Enough Time

Another realisation that I realised. This one happened yesterday at the hospital.

I was at the hospital visiting my grandmother. She was admitted a few days ago. She was fine until the eve of the CNY. On the eve and till now, she seems sort of lethargic and kept on falling into sleep every now and then, when she doing something or not doing something. When you talk to her, she could fall asleep responding to you. Then on the 2nd day of CNY there is a bruise on her right eye. It looked horrible. Tt covered the whole quarter of her face, and because of this bruise she could not even open her good eye to look at us properly. In the end the adults decided to admit her to the hospital.

What I have realised is that God had given us enough time.

I am 20 this year. I have lived 20 years on this earth. When I looked at my mother (yesterday at the hospital), I was thinking that I need to live another of my (until now) lifetime to reach 40 (or about my mother's age). Then I turned to look at my Grandmother, and then I thought that it would be another double life (2x40) to reach my grandmother's age (rough estimate).

I realised that 20 years and I have achieved so much, what more another 20, then another 40. It is very traumatising to know that you (I) have to go through another of what you (I) have gone through to reach say a parent's age, a more mature adult, a breadwinner's prime. And then live through another time of your (my) already gone through life to reach a grandparent's age, a successful guardian, a retired person. It is comforting to know that you (I) have to go through another of what you (I) have gone through to lead people into believing Christ, teaching new christians, organising camps. There is enough time for all these, for people like us. This life expectancy thing, God has given us about 100 or a little less, but lets just round it up to a hundred.

And I'm 20 now.

Everything. What is that?

Practice is not the only key to perfection.

During reunion dinner at my paternal grandmother's place, I noticed that her cooking taste as good as ever. You might argue that she has been cooking everyday. But cooking Chinese New Year dishes everyday?? Bamboo Shoots with Chicken & Sea Cucumber. I enjoyed this dish the most, and the reason that I look forward to go to her place every Chinese New Year Eve.

Experience and good memory counts. This is one new way that I view how things work in this world. Practice is not everything there is to carry out your life. Be it in studies, sports, gaming, eating, cooking, dating. From tonight, I saw that practice is not the key to make it or break it. Experience in the field is more essential to it, to the thing that you are doing. Experience as in experiencing the event and not experience as in accumulated experience over many practices.

Experiencing a certain event and remember it. To do it again, simply replicate. There does not contain any traces of doing it over and over and over again like in practising. To make something work, just did it a first time (found a successful time) and repeat it the second time if required. Add in some modifications if desired. Commit it to your good memory so that whenever you need this specific skill, your superb memory can recall.

Because being right is one way something works, the other is simply wrong. Either something is done right or its done wrong. There is only 2 side to this coin. Repeating the right movement for the activity that you do makes that thing being done correctly. Practice means trial and error. And error means that the action is not correct. You might have to try some a few times to get it right, but after that it is just repeating it.

Actually up to here, I think that practice is not the key to perfection. Trial and repetition is the way to get things done the correct way.

Well, maybe practice does have its worth to make you eventually do things faster, but you do have to get it right before you want to do it faster, don't you? Won't want to waste time practising on some wrong practices do you?

You may not agree instantly with my new view. But read it a few more times, see how i structure my argument. See if I make sense.

Men's Health

Last Tuesday, I tried something that was featured in Men's Health.



Have you spotted anything different?



I modified some of the ingredients. The fish tasted wonderful, although it is more overcooked compared to the original photograph's. But the salsa, well, lets just say that I'm not the chef that was meant to be.

So, then I decided to make it a simpler dish on Wednesday by making a mushroom sauce instead of the salsa. It taste much better then the salsa that I attempted to make previously, but I would say there there is room for improvement. But there is something very wrong. I did not use lemon for any part of the dish on Wednesday,thus the fish smell sticked to me wherever I went.

While eating my lunch, I got to know that Russell is flying off that very evening. He did not even tell me anything. What a good friend. So I planned my day: to go to the library, then to the airport.

And i went to Bishan Library to return books. Imagine the people who shunned me along the way and on the bus. I bet they smell something fishy that day. I popped by at BCH to say 'hi' to Qin Yi though, did not think she smell my fishiness maybe because the BBQ pork aroma had masked it.

The trip to the airport is about 1hr45mins. From the starting point to the end, or rather for bus 53, the loop.



A reunion, at last. Noticed that I am the only one wearing surf pants, and all the others are wearing long pants. Russell is going away for at least 7-8 years. I really hope that our relationship as good friends will not just fade away like that. What a friend lah, never even tell me his plans. Haha, but never mind lah... ... ...

Then the following 2 days, I went out to make money at Kallang from SAVA, a private Dragon boat association/company who organises and coordinate Dragonboating & kayaking events. They are also distributer for dragonboats. I guess that my description is correct. Yeah!! i got my tan from the 2 days of sun. Sanding and then lacquering the boats under the sun is no joke. This is really hard-earned money.

Friday is the day when the O levels result is announced. My sister got a L1R5 better than me. haha. 12. Wa lao. beter than me leh. How can. Tsk Tsk Tsk. Ok lah, very good. Now she can go almost wherever she wants. Friday is also the night when Addison's performance was on. I has been a long time since I have went for a band performance and I have lost touch with this kind of music, I realised.

(",)

Learn

I guess that I will be learning lessons of being patience and not to come to conclusion too quickly.

I do not know if it is God's intended lesson for me (because he is too almighty for me to know how he works) but i think I will be learning patience.

I did not get the starhub job. But the relief-teaching job seems hopeful because I am waiting for the online application to be fully processed. Currently I have been given provisional approval for my application to register as a Relief Teacher. It is an intern period. I have to check back at the web page one month later to see the result of the final status.

Meantime, I can go to a certain school, cause the OM (or i supposed) has promised my aunt that he will take me in when i go there. I think I am going to try tomorrow.

My plan for this week: to shed that fat for CNY!!
Go to my parent's shop in the morning. Go to the gym in the afternoon. Continue packing my room in the later afternoon (加油!!). Then have proper rest in the night.

Going to Dan's birthday chalet tomorrow. Hope that I will not miss the last episode of 最高点 tomorrow!!