Omg Christmas is coming!!! I'm so excited for nothing lol.
Btw, these are damm funny.
Physicists
http://xkcd.com/793/
Dimensional analysis
http://xkcd.com/687/
Thanks Ray XD..
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
(0,0)
Somehow after two years in school. I feel like I have returned to square one. Still the directionless mathematician. Been reading alot recently, completed a proof on the fundamental theorem of algebra.
Gosh its been so long since I did any Maths here.
The fundamental theorem of algebra states that any polynomial in complex coeeficients has at least one complex root.
Its a simple collorary then that a polynomial of degree n will have n complex roots, since we can divide the original polynomial by the factor x-r, where r is the root, to get another polynomial of degree n-1, which will itself have at least one root.
The proof sketch hinges on the fact that a general polynomial, hereafter refered to as f(z), where f(z) = az^n + bz^(n-1) + ... + k , where a,b,...,k are complex;
1) is smooth, which means that as z changes gradually, so does f(z).
2) can be approximated by az^n for large z (meaning that the modulus of z is large)
3) is close to the constant term k for small z (meaning that the modulus of z is small)
First we consider the image of f(z) in the complex plane when modulus of z is large. It will trace a large circle about the origin of radius az^n as all the other terms in the polynomial become relatively small.
Then we consider the image when the modulus of z is small, it will trace a small circle about the constant term k, as all the other terms in the polynomial become small. We can also, assume without loss of generality that k is not zero.
Hence as the value of z shifts throughout the complex plane, decreasing in magnitude, the image of z will deform from the large circle about the origin, to the small cicle about the constant term k smoothly. In doing so, it must cross the origin at least once. Hence there must be a value of z which the image is zero, meaning that f(z) must be zero for at least one value of z, which completes the proof sketch.
I think this one is due to Gauss, one of the many proofs of this that he supplied during his lifetime.
It is regretful to think that even Euler couldn't figure this one out.
Gosh its been so long since I did any Maths here.
The fundamental theorem of algebra states that any polynomial in complex coeeficients has at least one complex root.
Its a simple collorary then that a polynomial of degree n will have n complex roots, since we can divide the original polynomial by the factor x-r, where r is the root, to get another polynomial of degree n-1, which will itself have at least one root.
The proof sketch hinges on the fact that a general polynomial, hereafter refered to as f(z), where f(z) = az^n + bz^(n-1) + ... + k , where a,b,...,k are complex;
1) is smooth, which means that as z changes gradually, so does f(z).
2) can be approximated by az^n for large z (meaning that the modulus of z is large)
3) is close to the constant term k for small z (meaning that the modulus of z is small)
First we consider the image of f(z) in the complex plane when modulus of z is large. It will trace a large circle about the origin of radius az^n as all the other terms in the polynomial become relatively small.
Then we consider the image when the modulus of z is small, it will trace a small circle about the constant term k, as all the other terms in the polynomial become small. We can also, assume without loss of generality that k is not zero.
Hence as the value of z shifts throughout the complex plane, decreasing in magnitude, the image of z will deform from the large circle about the origin, to the small cicle about the constant term k smoothly. In doing so, it must cross the origin at least once. Hence there must be a value of z which the image is zero, meaning that f(z) must be zero for at least one value of z, which completes the proof sketch.
I think this one is due to Gauss, one of the many proofs of this that he supplied during his lifetime.
It is regretful to think that even Euler couldn't figure this one out.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Rapunzel
Todays gonna be the third time i watch Rapunzel (Tangled in US). Must-watch for all Disney fans.
Its the first Disney fairy tale to break gender stereotype. Although the film feels modern in both its script and art direction, there is an unmistakable quality of Disney magic to it. Very heartwarming. 9/10.
Ok going to watch now. And please if you're gonna watch it, watch in 3D. I've watch both and the 3D one is much better.
Its the first Disney fairy tale to break gender stereotype. Although the film feels modern in both its script and art direction, there is an unmistakable quality of Disney magic to it. Very heartwarming. 9/10.
Ok going to watch now. And please if you're gonna watch it, watch in 3D. I've watch both and the 3D one is much better.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Holidayzzzz pom pom po pom.
Okay actually the title is a lyrics from the song "Holiday" by Boa. Really gives you the holiday moood hahahaha. Ok at least I think so. Was feeling quite emo about being lost during the holidays but cheered up after talking to someone.
For all the emo lovers out there, dun worry there is always someone more emo than you. His name is............
Jacky Cheung!!!!!
Okay this is my most emo song of all time. There was once after a heartbreak i rode home on a cab hearing this song at midnight. Most empty feeling ever...
Actually why am I even posting this. I'm far from being emo.
This is more like it. Cute girls are everywhere.
For all the emo lovers out there, dun worry there is always someone more emo than you. His name is............
Jacky Cheung!!!!!
Okay this is my most emo song of all time. There was once after a heartbreak i rode home on a cab hearing this song at midnight. Most empty feeling ever...
Actually why am I even posting this. I'm far from being emo.
This is more like it. Cute girls are everywhere.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Emo time.
A level is finally finished!!! Actually, I'm supposed to feel alot happier but i'm kinda blank now.
Actually, not working means more time for emoing.
Whats next? 9 months of nothingless while all my friends go to the army.
At least school meant that I could see her.
I wanted to learn driving so eagerly just so that I could drive her around.
Looking at now, I shatter.
Actually, not working means more time for emoing.
Whats next? 9 months of nothingless while all my friends go to the army.
At least school meant that I could see her.
I wanted to learn driving so eagerly just so that I could drive her around.
Looking at now, I shatter.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
pretty singers
Omg there are pretty and talented singers everywhere! And I can't believe Andrea Ross replied me X.x!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9Vixa3KqVA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9Vixa3KqVA&feature=related
Saturday, November 6, 2010
New idol
閻奕格 is the most beautiful female singer.
Sorry cass you're not my favourite female youth singer anymore XD
Sorry cass you're not my favourite female youth singer anymore XD
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Good luck!
Good luck to everyone taking the A levels in two weeks time.
Study hard, but still must take some time off.
Okay actually I'm just trying to convince you to watch this...
Btw that song by 田馥甄 is very nice. And thats not just cause she has the same surname as me. The best songs are those you relate to.
Study hard, but still must take some time off.
Okay actually I'm just trying to convince you to watch this...
Btw that song by 田馥甄 is very nice. And thats not just cause she has the same surname as me. The best songs are those you relate to.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Pre-A's
Yes for once in my life, i passed chemistry! Even though its only a D.
Anyway I didn;t really study that much. The miracle was scoring a B for my paper 3, which I strongly attribute it to the steely eyes that was given to me this morning. I think it has magical powers.
Like Dark/Evil kind of magic.
Damm scary...
Anyway I didn;t really study that much. The miracle was scoring a B for my paper 3, which I strongly attribute it to the steely eyes that was given to me this morning. I think it has magical powers.
Like Dark/Evil kind of magic.
Damm scary...
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Mathematics suck
I'll say that I'm not a smart person, no matter what others might think. My adequacy in Mathematics comes only from the fact that I've been lucky enough to get interested in it. I used to believe that Mathematics, being the supreme form of knowledge and truth, can answer all problems, but now i know that is not true. As i dwelve deeper into Mathematical insanity, I discover that this is not a garden of eden with the nightingale and flowers, but the land of the blind, where the one-eyed-man is king.
I did not used to be like this, thinking, calculating before I did anything. But was led onto this path in part by logical reasoning, and in part by the game of billiards. It has ruined my life, making me the lifeless person that I am now. Sacrifices must always be made, to learn such an arcane and sacred skill requires you to give up some of your humanity.
Is it true that Mathematicians always die young? Or that they seldom get attached? I write this post to remind myself to separate from the erroneous belief that Mathematics will be all I need, because unlike the Pythagorean motto, not "everything is number".
I did not used to be like this, thinking, calculating before I did anything. But was led onto this path in part by logical reasoning, and in part by the game of billiards. It has ruined my life, making me the lifeless person that I am now. Sacrifices must always be made, to learn such an arcane and sacred skill requires you to give up some of your humanity.
Is it true that Mathematicians always die young? Or that they seldom get attached? I write this post to remind myself to separate from the erroneous belief that Mathematics will be all I need, because unlike the Pythagorean motto, not "everything is number".
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
I swear Colin Cheong is my favourite writer.
Super chio story. It just comes together so naturally well, without the glossy language that plagues most english writers works.
A Gift of a Lifetime
Colin Cheong
25 Dec 2001, The Straits Times, Life!
My uncle's house stood on a small piece of land screened from the world by a line of old trees that marked the perimeter of his home. He was a public man, perhaps too well known for his liking, and his home, a curious assembly of planes and cubes and texture, was his sanctuary.
I'd been to that house only twice in my childhood and both times, I'd been awed by its beauty and intimidated by its silence. I went there twice again, in my young adulthood, the first time when my uncle gave me the cheque that would pay for my education in England, the second when I returned to show him my treasured but impractical degree in History.
I was not an ungrateful boy - I'd asked to see him in the three years in between, but each time, he merely sent me money and asked me to tour the continent. Just send me postcards, he said. Tell me what you're doing. But only if you have time.
I found time - as much as I could - to write to him from wherever in the world I was doing research. I sent him my papers, the journals in which they were printed, photographs of the historical sites we were digging at, newspaper clippings about my work, the books I wrote. Sometimes, he would send me a card, thanking me for a book or artefact I'd mailed to him. But no more.
It pained me, strangely, that a man who took such an interest in my life, should also keep me at such a distance - and ask so little of me in return. I often wished our relationship could have been less formal, more familiar, if not familial.
The fifth time I saw my reclusive uncle was also the last. I was 40 when he died in the November of his 95th year, and I knew him hardly more than when I was four. So it came as a great surprise to my family, our community and the circles in which my uncle had moved, that his estate should pass to me alone.
Don't let the talk bother you," my mother said. And with more honest regret than I'd ever heard in her voice before, she said: "You were the only one who never asked for anything but his time."
"Which was the one thing he never gave me," I said.
The rest of the world was less kind. I did not need his fortune, or his home. Why had he not given everyone a part of his life? Why pass an estate to another heirless scion? Why was I distributing it to every relation with a claim? His home was not the castle from which he ruled. It was his last defence against the mob.
His household staff were ready for me when I arrived and his valet, a man almost 70, showed me to the room that my uncle had prepared for me. The keys to your uncle's study are by your bed, he said as he left the room.
I had not brought much with me. I'd travelled lightly all my life, and sometimes too lightly to make a deep and lasting impression. History was where I found it and the only keepsake I carried was a small, blurred black and white picture of the woman I'd loved from the time we met.
She'd said then that nothing must happen between us, but that we should be the dearest of friends forever. We were, and every night, I'd whisper a prayer for her and bid her, through her photo, goodnight and sweet dreams.
With her picture by my bedside, I picked up the keys and headed for my uncle's study. I realised then that he hadn't just left me his money and home. He had left me his life.
In his bookcases, I saw the volumes he'd read and written. On the walls were his photographs and paintings. And in a special cabinet, the cans that held the films he'd made. There were letters, diaries, journals - a written record of a life, full and complete, a lifetime of memories for me to share.
He had made me the custodian of his memory, the curator of the museum of his life. And what a life it had been! My heart soared. In his own way, he had finally given me his time - all of it. And a lifetime of getting to know him - though I regretted that he would never know me well.
"Is there anything you would like, Dr Wong?" my uncle's housekeeper asked sometime late in the night as I sat reading at my uncle's desk.
"What did my uncle use to ask for?"
"Warm milk with brandy."
"Then warm milk with brandy it is." She seemed pleased at my answer and left.
And so it went for a few weeks as I settled into the comfortable pattern that had been my uncle's life. I spent most of my time in his study, reading, studying and trying to understand, to grasp the character of a man I'd loved and respected all my life, but had never truly known.
Meanwhile, the discontented relations made their usual demands for a piece of the pie - choice pieces of furniture or antiques (in that single tour of the house that I'd allowed, they had catalogued it) or large cheques for Christmas. I began to understand my uncle's decision to leave it all to me.
That way, his whole life would be kept together, all the little parts of it that depended on the others for context and continuity. And here in his home, through me, his time could live on, remembered exactly as it was, linked and extended through my life.
On Christmas Eve, I asked for the key to his bedroom. The entire household staff - valet, housekeeper, cook, gardener and driver (an ageing workforce, if I ever saw one) - followed me to the door. We said a prayer and made a toast to my uncle's memory and then they left me alone.
I did not expect the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present or Future. But there was a heaviness in his room that I felt nowhere else in his house, a heaviness that pulled down at my heart and spirit.
It was a simple room - just his bed, his wardrobe, a reading chair with a side table, and an escritoire. I sat at the escritoire, hesitated for a moment, then rolled back the cover. The mess caught me by surprise.
Everything else in the house had been cleaned and tidied after my uncle's death, but his escritoire looked as it might have had he still been alive. Writing paper on the desktop, his fountain pen on the right where his hand would have left it, a half-written letter and a small box that must have been half a century old, and in a tiny silver frame, an old black-and-white picture of a beautiful woman.
With a guilty feeling that I was now prying into the most secret area of my uncle's life, I picked up the picture, gazed into that woman's gentle eyes and then read the words on his unfinished letter. He had a graceful hand and his strokes were certain, strong. He had written:
"Would you make a life with me?"
"Beneath the burning shade of angsana trees, we'll dance on a carpet of petals, your hands in mine, with a dewdrop on your finger to say my heart is yours..."
I did not need to wonder what the rest would have been. As I opened the drawers in his escritoire, I found the rest.
Every year at Christmas, he had written the same letter, to the same woman - and never sent them. For 59 years, he'd written these proposals, but never sent them. For 59 years, that dewdrop had sat in the darkness of its little box here on his desk, never to grace the finger of that beautiful woman in the picture.
My heart broke. For my uncle, for that lovely woman who might have been my aunt, for myself and that dear friend who might have been my wife. And I felt the weight of that room begin to lift.
It was early Christmas morning when I'd recovered enough to gift-wrap the letters and the ring, packed an overnight bag and head for the garage. The housekeeper was already up.
"When can we expect you home, Dr Wong?"
"When I've delivered this present. And when I've delivered my heart."
"I'll set the dinner table for two then.'
"Please do. And from now on, always."
A Gift of a Lifetime
Colin Cheong
25 Dec 2001, The Straits Times, Life!
My uncle's house stood on a small piece of land screened from the world by a line of old trees that marked the perimeter of his home. He was a public man, perhaps too well known for his liking, and his home, a curious assembly of planes and cubes and texture, was his sanctuary.
I'd been to that house only twice in my childhood and both times, I'd been awed by its beauty and intimidated by its silence. I went there twice again, in my young adulthood, the first time when my uncle gave me the cheque that would pay for my education in England, the second when I returned to show him my treasured but impractical degree in History.
I was not an ungrateful boy - I'd asked to see him in the three years in between, but each time, he merely sent me money and asked me to tour the continent. Just send me postcards, he said. Tell me what you're doing. But only if you have time.
I found time - as much as I could - to write to him from wherever in the world I was doing research. I sent him my papers, the journals in which they were printed, photographs of the historical sites we were digging at, newspaper clippings about my work, the books I wrote. Sometimes, he would send me a card, thanking me for a book or artefact I'd mailed to him. But no more.
It pained me, strangely, that a man who took such an interest in my life, should also keep me at such a distance - and ask so little of me in return. I often wished our relationship could have been less formal, more familiar, if not familial.
The fifth time I saw my reclusive uncle was also the last. I was 40 when he died in the November of his 95th year, and I knew him hardly more than when I was four. So it came as a great surprise to my family, our community and the circles in which my uncle had moved, that his estate should pass to me alone.
Don't let the talk bother you," my mother said. And with more honest regret than I'd ever heard in her voice before, she said: "You were the only one who never asked for anything but his time."
"Which was the one thing he never gave me," I said.
The rest of the world was less kind. I did not need his fortune, or his home. Why had he not given everyone a part of his life? Why pass an estate to another heirless scion? Why was I distributing it to every relation with a claim? His home was not the castle from which he ruled. It was his last defence against the mob.
His household staff were ready for me when I arrived and his valet, a man almost 70, showed me to the room that my uncle had prepared for me. The keys to your uncle's study are by your bed, he said as he left the room.
I had not brought much with me. I'd travelled lightly all my life, and sometimes too lightly to make a deep and lasting impression. History was where I found it and the only keepsake I carried was a small, blurred black and white picture of the woman I'd loved from the time we met.
She'd said then that nothing must happen between us, but that we should be the dearest of friends forever. We were, and every night, I'd whisper a prayer for her and bid her, through her photo, goodnight and sweet dreams.
With her picture by my bedside, I picked up the keys and headed for my uncle's study. I realised then that he hadn't just left me his money and home. He had left me his life.
In his bookcases, I saw the volumes he'd read and written. On the walls were his photographs and paintings. And in a special cabinet, the cans that held the films he'd made. There were letters, diaries, journals - a written record of a life, full and complete, a lifetime of memories for me to share.
He had made me the custodian of his memory, the curator of the museum of his life. And what a life it had been! My heart soared. In his own way, he had finally given me his time - all of it. And a lifetime of getting to know him - though I regretted that he would never know me well.
"Is there anything you would like, Dr Wong?" my uncle's housekeeper asked sometime late in the night as I sat reading at my uncle's desk.
"What did my uncle use to ask for?"
"Warm milk with brandy."
"Then warm milk with brandy it is." She seemed pleased at my answer and left.
And so it went for a few weeks as I settled into the comfortable pattern that had been my uncle's life. I spent most of my time in his study, reading, studying and trying to understand, to grasp the character of a man I'd loved and respected all my life, but had never truly known.
Meanwhile, the discontented relations made their usual demands for a piece of the pie - choice pieces of furniture or antiques (in that single tour of the house that I'd allowed, they had catalogued it) or large cheques for Christmas. I began to understand my uncle's decision to leave it all to me.
That way, his whole life would be kept together, all the little parts of it that depended on the others for context and continuity. And here in his home, through me, his time could live on, remembered exactly as it was, linked and extended through my life.
On Christmas Eve, I asked for the key to his bedroom. The entire household staff - valet, housekeeper, cook, gardener and driver (an ageing workforce, if I ever saw one) - followed me to the door. We said a prayer and made a toast to my uncle's memory and then they left me alone.
I did not expect the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present or Future. But there was a heaviness in his room that I felt nowhere else in his house, a heaviness that pulled down at my heart and spirit.
It was a simple room - just his bed, his wardrobe, a reading chair with a side table, and an escritoire. I sat at the escritoire, hesitated for a moment, then rolled back the cover. The mess caught me by surprise.
Everything else in the house had been cleaned and tidied after my uncle's death, but his escritoire looked as it might have had he still been alive. Writing paper on the desktop, his fountain pen on the right where his hand would have left it, a half-written letter and a small box that must have been half a century old, and in a tiny silver frame, an old black-and-white picture of a beautiful woman.
With a guilty feeling that I was now prying into the most secret area of my uncle's life, I picked up the picture, gazed into that woman's gentle eyes and then read the words on his unfinished letter. He had a graceful hand and his strokes were certain, strong. He had written:
"Would you make a life with me?"
"Beneath the burning shade of angsana trees, we'll dance on a carpet of petals, your hands in mine, with a dewdrop on your finger to say my heart is yours..."
I did not need to wonder what the rest would have been. As I opened the drawers in his escritoire, I found the rest.
Every year at Christmas, he had written the same letter, to the same woman - and never sent them. For 59 years, he'd written these proposals, but never sent them. For 59 years, that dewdrop had sat in the darkness of its little box here on his desk, never to grace the finger of that beautiful woman in the picture.
My heart broke. For my uncle, for that lovely woman who might have been my aunt, for myself and that dear friend who might have been my wife. And I felt the weight of that room begin to lift.
It was early Christmas morning when I'd recovered enough to gift-wrap the letters and the ring, packed an overnight bag and head for the garage. The housekeeper was already up.
"When can we expect you home, Dr Wong?"
"When I've delivered this present. And when I've delivered my heart."
"I'll set the dinner table for two then.'
"Please do. And from now on, always."
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
TPA commemoration part II
continued. Part 2/3
(xi) - Concentration Camp
LAST DAY OF THE MOST WONDERFUL OVERNIGHT EXPERIENCE OF MY SCHOOL LIFE:
We arrived in safra, and it was here where i played the few of my best rounds of pool ever, no competition, just as friends, i mean, we just went through 3 days, and i felt very close to them, very refreshing and clean, although i haven't bathed. I played great pool with yuan hong, thrashing him, but we were laughing throughout, and i was recalling the bumblebee song, and i decided to record it on teck's handphone the following week. When kenneth challenged me race to 3 racks, that was were my mood sank a little, we were like a real competition. Kenneth really wants to beat me, i can tell, i know he isn't too happy that i'm ranked higher than him, he's been in the business much longer than me, and i don't think he ever thought that i would outrank him, i would think that way if i were him. But thankfully, i beat him 3-2. And for the rest of the night, we were laughing as i watched teck siang play.
(xii) - The Dragon awakens
Much to my dismay, i will not be going for the snooker tournament anymore. I was at the church camp when mr yeo, at the eleventh hour, told the tpa about the tournament, and they failed to sign me up for they could not contact me. But when i returned, although there was much confusion, and the forms were already sent, darren kindly gave me his place for he told me he didn't want to go. When wei zhou called wiraka, they didn't answer. I was elated at first, but i knew, how could it be so perfect? Something will hinder me from going to this tournament. Facing my mid-life pool crisis, i was at the pinnacle, where my skills shone, but pool was fading, i don't need pool, to live. I wanted to quit after the pool tournament, only to find out that it had been changed to snooker and my friends didn't sign me up for they thought i wouldn't like a snooker tournament. It wasn't meant for me to go, i knew it, firstly, mr yeo had to inform them so late, just perfectly while i was away, and when wei zhou called wiraka for the change, they didn't pick up, and they only did after 10 days before the tournament, where a change was allowed, and so, the change was disallowed. It was never meant for me to go, i do not regret going to the church camp, thank you, wei zhou for putting so much faith onto me, but, i quit.
(xiii) - Tournament Snooker
I wasn't supposed to play, i wasn't there when they signed up, i went to school feeling very down on monday. I could see the excitement that was waiting to explode within the eyes of teck and yuan hong and the rest, they pitied me, but i was unconsolable, i didn't show it though, i just wished them good luck. During reccess, wei zhou was busy trying to cheer me up. Towards the end of the reccess, wei zhou realised his great folly, he realised that a team could have 4 reserves instead of two, he then wrote my name on the excuse form and since they already told mr yeo i was playing, it wasn't much of a problem. So i was really excited but a little doubtful that i can go. But i did, and in the end, we met mr yeo and took a cab here, me, teck, wei zhou, kenneth, yuan hong, darren and aaron. When we got there, most of the teams were already warming up, and we were late, we looked at the other teams, ACS(barker), presbyterian high, montfort, and several others, they were all so professionally dressed, outram sec even wore long sleeved shirts and black leather shoes, they had coaches and many teachers surrounding them, while we, rushed over with our bags, with mr yeo and our cues, and we looked nooby and unprofessional.
Our match started soon after, with teck siang playing first, against montfort secondary, and since i wasn't in the starting lineup, i was told to be a ref for the other teams...... how nice, looking and keeping score of 4 games of snooooker.... i was standing alone there, refing outram sec and presbyterian sec's match and their's was the slowest everrr match, they were all so dry, potting at first but spending the next hundreds and million minutes just hitting balls that don't go in.. so i watched teck's first match, he was freaked, the first in the tournament, against a small cute, cuddly, chubby, adorable sec 1-2 montfort kid. When they started, teck attempted to smash his confidence by potting a red and a blue, a total of 6 points, but the boy wasn't impressed, and instead, smashed teck's confidence, he was a powerhouse, he pocket balls with great accuracy and was a master of snooking, making teck unable to hit several balls, when i saw the boy's ball hitting streak, and teck's off form face, i knew for sure, the first match was gonna be there, teck looked like some idiot standing there, getting thrashed by a pro, and teck was playing unprofessionally, at that point, we thought we had underestimated the the level of play of the competition, i mouth to teck, "wake up!" and he managed a weak smile. Then, teck returned at the turn of the tide, he started making several good shots, and surprisingly, the young boy's confidence was shattered, the young boy seemed to turn to what teck was, he missed many shots and didn't play well, at first, when we saw the boy score point after point, i thought he must have got at least forty points. But when i saw teck running the table for a really long while, with the boy missing a trillion shots, without looking at the score, you'd surely have the gut feeling that teck's score must have leveled with the chap's score. And when i saw teck pot the colored balls, i thought that he must have far overtaken the lad, i was so engrossed with their match, i didn't even notice all the fouls that occured in my match, till my montfort helper told me. finally teck pocketed the black ball, then i saw him smiling happily and walking back , seized him and asked him if he won, he told me they drew, when he returned the others, wei zhou was hugging him and the others were just congratulating him, but afterwards, he was recalled to pot the black once more, to decide the winner, this was worrying for me, i was afraid he'd lost, he started and he missed, now it was the lad's turn, can he do what he did before? I mean, he's the super lad! how could he not? i thought to myself, he's gonna pot it, dude, he's superlad, but maybe because all that was left of his thin glass of confidence were tiny shards on the floor, he missed the middle pocket narrowly, our reaction were all, "whawaaaaaaa, heng ah...." And teck, being inconsistent today, worried us a little, but with ease, he potted the black, and we all clapped, what can we say? Nothing much but pure brilliance
A remarkable comeback, From a miserable thrashing, teck turned the tide and made an unbelievable comeback, who could have thought of that? I congratulate and commend teck on his brillance but i want to beat his buttocks for his inconsistency, but still, we had won amazing game in hand, next was Master Tian.
Master Tian was up against, who we believed was the best among them, we rejoiced, for we knew, we had the game in hand, for which best was good enough to beat that bloody veteran? In fact, wei zhou's matches are boring, no excitement, because we know for sure, that the opponent might as well walkover rather than play, cause wei zhou's gonna do what he does, to look like an old man and thrash the opponent. So ya, he lived up to his expectations, and he beat their best player not by alot, but well, still do what he went to do----with easeeee.
Next was kenneth, now this was pretty unsure, i wasn't sure about kenneth, i had an instinctive feeling that he would lose, because i just know kenneth's not meant to play snooker, so i told my instincts to shut up and i had to slap myself a few times before they did. I love my instincts! it was right again, kenneth played very badly, he even jumped a ball while trying to screw, if i'm not wrong... And he was thrashed 70 plus to 30 plus. When he got back, he received a big scolding from that tian kid, lots of criticism, tian kid was utterly disappointed.
Then next was another worry, it was aaron up, i say worry for i haven't really seen him play and according to wei zhou, he says he isn't very good, but having seen him play pool, i predicted that he'll be ok, but still lose, when he walked past me, i told him, "Win this aaron!" and he gave me that sly smile. We were all on tenterhooks, because we were unsure of his ability and with his first shot, he cannoned the cue ball and all the balls jumped about, with that kindof shot, ......, when i looked at wei zhou, he immediately covered his face in grieve. Luckily he was playing against their lousiest player, and although aaron played anyhow, he lost by one point. We went home punching our faces, knowing that we could've won.
Then Second day of the tournament was even more exciting, i told myself that i wouldn't go this time, but when i met wei zhou he told me i had to go, or we wouldn't make a team of 6, since kenneth doesn't want to go anymore, and wei zhou told me either me or yuan hong would play. We had many discussions and wei zhou told me to challenge yuan hong and that the winner shall play, at this time, i was afraid, i could thrash yuan hong easily in pool, but i have had many problems breaking through my psychological barrier he set up for me when i play snooker against him, he's a psychological bomb, you'll see later why in the upcoming exciting events that follow, and i, am a foolish brat who cannot control his emotions and his impatient. Throughout the chem lesson, i was nervous, nervous that i would not be able to play, and nervous about the match against outram if them play, because i've seen them play when i refed their match, they all had ear piercings and all looked intimidating, and they were pretty good. Wei zhou worked it all out, he said that if we lost the match against outram, as long as we win the match against presbyterian, we could progress into the semis, but if we won this match, and lost to pres, we might not, because outram beat pres and have 3 points, montfort have 1 point, we have 1 point, and pres have 0. If we lose, we keep our 1 point and will have 4 if we beat pres, and if pres beat montfort, they'll only have 3, and mont would also have 4, so we might still get in.
When it was time to go, i was really very fidgety. But with our wonderful 3e2 classmates cheering and supporting us, we grabbed hold of that little bit of confidence. When we reached there, we met a guy called jason whom mr yeo hired for a while to teach us. He told us to snook or play safe whenever we feel that we didn't have the confidence to pocket any shots, so me and yuan hong tried a few shots to see who'll get the place. I did, but i imagined myself for a moment, there, with the outram fella, i suddenly wanted to puke, i told wei zhou to let him play, i couldn't undertake the pressure and had totally no confidence of my skills, call me a coward, but i really wasn't ready that day. Lee Hexun is ranked at 3, the shark, the highest in TPA, notice the P in TPA stands for pool, and i excel in pool, not snooker, i was unsure of my snooker skills, and even if yuan hong goes down, let him drag his opponent down too! With Yuan hong there, his opponent might feel the need to see a psychiatrist or even call my mom for psychological help. This time, yuan hong was to start the ball rolling.
Yuan hong started and the match slowly progressed, we highly doubt yuan hong's pocketing skills, but we do not, for a single moment, doubt his psychological skills. Of course, yuan hong is the master of luck and suprise. From the start, just by looking at yuan hong's small and skinny frame, with that happy happy haha face and that never unsmiling smile, i'll say every snooker/pool player will surely think that they're gonna win, with a possibility of 98%. I was always that snooker/pool player, i've been tricked, and i'm happy that this time, i'm gonna see them get tricked, hahahahahha. Even teck commented, " I think the guy see yuan hong also no mood to play already.." We agreed, yuan hong was always laughing and smiling at his mistakes, and he played the game very slow, and snooked and played safe many many trillion times, we were all proud and unimpressed of him, because we know him. His pure personality plays the game, not him, before long, his opponent was frustrated, he kept missing and missing, and he was totally pissed, while yuan hong was missing and smiling, playing safe and grinning, now, who wouldn't be frustrated now? Looks like this guy is unable to beat yuan hong's psychological barrier, he was totally disheartened, and missed even the simplest of shots. And scratched (meaning, pocketing the cueball, which is a foul of 4 points, depending on the situation) 5-6 times, can you believe it? Yuan Hong dropped his never ceasing psychological bomb on that fella, beat and killed 6899 x 10^49 of his brain cells and stole like, forty points! We never gave up hope on yuan hong, when he made mistakes, i was at the seats to give him a thumbs up and we were all laughing at the game, with that happy happy haha yuan hong face and that totally flustered opponent's face. Yuan Hong committed a grave mistake, and lost 4 crucial points, the opponent, having been psyched, potted the green and the cueball too. Yuan Hong didn't know they respotted the green, so he proceeded to aim for the brown, at that moment, we were all like: lskdghjsngnwqngwkrng;knwergnqn~~~~~~~~!!!!!!!!!!!! OY!!!!!!!!!!! Until i couldn't stand it i shouted Yuan Hong! Yuan Hong looked over with that question mark look, and i couldn't tell him, if not it wouldn't be fair, but yuan hong wasn't aware of his impending doom, and all we could do was, .....oh no! And he did it, when Yuan Hong realised his mistake, he laughed, hahah. Another crucial mistake was when the opponent, being too psychologically disturbed, scratched again, yuan hong had a clear and easy shot, and he missed, in the end, yuan hong lost by a margin, but we were all eager to congratulate him, for losing, haha, but no, we were proud of him for almost killing his opponent, his opponent was on the verge of going totally crazy, he was already 80% psyched. And we were all laughing with yuan hong, we called him the feeder, he pocketed less than 5 balls but went head to head with that guy and fed on his flaws and mistakes, and he managed to suck out 40 over points! THATS STUNNING! TO GAIN 40++ POINTS BY BEING HIMSELF??!!@!@ I was very happy with his performance and i stole him away to have a snack with him, there, i was busy telling him how unbelieveable he was and that i couldn't have got that far if i played (i'm unsure). I was really glad that day.
Then was teck, and he played against an indian, who was said by a few of us to be the best, teck, influenced by jason's word of advice to play safe when you've no confidence, totally wrecked his own game, teck, was an aggresive player, and for the whole game, he daren't pocket many balls for he wanted to play safe. It was a really tough match, and he lost 40-48. He was totally psyched by them, their whole team was there cheering that fella and disturbing teck, and their coach was really really irritating, all teck had was me, wei zhou, and yuan hong quietly standing behind him. But i congratulate Teck, nerves of steel, to play against their best is one mean mean feat. Teck Siang went back to the seats cursing nonstop, he wasn't happy about losing, and said that that guy wasn't even their best, he wasn't happy, and he cursed jason for disrupting his style of play. But he really put up a good fight.
Next was that boring guy tian, we didn't even bother to be excited, it'll just be another boring win, i shan't elaborate, all i can say is, he gave that guy alot of chance, but what else more can i say?
Last of all was Aaron, against another rumoured best, by then, we were the only team playing, and everyone was watching us. They started, and we were all curious at that chap's style of play, he seemed very good, but either he was frustrated at missing some shots and having his frustration influence him, or he really was a lousy player. But aaron played very well, much better then he did yesterday, he was serious, but cold, he even borrowed a sweater from another player from presbyterian. Aaron received several applauses from the spectators and surprised us, we were pretty amazed, and throughout the end, we were convinced that that fella was a noob, cause he kept missing. But during the last few shots, while we were clinging on to hope of winning, that guy just potted the pink and the black so easily, then we realised, he's good, haha, we lost, again, but we came here expecting to lose, we have to beat presbyterian tomorrow or teck would have to go to detention on thurs, hhaha. And we were kindof worried as pres beat montfort today, although that adorable boy was a steamroller against one of the pres guys and totally flattened him, maybe yesterday he was err, unlucky? Judging by yuan hong's superb play today, i declined to play tomorrow for i believe, to play yuan hong would be a much better effect. We'll see if teck goes to detention on thurs by tomorrow morning, goodbye.
(xiv) - My Promotion
I'm a pool player, any teens now playing hot games under the sun, repent now! Before its too late. Realise that you all are getting tanner under the scorching sun, be like me, boys! Being fair is in! Girls don't like tan guys, and even if they do, i'm still gonna love being fair, i'll teach you pool! Its fun! But don't get addicted like teck. If you'd like to repent and convert, i'll pour my whitening lotion on you and bring you to have fun at Safra some time.
(xv) - I return to you at the turn of the tide
So finally the busy week has passed, today i was exceptionally happy for i reason i shall not share with you guys, but yeah, after sch i gave robelle her gift and she was really glad, she hugged darren, not me =='( Then i went to safra... Now i know why Teck was promoted to CHAMPION, he really was one, i thought i had finally surpassed him, but he proved once again that pool is unpredictable, he beat me so many times!!! Yeah, then some guys from beatty came over. Then kenneth went over to their table to talk to them, it was Max, Daniel and Yap Yap i think, and kenneth asked them whether they wanted to play, then daniel said that he wanted to play with hexun! Lol, when kenneth came over to tell me, i was really surprised, hahaha, he specially chose me to play with! WOOHOO! yeah, kenneth said maybe cause he hadn't really seen my play in school. So when he walked over, i was finishing with teck, and i pretended that i was a total noob, that was like so embarrassing. Yeah, then i asked daniel how many matches he wanted to play, he said one. Then i set up the balls and i started to break, i miscued, hahaha, then i asked him again, i said race to 3 la! Then he said ok. Then i set up again, then i started to break, then i missed again, hahahah. Then the 3rd time i broke the pack really hard. Then when i started running the table did daniel realise his great folly, i was really having a great time there, i was clearing and clearing. Then teck came over and said, let him win one round la! Then i told him that if i did that i'd be wasting his money since i'd most probably win. And i did of course, i cleared him again and again, then out of the corner of my eyes, i saw two guys and they were looking at me, kenneth told me if we invited them, they'd surely play with us. So daniel payed for the table, and then kenneth asked the guys whether they wanted to play. They agreed a tag team match, race to 3, as usual, being friendly, i asked them what school were they from, they said they were from balastier hill, then we started, yeah, we didn't have much of a problem. In fact, i felt bad making them pay, when they paid, one of them patted my back and said, thanks, i said good game and bade them farewell, haiyaaa, they were such nice guys, maybe cause i first made a friendly approach. Then wei zhou arrived with darren and a new TPA member, borath, so i left for church.
(xvi) - Personal Achievements
So anyway, me, darren, teck and kenenth made our way to safra, of course, joined by our new member, borath and his friends. I started out playing snooker with wei zhou, starting a day in safra by playing snooker helps a lot, it helps calms the heart for real playing, because snooker requires enourmous amounts of patience and accuracy, a single twitch might result in a loss of points. And yeah, wei zhou was playing like a darn pro as usual, but i did make a marked improvement. Then after that, i proceeded to the pool table, where i played with wei zhou too. Then i borrowed darren's borrowed ipod and listend to quando like one million times while playing, and yeah, yohanus challenged me, i didn't play properly, i didn't intend to, i was singing away instead, and yohanus kept asking me to play seriously, but i insisted on singing, and kenneth was telling me about table 7's interest in playing pool, and he asked if i wanted to challenge them, as i was listening to music, i kinda spoke really loudly and kenneth immediately pulled away my ear phones and told me not to say loudly, ahha. Then after that, borath must have sensed my lousy playing and yeah, he challenged me. Yeah, and before that, teck siang ran over with that ecstatic face of his to inform us he cleared the table!!! Oh my goodness, teck siang cleared the table! To those who do not understand the meaning, it simply means, his opponent broke the pack of 15 balls, it was a dry break, and teck siang cleared all seven of his balls while his opponent pocketed non in one turn. I was so happy for him, every pool player has his first time! haha, I congratulate Lee Teck Siang on his clearing. Yeah then i kinda expected a normal match with borath. Then i broke, and potted the yellow. Then i started pocketting and pocketting, and darren said, ''clear table! Wah!'' Only then i realised i was really clearing the table! woohoo! then i positioned for everything really well, then when i was in perfect postition for my last solid ball and the black, i was already in joy!! And i did it! I cleared the table for the first time in my entire life!! haha, wahoo!!!! Then rattitya or something, (whom teck cleared) walked over to our table, and i heard borath telling him, he clear table leh! I haven't even hit a ball then he cleared. Then i found it really funny, haha, rattitya got cleared and when he walked over, his pal was cleared too, haha, what a coincidence, its really like they lost a big war, both of their flanks got heavily hit. That'll show them the prowess of TPA, although borath is already in TPA
Then later that evening, kenneth proceeded to challenge a lone ranger at table 11, his friends were playing snooker, and kenneth challenged him. Kenneth later told me he lost, and he wasn't happy, cause he wasn't really good. Then teck went over to challenge him, and won an impressive 2-0 match. Then, of course, my heart itched, then i walked over to ask him too, his expression was really funny, he was like " Huh? again ah?'' haha, he has been attacked repetetively. He looked pretty old, probably in his late thirties. I won my first match, and all his friends were helping him and stuff, but i didn't mind much. He won the 2nd. I was really nervous when i played the 3rd, but i found, i didn't play seriously, i didn't even aim properly as i would for serious matches against strangers but i found myself missing. I has a 5 and the 8 left, and he had one 8 left. When i saw that his 8 was at the jaw of the mid pocket, i thought he must have won, so i left the table to pay for the table, when i heard ''hexun!'' not after 5 steps and realise he missed, haha. Then the TPA were like, "good psyching skills hexun!" haha, i did not intend to bring mind trickery into my game, i won that game. Then when he paid for that table, wei zhou challenged him again, i described this guy as a near death insect, and we were all flies, sucking the juice out of him, one by one, and now, the insect's gonna die. Lol, that was what we thought would happen but wei zhou started by giving that guy a lot of chance, then it was too late and wei zhou lost, haha. Yeah, but anyway, the insect was kinda sucked dry, ahha.
I think TPA should have an achievements list, like who we beat, how old was that person we beat, and what remarkable thing we did. And yeah, we're pretty impressed with ourselves, we've beaten people from every age group, from young teens, to mature adults aged like 40-50, and i had a match with a 70 pluser where i almost won, and of course, how could i forget that chubby relief teacher from sch, i wanna know his name, i'm so proud to have won him, he's a really good player.. And so ends another chapter of my trips to safra and my experience with the game.
(xvii) - Pool and Man and the other
Anyway, i've been flipping thru some of my father's club magazines cause i'd really like to participate in any pool tournament available. I think i'm quite ok and although my goal is not to win, at least i can see where i stand. And of course, pool gains respect, especially from the much older men. One example is that fat relief teacher that amanda and her friends seem to hate, as written on her blog. lol, we didn't know much about him either, but one day he just strolled to the pool table, asking for a game. He's a really really good pool player, in fact, he's a snoooker player. He only played against our best there, which meant, he played against TPA only, and out of Me, teck, wei zhou and kenneth, only kenneth lost. And i really loved my match, cause i cleared him, haha, anyway, winning him gains respect from him. I mean, you can hate him and speak bad of him, but to us, whenever we see him, we feel good, cause we know, he's under me, i owned him, haha, its a good way to get back at people you don't like other that speaking behind his back and hating him that much, cause when he sees you, however bad he might treat you, he would respect you and wouldn't talk so much cause he got owned, hahaha. Have a nice day everyone!
(xviii) - My death nears
And then there's the pool tournament, me and kenneth have discussed with mrs , forgot her name, the school counsellor and nothing seems to be coming out of it. I mean, i want a level champion, and then an overall champion, but we only have 1 week to carry out the tournament and having all levels is a headache. So kenneth suggested to leave out the sec 4s, and he was unsure whether to leave out the sec 1s, but the students the pool committee are teaching now are sec 1s anyway. Its such a headache, nothing'll come out of it, we might still have to meet all the class monitors to look at the interest level, its really difficult, not everyone wants to play pool you know. Then mrs counsellor wants to fight for 1 per class, to shorten the time, but i told her there might be conflicts. Like for example, for our class, there's me, kenneth and teck siang.. who to send? The winner will bring back glory, while the left out will feel jealous. And there isn't any team sprit, nor any of class sprit, a one man show isn't spritual at all is it? So no matter how much mrs counsellor proposed for a 1 man team, i made clear my stand of having 3 in a class, so its a real headache, we don't have much time, manpower and authority to do much, we're not even discussing as a committee, mr yeo, he won't do much of what he promises, haiya, but i really want a pool tournament..
(xix) - Shores of the Sea
After that, took a train back to toa payoh and sat 238 to get to safra, and i got down and saw weng fung and his friend at the bus stop, they asked me where i was going, i said safra, then they said i was really stupid cause 238 would go one big round and end up in front of safra, i felt like a fool, but nvm, it'll take a long time, but it was raining, they told me they wanted to board 238 too, they wanted to get to safra too, haiya, safra was just across the road and they can't take out their umbrellas, they wanted to hire a cab but instead got out their umbrellas. So when i got there, i immediately sensed new blood when i saw wei zhi there, so i challenged him, i've deproved a lot, since the last time i went was like close to 1 month ago, but luckily i beat him, so i played with daniel 2 whole rounds of snooker, chalked up a total of more than 100 points for both games, although it was really really really slow, but it felt good to be back in safra playing snooker again, and when you make a good shot, sometimes when people from the neighbouring table see it, he'd tap his own table and say good shot, and one ex-beattyian did just that, he looked really old. Satisfaction....our school has produced a new breed of nerd snooker/pool players, we're gonna stage a revolution, a nerd revolution, to let the first though that come into people's minds when they hear pool or snooker to be: ''Yeee, nerd's game''
(xx) - I'm the next Pianist
Yesterday, after the excruciating 4-5? hours of physics extra lessons, we could finally relax, so me and yh got to lorong 8 to eat a very fufilling meal, nothing much, just a plate of chicken rice and one plate of carrot cake, then wei zhou and they guys came along, they just came from wei zhou's dad's confectionary store and brought much more goodies, so i gobbled them up too, so it was quite a filling lunch. Then after that we headed to safra. Yeah, so i was in the snooker mood as usual, i've kinda lost my love for pool, i'm more interested in snooker, but i cant seem to exceed my 50 points mark, but i was pretty on form for the first game, then after that decided to change to pool for a moment cause the pool table was free, then after like 4 game i told yuan hong i wanted to play snooker, so we switched again, but this time i was playing lousily, i even ordered a plate of mee, lol, i guess i was quite hungry yesterday. Speaking about mee, i would like to tell the whole world how the safra snookerium cheats our money. One plate with special maggie mee, 3 dollars! Its just a small amount of mee, with chilli, and dark sauce, an egg, 2 luncheon meats, and that costs 3 dollars! Although it really is addictive, i hate it! Cause they cheat our money!!!! Its like, the whole thing doesn't even cost them like 1 dollar and they charge us 3 dollars! But then again, no one complains and everyone still continues eating it.
(xi) - Concentration Camp
LAST DAY OF THE MOST WONDERFUL OVERNIGHT EXPERIENCE OF MY SCHOOL LIFE:
We arrived in safra, and it was here where i played the few of my best rounds of pool ever, no competition, just as friends, i mean, we just went through 3 days, and i felt very close to them, very refreshing and clean, although i haven't bathed. I played great pool with yuan hong, thrashing him, but we were laughing throughout, and i was recalling the bumblebee song, and i decided to record it on teck's handphone the following week. When kenneth challenged me race to 3 racks, that was were my mood sank a little, we were like a real competition. Kenneth really wants to beat me, i can tell, i know he isn't too happy that i'm ranked higher than him, he's been in the business much longer than me, and i don't think he ever thought that i would outrank him, i would think that way if i were him. But thankfully, i beat him 3-2. And for the rest of the night, we were laughing as i watched teck siang play.
(xii) - The Dragon awakens
Much to my dismay, i will not be going for the snooker tournament anymore. I was at the church camp when mr yeo, at the eleventh hour, told the tpa about the tournament, and they failed to sign me up for they could not contact me. But when i returned, although there was much confusion, and the forms were already sent, darren kindly gave me his place for he told me he didn't want to go. When wei zhou called wiraka, they didn't answer. I was elated at first, but i knew, how could it be so perfect? Something will hinder me from going to this tournament. Facing my mid-life pool crisis, i was at the pinnacle, where my skills shone, but pool was fading, i don't need pool, to live. I wanted to quit after the pool tournament, only to find out that it had been changed to snooker and my friends didn't sign me up for they thought i wouldn't like a snooker tournament. It wasn't meant for me to go, i knew it, firstly, mr yeo had to inform them so late, just perfectly while i was away, and when wei zhou called wiraka for the change, they didn't pick up, and they only did after 10 days before the tournament, where a change was allowed, and so, the change was disallowed. It was never meant for me to go, i do not regret going to the church camp, thank you, wei zhou for putting so much faith onto me, but, i quit.
(xiii) - Tournament Snooker
I wasn't supposed to play, i wasn't there when they signed up, i went to school feeling very down on monday. I could see the excitement that was waiting to explode within the eyes of teck and yuan hong and the rest, they pitied me, but i was unconsolable, i didn't show it though, i just wished them good luck. During reccess, wei zhou was busy trying to cheer me up. Towards the end of the reccess, wei zhou realised his great folly, he realised that a team could have 4 reserves instead of two, he then wrote my name on the excuse form and since they already told mr yeo i was playing, it wasn't much of a problem. So i was really excited but a little doubtful that i can go. But i did, and in the end, we met mr yeo and took a cab here, me, teck, wei zhou, kenneth, yuan hong, darren and aaron. When we got there, most of the teams were already warming up, and we were late, we looked at the other teams, ACS(barker), presbyterian high, montfort, and several others, they were all so professionally dressed, outram sec even wore long sleeved shirts and black leather shoes, they had coaches and many teachers surrounding them, while we, rushed over with our bags, with mr yeo and our cues, and we looked nooby and unprofessional.
Our match started soon after, with teck siang playing first, against montfort secondary, and since i wasn't in the starting lineup, i was told to be a ref for the other teams...... how nice, looking and keeping score of 4 games of snooooker.... i was standing alone there, refing outram sec and presbyterian sec's match and their's was the slowest everrr match, they were all so dry, potting at first but spending the next hundreds and million minutes just hitting balls that don't go in.. so i watched teck's first match, he was freaked, the first in the tournament, against a small cute, cuddly, chubby, adorable sec 1-2 montfort kid. When they started, teck attempted to smash his confidence by potting a red and a blue, a total of 6 points, but the boy wasn't impressed, and instead, smashed teck's confidence, he was a powerhouse, he pocket balls with great accuracy and was a master of snooking, making teck unable to hit several balls, when i saw the boy's ball hitting streak, and teck's off form face, i knew for sure, the first match was gonna be there, teck looked like some idiot standing there, getting thrashed by a pro, and teck was playing unprofessionally, at that point, we thought we had underestimated the the level of play of the competition, i mouth to teck, "wake up!" and he managed a weak smile. Then, teck returned at the turn of the tide, he started making several good shots, and surprisingly, the young boy's confidence was shattered, the young boy seemed to turn to what teck was, he missed many shots and didn't play well, at first, when we saw the boy score point after point, i thought he must have got at least forty points. But when i saw teck running the table for a really long while, with the boy missing a trillion shots, without looking at the score, you'd surely have the gut feeling that teck's score must have leveled with the chap's score. And when i saw teck pot the colored balls, i thought that he must have far overtaken the lad, i was so engrossed with their match, i didn't even notice all the fouls that occured in my match, till my montfort helper told me. finally teck pocketed the black ball, then i saw him smiling happily and walking back , seized him and asked him if he won, he told me they drew, when he returned the others, wei zhou was hugging him and the others were just congratulating him, but afterwards, he was recalled to pot the black once more, to decide the winner, this was worrying for me, i was afraid he'd lost, he started and he missed, now it was the lad's turn, can he do what he did before? I mean, he's the super lad! how could he not? i thought to myself, he's gonna pot it, dude, he's superlad, but maybe because all that was left of his thin glass of confidence were tiny shards on the floor, he missed the middle pocket narrowly, our reaction were all, "whawaaaaaaa, heng ah...." And teck, being inconsistent today, worried us a little, but with ease, he potted the black, and we all clapped, what can we say? Nothing much but pure brilliance
A remarkable comeback, From a miserable thrashing, teck turned the tide and made an unbelievable comeback, who could have thought of that? I congratulate and commend teck on his brillance but i want to beat his buttocks for his inconsistency, but still, we had won amazing game in hand, next was Master Tian.
Master Tian was up against, who we believed was the best among them, we rejoiced, for we knew, we had the game in hand, for which best was good enough to beat that bloody veteran? In fact, wei zhou's matches are boring, no excitement, because we know for sure, that the opponent might as well walkover rather than play, cause wei zhou's gonna do what he does, to look like an old man and thrash the opponent. So ya, he lived up to his expectations, and he beat their best player not by alot, but well, still do what he went to do----with easeeee.
Next was kenneth, now this was pretty unsure, i wasn't sure about kenneth, i had an instinctive feeling that he would lose, because i just know kenneth's not meant to play snooker, so i told my instincts to shut up and i had to slap myself a few times before they did. I love my instincts! it was right again, kenneth played very badly, he even jumped a ball while trying to screw, if i'm not wrong... And he was thrashed 70 plus to 30 plus. When he got back, he received a big scolding from that tian kid, lots of criticism, tian kid was utterly disappointed.
Then next was another worry, it was aaron up, i say worry for i haven't really seen him play and according to wei zhou, he says he isn't very good, but having seen him play pool, i predicted that he'll be ok, but still lose, when he walked past me, i told him, "Win this aaron!" and he gave me that sly smile. We were all on tenterhooks, because we were unsure of his ability and with his first shot, he cannoned the cue ball and all the balls jumped about, with that kindof shot, ......, when i looked at wei zhou, he immediately covered his face in grieve. Luckily he was playing against their lousiest player, and although aaron played anyhow, he lost by one point. We went home punching our faces, knowing that we could've won.
Then Second day of the tournament was even more exciting, i told myself that i wouldn't go this time, but when i met wei zhou he told me i had to go, or we wouldn't make a team of 6, since kenneth doesn't want to go anymore, and wei zhou told me either me or yuan hong would play. We had many discussions and wei zhou told me to challenge yuan hong and that the winner shall play, at this time, i was afraid, i could thrash yuan hong easily in pool, but i have had many problems breaking through my psychological barrier he set up for me when i play snooker against him, he's a psychological bomb, you'll see later why in the upcoming exciting events that follow, and i, am a foolish brat who cannot control his emotions and his impatient. Throughout the chem lesson, i was nervous, nervous that i would not be able to play, and nervous about the match against outram if them play, because i've seen them play when i refed their match, they all had ear piercings and all looked intimidating, and they were pretty good. Wei zhou worked it all out, he said that if we lost the match against outram, as long as we win the match against presbyterian, we could progress into the semis, but if we won this match, and lost to pres, we might not, because outram beat pres and have 3 points, montfort have 1 point, we have 1 point, and pres have 0. If we lose, we keep our 1 point and will have 4 if we beat pres, and if pres beat montfort, they'll only have 3, and mont would also have 4, so we might still get in.
When it was time to go, i was really very fidgety. But with our wonderful 3e2 classmates cheering and supporting us, we grabbed hold of that little bit of confidence. When we reached there, we met a guy called jason whom mr yeo hired for a while to teach us. He told us to snook or play safe whenever we feel that we didn't have the confidence to pocket any shots, so me and yuan hong tried a few shots to see who'll get the place. I did, but i imagined myself for a moment, there, with the outram fella, i suddenly wanted to puke, i told wei zhou to let him play, i couldn't undertake the pressure and had totally no confidence of my skills, call me a coward, but i really wasn't ready that day. Lee Hexun is ranked at 3, the shark, the highest in TPA, notice the P in TPA stands for pool, and i excel in pool, not snooker, i was unsure of my snooker skills, and even if yuan hong goes down, let him drag his opponent down too! With Yuan hong there, his opponent might feel the need to see a psychiatrist or even call my mom for psychological help. This time, yuan hong was to start the ball rolling.
Yuan hong started and the match slowly progressed, we highly doubt yuan hong's pocketing skills, but we do not, for a single moment, doubt his psychological skills. Of course, yuan hong is the master of luck and suprise. From the start, just by looking at yuan hong's small and skinny frame, with that happy happy haha face and that never unsmiling smile, i'll say every snooker/pool player will surely think that they're gonna win, with a possibility of 98%. I was always that snooker/pool player, i've been tricked, and i'm happy that this time, i'm gonna see them get tricked, hahahahahha. Even teck commented, " I think the guy see yuan hong also no mood to play already.." We agreed, yuan hong was always laughing and smiling at his mistakes, and he played the game very slow, and snooked and played safe many many trillion times, we were all proud and unimpressed of him, because we know him. His pure personality plays the game, not him, before long, his opponent was frustrated, he kept missing and missing, and he was totally pissed, while yuan hong was missing and smiling, playing safe and grinning, now, who wouldn't be frustrated now? Looks like this guy is unable to beat yuan hong's psychological barrier, he was totally disheartened, and missed even the simplest of shots. And scratched (meaning, pocketing the cueball, which is a foul of 4 points, depending on the situation) 5-6 times, can you believe it? Yuan Hong dropped his never ceasing psychological bomb on that fella, beat and killed 6899 x 10^49 of his brain cells and stole like, forty points! We never gave up hope on yuan hong, when he made mistakes, i was at the seats to give him a thumbs up and we were all laughing at the game, with that happy happy haha yuan hong face and that totally flustered opponent's face. Yuan Hong committed a grave mistake, and lost 4 crucial points, the opponent, having been psyched, potted the green and the cueball too. Yuan Hong didn't know they respotted the green, so he proceeded to aim for the brown, at that moment, we were all like: lskdghjsngnwqngwkrng;knwergnqn~~~~~~~~!!!!!!!!!!!! OY!!!!!!!!!!! Until i couldn't stand it i shouted Yuan Hong! Yuan Hong looked over with that question mark look, and i couldn't tell him, if not it wouldn't be fair, but yuan hong wasn't aware of his impending doom, and all we could do was, .....oh no! And he did it, when Yuan Hong realised his mistake, he laughed, hahah. Another crucial mistake was when the opponent, being too psychologically disturbed, scratched again, yuan hong had a clear and easy shot, and he missed, in the end, yuan hong lost by a margin, but we were all eager to congratulate him, for losing, haha, but no, we were proud of him for almost killing his opponent, his opponent was on the verge of going totally crazy, he was already 80% psyched. And we were all laughing with yuan hong, we called him the feeder, he pocketed less than 5 balls but went head to head with that guy and fed on his flaws and mistakes, and he managed to suck out 40 over points! THATS STUNNING! TO GAIN 40++ POINTS BY BEING HIMSELF??!!@!@ I was very happy with his performance and i stole him away to have a snack with him, there, i was busy telling him how unbelieveable he was and that i couldn't have got that far if i played (i'm unsure). I was really glad that day.
Then was teck, and he played against an indian, who was said by a few of us to be the best, teck, influenced by jason's word of advice to play safe when you've no confidence, totally wrecked his own game, teck, was an aggresive player, and for the whole game, he daren't pocket many balls for he wanted to play safe. It was a really tough match, and he lost 40-48. He was totally psyched by them, their whole team was there cheering that fella and disturbing teck, and their coach was really really irritating, all teck had was me, wei zhou, and yuan hong quietly standing behind him. But i congratulate Teck, nerves of steel, to play against their best is one mean mean feat. Teck Siang went back to the seats cursing nonstop, he wasn't happy about losing, and said that that guy wasn't even their best, he wasn't happy, and he cursed jason for disrupting his style of play. But he really put up a good fight.
Next was that boring guy tian, we didn't even bother to be excited, it'll just be another boring win, i shan't elaborate, all i can say is, he gave that guy alot of chance, but what else more can i say?
Last of all was Aaron, against another rumoured best, by then, we were the only team playing, and everyone was watching us. They started, and we were all curious at that chap's style of play, he seemed very good, but either he was frustrated at missing some shots and having his frustration influence him, or he really was a lousy player. But aaron played very well, much better then he did yesterday, he was serious, but cold, he even borrowed a sweater from another player from presbyterian. Aaron received several applauses from the spectators and surprised us, we were pretty amazed, and throughout the end, we were convinced that that fella was a noob, cause he kept missing. But during the last few shots, while we were clinging on to hope of winning, that guy just potted the pink and the black so easily, then we realised, he's good, haha, we lost, again, but we came here expecting to lose, we have to beat presbyterian tomorrow or teck would have to go to detention on thurs, hhaha. And we were kindof worried as pres beat montfort today, although that adorable boy was a steamroller against one of the pres guys and totally flattened him, maybe yesterday he was err, unlucky? Judging by yuan hong's superb play today, i declined to play tomorrow for i believe, to play yuan hong would be a much better effect. We'll see if teck goes to detention on thurs by tomorrow morning, goodbye.
(xiv) - My Promotion
I'm a pool player, any teens now playing hot games under the sun, repent now! Before its too late. Realise that you all are getting tanner under the scorching sun, be like me, boys! Being fair is in! Girls don't like tan guys, and even if they do, i'm still gonna love being fair, i'll teach you pool! Its fun! But don't get addicted like teck. If you'd like to repent and convert, i'll pour my whitening lotion on you and bring you to have fun at Safra some time.
(xv) - I return to you at the turn of the tide
So finally the busy week has passed, today i was exceptionally happy for i reason i shall not share with you guys, but yeah, after sch i gave robelle her gift and she was really glad, she hugged darren, not me =='( Then i went to safra... Now i know why Teck was promoted to CHAMPION, he really was one, i thought i had finally surpassed him, but he proved once again that pool is unpredictable, he beat me so many times!!! Yeah, then some guys from beatty came over. Then kenneth went over to their table to talk to them, it was Max, Daniel and Yap Yap i think, and kenneth asked them whether they wanted to play, then daniel said that he wanted to play with hexun! Lol, when kenneth came over to tell me, i was really surprised, hahaha, he specially chose me to play with! WOOHOO! yeah, kenneth said maybe cause he hadn't really seen my play in school. So when he walked over, i was finishing with teck, and i pretended that i was a total noob, that was like so embarrassing. Yeah, then i asked daniel how many matches he wanted to play, he said one. Then i set up the balls and i started to break, i miscued, hahaha, then i asked him again, i said race to 3 la! Then he said ok. Then i set up again, then i started to break, then i missed again, hahahah. Then the 3rd time i broke the pack really hard. Then when i started running the table did daniel realise his great folly, i was really having a great time there, i was clearing and clearing. Then teck came over and said, let him win one round la! Then i told him that if i did that i'd be wasting his money since i'd most probably win. And i did of course, i cleared him again and again, then out of the corner of my eyes, i saw two guys and they were looking at me, kenneth told me if we invited them, they'd surely play with us. So daniel payed for the table, and then kenneth asked the guys whether they wanted to play. They agreed a tag team match, race to 3, as usual, being friendly, i asked them what school were they from, they said they were from balastier hill, then we started, yeah, we didn't have much of a problem. In fact, i felt bad making them pay, when they paid, one of them patted my back and said, thanks, i said good game and bade them farewell, haiyaaa, they were such nice guys, maybe cause i first made a friendly approach. Then wei zhou arrived with darren and a new TPA member, borath, so i left for church.
(xvi) - Personal Achievements
So anyway, me, darren, teck and kenenth made our way to safra, of course, joined by our new member, borath and his friends. I started out playing snooker with wei zhou, starting a day in safra by playing snooker helps a lot, it helps calms the heart for real playing, because snooker requires enourmous amounts of patience and accuracy, a single twitch might result in a loss of points. And yeah, wei zhou was playing like a darn pro as usual, but i did make a marked improvement. Then after that, i proceeded to the pool table, where i played with wei zhou too. Then i borrowed darren's borrowed ipod and listend to quando like one million times while playing, and yeah, yohanus challenged me, i didn't play properly, i didn't intend to, i was singing away instead, and yohanus kept asking me to play seriously, but i insisted on singing, and kenneth was telling me about table 7's interest in playing pool, and he asked if i wanted to challenge them, as i was listening to music, i kinda spoke really loudly and kenneth immediately pulled away my ear phones and told me not to say loudly, ahha. Then after that, borath must have sensed my lousy playing and yeah, he challenged me. Yeah, and before that, teck siang ran over with that ecstatic face of his to inform us he cleared the table!!! Oh my goodness, teck siang cleared the table! To those who do not understand the meaning, it simply means, his opponent broke the pack of 15 balls, it was a dry break, and teck siang cleared all seven of his balls while his opponent pocketed non in one turn. I was so happy for him, every pool player has his first time! haha, I congratulate Lee Teck Siang on his clearing. Yeah then i kinda expected a normal match with borath. Then i broke, and potted the yellow. Then i started pocketting and pocketting, and darren said, ''clear table! Wah!'' Only then i realised i was really clearing the table! woohoo! then i positioned for everything really well, then when i was in perfect postition for my last solid ball and the black, i was already in joy!! And i did it! I cleared the table for the first time in my entire life!! haha, wahoo!!!! Then rattitya or something, (whom teck cleared) walked over to our table, and i heard borath telling him, he clear table leh! I haven't even hit a ball then he cleared. Then i found it really funny, haha, rattitya got cleared and when he walked over, his pal was cleared too, haha, what a coincidence, its really like they lost a big war, both of their flanks got heavily hit. That'll show them the prowess of TPA, although borath is already in TPA
Then later that evening, kenneth proceeded to challenge a lone ranger at table 11, his friends were playing snooker, and kenneth challenged him. Kenneth later told me he lost, and he wasn't happy, cause he wasn't really good. Then teck went over to challenge him, and won an impressive 2-0 match. Then, of course, my heart itched, then i walked over to ask him too, his expression was really funny, he was like " Huh? again ah?'' haha, he has been attacked repetetively. He looked pretty old, probably in his late thirties. I won my first match, and all his friends were helping him and stuff, but i didn't mind much. He won the 2nd. I was really nervous when i played the 3rd, but i found, i didn't play seriously, i didn't even aim properly as i would for serious matches against strangers but i found myself missing. I has a 5 and the 8 left, and he had one 8 left. When i saw that his 8 was at the jaw of the mid pocket, i thought he must have won, so i left the table to pay for the table, when i heard ''hexun!'' not after 5 steps and realise he missed, haha. Then the TPA were like, "good psyching skills hexun!" haha, i did not intend to bring mind trickery into my game, i won that game. Then when he paid for that table, wei zhou challenged him again, i described this guy as a near death insect, and we were all flies, sucking the juice out of him, one by one, and now, the insect's gonna die. Lol, that was what we thought would happen but wei zhou started by giving that guy a lot of chance, then it was too late and wei zhou lost, haha. Yeah, but anyway, the insect was kinda sucked dry, ahha.
I think TPA should have an achievements list, like who we beat, how old was that person we beat, and what remarkable thing we did. And yeah, we're pretty impressed with ourselves, we've beaten people from every age group, from young teens, to mature adults aged like 40-50, and i had a match with a 70 pluser where i almost won, and of course, how could i forget that chubby relief teacher from sch, i wanna know his name, i'm so proud to have won him, he's a really good player.. And so ends another chapter of my trips to safra and my experience with the game.
(xvii) - Pool and Man and the other
Anyway, i've been flipping thru some of my father's club magazines cause i'd really like to participate in any pool tournament available. I think i'm quite ok and although my goal is not to win, at least i can see where i stand. And of course, pool gains respect, especially from the much older men. One example is that fat relief teacher that amanda and her friends seem to hate, as written on her blog. lol, we didn't know much about him either, but one day he just strolled to the pool table, asking for a game. He's a really really good pool player, in fact, he's a snoooker player. He only played against our best there, which meant, he played against TPA only, and out of Me, teck, wei zhou and kenneth, only kenneth lost. And i really loved my match, cause i cleared him, haha, anyway, winning him gains respect from him. I mean, you can hate him and speak bad of him, but to us, whenever we see him, we feel good, cause we know, he's under me, i owned him, haha, its a good way to get back at people you don't like other that speaking behind his back and hating him that much, cause when he sees you, however bad he might treat you, he would respect you and wouldn't talk so much cause he got owned, hahaha. Have a nice day everyone!
(xviii) - My death nears
And then there's the pool tournament, me and kenneth have discussed with mrs , forgot her name, the school counsellor and nothing seems to be coming out of it. I mean, i want a level champion, and then an overall champion, but we only have 1 week to carry out the tournament and having all levels is a headache. So kenneth suggested to leave out the sec 4s, and he was unsure whether to leave out the sec 1s, but the students the pool committee are teaching now are sec 1s anyway. Its such a headache, nothing'll come out of it, we might still have to meet all the class monitors to look at the interest level, its really difficult, not everyone wants to play pool you know. Then mrs counsellor wants to fight for 1 per class, to shorten the time, but i told her there might be conflicts. Like for example, for our class, there's me, kenneth and teck siang.. who to send? The winner will bring back glory, while the left out will feel jealous. And there isn't any team sprit, nor any of class sprit, a one man show isn't spritual at all is it? So no matter how much mrs counsellor proposed for a 1 man team, i made clear my stand of having 3 in a class, so its a real headache, we don't have much time, manpower and authority to do much, we're not even discussing as a committee, mr yeo, he won't do much of what he promises, haiya, but i really want a pool tournament..
(xix) - Shores of the Sea
After that, took a train back to toa payoh and sat 238 to get to safra, and i got down and saw weng fung and his friend at the bus stop, they asked me where i was going, i said safra, then they said i was really stupid cause 238 would go one big round and end up in front of safra, i felt like a fool, but nvm, it'll take a long time, but it was raining, they told me they wanted to board 238 too, they wanted to get to safra too, haiya, safra was just across the road and they can't take out their umbrellas, they wanted to hire a cab but instead got out their umbrellas. So when i got there, i immediately sensed new blood when i saw wei zhi there, so i challenged him, i've deproved a lot, since the last time i went was like close to 1 month ago, but luckily i beat him, so i played with daniel 2 whole rounds of snooker, chalked up a total of more than 100 points for both games, although it was really really really slow, but it felt good to be back in safra playing snooker again, and when you make a good shot, sometimes when people from the neighbouring table see it, he'd tap his own table and say good shot, and one ex-beattyian did just that, he looked really old. Satisfaction....our school has produced a new breed of nerd snooker/pool players, we're gonna stage a revolution, a nerd revolution, to let the first though that come into people's minds when they hear pool or snooker to be: ''Yeee, nerd's game''
(xx) - I'm the next Pianist
Yesterday, after the excruciating 4-5? hours of physics extra lessons, we could finally relax, so me and yh got to lorong 8 to eat a very fufilling meal, nothing much, just a plate of chicken rice and one plate of carrot cake, then wei zhou and they guys came along, they just came from wei zhou's dad's confectionary store and brought much more goodies, so i gobbled them up too, so it was quite a filling lunch. Then after that we headed to safra. Yeah, so i was in the snooker mood as usual, i've kinda lost my love for pool, i'm more interested in snooker, but i cant seem to exceed my 50 points mark, but i was pretty on form for the first game, then after that decided to change to pool for a moment cause the pool table was free, then after like 4 game i told yuan hong i wanted to play snooker, so we switched again, but this time i was playing lousily, i even ordered a plate of mee, lol, i guess i was quite hungry yesterday. Speaking about mee, i would like to tell the whole world how the safra snookerium cheats our money. One plate with special maggie mee, 3 dollars! Its just a small amount of mee, with chilli, and dark sauce, an egg, 2 luncheon meats, and that costs 3 dollars! Although it really is addictive, i hate it! Cause they cheat our money!!!! Its like, the whole thing doesn't even cost them like 1 dollar and they charge us 3 dollars! But then again, no one complains and everyone still continues eating it.
Friday, September 3, 2010
TPA commemoration
To all TPA members, home is no more. Although TPY safra has been demolished, the bonds and memories forged will forever remain.Part 1 of a 3 part series.
Excerpts from Shark Hexun's blog, the most naturally gifted player in TPA history. It is a pretty long text, but it really does bring back what the TPA was about.
(i) - Secrets of Pool revealed
Pool is a gangster's game, a common misconception which is more or less true, haha. I thought so too actually. But if you watch real competitions on tv, westerners wearing vests and tight pants looking really serious, you will change your perception on pool. So how did pool start for the 5 of us? Wei Zhou, Kenneth, Teck Siang, Yuan Hong and me? It all started at sabrina's house. At that time, we were all still nerds, it was only me, kenneth and shi xiong then. And at that time, shi xiong was a hero to us, a hero we all looked up upon. We were all noobier than noobs can be. Few trips to her house later, i figured that i wasn't a pool player, this is not my thing, so i stopped. A while later, they invited wei zhou to play and this was where wei zhou started to love the game, his father was a pro but he never had interest in it. In the months that followed, wei zhou was in a pool frenzy, the seed of pool was planted in his heart and the roots have taken hold, paralysing it...forcing him to PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY!!! So he was crazy and his skills escalated as he took courses, had a coach and constantly played, he invited several people to safra where they started to go to play. One fine friday afternoon, teck siang asked me if i knew how to play pool. As i thought i had much more experience although i was a nooby noob then, i said i knew and i could even play better than him. So he and everyone else went to safra. That was my first time, and my last time, of my noob career. Teck siang thrashed me like he could never have thrashed me before. I was throwing a tantrum then, haha, i was pissed, dumbfounded, and pissed. The cocky me thought that teck siang was a new fry to fry, so i underestimated him.....So i continued to believe that i was not a pooler.
Many months later, in june 2005, my family went out to have lunch. My father then took up his handphone and called someone, he then told me he'll be going to some warehouse to look at foosball tables. When we went there, i saw a lousy pool table but still it was a pool table!!! So i begged my father to buy it. In the end, he bought one foosball table and one pool table. This was the beginning of my unnooby career. For days and days and weeks and weeks i trained myself at the table, lousy, yet it built my basics. In the middle of the summer of july, i decided to move on to my No1 target, Lee Teck Siang..a.k.a Teck Tea Siang. I challenged him, to one game of pure pool. That day, several people went, and i played. While we were travelling on the bus to safra, because murali was taking the same bus home, i stressed to him the importance of me winning teck siang that afternoon, i said that if i didn't win, that month of training at my home proved worthless and futile, then i would still end up the worthless lousy nooby player that i once was.
The game started and me and teck siang were neck to neck, pocketing balls after balls, there was definitely improvement in my game. Alas!!!! Teck Siang was down to his last ball, the black 8, and he missed. I had 3 striped balls and one 8 to hit in. I was stressed. Very stressed. first hit, pot, second hit, pot. third ball was sticking to the cushion, small roll, pot, and with ease, 8 ball, pot. I was happy.
I HAD FINALLY WON TECK TEA SIANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, he smiled at me, the usual dirty smile, but by the looks of his defeated face, he was depressed. Word travelled fast, i had evolved from noob to not noob, a miraculous evolution. Teck Siang was pretty sour about it, ok maybe not that sour, but he definitely wasn't that happy was he? So Wei Zhou invited both of us to his house to play. So, it wasn't nothing really, i only beat teck siang 6-0, so that wasn't much...haha....sorry teck siang. I promised him i wouldn't tell everyone the following day, but when i got to school, everyone asked me whether it was true in disbelief, hey ah teck, you told them yourself! HAha.
So that was how we began, and as the days went by, the ranking was: 1-wei zhou 2-kenneth 3-me 4-teck. We began to go more frequently, and the numbers lessened to the 4 of us, plus yuan hong. Teck was wei zhou's disciple, he had a huge advantage and he went to safra more than me. I learnt and trained myself and my table sucked. So that was how we were, although we were still quite amateurish.
As the months went by, i slipped in to the great depression, I felt i wasn't a good player, teck siang beat me game after game and proved that he was stronger in terms of his skills. To tell you the truth, no one knows who is better. People say he is accurate, he makes good shots, people say i have a great stance, accurate, make good pots...hhaa, isn't that all the same? But i'm an emotional pool player, emotions affect my game. When i'm in a good mood, i'll play relatively well, if i am not, i'll just get thrashed round after round. One thing I admire teck siang for is how relaxed and cool he is. HE IS EMOTIONLESS!! But he psyches alot!! He'll just have to make girly noises and give a dirty look on his face...that's enough to make me miss...Back to the depression days, I couldn't believe it but i accepted the fact as i kept losing. I realised that i was too rushed, too nervous, and too eager, when i am losing, i can't keep my cool and that spoils that game, and the game after the next, and the game after the next, in fact, it spoils every game for the day. I changed, i started to cut down on saying shit after missing balls, i started to praise opponents, laugh more, joke more, encourage more and be more quiet. But under such hostile environments when i sometimes feel left out, i can't help it. Wei zhou's always siding and giving tips to teck, and kenneth can be quite sarcastic at times, haha, which demoralises me and i feel alone many times. But teck can keep his cool quite well except on times when i'm on a run and teck goes crazy... In these few weeks, i proved to teck siang again i was the better player, always beating him, because of the improved way i played the game, but because i didn't want much competition among us, i told him that i'd settle for equal...But actually, i always seem lousier, i never keep my form when i play with people looking at me, i feel that they expect something good, something i can't deliver when i'm pressured to.
So, enough of boasting about myself, i ain't that good, the fact is, i am amazed the 5 of us 14/15 year olds can attain such a great skill of this game...really, i think we're pretty good for 14/15 year olds. No one has ever expected us to be good before, besides wei zhou, everyone knows he's good. Although, there are still alot of 14/15 year olds in this school or outside better than us, but that's the minority of singapore, and we belong to that minority of average 14/15 year old pool players in singapore. But many of them aren't good people to mix with, people who just play pool for the friends they make. That's why people always get the misconception that pool is a gangster's game, but for the 5 of us, we are the absolute opposite, haha. We're quite decent actually, although the other 4 do splurt vulgarities, haha, but we aren't bad, if not how do we get to e1 and e2? The thing that keeps us together is our spirit and our togetherness. For example when we play tag with strangers. It's really hard to keep your cool when you play with strangers, especially tag games, on top of feeling the pressure to win, you feel the pressure to make good shots so as not to cause the team to fail, and you will feel bad if you make bad shots. But our team has worked pretty well thru the months. The first thing kenneth says after he misses a shot is, '' Sorry hexun, sorry.'' Haha, that explains the pressure. But the trick is to boost the morale of your team mate, make him know that you don't mind him missing shots, and when he feels that, you enter his heart and you assure him, he knows that now you're with him 100%. When you're playing tag, your friend is somewhat like your enemy, i mean, in the sense of missing shots, you are afraid your friend blames you. So, make him know that you're rooting him 100% and he will do it. That was how we did it, and because the other team from another school couldn't do it, they lost 3-0 to me kenneth and yuan hong. Sometimes, one just feels proud of what he is today, honestly, we aren't bad for kiddies. Like last time at my friends house, there was a snooker table there. An old man challenged me to a game of pool on that table. I was so scared i wanted to pee in my pants for 1 hour. On top of that, there was a group of foreign teens watching us, on top of that there was a bunch of 6-7 year old kids, where one of the boys was boasting to his friends how well he could play and criticizing how i played, seriously, i felt pissed he was criticizing me, he kept snorting at every stroke i made and laughed at me. I told him i was sorry for being such a lousy player. Until i did a masse for him, wei zhou taught me this, the ball curled...that shut them up..haha. So, back to the game and by the look at his stance, i knew this wasn't an amateur, he was good. I didn't lose my cool, i just played how i usually played, in high moods actually..and also because my church friend was by my side. So in the end, i lost, he hit the black ball first...it was a close game. And luckily for him he won, could you imagine how embarrased i would feel if i was 70+ and i lose to a 14 year old? Haha, but nevertheless, i congratulated him and told him it was a good game, he just nodded and walked off.
So, pool isn't about the atmosphere, how it is always filled with undesireable characters, it is about the adrenaline rush, about the feeling of people behind you eyeing your every stroke, your movement, your execution. It's the sense of achievement. But to some people, it's a chance to get back or show people who's the boss to people they don't like. Sometimes, you don't really like a person and by peaceful ways, like playing pool, he steps back and respects you, and in some cases, it works for me, haha.
So this is my pool, not the cursing, not the fights, not the bad sportsmanship, not the gangsters, not the undesireable characters, but the sport, the adrenaline rush, the game.
(ii) - The Importance of the Wizard and the Battle of the Gangs
So i was quite in a dilemma at the cross roads, my old gang imran, ray, latif, avinesh and murali was standing on one end. And my academy was standing at the other side, wei zhou, kenneth and teck siang.. And poor me was in the middle, and i was in a huge dilemma, to play pool or my old passion? And both gangs were pressing me for an answer, if i joined soccer, wei zhou would be hugely disappointed because he's pretty interested in me lately, but if i joined wei zhou my old gang would feel very downcast for some reason, because i left them for pool... So i decided to play soccer and i promised wei zhou i would meet him in Safra afterward.. We left each other's hands in tears, and Wei Zhou couldn't bear to walk away, but i could..
So, we toured around toa payoh finding a place to eat, and my mind was wandering towards wei zhou... We finally got to the street soccer court, it wasn't very fun today as my heels were killing me, and it was really hot.... After a few short games, i changed to my uniform and took a cab to safra to see my beloved. There, Aaron called me while i was on my way in, and he told me i had a nice friendster profile, and that he would challenge me one day.. I felt pretty afraid and intimidated, how many people out there thought the same way as he did? Any way, the only showing off line was '' Every week we go to safra to hone our already great skills.'' hahaha, its all a joke, although its partially true, but i wonder how many people out there want a piece of my head..so i put on my really really nice E-journalism shirt over my uniform, (Its M-sized, borrowed from Faizal [faezah] ) Then they almost burst out in joy and relief and happiness when they saw me enter the battle arena. So, i played many games, it seemed that everyone wanted a piece of my head, everyone wanted to battle me today, but i played exceptionally well today, although wei zhou was busy psyching me with his voodoo rituals, i still managed to win him for a few games but i know i shouldn't be too proud because Wei Zhou wouldn't play100% with us, i've seen him in action against strangers and he's a powerhouse... Wei Zhou's playing style is the joking and play play type, then when we gain confidence and lessen our balls, he'll just come up and kick our puny butts.. So i played well today, drawing with the veteran player Kenneth... At three, i decided to leave and take a bus to school for the annual awards ceremony.
(iii)- Tight Fit
And after school the kind teck siang waited for my 163 as he made me miss my previous 163, so we talked about pool and how i'll avenge them by challenging the SA boys next time.. It seems that the SA boys have gained confidence after luckily beating us a few times and teck told me last thursday they walked up and challenged teck and wei zhou.. so brave!! Its usually us that do that! So Wei Zhou, being Wei Zhou cleared the table easily and left the boys dumbfounded, i wonder if they'll be brave enough to challenge us next time...
(iv) - The Tainted world of Man
And before we end,
A Tribute to the late, Joey Tian Wei Zhou, founder of Tian's acedamy, person of great knowledge, person of incredible pool skills, the person responsible of breaking one of safra's pool cues, the person responsible for our enjoyment, while we sat back.. watching his trickshot videos.. doubting his skills, doubting the genuineness, he put in a lot of hard work into the videos.. for what? For your enjoyment! So doubt his skills no more, do not doubt his authenticity or i shall smite ye with me staff, and me sword, and me cue, for he hath the skills you hath not. For he is my master and my chalk...He is the one, the one who led me to this path, where i constantly see my wallet empty.. We remember, Tian Wei Zhou, and although he isn't here with us today, Tian's acedamy will go on, Me, teck siang, kenneth will lead the noobs..
13/04/06.. Tian Wei Zhou wasn't with us today, but we will continue.. although we'll all see him next monday, but we will all remember this day, 13/04/06, the day, we lost our master..
(v) - The world's ending and the Wizard's scarring
So, me, my master ( wei zhou), kenneth and teck siang took a cab to penisula. When we arrived, we saw a S.E.X and the city store there, and the 5 of us were like standing outside the store, frozen, we were staring at it, not me, but they were guessing what was inside that store, boys would be boys.... So we searched the whole penisula plaza and i spent 9 dollars on pool cue tips.
Next, we took a cab to safra. There, we didn't have any tables, and we played snooker first. When we finally got a free table, it was snatched away from us by the same st andrews boys we beat earlier this week. Then, me and teck siang couldn't stand it anymore, we went forward, riding our dark steeds with speed, and we confronted them, we challenged them, but they stood strong, and they fended us off and they told us, our doom will come not at this time, but at a later period. Disappointed and rejected, we rode back to our castle snooker. I kept telling teck siang how scared they were, they were hum ji bangs, to people like kenneth, he would say hum ji, but i said hum ji bang, which is some biscuit in mandarin. I wasn't satisfied at all. To our enormous surprise, those noble knights kept true their words, knights of honour, they rode bravely to our castle snooker and they boldly invited us to battle at their grounds.
Me and kenneth followed them to their castle table four pool. That was where the fierce battle started, we were ambushed by 7 other knights. We fought well in the first match, but a fatal mistake by me and i accidentaly potted the black. We lost round one of sparring. Round two was coming up, they had the confidence, it was home against away, and they had support, we were a lonely evil force. They cleared their balls and we had four left. They only had one black. It was my turn, i potted one, stunned the shot, then potted the next one, a screw, then i potted the last of my balls. It was time for the black, and i told them the final destination of the black, and i hit it, it rolled, slowly, slowly, and boom, it droped in to the desired pocket. We won, i redeemed myself.
(vi) - The end of my days
Today's wasn't satisfactory pooling for me, i haven't been performing up to my standards, emotions are affecting my game, kenneth is affecting my game, teck siang is affecting my game. EMOTIONS... too much of it, too competitive, to much hatred, too much jealousy, too much anger.. But at least wei zhou told me something that i wouldn't stay here... and i think, its time for the return of my pool table to my hall again, its time to practise..
(vii) - The world's ending
So after school, i just told the yh kenneth and teck siang i was in a pooling mood because i watched the mosconi cup yesterday night and i've got the feel. When we went today, yuan hong beat my surprisingly 3 times in snooker. This was his day. Then kenneth proceeded to challenge some students from st andrews sec, a tag team game. I played horribly, that's why we lost. I knew although kenneth didn't say so, he blamed me for it. Then kenneth decided to tag with teck siang instead, and he said i wasn't on form today. But i told him i needed to redeem myself after showing everyone how nooby i was. But it was only appropriate for kenneth to decline tagging me and tag teck siang instead. I was definitely unhappy of being left on the bench, on the sidelines. But it turned out teck siang suffered the same fate as me and he played horribly as well, thankfully, they won, but just by luck. I decided to set a game for myself and asked them for a last game, this time, i decided to tag yuan hong. Yuan hong is a good player, but he doesn't seem to play seriously, he laughs all the time. But because of this wrong perception, that he isn't a good player, you feel pissed when he beats you, because he is quite a good player. This time, with an element of good playing alongside me, we played very very well, and i told yuan hong he was playing great today. He almost got the last ball in but it unluckily hit the jaw of the mid-pocket and missed, but it was great effort. They missed a couple more and it was my turn this time. The eight ball was right down the bottom half of the table. And my cue-ball was at the top half of the table. The eight ball was in the middle, and near the cushions. For this kind of shots, people like kenneth, teck siang and yh would surely try to double it. but i tried to go for the cut. I positioned myself and feathered a few times, then positioned my cue to the left side of the cue ball to create a left spin, then, the final draw back of my cue and i struck the cueball, it spun leftwards and so thinly sliced the eightball, sending it rolling sweetly into the bottom left pocket. WIOWWWIWWW, ok we won.
(vii)- General Elections
Today is General Elections day, George yeo must win, because my mum told me we are analogous, we are thinkers=))) So, elections day is really cool, politics is really cool, and i'm gonna be a candidate one day, vote for me.. So lately i haven't been doing much except studying and playing pool. The more stress we get, the more we wanna play pool. For example, last week i wanted to quit pool so much that i wanted to quit pool, i promised not to go this week, but i ended up playing after every paper. So last Friday was the Pure Geography examination day, it was relatively easy, compared to the previous papers, although they weren't that hard either, but they still weren't that easy... but i don't think i'm gonna nail the A1, although, A1 for all humans is a must, i didn't put in much effort for that paper.. After the paper, me and Teck siang followed the e2 pure geog girls to have lunch at the lousy coffee shop where we've eaten everything almost 1000 times... So Teck Siang was there busy critisizing everyone and i was there minding my own business quietly until he had to blue toot everyone my bee song.. That bee song was recorded by me at the safra toilet when teck siang taught me that kiddie song.. I attempted my gayest tone at that time and only he, wei zhou and kenneth had possesion of it.. now, teck see ang had to SEND IT TO EVERYONE THERE!!! And they were laughing at my sick gay voice over their loudspeakers...That was quite embarrassing.. I thank You Teck Siang... So our good master called us and he told us to rally to him, at his castle at serangoon, so we obediantly listened.. After we reached, we immediately engaged in battle after battle and we displayed all our sublime cueing and superb shotmaking skills.. So, i was the sole survivor and teck died a miserable death, my honorable master promoted me to the level of 2.5, the highest among all TPA members.. So, me and Teck Siang got a sneak preview of the impending completion of TWOT 6.. TWOT 6 will be great.. trust TPA, we only produce quality pool.. For the past few days, i have been focusing more on pool than on my studies, every 30mins, i'll run down to clear the table at least once, and my dad would keep nagging at me for playing pool all the time.. And lately the San Miguel Asian 9 Ball Tour is airing on tv and its incredibly exciting.. Francisco Bustamante v.s Efren Reyes! It was a great match.. I've improved my pooling style lately at home but i find it difficult to display it in Safra, its a different feel.. but i'm determined to kill off Lee Teck See Ang once and for all, although we're forever in equilibrium.. This should be my last post before the exams die off.. and i must nail my A1s this time... goodbye.
(vii) - The hustler's temptation
I'm a hustler, wei zhou calls me that. So lately teck siang went crazy and scolded Master Tian.. Teck, having violated law number 12a of the TPA: Disrespect to the coach/instructer, received an indefinite suspension from Master Tian. Teck was pissed and he quit TPA. I was largely influenced by Teck and was in a dilemma.. To quit pool totally or not? I, being ranked 2.5, am the best player yet in TPA, surpassing veteran Kenneth. And wei zhou has been so good to me, should i renounce my citizenship? Yesterday night i decided to take a 2 month leave away from my stressful job of hustling gullible youths. Then today, Wei zhou showed me so much love, always emphasizing on the fact that i'm ranked 2.5 and i'm the best student, he wanted me to go home to play, (home, being 3rd home, wei zhou's home) But i had already taken leave and for the first time i felt so carefree.. In the end, i gave a straight NO. But wei zhou, being a great actor, gave me a face of pure disappointedness.. being a sympathetic person, i could not forsake my Master, i followed, and teck followed too. There, wei zhou suddenly became hostile and i wasn't playing well against kenneth, my heart sank to the stage of depression, i told wei zhou i quit, and i formed my own Lee's Pool Academy, Teck Siang immediately joined, both of the political parties engaged in raging battles, and we were doing very well, Lee's Pool Academy has been placed on the map, we've made a name for ourselves, seeing how well our party was doing, darren decided to join our party. Then all of a sudden again, i regretted quitting TPA, but it was too late. So smart me devised a two way plan, i organised the Word Pool Finals against Wei Zhou, the loser's academy was to cease function and disband, then, all of its members was to join the other academy. What a smart plan! A win-win situation. Look! if i lost, i would be back in TPA! If i won, better yet! It'll be LPA!
Of course, i lost the race to 3 expectedly, and i was glad to resume my position as 2.5. Then, Wei Zhou brought me to a corner and told me that what i did earlier on hurt him, that i was his favourite student, i was touched to tears and i promised never to forsake my master again, not until i become a master at least.. But what i said still stands, i will take a 2 month leave and after my exams, i shall not go to safra, but instead i'll follow xuan xuan to Changi to buy chocolates...
(viii) - I'm a nice hustler
Basically what a hustler does is to misrepresent one's ability in order to deceive someone, especially in gambling, in our case pool, we've seen the ability of Wei Zhou, he hustled some guy for ten bucks, even my bro's somewhat hustled, someone challenged him for 20 bucks a game and he won 3 games, he didn't keep the money of course, his friend took it. Let's face it, how can Lee Hexun be a true hustler? How can i gamble? Tian Wei Zhou, i was born one but i cannot be one, i cannot gamble.
I congratulate Kenneth for making his first professional hustle today. Kenneth was hungry at safra today, as so he reports, he wanted to buy the special maggie mee, but was short of 30cents, he glanced over at table 11, where 3 guys and 2 girls were playing. He walked over, he told a guy that they (Wei Zhou and Teck Siang) wouldn't let him play for he was too noobish. So the guy agreed to one game, kenneth told him to punch first, but he refused for he was too lazy but he suggested that he let kenenth play for free. So kenneth said it wasn't fair, then kenneth suggested 10 cents for each remaining ball and the guy agreed. According to kenneth's mind blowing 8000 page report, the guy was a noob and kenneth cleared the table easily in 3 turns! He left him with 5 balls. But the guy didn't have 50 cents, so he gave kenneth 30 cents. Mission Accomplished! Kenneth got 30cents for his maggie mee! Good job Kenneth.
Then another report came from Wei Zhou, he lost terribly in a money game, Wei Zhou profusely apologised to me for his poor display today, tarnishing TPA's record. He stated his reasons.
1. Exccesive use of mental trickery by opponent
2. Being sick
3. Physical fatigue ( 4 hours of playing )
" I apologise for the shame brought unto TPA due to my loss." Master Tian
That was my day, if only 2.5 was there to being TPA further glory, you guys will see at the School's Pool Tournament.. oh no, we doubt we'll win, but we'll put up a good fight..
(ix) - The Houses of Healing
I did nothing much for the rest of the day until my family went out for a pot luck at my church friend's house. So, knowing that i was keen about pool, my friend heng yi's father booked the snooker room just for us, then, i informed Wei Zhou about my impending pool tournament. Omigosh, is it really a big matter? Wei Zhou called me four times that night to confirm me and to ensure i do TPA proud, i mean, what do you expect Master Tian? I'm ranked 2.5!!! And Teck Siang also expressed concern and wished me luck... this wasn't what i quite expected, must every match be a MUST WIN match? I'm on a two month leave!!! Two months vacation!!! Yes well, when i got into the snooker room, i didn't play well, i didn't score 100 points as i thought i would, i was focusing on getting the points, not snookering heng yi or my brother, they weren't that good. The best i managed was a 50, while my friend and my brother were like in the negative section of the scoreboard. But still, i'll state my reason as i should:
1. No cuetip, the table was 900 years old, the cues were rotten and all the tips came off, except the one i was using, but i was busy masseing till the tip came off =(
2. Excessive use of deep mind trickery by the user, too much backfires..
3. Bent cue, my cue wasn't exactly straight, i had to aim left to get a stun shot.
4. Colour blindedness, the balls were not easily distinguishable
5. Lack of interest in opponents, they only seemed interested in seeing me trying to get my 100 points, while they were stuck at negatives.
So that was my interesting day..
(x) - A tribute to Ashworth
So at Safra, it was full house today, and i wasn't playing pretty well. Then, Desmond, the ex-beattyian brought his ite friends over, and he took over my table for his said they weren't staying long. I asked him if he wanted to play with me, he said he didn't have money, so i went back to master tian. There, i kept telling wei zhou that i wanted to hustle them, but they were a big group, 4 girls, 2 boys, and one tank top dressed ''muscular'' desmond. I was a little intimidated, actually, i only wanted to challenge desmond. Then wei zhou and kenneth kept telling me to go over, but i was a little afraid. Then, with my ultra high frequency tone that only dogs and desmonds could hear, desmond ran over, i begged him for a game or two, but he rejected me flat. Wei Zhou kept telling me to challenge his friends, for he hated nooby guys who teach girls pool, so he kept forcing me to go, but i couldn't find that courage, for desmond already rejected me and i feel quite embarrased to challenge his friends. Then kenneth and wei zhou decided to go and play with them, and lose tragically on purpose, this was to give them confidence, so i could solo with them next, and thrash them, but sadly, as we were about to carry out our plan, they left.
So today, while being off form, i played straight pool with wei zhou, won him, and got an unexpected promotion to the level of shark, at lvl 3, i was surprised. Kenneth seemed to be a pro, in fact, he's the veteran, but how come a youngster like me can be promoted so fast? Maybe i'm really good but i don't actually realise, while teck is ranked 2 and kenneth at 2.1. So, it was a satisfactory safra visit, i don't really regret breaking my 2 months leave promise, but this shall be my 2nd last before the hols...Happy after exams to all you guys with fat wallets in your butts!!
(i) - Secrets of Pool revealed
Pool is a gangster's game, a common misconception which is more or less true, haha. I thought so too actually. But if you watch real competitions on tv, westerners wearing vests and tight pants looking really serious, you will change your perception on pool. So how did pool start for the 5 of us? Wei Zhou, Kenneth, Teck Siang, Yuan Hong and me? It all started at sabrina's house. At that time, we were all still nerds, it was only me, kenneth and shi xiong then. And at that time, shi xiong was a hero to us, a hero we all looked up upon. We were all noobier than noobs can be. Few trips to her house later, i figured that i wasn't a pool player, this is not my thing, so i stopped. A while later, they invited wei zhou to play and this was where wei zhou started to love the game, his father was a pro but he never had interest in it. In the months that followed, wei zhou was in a pool frenzy, the seed of pool was planted in his heart and the roots have taken hold, paralysing it...forcing him to PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY!!! So he was crazy and his skills escalated as he took courses, had a coach and constantly played, he invited several people to safra where they started to go to play. One fine friday afternoon, teck siang asked me if i knew how to play pool. As i thought i had much more experience although i was a nooby noob then, i said i knew and i could even play better than him. So he and everyone else went to safra. That was my first time, and my last time, of my noob career. Teck siang thrashed me like he could never have thrashed me before. I was throwing a tantrum then, haha, i was pissed, dumbfounded, and pissed. The cocky me thought that teck siang was a new fry to fry, so i underestimated him.....So i continued to believe that i was not a pooler.
Many months later, in june 2005, my family went out to have lunch. My father then took up his handphone and called someone, he then told me he'll be going to some warehouse to look at foosball tables. When we went there, i saw a lousy pool table but still it was a pool table!!! So i begged my father to buy it. In the end, he bought one foosball table and one pool table. This was the beginning of my unnooby career. For days and days and weeks and weeks i trained myself at the table, lousy, yet it built my basics. In the middle of the summer of july, i decided to move on to my No1 target, Lee Teck Siang..a.k.a Teck Tea Siang. I challenged him, to one game of pure pool. That day, several people went, and i played. While we were travelling on the bus to safra, because murali was taking the same bus home, i stressed to him the importance of me winning teck siang that afternoon, i said that if i didn't win, that month of training at my home proved worthless and futile, then i would still end up the worthless lousy nooby player that i once was.
The game started and me and teck siang were neck to neck, pocketing balls after balls, there was definitely improvement in my game. Alas!!!! Teck Siang was down to his last ball, the black 8, and he missed. I had 3 striped balls and one 8 to hit in. I was stressed. Very stressed. first hit, pot, second hit, pot. third ball was sticking to the cushion, small roll, pot, and with ease, 8 ball, pot. I was happy.
I HAD FINALLY WON TECK TEA SIANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, he smiled at me, the usual dirty smile, but by the looks of his defeated face, he was depressed. Word travelled fast, i had evolved from noob to not noob, a miraculous evolution. Teck Siang was pretty sour about it, ok maybe not that sour, but he definitely wasn't that happy was he? So Wei Zhou invited both of us to his house to play. So, it wasn't nothing really, i only beat teck siang 6-0, so that wasn't much...haha....sorry teck siang. I promised him i wouldn't tell everyone the following day, but when i got to school, everyone asked me whether it was true in disbelief, hey ah teck, you told them yourself! HAha.
So that was how we began, and as the days went by, the ranking was: 1-wei zhou 2-kenneth 3-me 4-teck. We began to go more frequently, and the numbers lessened to the 4 of us, plus yuan hong. Teck was wei zhou's disciple, he had a huge advantage and he went to safra more than me. I learnt and trained myself and my table sucked. So that was how we were, although we were still quite amateurish.
As the months went by, i slipped in to the great depression, I felt i wasn't a good player, teck siang beat me game after game and proved that he was stronger in terms of his skills. To tell you the truth, no one knows who is better. People say he is accurate, he makes good shots, people say i have a great stance, accurate, make good pots...hhaa, isn't that all the same? But i'm an emotional pool player, emotions affect my game. When i'm in a good mood, i'll play relatively well, if i am not, i'll just get thrashed round after round. One thing I admire teck siang for is how relaxed and cool he is. HE IS EMOTIONLESS!! But he psyches alot!! He'll just have to make girly noises and give a dirty look on his face...that's enough to make me miss...Back to the depression days, I couldn't believe it but i accepted the fact as i kept losing. I realised that i was too rushed, too nervous, and too eager, when i am losing, i can't keep my cool and that spoils that game, and the game after the next, and the game after the next, in fact, it spoils every game for the day. I changed, i started to cut down on saying shit after missing balls, i started to praise opponents, laugh more, joke more, encourage more and be more quiet. But under such hostile environments when i sometimes feel left out, i can't help it. Wei zhou's always siding and giving tips to teck, and kenneth can be quite sarcastic at times, haha, which demoralises me and i feel alone many times. But teck can keep his cool quite well except on times when i'm on a run and teck goes crazy... In these few weeks, i proved to teck siang again i was the better player, always beating him, because of the improved way i played the game, but because i didn't want much competition among us, i told him that i'd settle for equal...But actually, i always seem lousier, i never keep my form when i play with people looking at me, i feel that they expect something good, something i can't deliver when i'm pressured to.
So, enough of boasting about myself, i ain't that good, the fact is, i am amazed the 5 of us 14/15 year olds can attain such a great skill of this game...really, i think we're pretty good for 14/15 year olds. No one has ever expected us to be good before, besides wei zhou, everyone knows he's good. Although, there are still alot of 14/15 year olds in this school or outside better than us, but that's the minority of singapore, and we belong to that minority of average 14/15 year old pool players in singapore. But many of them aren't good people to mix with, people who just play pool for the friends they make. That's why people always get the misconception that pool is a gangster's game, but for the 5 of us, we are the absolute opposite, haha. We're quite decent actually, although the other 4 do splurt vulgarities, haha, but we aren't bad, if not how do we get to e1 and e2? The thing that keeps us together is our spirit and our togetherness. For example when we play tag with strangers. It's really hard to keep your cool when you play with strangers, especially tag games, on top of feeling the pressure to win, you feel the pressure to make good shots so as not to cause the team to fail, and you will feel bad if you make bad shots. But our team has worked pretty well thru the months. The first thing kenneth says after he misses a shot is, '' Sorry hexun, sorry.'' Haha, that explains the pressure. But the trick is to boost the morale of your team mate, make him know that you don't mind him missing shots, and when he feels that, you enter his heart and you assure him, he knows that now you're with him 100%. When you're playing tag, your friend is somewhat like your enemy, i mean, in the sense of missing shots, you are afraid your friend blames you. So, make him know that you're rooting him 100% and he will do it. That was how we did it, and because the other team from another school couldn't do it, they lost 3-0 to me kenneth and yuan hong. Sometimes, one just feels proud of what he is today, honestly, we aren't bad for kiddies. Like last time at my friends house, there was a snooker table there. An old man challenged me to a game of pool on that table. I was so scared i wanted to pee in my pants for 1 hour. On top of that, there was a group of foreign teens watching us, on top of that there was a bunch of 6-7 year old kids, where one of the boys was boasting to his friends how well he could play and criticizing how i played, seriously, i felt pissed he was criticizing me, he kept snorting at every stroke i made and laughed at me. I told him i was sorry for being such a lousy player. Until i did a masse for him, wei zhou taught me this, the ball curled...that shut them up..haha. So, back to the game and by the look at his stance, i knew this wasn't an amateur, he was good. I didn't lose my cool, i just played how i usually played, in high moods actually..and also because my church friend was by my side. So in the end, i lost, he hit the black ball first...it was a close game. And luckily for him he won, could you imagine how embarrased i would feel if i was 70+ and i lose to a 14 year old? Haha, but nevertheless, i congratulated him and told him it was a good game, he just nodded and walked off.
So, pool isn't about the atmosphere, how it is always filled with undesireable characters, it is about the adrenaline rush, about the feeling of people behind you eyeing your every stroke, your movement, your execution. It's the sense of achievement. But to some people, it's a chance to get back or show people who's the boss to people they don't like. Sometimes, you don't really like a person and by peaceful ways, like playing pool, he steps back and respects you, and in some cases, it works for me, haha.
So this is my pool, not the cursing, not the fights, not the bad sportsmanship, not the gangsters, not the undesireable characters, but the sport, the adrenaline rush, the game.
(ii) - The Importance of the Wizard and the Battle of the Gangs
So i was quite in a dilemma at the cross roads, my old gang imran, ray, latif, avinesh and murali was standing on one end. And my academy was standing at the other side, wei zhou, kenneth and teck siang.. And poor me was in the middle, and i was in a huge dilemma, to play pool or my old passion? And both gangs were pressing me for an answer, if i joined soccer, wei zhou would be hugely disappointed because he's pretty interested in me lately, but if i joined wei zhou my old gang would feel very downcast for some reason, because i left them for pool... So i decided to play soccer and i promised wei zhou i would meet him in Safra afterward.. We left each other's hands in tears, and Wei Zhou couldn't bear to walk away, but i could..
So, we toured around toa payoh finding a place to eat, and my mind was wandering towards wei zhou... We finally got to the street soccer court, it wasn't very fun today as my heels were killing me, and it was really hot.... After a few short games, i changed to my uniform and took a cab to safra to see my beloved. There, Aaron called me while i was on my way in, and he told me i had a nice friendster profile, and that he would challenge me one day.. I felt pretty afraid and intimidated, how many people out there thought the same way as he did? Any way, the only showing off line was '' Every week we go to safra to hone our already great skills.'' hahaha, its all a joke, although its partially true, but i wonder how many people out there want a piece of my head..so i put on my really really nice E-journalism shirt over my uniform, (Its M-sized, borrowed from Faizal [faezah] ) Then they almost burst out in joy and relief and happiness when they saw me enter the battle arena. So, i played many games, it seemed that everyone wanted a piece of my head, everyone wanted to battle me today, but i played exceptionally well today, although wei zhou was busy psyching me with his voodoo rituals, i still managed to win him for a few games but i know i shouldn't be too proud because Wei Zhou wouldn't play100% with us, i've seen him in action against strangers and he's a powerhouse... Wei Zhou's playing style is the joking and play play type, then when we gain confidence and lessen our balls, he'll just come up and kick our puny butts.. So i played well today, drawing with the veteran player Kenneth... At three, i decided to leave and take a bus to school for the annual awards ceremony.
(iii)- Tight Fit
And after school the kind teck siang waited for my 163 as he made me miss my previous 163, so we talked about pool and how i'll avenge them by challenging the SA boys next time.. It seems that the SA boys have gained confidence after luckily beating us a few times and teck told me last thursday they walked up and challenged teck and wei zhou.. so brave!! Its usually us that do that! So Wei Zhou, being Wei Zhou cleared the table easily and left the boys dumbfounded, i wonder if they'll be brave enough to challenge us next time...
(iv) - The Tainted world of Man
And before we end,
A Tribute to the late, Joey Tian Wei Zhou, founder of Tian's acedamy, person of great knowledge, person of incredible pool skills, the person responsible of breaking one of safra's pool cues, the person responsible for our enjoyment, while we sat back.. watching his trickshot videos.. doubting his skills, doubting the genuineness, he put in a lot of hard work into the videos.. for what? For your enjoyment! So doubt his skills no more, do not doubt his authenticity or i shall smite ye with me staff, and me sword, and me cue, for he hath the skills you hath not. For he is my master and my chalk...He is the one, the one who led me to this path, where i constantly see my wallet empty.. We remember, Tian Wei Zhou, and although he isn't here with us today, Tian's acedamy will go on, Me, teck siang, kenneth will lead the noobs..
13/04/06.. Tian Wei Zhou wasn't with us today, but we will continue.. although we'll all see him next monday, but we will all remember this day, 13/04/06, the day, we lost our master..
(v) - The world's ending and the Wizard's scarring
So, me, my master ( wei zhou), kenneth and teck siang took a cab to penisula. When we arrived, we saw a S.E.X and the city store there, and the 5 of us were like standing outside the store, frozen, we were staring at it, not me, but they were guessing what was inside that store, boys would be boys.... So we searched the whole penisula plaza and i spent 9 dollars on pool cue tips.
Next, we took a cab to safra. There, we didn't have any tables, and we played snooker first. When we finally got a free table, it was snatched away from us by the same st andrews boys we beat earlier this week. Then, me and teck siang couldn't stand it anymore, we went forward, riding our dark steeds with speed, and we confronted them, we challenged them, but they stood strong, and they fended us off and they told us, our doom will come not at this time, but at a later period. Disappointed and rejected, we rode back to our castle snooker. I kept telling teck siang how scared they were, they were hum ji bangs, to people like kenneth, he would say hum ji, but i said hum ji bang, which is some biscuit in mandarin. I wasn't satisfied at all. To our enormous surprise, those noble knights kept true their words, knights of honour, they rode bravely to our castle snooker and they boldly invited us to battle at their grounds.
Me and kenneth followed them to their castle table four pool. That was where the fierce battle started, we were ambushed by 7 other knights. We fought well in the first match, but a fatal mistake by me and i accidentaly potted the black. We lost round one of sparring. Round two was coming up, they had the confidence, it was home against away, and they had support, we were a lonely evil force. They cleared their balls and we had four left. They only had one black. It was my turn, i potted one, stunned the shot, then potted the next one, a screw, then i potted the last of my balls. It was time for the black, and i told them the final destination of the black, and i hit it, it rolled, slowly, slowly, and boom, it droped in to the desired pocket. We won, i redeemed myself.
(vi) - The end of my days
Today's wasn't satisfactory pooling for me, i haven't been performing up to my standards, emotions are affecting my game, kenneth is affecting my game, teck siang is affecting my game. EMOTIONS... too much of it, too competitive, to much hatred, too much jealousy, too much anger.. But at least wei zhou told me something that i wouldn't stay here... and i think, its time for the return of my pool table to my hall again, its time to practise..
(vii) - The world's ending
So after school, i just told the yh kenneth and teck siang i was in a pooling mood because i watched the mosconi cup yesterday night and i've got the feel. When we went today, yuan hong beat my surprisingly 3 times in snooker. This was his day. Then kenneth proceeded to challenge some students from st andrews sec, a tag team game. I played horribly, that's why we lost. I knew although kenneth didn't say so, he blamed me for it. Then kenneth decided to tag with teck siang instead, and he said i wasn't on form today. But i told him i needed to redeem myself after showing everyone how nooby i was. But it was only appropriate for kenneth to decline tagging me and tag teck siang instead. I was definitely unhappy of being left on the bench, on the sidelines. But it turned out teck siang suffered the same fate as me and he played horribly as well, thankfully, they won, but just by luck. I decided to set a game for myself and asked them for a last game, this time, i decided to tag yuan hong. Yuan hong is a good player, but he doesn't seem to play seriously, he laughs all the time. But because of this wrong perception, that he isn't a good player, you feel pissed when he beats you, because he is quite a good player. This time, with an element of good playing alongside me, we played very very well, and i told yuan hong he was playing great today. He almost got the last ball in but it unluckily hit the jaw of the mid-pocket and missed, but it was great effort. They missed a couple more and it was my turn this time. The eight ball was right down the bottom half of the table. And my cue-ball was at the top half of the table. The eight ball was in the middle, and near the cushions. For this kind of shots, people like kenneth, teck siang and yh would surely try to double it. but i tried to go for the cut. I positioned myself and feathered a few times, then positioned my cue to the left side of the cue ball to create a left spin, then, the final draw back of my cue and i struck the cueball, it spun leftwards and so thinly sliced the eightball, sending it rolling sweetly into the bottom left pocket. WIOWWWIWWW, ok we won.
(vii)- General Elections
Today is General Elections day, George yeo must win, because my mum told me we are analogous, we are thinkers=))) So, elections day is really cool, politics is really cool, and i'm gonna be a candidate one day, vote for me.. So lately i haven't been doing much except studying and playing pool. The more stress we get, the more we wanna play pool. For example, last week i wanted to quit pool so much that i wanted to quit pool, i promised not to go this week, but i ended up playing after every paper. So last Friday was the Pure Geography examination day, it was relatively easy, compared to the previous papers, although they weren't that hard either, but they still weren't that easy... but i don't think i'm gonna nail the A1, although, A1 for all humans is a must, i didn't put in much effort for that paper.. After the paper, me and Teck siang followed the e2 pure geog girls to have lunch at the lousy coffee shop where we've eaten everything almost 1000 times... So Teck Siang was there busy critisizing everyone and i was there minding my own business quietly until he had to blue toot everyone my bee song.. That bee song was recorded by me at the safra toilet when teck siang taught me that kiddie song.. I attempted my gayest tone at that time and only he, wei zhou and kenneth had possesion of it.. now, teck see ang had to SEND IT TO EVERYONE THERE!!! And they were laughing at my sick gay voice over their loudspeakers...That was quite embarrassing.. I thank You Teck Siang... So our good master called us and he told us to rally to him, at his castle at serangoon, so we obediantly listened.. After we reached, we immediately engaged in battle after battle and we displayed all our sublime cueing and superb shotmaking skills.. So, i was the sole survivor and teck died a miserable death, my honorable master promoted me to the level of 2.5, the highest among all TPA members.. So, me and Teck Siang got a sneak preview of the impending completion of TWOT 6.. TWOT 6 will be great.. trust TPA, we only produce quality pool.. For the past few days, i have been focusing more on pool than on my studies, every 30mins, i'll run down to clear the table at least once, and my dad would keep nagging at me for playing pool all the time.. And lately the San Miguel Asian 9 Ball Tour is airing on tv and its incredibly exciting.. Francisco Bustamante v.s Efren Reyes! It was a great match.. I've improved my pooling style lately at home but i find it difficult to display it in Safra, its a different feel.. but i'm determined to kill off Lee Teck See Ang once and for all, although we're forever in equilibrium.. This should be my last post before the exams die off.. and i must nail my A1s this time... goodbye.
(vii) - The hustler's temptation
I'm a hustler, wei zhou calls me that. So lately teck siang went crazy and scolded Master Tian.. Teck, having violated law number 12a of the TPA: Disrespect to the coach/instructer, received an indefinite suspension from Master Tian. Teck was pissed and he quit TPA. I was largely influenced by Teck and was in a dilemma.. To quit pool totally or not? I, being ranked 2.5, am the best player yet in TPA, surpassing veteran Kenneth. And wei zhou has been so good to me, should i renounce my citizenship? Yesterday night i decided to take a 2 month leave away from my stressful job of hustling gullible youths. Then today, Wei zhou showed me so much love, always emphasizing on the fact that i'm ranked 2.5 and i'm the best student, he wanted me to go home to play, (home, being 3rd home, wei zhou's home) But i had already taken leave and for the first time i felt so carefree.. In the end, i gave a straight NO. But wei zhou, being a great actor, gave me a face of pure disappointedness.. being a sympathetic person, i could not forsake my Master, i followed, and teck followed too. There, wei zhou suddenly became hostile and i wasn't playing well against kenneth, my heart sank to the stage of depression, i told wei zhou i quit, and i formed my own Lee's Pool Academy, Teck Siang immediately joined, both of the political parties engaged in raging battles, and we were doing very well, Lee's Pool Academy has been placed on the map, we've made a name for ourselves, seeing how well our party was doing, darren decided to join our party. Then all of a sudden again, i regretted quitting TPA, but it was too late. So smart me devised a two way plan, i organised the Word Pool Finals against Wei Zhou, the loser's academy was to cease function and disband, then, all of its members was to join the other academy. What a smart plan! A win-win situation. Look! if i lost, i would be back in TPA! If i won, better yet! It'll be LPA!
Of course, i lost the race to 3 expectedly, and i was glad to resume my position as 2.5. Then, Wei Zhou brought me to a corner and told me that what i did earlier on hurt him, that i was his favourite student, i was touched to tears and i promised never to forsake my master again, not until i become a master at least.. But what i said still stands, i will take a 2 month leave and after my exams, i shall not go to safra, but instead i'll follow xuan xuan to Changi to buy chocolates...
(viii) - I'm a nice hustler
Basically what a hustler does is to misrepresent one's ability in order to deceive someone, especially in gambling, in our case pool, we've seen the ability of Wei Zhou, he hustled some guy for ten bucks, even my bro's somewhat hustled, someone challenged him for 20 bucks a game and he won 3 games, he didn't keep the money of course, his friend took it. Let's face it, how can Lee Hexun be a true hustler? How can i gamble? Tian Wei Zhou, i was born one but i cannot be one, i cannot gamble.
I congratulate Kenneth for making his first professional hustle today. Kenneth was hungry at safra today, as so he reports, he wanted to buy the special maggie mee, but was short of 30cents, he glanced over at table 11, where 3 guys and 2 girls were playing. He walked over, he told a guy that they (Wei Zhou and Teck Siang) wouldn't let him play for he was too noobish. So the guy agreed to one game, kenneth told him to punch first, but he refused for he was too lazy but he suggested that he let kenenth play for free. So kenneth said it wasn't fair, then kenneth suggested 10 cents for each remaining ball and the guy agreed. According to kenneth's mind blowing 8000 page report, the guy was a noob and kenneth cleared the table easily in 3 turns! He left him with 5 balls. But the guy didn't have 50 cents, so he gave kenneth 30 cents. Mission Accomplished! Kenneth got 30cents for his maggie mee! Good job Kenneth.
Then another report came from Wei Zhou, he lost terribly in a money game, Wei Zhou profusely apologised to me for his poor display today, tarnishing TPA's record. He stated his reasons.
1. Exccesive use of mental trickery by opponent
2. Being sick
3. Physical fatigue ( 4 hours of playing )
" I apologise for the shame brought unto TPA due to my loss." Master Tian
That was my day, if only 2.5 was there to being TPA further glory, you guys will see at the School's Pool Tournament.. oh no, we doubt we'll win, but we'll put up a good fight..
(ix) - The Houses of Healing
I did nothing much for the rest of the day until my family went out for a pot luck at my church friend's house. So, knowing that i was keen about pool, my friend heng yi's father booked the snooker room just for us, then, i informed Wei Zhou about my impending pool tournament. Omigosh, is it really a big matter? Wei Zhou called me four times that night to confirm me and to ensure i do TPA proud, i mean, what do you expect Master Tian? I'm ranked 2.5!!! And Teck Siang also expressed concern and wished me luck... this wasn't what i quite expected, must every match be a MUST WIN match? I'm on a two month leave!!! Two months vacation!!! Yes well, when i got into the snooker room, i didn't play well, i didn't score 100 points as i thought i would, i was focusing on getting the points, not snookering heng yi or my brother, they weren't that good. The best i managed was a 50, while my friend and my brother were like in the negative section of the scoreboard. But still, i'll state my reason as i should:
1. No cuetip, the table was 900 years old, the cues were rotten and all the tips came off, except the one i was using, but i was busy masseing till the tip came off =(
2. Excessive use of deep mind trickery by the user, too much backfires..
3. Bent cue, my cue wasn't exactly straight, i had to aim left to get a stun shot.
4. Colour blindedness, the balls were not easily distinguishable
5. Lack of interest in opponents, they only seemed interested in seeing me trying to get my 100 points, while they were stuck at negatives.
So that was my interesting day..
(x) - A tribute to Ashworth
So at Safra, it was full house today, and i wasn't playing pretty well. Then, Desmond, the ex-beattyian brought his ite friends over, and he took over my table for his said they weren't staying long. I asked him if he wanted to play with me, he said he didn't have money, so i went back to master tian. There, i kept telling wei zhou that i wanted to hustle them, but they were a big group, 4 girls, 2 boys, and one tank top dressed ''muscular'' desmond. I was a little intimidated, actually, i only wanted to challenge desmond. Then wei zhou and kenneth kept telling me to go over, but i was a little afraid. Then, with my ultra high frequency tone that only dogs and desmonds could hear, desmond ran over, i begged him for a game or two, but he rejected me flat. Wei Zhou kept telling me to challenge his friends, for he hated nooby guys who teach girls pool, so he kept forcing me to go, but i couldn't find that courage, for desmond already rejected me and i feel quite embarrased to challenge his friends. Then kenneth and wei zhou decided to go and play with them, and lose tragically on purpose, this was to give them confidence, so i could solo with them next, and thrash them, but sadly, as we were about to carry out our plan, they left.
So today, while being off form, i played straight pool with wei zhou, won him, and got an unexpected promotion to the level of shark, at lvl 3, i was surprised. Kenneth seemed to be a pro, in fact, he's the veteran, but how come a youngster like me can be promoted so fast? Maybe i'm really good but i don't actually realise, while teck is ranked 2 and kenneth at 2.1. So, it was a satisfactory safra visit, i don't really regret breaking my 2 months leave promise, but this shall be my 2nd last before the hols...Happy after exams to all you guys with fat wallets in your butts!!
- Shark Lee Hexun
To be continued...
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Toughest thing in the universe
Some people say this is code....
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I say, what the hell is THIS?!?!?!
Cryptography at its best.
Seriously, I have been spending the last five days trying to decipher it.
ZzZzZZzZzzzZzZzZzzzZzZzz
btw thats the correctly encoded message :)
Friday, July 2, 2010
Turtles in the rain
I can't believe Fendy has left the class. Seems like just yesterday I got to know this boy in class who also likes Jay Chou and equations.
Of course I later got to know that he is not a boy but a man and he discovered that actually I don't really like Jay Chou that much and we even went to Shanghai together.
It was a funny feeling watching him and Hye June do maths in s2 under the rainy skies today. Sorta makes me wish I had put in more effort all those times that he tried to interest me in some relavistic physics.
But I guess such is the fragility of human relationships in city life. People adapt and move on so fast that feelings are always fleeting. In the end, the only thing that has stayed with me since primary school is a Pikachu i raised from level 5.
Maybe I should just move to China and be a farmer...
Of course I later got to know that he is not a boy but a man and he discovered that actually I don't really like Jay Chou that much and we even went to Shanghai together.
It was a funny feeling watching him and Hye June do maths in s2 under the rainy skies today. Sorta makes me wish I had put in more effort all those times that he tried to interest me in some relavistic physics.
But I guess such is the fragility of human relationships in city life. People adapt and move on so fast that feelings are always fleeting. In the end, the only thing that has stayed with me since primary school is a Pikachu i raised from level 5.
Maybe I should just move to China and be a farmer...
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Last IT/BMA
This shall be (hopefully) one of my last cancer posts.
Today was my final intrathecal and bone marrow aspiration procedure. Was quite apprehensive as it was like almost 2 years since I did the last one. And my friends would know I always had lots of problem with this procedure. I hate the feeling of the needle searching and poking in your back, and the worse part is that soemtimes they would not get the right spot after multiple times so they would have to reinsert the needle. I think my record was like 6 times before they could get it.
But even after the procedure, there would be severe after effects like headache and nausea and backache. There was once i was bedridden for more than 2 weeks after a particularly bad one because the fluids in my god-knows-whats-the-name spinal cord area were disturbed, causing severe headaches and backaches whenever I tried to sit up.
Actually what most people do not know is that during the later stages of my treatment, I was so scared that I often escaped from the hospital and wanted to give up treatment, effectively opting for euthanasia.
Of course, that didn't happen (or else I wouldn't be here writing this post today) thanks to my family encouragement and a particular social worker.
SO anyways, about a month ago when Prof Tan said I had to go for the last BMA and IT, it was like deja vu all over again. And when i woke up today suddenly the feelings of fear and flight came back lol.
But I decided that this time was different cause I'm bigger and older and wiser and stronger! So I decided to randomly spam my JC classmates with sms to ask for support. (JC because I knew my poly friend would still be sleeping XD) I expected them to give a one time reply like "Dun worry you'll be fine" kind of thing but that was okay because something was better than nothing.
But then, at my darkest hour of hopelessness and despair....
HALOGIRL APPEARED!!!
Actually I'm fucking touched cause despite being busy she still tried her best to encourage me all the way from like 10am till I went in for the procedure like at 1pm. And after that still got customer support till 7.
And so from the most abysmal abyss of my blood pumping organ, I sincerely thank her.
Anyway the procedure went damm well and I'm having like zero side effects, which surprises me honestly. I expected something like at least a headache or some nausea but there nothing!
So yeah if the result of todays test are good I'll be officially off maintanence drugs which is like...
----To prevent the author from becoming too emo, this blog post shall stop here----
Today was my final intrathecal and bone marrow aspiration procedure. Was quite apprehensive as it was like almost 2 years since I did the last one. And my friends would know I always had lots of problem with this procedure. I hate the feeling of the needle searching and poking in your back, and the worse part is that soemtimes they would not get the right spot after multiple times so they would have to reinsert the needle. I think my record was like 6 times before they could get it.
But even after the procedure, there would be severe after effects like headache and nausea and backache. There was once i was bedridden for more than 2 weeks after a particularly bad one because the fluids in my god-knows-whats-the-name spinal cord area were disturbed, causing severe headaches and backaches whenever I tried to sit up.
Actually what most people do not know is that during the later stages of my treatment, I was so scared that I often escaped from the hospital and wanted to give up treatment, effectively opting for euthanasia.
Of course, that didn't happen (or else I wouldn't be here writing this post today) thanks to my family encouragement and a particular social worker.
SO anyways, about a month ago when Prof Tan said I had to go for the last BMA and IT, it was like deja vu all over again. And when i woke up today suddenly the feelings of fear and flight came back lol.
But I decided that this time was different cause I'm bigger and older and wiser and stronger! So I decided to randomly spam my JC classmates with sms to ask for support. (JC because I knew my poly friend would still be sleeping XD) I expected them to give a one time reply like "Dun worry you'll be fine" kind of thing but that was okay because something was better than nothing.
But then, at my darkest hour of hopelessness and despair....
HALOGIRL APPEARED!!!
Actually I'm fucking touched cause despite being busy she still tried her best to encourage me all the way from like 10am till I went in for the procedure like at 1pm. And after that still got customer support till 7.
And so from the most abysmal abyss of my blood pumping organ, I sincerely thank her.
Anyway the procedure went damm well and I'm having like zero side effects, which surprises me honestly. I expected something like at least a headache or some nausea but there nothing!
So yeah if the result of todays test are good I'll be officially off maintanence drugs which is like...
----To prevent the author from becoming too emo, this blog post shall stop here----
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Back from Shanghai
Back after 5 days! Shanghai was nice. Lazy to write a full essay so I'll just sum it up:
Likes :
- Pretty girls.
- Hot girls.
- Cute girls.
-Damm Good HaoLeDi KTV.
Likes :
- Pretty girls.
- Hot girls.
- Cute girls.
-Damm Good HaoLeDi KTV.
- 20 SGD for whole night 11:30 till 6:00am
- sounds system's awesome
- controls damm good- can adjust air con, change the lighting ambience, playback clapping and whistling sounds for yourself or your frens hahaha. And can boo them too.
- Plasma 42 inch TV
- Choose song using a computer which is damm fast and easy
- room is big
-Everything is big and spacious and you really get the feeling of freedom cause cab's cheap, can go anywhere you want.
-People are generally nice and helpful.
-(Commoner)things are generally very cheap.
-every road and street has lotsa people at all times and its full of life and enthusiasm, even at midnight. You dun get the lonliness and emptiness of city living, unlike in Singapore.
-Nice cooling weather.
Dislikes:
-Food not nice xiaolongbaos skin rock hard, and we tried many different restaurants. Noodles taste floury.
-Everything is in Chinese! I can't read!
-Way too many people, everything you do, you have to queue and wait for at least 10 people first.
Thats about it. Generally I love it there.
Ok some KTV pics.
Damm nice and spacious!Haha short video of us singing some warm ups.
PS: I have a million videos and pictures measuring like 5 GB.. how to upload?!?!?
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Sianz
Holidays here. So sickening everyone's busy.
Obtained Deoxys and Dakrai(hacked) today.
Going to Shanghai with Fendy and Almo On Sunday. Quite excited. But down with slight flu hope can recover before then...
Been feeling emo recently again.
Arghh Hate boring Holidays.
Obtained Deoxys and Dakrai(hacked) today.
Going to Shanghai with Fendy and Almo On Sunday. Quite excited. But down with slight flu hope can recover before then...
Been feeling emo recently again.
Arghh Hate boring Holidays.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Physiz
Got an E for physics. Quite disappointed but sorta expected it also. Had no time to complete the paper. Should have chionged through...
Hope maths can get A.
Hope maths can get A.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Doom
Tomorrow receive results. Die liao.
Actually i'm sian cause school starts at 730 tomorrow.
Can't wait for this week to be over.
Checklist for June holidays
-Complete driving lessons and theory
-Complete at least 1/3 chemistry yellow book
-Complete at least 1/4 physics Prelim book
-Play lotsa pool and bowling
Seems quite impossible lol XD
Actually i'm sian cause school starts at 730 tomorrow.
Can't wait for this week to be over.
Checklist for June holidays
-Complete driving lessons and theory
-Complete at least 1/3 chemistry yellow book
-Complete at least 1/4 physics Prelim book
-Play lotsa pool and bowling
Seems quite impossible lol XD
Friday, June 4, 2010
stunned.
I didn't know Messenger kept all my Chat convos in the past year.
Was reading how we used to talk and laugh.
This poem is for you. Coped somewhere from the internet.
--------------------------------------------------
Just Friends - Ann Marie
Sometimes I wonder if you know
Exactly how I feel
Our love is not romantic
But still is very real
You come to me when you feel bad
And everything goes wrong
Always expecting happiness
And to hear a cheery song
I sympathize and pull you close
And try to ease your pains
When the sun comes back, you are gone
‘Til the next time that it rains
I’ll always be here when you hurt
I know you know I’ll stay
But I’m not sure you’d miss me
If I ever went away
Friends in deed are a very rare find
Not too many stick it out
Through the good times and bad
Giving no cause to doubt
So don’t take that friend for granted
Tomorrow you may be alone
With no one around to help you
And pain like you’ve never known
---------------------------------
Lol this is too emo.
"I think chemo drugs make you more emo"
-Darren LFH (who can't read this now cause he's in the army :P)
Was reading how we used to talk and laugh.
This poem is for you. Coped somewhere from the internet.
--------------------------------------------------
Just Friends - Ann Marie
Sometimes I wonder if you know
Exactly how I feel
Our love is not romantic
But still is very real
You come to me when you feel bad
And everything goes wrong
Always expecting happiness
And to hear a cheery song
I sympathize and pull you close
And try to ease your pains
When the sun comes back, you are gone
‘Til the next time that it rains
I’ll always be here when you hurt
I know you know I’ll stay
But I’m not sure you’d miss me
If I ever went away
Friends in deed are a very rare find
Not too many stick it out
Through the good times and bad
Giving no cause to doubt
So don’t take that friend for granted
Tomorrow you may be alone
With no one around to help you
And pain like you’ve never known
---------------------------------
Lol this is too emo.
"I think chemo drugs make you more emo"
-Darren LFH (who can't read this now cause he's in the army :P)
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Pokemon!!!
I want a Manaphy egg. Willing to trade legendaries: Mewtwo / Kyogre / Rayquaza / Latias / Birds/ Beasts / Regi's.
Best Live Performance of all time.
Best Live Performance of all time.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
English!
Different inferences... With emphasis on the red words.
"I never said she stole my money" - Someone else said it, but I didn't.
"I never said she stole my money" - I simply didn't ever say it.
"I never said she stole my money" - I might have implied it in some way, but I never explicitly said it.
"I never said she stole my money" - I said someone took it; I didn't say it was she.
"I never said she stole my money" - I just said she probably borrowed it.
"I never said she stole my money" - I said she stole someone else's money.
"I never said she stole my money" - I said she stole something of mine, but not my money.
Different meanings given by a computer when asked the phrase..
"Time flies like an arrow"
1)The common simile; time moves quickly just like an arrow does;
2)Measure the speed of flies like you would measure that of an arrow
('time' being an imperative verb and 'flies' being the insects) - i.e. (You should) time flies as you would (time) an arrow;
3)Measure the speed of flies like an arrow would
i.e. Time flies in the same way that an arrow would (time them);
4)Measure the speed of flies that are like arrows -
i.e. Time those flies that are like arrows;
5)A type of flying insect, "time-flies," enjoys a single arrow (compare Fruit flies like a banana)
"I never said she stole my money" - Someone else said it, but I didn't.
"I never said she stole my money" - I simply didn't ever say it.
"I never said she stole my money" - I might have implied it in some way, but I never explicitly said it.
"I never said she stole my money" - I said someone took it; I didn't say it was she.
"I never said she stole my money" - I just said she probably borrowed it.
"I never said she stole my money" - I said she stole someone else's money.
"I never said she stole my money" - I said she stole something of mine, but not my money.
Different meanings given by a computer when asked the phrase..
"Time flies like an arrow"
1)The common simile; time moves quickly just like an arrow does;
2)Measure the speed of flies like you would measure that of an arrow
('time' being an imperative verb and 'flies' being the insects) - i.e. (You should) time flies as you would (time) an arrow;
3)Measure the speed of flies like an arrow would
i.e. Time flies in the same way that an arrow would (time them);
4)Measure the speed of flies that are like arrows -
i.e. Time those flies that are like arrows;
5)A type of flying insect, "time-flies," enjoys a single arrow (compare Fruit flies like a banana)
Friday, May 14, 2010
Broken
Health's been really bad. Missed GP mid year today cause was having fever yesterday night.
Dun feel like doing anything. Really gonna fail mid years.
Sux.
Dun feel like doing anything. Really gonna fail mid years.
Sux.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Bowling!
Went for bowling nationals on monday and today(thursday). Fell damm sick on Tuesday got asthma attack lol... But now its okay.
Bowled like shit on Monday, average 147. Oiling totally messed up my game. And fatique destroyed me during the end. Bowling 6 games continuosly is no joke...
And MJ girls are damm cute. Damm distracting.
Luckily decided to return to basics on Thursday. Throw straight ball, cueing was damm on form and on target too.
Haha in the end bowled an impressive 176! Even coach said he was proud of me! Together with my awesome partner who bowled average 189 i think we can make top 20. Got chance.
Topped class for Gp again. This is almost too easy...
Mid year in two weeks. I'm gonna DIE.
Bowled like shit on Monday, average 147. Oiling totally messed up my game. And fatique destroyed me during the end. Bowling 6 games continuosly is no joke...
And MJ girls are damm cute. Damm distracting.
Luckily decided to return to basics on Thursday. Throw straight ball, cueing was damm on form and on target too.
Haha in the end bowled an impressive 176! Even coach said he was proud of me! Together with my awesome partner who bowled average 189 i think we can make top 20. Got chance.
Topped class for Gp again. This is almost too easy...
Mid year in two weeks. I'm gonna DIE.
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