jeudi, décembre 30, 2010

root cause

the other day i went to hit a few green fuzzy balls again after an enforced break of 6 weeks.

same gear, same strokes, same player, same opponents but all i got were just disastrous results: weak forehand, tentative backhand and practically no serve. it was all too familiar yet all too foreign.

in my mind i was trying to recollect all the shots i had hit in the past, trying to remember how to approach different shots, and how to basically not suck. but it was futile, though things improved a bit at the end.

i think that when you stop doing something for some time, the brain connections for that particular activity also freeze; they might even regress if you completely stop for a too long period of time! you see, the brain builds knowledge by growing neural-connections. think of it as a tree root: the stronger the root, the deeper the knowledge. and the greater the cluster of roots, the wider the knowledge.

so i guess i need to start working on rebuilding up my tennis roots again, and probably swim bike and run as well if i want to start participating in races again in 2011.

mercredi, décembre 22, 2010

samedi, décembre 18, 2010

2010

hey world what's up its only been 6 weeks but it feels as though its been years.

in a little over 1 week i hope to be back home to close out the year. i guess 2010 hasn't been that bad to me afterall: little setbacks here and there, but on the whole there has been more ups than downs. so i guess there's reason to celebrate afterall. =)

so before i get home and get lost in all the festivities, its time to take stock of the past year once again.

2010:
started out the year relatively calm, albeit busy at work. got a bit more serious in tennis and managed to make it into the SAFSA team. ran my fastest ever 2.4km, probably as a result of the crazy ARR training. discovered my love for thai discos and ktv; amazing, when you consider the level of my mandarin proficiency. picked up volleyball along the way and got to know S, who will always remain a fond memory. went to germany again and also visited the pyramids in egypt. came back and volunteered as a french announcer for the yog. met J, and the rest is history. went to bangkok again to see Nadal play, but didnt manage to speak to him. didn't manage to do any triathlons; in fact i only managed to run 2 half-marathons. went overseas again in nov, and probably will not report back to work until 2011.

what a great way to close out the year. bye 2010, shalom 2011.

vendredi, décembre 17, 2010

final lap

look at what just got in the post: snow grounds flights in germany

wow with just about 1 week to go before my flight, this has to happen. dear santa, i've been a good boy all year; please grant me my only wish and let me be home for christmas?

samedi, décembre 04, 2010

alphabet trip

a is for athens
b is for bangkok
c is for cairo
d is for duisburg
e is for eilat
f is for frankfurt
g is for geneva
h is for hiroshima
i is for incheon
j is for johor
k is for khumbu
l is for london
m is for manchester
n is for nice
o is for osaka
p is for paris
q is for qiryat gat
r is for rajasthan
s is for sydney
t is fortaipei
u is for ulanbataar
v is for valence
w is for weimar
x is for xian
y is for yokohama
z is for zurich

wonder when can i compile another around the world list 2 with another 26 different cities.. =)