HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR

HAPPY NEW YEAR. Eat lots and get a lot of red pocket money :) :).

KUNG HEI FAT CHOI!! meaning, Wish you will make lots of money too.

To those who wonder what I did, I was just sitting at home resting. I didn't even bother going out since all the malls are jammed packed. Yes Yes, I am lazy. Well, I didn't stay at home exactly. On Sunday Morning, New Year's Day, I went to my friend's house to watch tennis. I mean really early morning :) from 12:30am to 4am. It was an exciting match. Just as we all thought Federer might lose to the young gun Marcos Baghdatis in the second set, Federer suddenly brings his game to the next level. The level of the untouched. The commentors says," Everyone else plays on earth but Federer plays in another planet!!" It seems Federer was holding back in the beginning and letting Baghdatis gain confidence. Then he suddenly switched from defending to attacking. All of a sudden, the tie changed and Federer changed his playing style to net play. After that, Baghdatis appears to be on the run all the time, until in the 3rd set, he actually have a bad leg calf cram. Then, me and my friend knows it is over. It is close to impossible to beat Federer when you are in perfect shape and when you are injuried, it was over.

You have to play tennis to understand how good Federer is. His form, his motion, his flexibility in the shoulder and even his reflexes makes him the perfect tennis player.

Divide & Conquer and Step by Step Approach

Today I like to remind all of you what I had reminded myself over this weekend. The divide & conquer strategy and the step by step approach. As our everyday life becomes more and more complex and your time is split between so many different things like family, friends, work, hobbies, girl/boyfriends and any other thing you deem important. It is easy to get overwhelmed with the number of things to do. Using these two theories that many of you I am sure learned at school or heard of it before from somewhere, one can divide each task to many different parts. Then using the step by step approach, solve each task in due course.

Be "patient" and everything will be done. Although more will be piled on top of your head but as long as you can divide and conquer, anything is possible.

Tennis Australian Open

Australian open men's semi-finals tonight. Roger Federer vs Nicolas Kiefer. And Women's doubles finals. Can you believe it? Remember a few years ago, China won the olympic gold for women's doubles? Those two are back!! Zi Yan and Jie Zheng and in the finals against the world's Number 1 seats. For those of my friends who play tennis, don't miss it. :)

However, it is sad now a days in the tennis world where not a lot of people pick up tennis as their sports anymore. Back in the 90s when I started playing tennis, there are still a lot of people playing. People say that it is because of the lighter racquet. All the skills and techniques necessary to hit the ball correctly are gone. You can just wack the ball anyway you like and you can hit it back. Other people say that there are just too much other entertainment that tennis which requires a lot of time and discipline to master doesn't hold a interest in the younger generation.

But tennis to me is like a discipline and culture. To be able to anticipate your oppnent and control them just the way you want is very difficult. It is like a game of strategy where developing new shots adds to your advantage. It is a little bit like martial arts. Where everyday practice is necessary. And your fighting arena is in the courts. The difference is that for martial arts, you really have to fight with someone to practice. However, for tennis, everything is left at the courts.

And while playing tennis, you can actually find out a lot about your opponent. What kind of person he or she is? Does he or she have patience? Does he or she have the discipline? Does he/she have fast-thinking? Is he or she a strategist? All these are reflective of the actual person's personality. :)

Excerpt from a show that I am watching (Facing Dilemmas and adversity)

"We live in a world full of dilemmas and what do we do when we are faced with one? Shall we allow them to control us or shall we direct our own destiny?

There is no right or wong, good or bad answers. As long as we are like an old scarred tree and we take charge of our fate and direction even under dire conditions, we can still live a good life. "

A live with no regret. A live that we ourselves chose instead of being dictated by society.

Hayley Westenra sings like an angel

I don't listen to songs often and I don't know anything about music. However, you have to listen to this artist voice!! Even to my half deaf, untrained ears her voice sounds like an angel. I don't know much about singing but I think that her natural voice sounds like this.

According to my friend, even the retired beattles producer came out of retirement and help produced a record for her.

Host being responsible for guests drinking and driving?????

As i was driving to work today i heard something very funny on the news. Hosts are being sued for their guest drinking and driving?

Although i agree that host should take care of their guest but being sued over something that you have no control over?? All I can say is that everyone is ultimately responsible for their own actions. No one should blame others what has happened to them.

Driving Habits Reflects upon our personality??

As I was driving to work today, I got cut off by a truck turning right. Not only did he turn right but he stopped and parked his truck on the side of the road. Even though it is his right to do so but couldn't he have the common courtesy to wait until the road is clear of cars before parking his truck in the middle of the road blocking me and everyone else behind me?

This incident makes me think about how our driving habits reflects upon our character. If you are a courteous person, when you drive, you will always be courteous of others. If you are a crazy driver, then you will be running through life being a bit crazy too. If you are in a bad mood that day then your driving habits will turn into worst than normal.

While driving, all your moods are presented there for everyone else to see. I believe it is because when you are sitting inside a car, you feel like you are alone on the road. Everyone else on the road are people that you won't know. This unconscious thinking unmasks everyone's true self.

The Greatest Struggle

What is the greatest struggle in life? I will bet that if you asked a 100 people, there will be 100 different answers to this question. There are no right or wrong answers, everybody leads a different life and everybody stuggles against something differently. And the answer for any single person will change over time.

Yet there is one struggle that is constant. One struggle that you will have to deal with for the rest of your life. One struggle that one will never always win against. Even the greatest of minds cannot win against it. And that is the struggle with oneself. Now you might ask what do I actually mean? What I mean is that the struggle one have to whether to do a certain thing? Whether to forgive? Whether to change? Whether to eat more or eat less? Even whether to write a blog? In other words, the struggle of making decisions in ones life.

I can safely say that not one single person can overcome this struggle in their life. So is this, the greatest struggle in life? I will like to throw this questions to any readers out there? What do you think is the greatest struggle in your life?

My First Post

My very first post. A few years ago when i first read a blog, i thought to myself, what a waste of time? Only people who are net addicts posts stuff online. So what am i doing now? :)

The thought of writing my own blog online was first inspired by my friend who created his own website to post his pictures and about himself. After visiting his website about once a week and reading his very day journal entries, i find myself drawn into his thinkings and thoughts. I thought that maybe i should write one myself. However, i was a bit hesitant. What if a stranger wants to take advantage of me and through my postings, he/she will gain an edge over me. What if this, what if that.

Yet today, as i was getting frustrated at work and i was looking for someone to chat with online, i didnt' find anyone, but instead i found little stars beside some of my friend's name. I was puzzled at first but then i remembered what they were. They were new posts by my friends online and i remembered most of them are pictures. I clicked on a few of them and they contain pictures of trips and other events. And for one of my closer friend since 1st year university, i found out that she has been posting since december 2004. I was surprised to say the least due to what i understood of her. I only saw a few postings and i was saying to myself, okay that's it, no more this and no more that. Just do it. Sometimes, too much consideration is very bad.

So for my very post i will like to share something that i have asked one of my friend:

1) Life is full of contradictions and uncertainities. We can only hope that the path we are now walking is a path that we won't regret later on in life.

2) Life is full of surprises and amusement. As long as we work hard and always try our best, there i nothing to fear or regret about. The only regret might be whether if we had fun or not doing it.

3) Life is about accomplishing your goals. The goals in our life should be set very high so that we can continuously strive to better ourselves.

Which one of these are u? Think about it. There is no answer, just thoughts.