Hey all, it's been a while since i've last posted. I may not be the most sensitive detector of emotions, but i certainly know a demoralized team when i see one. Yes yes a multitude of reasons come into play and i wouldn't pass them off as excuses because some are genuine. But for now, this apprehensive/demoralized/lost hope/can't give a shit mood will end now, because it's high time we buck up.
I'm going to do away with all big words and whatever quotes now because yes i admit i've become jaded in a sense. Too many cliches, too many water trainings, too many bad experiences and encounters i had with people and yes i guess we're all tired from training so hard and so long. What has the purpose of training become? We all say "PB, PB" and "rape nj" all the time but after a while the meaning fades and what's left is just the words alone. So what remains? What will not fade away in the face of time? Not your boat, not your paddle, not your strokes, not your body. All will die except for your heart and the love found within it. These two years i've been finding what is the best umbrella-termish biggest concept that can encompass our desire to row and train. Here's the closest answer: Love.
Undoubtedly, passion, discipline, desire to win, sportsmanship can all come into play. Indeed we all row for that, but there's been a dip in passion, discipline, desire to win etc. And now all we can do is to look back at the biggest main idea: Love. We all say "yea, i love ice cream, i love hot guys, lubz euxx worxx", words to the extent. But this concept of Love is what defines our team so aptly, and it definitely goes far beyond that of those silly examples aforementioned. When we started rowing, what made us continue? LOVE for the feeling of sitting on a chunk of fibreglass and trusting that it can take us 500m in 2 minutes. When we feel like dying at the last stretch of 2k timing, we could have said "oops i'm not feeling well sorry let's not PB", but what made us push that thought out of our heads and continue rowing with the bloody sun on our backs? Not fear of Jiaolian, not for showing off. It's LOVE for the team. LOVE for everyone else who is out there, uncompromising and expecting that you do the same for them, appreciating that the team is a body of canoeists who are willing to die for the cause. LOVE for the people who asked you to hold on one second longer so that your efforts will not be in vain. It is not the loud sound of "jiayou jiayou" from jiaolian's loudspeaker that eggs me to row faster. Definitely not. It is when hear victor's melodious voice singing "peng you" (friends), or when nathan accuses me of slacking behind that my muscles go into overdrive and my the pain is momentarily kicked out of my system. Why do we exhibit sportsmanship and respect our opponents out there? Again, LOVE. Love for them, for without them we'd have no one to own. Love that they are also part of this fraternity of mad people who are dedicated to propelling fibreglass chunks. Why am I so looking forward to Nationals? Because as scared as i may be, trembling under the pressure with the eyes of parents, coaches, match support ppl, friends, teammates, I know that I LOVE the feeling of having one lane entirely to yourself, no stupid boats cutting halfway, and compressing 1.5 hard years of training into that pathetic little 2 minutes, with teammates screaming hoarse for the burst, all eyes pinned on that tiny ray of hope that Raffles can indeed perform miracles. So find your LOVE once again, start afresh, and show that the heart of a Raffles canoeist is bigger than any other canoeist's lats, and that the mind of a Raffles canoeist is tougher than any other canoeist's abs.

Miracles are not random. Yes well maybe to an extent, like if you dont do your tut then your teacher is sick on that day well maybe that's a miracle. But we're not going to pray that other schools will suffer an epidemic of HFMD and we'll win this nationals! Won't happen period. We MAKE miracles bit by bit. Maybe the reason as to why there's this dip in morale/enthusiasm is because we've been losing teammates to illnesses, other commitments etc. Or maybe we see other schools out there looking fast and the fear gets to our hearts. That is when we've lost the battle, completely. Training is something like miracle-making practice. Every improvement to stroke, balance and fitness will ultimately give us that little increase in that little glimmer of hope that we can manipulate the odds. John Paul said in his exco interview, that he wants to change our stupid in-built ideas that we are the underdogs. We create excuses for ourselves for our inferior performance as compared to others: "oh they have 5 water trainings, we have like 3, which is not enough" or " they have 3 coaches eh, that's why they are so good!" or "but they don't study what, 100% of life is spent canoeing" But it has never occured to us, that when we beat them, we automatically prove that you don't need tons of water trainings or tons of cash to be the best. All we need is a heart that believes that we can.

I don't want to keep saying "no regrets" or "nationals is 2 months away! c'mon it's our final year dont waste our efforts", because by now, it is rather damn obvious to all of you. We're going to leave a legacy as the team that stood under giants and plucked their balls from beneath and crushed them. Let nothing come in your way these 2 months, and i promise we'll kickass!
Buck up!

Labels: chinks

Updated@12:05 AM

Hello all, i've been web-trawling recently in addition to my daily dose of long bus rides, and i've found a couple of interesting and helpful websites to supplement all your daily doses of flatwater.info.
Firstly, there's this thing called the Barton Mould. It was created by Greg Barton, 2 time olympic medallist. It's pretty interesting cos of all the theory behind muscles and strokes (only k rowers).

Here's the link:
http://www.epickayaks.com/content/?nid=1506
It's quite lengthy, so read it when you feel you need a breather from doing complex numbers.

For C rowers
I found this terribly imba website which gives stroke breakdown and comments on world champions' strokes. Plus all the comments are proven by physics knowledge. It's like having an online jiaolian who will come breathe down your neck and ask you to recover high and reach out. Good stuff, do check it out if you want better strokes!
Here's the link
http://snappyexit.com/

For Soolin and other aspiring C rower girls out there:that's nathan and i converted into female form and i changed to right side. WOW, it's quite an eye opener seriously, so anyone from the girl's team who wish to draw inspiration for rowing C boat, here's the link:

Labels: chinks

Updated@2:14 PM

Hello all, not sure how many of you are hanging around online, catching some last minute moments of flatwater videos, facebooking or hanging around this blog frantically clicking "refresh" every 5 mins hoping to see a new post. It's less than 12 hours to our penultimate competition big day, so I'm here to post some stuff for those lonely cyber-souls out there who, like me, have nothing better to do at home than to await tomorrow.

It's heartening to hear all the input from yesterday's team talk, some regarding fear and how to overcome it, some encouraging us to cheer for our teammates, some ensuring our fearful hearts, that our opponents are as scared as we are. It's equally amazing that such an event, NJCC, can cause jokers and crapheads (me included i guess) to straighten up and give their best for just this once. All in all, i feel that we have really grown as a team in the face of adversity.

There's a chinese proverb which goes 台上两分钟,台下十年功(directly translated), "10 year's of work off the stage, for 2 minutes of performance on the stage".
Indeed, for most of us in this team, we have spent 2 years scooping oil off our soup, hardcoring gym, dedicating our mornings to stroke training, returning home at 8plus pm only to coerce ourselves to finish that bloody tutorial; only for that short 2 minutes (applicable to 500m rowers) in the water. Is it all that worth it? For your info, that was a rhetorical question and the answer better be "yes". For that short moment of intense excitement and fatigue, we have forked out so much more as compared to the usual RJC student. I believe it pays off. I'd rather join canoeing, torture my body using metal bars and carbon fibre sticks, burn my ass off with the sun on my back, for two minutes of thrill and glory, than to sit in an aircon library reading tintin and decompose at home on youtube.
All of us have chosen that path, all of us have dedicated our energy to this cause. And without regret, we're going to channel all that we've trained for, into this very two days. We are going down to macritchie tomorrow and show a sportsman's attitude. Win with humility, lose with grace (not really applicable, since who says we're going to lose?). As for nathan and i, we're going down to make friends with our opponents, and show our friends that our wash is bigger than theirs yo!

Have you got the spirit?
More importantly, can you SHOW the spirit?

Labels: chinks

Updated@9:02 PM

As we all know, many of our teammates have been coming down with injuries and illnesses of all sorts, ranging from flu and rashes to cartilage problems. So this goes out to all of you, Don't overtrain and have a healthy diet. Having good health is a benefit to our training as we do not waste time recovering from our bouts of illnesses or injuries, and we can devote our time to training. So here are some tips to improve general health and immunity.

- Do not overtrain. It may seem like a flagrant suggestion not to overtrain, but bear in mind that our body requires at least 12 hours of rest time in between workouts, so take some time off to rest on non-training days too. There are cybergaming club sessions on Tuesdays at computer lab 7 for those who wish to destress and bond over an exciting game of DotA or CS, so just drop by once in a while to relax.
- Have a balanced diet. Do not think that all we need to grow strong is merely protein and more protein. Carbohydrates are also an essential part of a healthy athlete's diet, but take good carbos like wholemeal bread and spaghetti, and not too much egg prata or ice lemon tea. For those who take bio, carbos are essential for forming glycoproteins which are embedded in our cell membrane, which helps in cell-cell recognition, very important indeed.


- Train smart. Know your strengths and limits and do not push yourself too hard in an attempt to beat the rugger/judoka next to you who is doing 150lb lats pulldown. The thing is that they are strong at low reps, but they cant do 30 reps for nuts. So do your weights and not others'.
-Last but not least, sleep a lot! Try to get at least 8 hours of sleep a day. Personally i try to sleep at 9 everyday, but due to other important stuff (DotA, TV, Dling music) i waste a lot of precious sleep time. So I'm a bad example. Hence I have found someone whom we should all emulate..


This is imba sleeping! The canteen bench is so hard but she can manage to get some good sleep! It's what we all should strive for- quality sleep anywhere under the sun!
All in all, let's strive to make canoeing an injury free CCA if possible! All the best for those with Bio and Physics SPA this week and the coming week!

Labels: chinks

Updated@9:44 PM

This is a true and touching story which i chanced on while reading through friends' blogs; though it's long, i wish to share it with you guys.

The Sandpiper, by Robert Peterson

She was six years old when I first met her on the beach near where I live.

I drive to this beach, a distance of three or four miles, whenever the world begins to close in on me. She was building a sand castle or something and looked up, her eyes as blue as the sea."Hello," she said.I answered with a nod, not really in the mood to bother with a small child."I'm building," she said."I see that. What is it?" I asked, not really caring."Oh, I don't know, I just like the feel of sand."That sounds good, I thought, and slipped off my shoes.A sandpiper glided by."That's a joy," the child said."It's a what?""It's a joy. My mama says sandpipers come to bring us joy."The bird went gliding down the beach. Good-bye joy, I muttered to myself, hello pain, and turned to walk on. I was depressed, my life seemed completely out of balance."What's your name?" She wouldn't give up."Robert," I answered. "I'm Robert Peterson.""Mine's Wendy... I'm six.""Hi, Wendy."She giggled. "You're funny," she said.In spite of my gloom, I laughed too and walked on. Her musical giggle followed me."Come again, Mr. P," she called. "We'll have another happy day."

The next few days consisted of a group of unruly Boy Scouts, PTA meetings, and an ailing mother. The sun was shining one morning as I took my hands out of the dishwater. I need a sandpiper, I said to myself, gathering up my coat.The ever-changing balm of the seashore awaited me. The breeze was chilly but I strode along, trying to recapture the serenity I needed."Hello, Mr. P," she said. "Do you want to play?""What did you have in mind?" I asked, with a twinge of annoyance."I don't know. You say.""How about charades?" I asked sarcastically.The tinkling laughter burst forth again. "I don't know what that is.""Then let's just walk."Looking at her, I noticed the delicate fairness of her face. "Where do you live?" I asked."Over there." She pointed toward a row of summer cottages.Strange, I thought, in winter."Where do you go to school?""I don't go to school. Mommy says we're on vacation."She chattered little girl talk as we strolled up the beach, but my mind was on other things. When I left for home, Wendy said it had been a happy day.Feeling surprisingly better, I smiled at her and agreed.Three weeks later, I rushed to my beach in a state of near panic. I was in no mood to even greet Wendy. I thought I saw her mother on the porch and felt like demanding she keep her child at home."Look, if you don't mind," I said crossly when Wendy caught up with me, "I'd rather be alone today." She seemed unusually pale and out of breath."Why?" she asked.

I turned to her and shouted, "Because my mother died!" and thought, My God, why was I saying this to a little child?"Oh," she said quietly, "then this is a bad day.""Yes," I said, "and yesterday and the day before and -- oh, go away!""Did it hurt?" she inquired."Did what hurt?" I was exasperated with her, with myself."When she died?""Of course it hurt!" I snapped, misunderstanding, wrapped up in myself. I strode off.A month or so after that, when I next went to the beach, she wasn't there. Feeling guilty, ashamed, and admitting to myself I missed her, I went up to the cottage after my walk and knocked at the door. A drawn looking young woman with honey-colored hair opened the door."Hello," I said, "I'm Robert Peterson. I missed your little girl today and wondered where she was.""Oh yes, Mr. Peterson, please come in. Wendy spoke of you so much. I'm afraid I allowed her to bother you. If she was a nuisance, please, accept my apologies.""Not at all -- she's a delightful child." I said, suddenly realizing that I meant what I had just said."Wendy died last week, Mr. Peterson. She had leukemia. Maybe she didn't tell you."Struck dumb, I groped for a chair. I had to catch my breath."She loved this beach, so when she asked to come, we couldn't say no. She seemed so much better here and had a lot of what she called happy days.But the last few weeks, she declined rapidly..." Her voice faltered, "She left something for you, if only I can find it. Could you wait a moment while I look?"I nodded stupidly, my mind racing for something to say to this lovely young woman. She handed me a smeared envelope with "MR. P" printed in bold childish letters.

Inside was a drawing in bright crayon hues – a yellow beach, a blue sea, and a brown bird. Underneath was carefully printed:A SANDPIPER TO BRING YOU JOY.Tears welled up in my eyes, and a heart that had almost forgotten to love opened wide. I took Wendy's mother in my arms. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," I uttered over and over, and we wept together. The precious little picture is framed now and hangs in my study. Six words -- one for each year of her life -- that speak to me of harmony, courage, and undemanding love.A gift from a child with sea blue eyes and hair the color of sand-- who taught me the gift of love.

NOTE: This is a true story sent out by Robert Peterson. It happened over 20 years ago and the incident changed his life forever. It serves as a reminder to all of us that we need to take time to enjoy living and life and each other. The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less.Life is so complicated, the hustle and bustle of everyday traumas can make us lose focus about what is truly important or what is only a momentary setback or crisis.This week, be sure to give your loved ones an extra hug, and by all means, take a moment... even if it is only ten seconds, to stop and smell the roses.

Labels: chinks

Updated@9:30 PM

nathan don't be emo! just join titration club and it will take your mind off things! i find myself most focused and concentrated when i'm doing my redox titration! give me your class and i/c no. by tomorrow yeah! then we'll be the titration club exco! and if we make it into a CCA, we'll get 11k bucks of funding a year, which means that we can get gold titration sets and used gold water to rinse our burettes and beakers! cheer up man, we still have to train hard tomorrow. ;)

Labels: chinks

Updated@8:52 PM

hello everybody. I'm chinks, and i have some good news. For all those who didn't take part in NJCC, you'll still get to hone your rowing skills against many others at this rowing competition! It's on the 20th of May, and the distance rowed is 2km. It's going to be super cool, so do keep that day free yeah. and let me know if you're interested. One thing is that any rowers from t,k, or c can participate, as we will be rowing the rowing machines (you can find them at rjc gym) at UOB centre. Sounds highly exciting yeah? So do not hesitate to sign up now, it's something worthwhile to do when you have a free sunday to burn time on!

On a totally different note, my friends and I have been observing that many who take chemistry have not been coping with SPA very well, and in lieu of the upcoming SPA assessment which will contribute to your A level results, we have decided to set up a titration club. It is important that as canoeists, we also maintain a high standard of academic proficiency, so this club will be beneficial to your chemistry marks as well! It is going to be a SIG for the moment, so sign up with me if you wish to have a fun filled but at the same time educational and hands-on tuesday afternoon with everyone else! I'm going to get the start-up-a-SIG form tomorrow from the General Office, so give me your names latest by the end of this week, and I assure you guys that you all will score during the SPA! My chemistry tutor Mr Christopher Tan (Jiaqi and Soo's tutor too) has agreed to be the teacher mentor of this club, and he's super zhai at titration. We need at least 15 people to start up a SIG, so I hope for your fullest support!

All the way!

Labels: chinks

Updated@8:38 PM

Hey hello people, here are some tips i found for diskette care, so you'll never have storage problems ever!

1 Never leave diskettes in the drive, as the data can leak out of the disk and corrode the inner mechanics of the drive. Diskettes should be rolled up and stored in pencil holders.

2 Diskettes should be cleaned and waxed once a week. Microscopic metal particles may be removed by waving a powerful magnet over the surface of the disk. Any stubborn metal shavings can be removed with scouring powder and steel wool. When waxing a diskette, make sure the surface is even. This will allow the diskette to spin faster, resulting in better access time.

3 Do not fold diskettes unless they do not fit into the drive. "Big" Diskettes may be folded and used in "Little" drives.

4 Never insert a diskette into the drive upside down. The data can fall off the surface of the disk and jam the intricate mechanics of the drive.

5 Diskettes cannot be backed up by running them through a photo copy machine. If your data is going to need to be backed up, simply insert TWO diskettes into your drive. Whenever you update a document, the data will be written onto both disks. A handy tip for more legible backup copies: Keep a container of iron filings at your desk. When you need to make two copies, sprinkle iron filings liberally between the diskettes before inserting them into the drive.

6 Diskettes should not be removed or inserted from the drive while the red light is on or flashing. Doing so could result in smeared or possibly unreadable text. Occasionally, the red light remains flashing in what is known as a "hung" or "hooked" state. If your system is hooking, you will probably need to insert a few coins before being allowed to access the slot.

7 If your diskette is full and needs more storage space, remove the disk from the drive and shake vigorously for two minutes. This will pack the data enough (data compression) to allow for more storage. Be sure to cover all openings with scotch tape to prevent loss of data.

8 Data access time may be greatly improved by cutting more holes in the diskette jacket. This will provide more simultaneous access points to the disk.

9 Periodically spray diskettes with insecticide to prevent system bugs from spreading.

Labels: chinks

Updated@7:16 PM