Superb break...now for the next chapter!

What a fantastic break I had for the past 3 days! After intra-aquathlon biathlon on Saturday, Jiajie, Jason, Nicolas, Jonathan and I went for dinner at Brewerkz as Nicolas had a $70 voucher! =] It was such an amazing time of fellowship and bonding for us aquathlon freshies. The food was good, atmosphere was good, company better.

The next day, Jiajie, Jason and I went about our usual bike training, but this time the location was in the west and the group was our aquathlon team. We did about 70km and had our lunch back at NUS's MacDonalds. =] Later in the day, I played soccer as usual with my buddies from VJC. It was a very tiring day, but it was fun all the same!

I had swim training in school today, and it seems like I have not really rested much, but I feel I did. I feel even more charged up for the next chapter that is to come in Medical school! Bring it on! =] This reminds me that I have to buy my Physioloy textbook...

Lastly, this is a quote from my friend Amy which I think is really very true.
"...and strangely during times when we need God most, we tend to run away from Him..."

She really drove the point home so succinctly! Beautifully put, and we have to beware of it. I will run, but this time it is towards His arms and not away...

Updates for the Intra-Aquathlon Biathlon

Hello people! The update that I promised.. =] I completed the above-mentioned event with a time of 1hr 14min 14sec. I thought it was quite a good timing, considering that I clocked 1hr 48min at the Singapore Biathlon earlier this year! Breakdown of time - swim: 28mins 53secs, run: 45mins 21secs (much work have to done for the swim still, but for now, i'm elated with my new PB!)

This event has really encouraged me a lot, affirming me that the time and effort I spent going down for training is really helping me improve. Nothing in life comes easy, nothing without labour, Nil Sine Laboure! VJC! =] hahas..For those who are struggling out there with discipline problems, I just wish to share this with you: There are so many times that I toss around in bed, not wanting to leave the comforts of my sheets to torture myself during trainings. However, I still drag my limp body out of bed for trainings, and there WAS NEVER A SINGLE TIME that I regretted making such a decision. It is always worthwhile after the training has ended and that you tell yourself that you're much stronger now.

This ties in with the spiritual aspect of our lives as well. How many times have you wanted to seek God but you did not. Applying the same principles as stated above, there will also NEVER BE A TIME that you regret spending time with the Creator of the universe and of you and I. He will bless you in ways and means you can never imagine. Keep the faith my friend.

Leaving you guys with this quote from my brother Nicolas: Never live your life in regrets.

Week wrap up

=] is how I can describe my feeling right now, except for some other minor things (which I'm not free to share here) I had my CA1 today, it was a pretty fun paper! =] After the 3hr paper, after collection of the OTAS sheet, the Biochemistry department gave the answers to the 40 MCQs! It was so shocking! Hahas..To cut the long story short, got 31/40! Praise the Lord! =] At least now I'm more relaxed about the remaining 60% of Biochemistry tested at the end of the academic year in May 2009. There is still the 40 MCQs for Anatomy though, that have not been discussed yet.

After the CA, Chin Ee, Xu Sheng and I went for our usual swim session again at the SRC pool and had lunch before heading down to lecture at 3pm. What a plan to have lectures after a CA! It was so darn wrong la! Weird. Later in the evening, we had the killer 'xiaolongbao' buffet at Crystal Jade at Holland Village. My goodness, I almost exploded...

Anyways, I have a biathlon tomorrow, so I have to go rest now. =] I wonder how I could swim and run after eating so much...I hope I survive. A long weekend awaits me, with classes starting at 11am on Tuesday too! Man! What a long weekend! I am going to relax the whole way to recharge for the next hurdle... =]

Leaving you guys with this killer talented guy called David Sides =]
His rendition of Apologize by One Republic

The past 3 days..

I have no idea but suddenly, weird thoughts start popping into my mind and I'm feeling really confused and down for the past 3 days.. The only time I feel alive is when I train with my team mates from aquathlon. That is the ONLY time I feel alive. We did 5 x (200m swim, 1km run) transition training today. It sounds easy yah, but trust me, you need a lot of determination to finish the sets! =] It was really a very fun session today. However, the moment it ended, I was thrown back into reality, facing my problems again. Damn.

Thankfully, I sought help from mum (we had dinner together). I told her all my problems and her advices were pretty much relevant. I will stick to it now and see how things go from here. I hope I feel better, I really do.

On a side note, after training today, I realised that my left big toe is ready to be 'harvested'! It has been badly injured due to soccer and I have just been waiting for it to fall off. Today, I took things into my own hands! =] Maybe this can be something to be happy about...

I am not alone!

It is only human nature that we start to feel a little better when we realise that what we are going through now is being experienced by other people also. Yesterday, after cell group, I was talking to Ching Lu about her work and somehow we managed to drift into talking about our spiritual lives. This was where the conversation started to kick off. We both realised that the other person's spiritual life is not doing too well too!

It was such a connection..we then decided to keep one another in check and to also come up with a checklist that we have to adhere to strictly on a daily basis. I hope this works, for if it does not, I am really going to be even more lost... God, show me your hand in my life again...

Model day!

Today was the 1st time in medical school that I felt I was actually productive! Had practicals in the day, identifying the lower limb muscles was facilitated by watching Acland's the night before =] It was really good, and for once I felt quite confident.

After lunch I headed back for a quick nap and started my tutorial. Normally 7 questions will take around 14-21hrs to complete. However, I managed to complete it in less than 6hrs! I even went for a 16km run at 5pm, clocking 77mins. It was quite a good aerobic exercise I felt, but my legs are pretty tired.

This could be the start of something really exciting! At the start of this week, I decided to once again commit everything into His hands and let Him show me the way. For through the past 8 weeks I was treading the waters ALONE and was just short of drowning. He is going to show me how to walk on the water! This I am very sure... All praise be to God for today.

Happy like mad! Finally, an early night which I will cherish very very much.

This is just a quote that really impacted me a lot, hope you guys get to glean something out of it too. =]

I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God's business. - Michael J. Fox

Was it a set-up?

After training on Saturday, my mum came to pick us (Nicolas, Jonathan and I) up from NUS to the bike shop to get our stuffs. On the way down the AYE, we met an accident. Our car was happily travelling down lane 2 when suddenly from lane 1, a Mercedes swerved out and wanted to change lanes. Due to the amazingly fast reflexes from mummy, we did not hit that idiotic/retarded/should-get-his-license-suspended driver in his Mercedes. All of us were also not hurt during the accident, except for Jonathan who got a slight neck sprain.

That was not the end. 4-5secs later, we all felt a strong thud from behind. We were rammed into by a car from behind. The story begins now. Immediately (and I was pretty sure about the time frame), there was the EMAS recovery team. The man in the green vest immediately came up to control traffic and there was this car repair shop guy going around handing out namecards. My goodness! I was so appalled that the EMAS recovery came so quickly!

The car repair shop guy managed to talk his way into our car, and we drove off, headed for his garage (we were kind of rushing for time, maybe that's why he managed to persuade us). He said that he will settle everything for us. We left the scene, not without the license plate numbers of all the cars involved.

On the way there, I questioned him regarding the speed at which the EMAS recovery team and him managed to arrive that the accident scene. His reply left a lot to be questioned: 'We have cameras and we saw that an accident had happened'

My hypothesis:

1. Big brother is indeed watching, so much so that once an accident happens, EMAS recovery team is IMMEDIATELY activated and reaches the scene in minutes.

2. The car repair shop guy together with the Mercedes driver planned for such an accident. Firstly, they have nothing to lose if the Mercedes was hit by another car; in the eyes of the law, the driver of the car that hit the Mercedes have to pay for the repairs, and Mercedes repairs are not cheap. Secondly, any car that is hit will have to be repaired, there comes the business. Lastly, the timing combined with the weak explanation really pushes me to think that it was all a set-up.

You guys be the judge, what is your view? =]