Saturday, September 23, 2006

FInally the day of UC... Damn I'm very nervous... Argh... Can I match up to them? To their expectations? Damn... Before I even reach NTU I already have Shawn, Jianfa stressing me! Good Lord...

Ok, ate my fave Tiong Bahru Hui Ji Fishball Noodles with extra noodles & chilli (who can miss that chilli!?) , proceeded to meet Nelson whom was later than my proposed amended time... -_-
He ah... On standby somemore... Haven boarded the bus already flooded with smses & calls from that CPL of his... Recommend him sign extra pls...

Ok... reached there to find them playing dress-up. Damn farnie. Edmund got sabo-ed to play Frosty The Snowman. But after much dressing I kept thinking he looks more like Min Zheng Hao from Da Chang Jin. Minus the beard & mustache lah! Haha

After that we proceeded for lunch & a movie screening. Spin Kick / Taekwonboys / Xuan Feng Tui. Bloody nice show I would say. Nothing flair about the way the movie is made, but just pure humour, taekwondo moves & inspirational thoughts for us. Haha Ashlyn & Judy watched with their eyes so wide like this O_O. Nick was asleep in front of us... -_-

Ok then got changed... Bloody lot of guys in toilet shouting HOW! HOW!! STARTING LE!!! HOW!!!! Haha damn farnie sight to behold. I can understand why later... We were the first group to lead the run. Liewz...

Ran too fast until they cant catch up, & we ain't at the first station yet! Damn... Like what Ashlyn says, I wan to Chui on the spot le... First station: Circuit stations @ NIE! I was screaming I've just been here recently! Damn bloody long carpark they have... Made us run, hop, wheelbarrow, all the way there & back, all these while the fumigitation was going on nearby. Talk abt haze in Singapore...

2nd station: Kicks @ Bio-Sciences Building! Lucky we are the last team now, cuz of the rotations. Did approximately 200-300 kicks. I'm nt sure le. Haha just kick until luan. Oops... Some more peeps dropped out of UC... sigh... Come on man...

3rd Station: Footwork. Did footwork in running shoes... A first for me I can say... Damn difficult lah!

4th Station: Climb that dreaded stairs behind NBS... I had to drag some of them up somemore... Reminds me of my medic days... haha. After that Did more n more kicks. Knee really wan to chui le... Jianfa n Shawn stressing me again! Argh! Finally the 2nd break session! Water never tasted more sweet...

5th Station: Shadow Sparring. First round 9 mins flat, then 8 mins, 7 mins, you get the pic... I was so tired that Junming sir had to ask me "Eh fighter, dun lie down... Sit up first." Haha I had to haul mu ass up... Sorry ah Wanzhu I just really bloody tired ah... Screamed like I dying right? Haha

Last push: Sprinting up the road to Nanyang House. Damn Shiok.

After that, speech by Shifu, a short performance by the Station Masters, & a song from Shifu! Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin. Haha damn good. Then presentation of patches & certs. Lucky someone never get... Muahaha... Nelson was laughing all the way.

yOU aRE iN mY wORLD @ 11:30 PM

Friday, September 22, 2006

Whoa... not a bad training tonight, quite relaxed & short. Yes it's the eve of UC or Ultimate Challenge for the ignorant (dun take this as an insult please. Ignorance is bliss remember? Heh). I met many people, mostly younger than me (sigh... I'm lucky I'm older by 1 or 2yrs on average) whom are really excited about UC. Bet they haven't heard what happened last yr eh...

Assigned to the team Koguryo, with people from all backgrounds & different levels of understanding of TKD. Quite cheery people I would say, with fears that they can't mix well together. Well we are all wrong! Uni people bond better, as most of us are engr peeps (ok they didn't care I wasn't from NTU), we held similar beliefs about life & TKD and we are all part of the team. Haha I can say pretty crappy for some, especially Edmund. Champ at crap talking. Skye comes across as the quiet type initially... But later... hahaha a much needed motivational point for me.

We crapped for sometime as part of ice-breaking before I parted ways with them to go home to do my assignment. Damn the assignment...

yOU aRE iN mY wORLD @ 11:55 PM

Monday, September 11, 2006

I'm writing this because this shocking incident happened 5 yrs ago on this day. Noone has denied the impact 9/11 has created in their lives, and if there exists people who do, well let's just say they can die without going to heaven.

It was this day 5 yrs ago that made the whole world sit up & realise the dangers are real. The unimaginable happening, the gauntlet thrown to them from nowhere. Suddenly humanity is faced with issues of terrorism, beliefs, cries of help from the unheard & unavenged...

What is terrorism? How do we define terrorism? What are the beliefs they held dear that made it seem extreme to us? What catalysed them to commit such an act? What has governed their thoughts right up to that moment?

Now humanity has to ask themselves. Have we learned? Has anything changed? Has the world grown more united? Are the cries of help from the unheard & unavenged addressed? Their needs met? I suppose most of the questions posted here will never be answered.

On my end, I salute those whom valiantly stayed around to salvage the lifes of other people. They are the true heroes whom are not mentioned in movies, comics & animated films. They are the true Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Wonder Woman. However, we should not need another such catastrophy for us to identify them, or for them to step out to help.

To those whom died, please bless the people you left behind, & rest peacefully.

To my lecturer who was in Boston instead of NY: YOU ARE ONE LUCKY BASTARD!

Here are some stats found online:

The initial numbers are indelible: 8:46 a.m. and 9:02 a.m.
Time the burning towers stood: 56 minutes and 102 minutes.
Time they took to fall: 12 seconds. From there, they ripple out.
Total number killed in attacks (official figure as of 9/5/02): 2,819
Number of firefighters and paramedics killed: 343
Number of NYPD officers: 23
Number of Port Authority police officers: 37
Number of WTC companies that lost people: 60
Number of employees who died in Tower One: 1,402
Number of employees who died in Tower Two: 614
Number of employees lost at Cantor Fitzgerald: 658
Number of U.S. troops killed in Operation Enduring Freedom: 22
Number of nations whose citizens were killed in attacks: 115
Ratio of men to women who died: 3:1
Age of the greatest number who died: between 35 and 39
Bodies found "intact": 289
Body parts found: 19,858
Number of families who got no remains: 1,717
Estimated units of blood donated to the New York Blood Center: 36,000
Total units of donated blood actually used: 258
Number of people who lost a spouse or partner in the attacks: 1,609
Estimated number of children who lost a parent: 3,051
Percentage of Americans who knew someone hurt or killed in the attacks: 20
FDNY retirements, January–July 2001: 274
FDNY retirements, January–July 2002: 661
Number of firefighters on leave for respiratory problems by January 2002: 300
Number of funerals attended by Rudy Giuliani in 2001: 200
Number of FDNY vehicles destroyed: 98
Tons of debris removed from site: 1,506,124
Days fires continued to burn after the attack: 99
Jobs lost in New York owing to the attacks: 146,100
Days the New York Stock Exchange was closed: 6
Point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average when the NYSE reopened: 684.81
Days after 9/11 that the U.S. began bombing Afghanistan: 26
Total number of hate crimes reported to the Council on American-Islamic Relations nationwide since 9/11: 1,714
Economic loss to New York in month following the attacks: $105 billion
Estimated cost of cleanup: $600 million
Total FEMA money spent on the emergency: $970 million
Estimated amount donated to 9/11 charities: $1.4 billion
Estimated amount of insurance paid worldwide related to 9/11: $40.2 billion
Estimated amount of money needed to overhaul lower-Manhattan subways: $7.5 billion
Amount of money recently granted by U.S. government to overhaul lower-Manhattan subways: $4.55 billion
Estimated amount of money raised for funds dedicated to NYPD and FDNY families: $500 million
Percentage of total charity money raised going to FDNY and NYPD families: 25
Average benefit already received by each FDNY and NYPD widow: $1 million
Percentage increase in law-school applications from 2001 to 2002: 17.9
Percentage increase in Peace Corps applications from 2001 to 2002: 40
Percentage increase in CIA applications from 2001 to 2002: 50
Number of songs Clear Channel Radio considered "inappropriate" to play after 9/11: 150
Number of mentions of 9/11 at the Oscars: 26
Apartments in lower Manhattan eligible for asbestos cleanup: 30,000
Number of apartments whose residents have requested cleanup and testing: 4,110
Number of Americans who changed their 2001 holiday-travel plans from plane to train or car: 1.4 million
Estimated number of New Yorkers suffering from post-traumatic-stress disorder as a result of 9/11: 422,000

Here's an additional from my studies of the events:
Number of idiots who spent unnecessary monies on war-mongering instead of relief: 2. The United States Government & George W Bush.

yOU aRE iN mY wORLD @ 12:01 AM