybe they can, in 10 years time but not now. Why is this so, because talent plays a part. You take their best midfielder, Matt Holland (Charlton) compared with say Rooney (Man Utd), that dude will never be able to outrun, outwit or outplay Rooney. But such is life, we are born differently. What I am driving here is Song, that we just have to be who we can be. But being who we can be means finding the best way to reach our maximum potential.

Saying all these, I must tell you I haven't found my winning ticket yet but I am trying very hard to search for it! Haha. Remember Song, all of us are learning and everyone stumbles. But the trick is never to give in, never to give up and face life bravely. You are a brave person Song, really I mean it. You are more decisive than most people in the group so use that strength to good effect.

Take care of yourself and take this time to rediscover your potential. I know you can do it. I am really confident in you. I will see you soon yea? Take care!



Best wishes,
Esmond

SJ