Farewells and Goodbyes

Well. Guess what happened to my previous resolution to blog and write more often.

Anyway, I've just said farewell to an online game (which I had dedicated quite some time to) for good, after deciding I'd achieved all I wanted to achieve in it. There were still some loose ends, but I'm content to let those go. There's a sense of bittersweetness and of nostalgia - CQ really has given me some good times and concrete goals to work towards - but weirdly, I feel a lot lighter and a lot more at peace now than when I was still playing it.

It's kind of interesting, because I haven't had this feeling with regard to games before. I've quit other games (like Utopia/World of Legends), but I always left with a sense of unfinished business. Maybe some jadedness or bitterness, even - whereas in comparison, I leave CQ happy.

I don't really know what that means. It's just something for me to reflect on and think about, I guess.

Post-Japan and Competition Review

Well. Thus ends my 2nd overseas competition.

I guess I did kind of reasonably in the Quals and qualified for Finals 6th/14. It's the first time I've qualified through merit in a qualifying round. I think I scored 40.xx in the 2015 Hong Kong comp but that was 1 person/country (club?) and we only had 1 Singaporean in that competition so technically I qualified by default. At least this time I scored 42.550 in Quals, so it was a better showing and at least there was some improvement.

I messed up a little more in finals... and ended 6th again :/ I could feel myself screwing up as the routine went on and I was struggling so hard to complete that 2nd routine. I did manage to pull it off in the end (surprisingly), but I have so much more work to do.

I said I was doing reasonably well going into this competition - that was absolute bullshit, and it shows how much my own standards have slipped. 1 acceptable routine out of 10 is terrible - though that wasn't the best thing to tell myself right before comps. There's so much more work I need to do now and so little time to do it in. I looked at my routines post competition, and they looked quite terrible, even compared to my Singapore Open routines! Not quite sure why - could be lack of power or lack of familiarity (or may even lack of mental strength - it did feel like I couldn't apply my mind or think as well as usual), but I was struggling to keep my openings even at the 3rd skill, whereas my openings and shapes were... not neat, but passable (0.1-0.2 deductions) at Singapore Open. An execution score of 7.3 (1st routine) and 7.15 (2nd routine) is absolute bullshit. I got 8's at Singapore Open (I did do that one a lot better), and the two routines I did this round were crap.

I've been enjoying myself on holiday over the last week in Japan while everyone else has gone back to Singapore... and I've missed one training session along the way :( I mean, sure this is a much needed holiday (for my fiancee especially, I don't envy her stress levels and I'm glad we managed to enjoy the 1 week of break!), but now that it's come to an end I'm looking forwards to going back to training and pushing myself even farther.

Few things for me to think about:
- Consider seeing/making appointment with a physio for my right leg issues (I might explain more about this in a future post, haha). :(
- Future skills - 42/, 800o, LB and check if my back still hurts when I do it :(
- More sleep. No more 6-6.5 hour nights. I'm used to sleeping 5.5 hours from Uni, but that was/is a terrible habit. I need at least 7... and I'm not currently doing that.
- Grab a synchro partner for next March's Machida competiton :3

Right. Bye Japan; it's been fun. I'll see you again... next March, probably.

Japan - Machida City Competition

4 days to the competition.

2 days to the flight.

I can't wait. It's going to be my first time in Japan!

The rest of the team is heading there earlier. The first group leaves tomorrow at 6pm, while I'm leaving just about 1.25 days later; slightly after midnight on Friday. I'll be missing on two training sessions in Japan... man, that kind of sucks. It's not terrible, but also not ideal.

Do I feel prepared for this competition? Well... reasonably, I guess. Given that I only got my Rudi in mid August, I think this is not too bad! Hahha. Though, I'm only really able to pull out a routine I'm really satisfied with about once every training, so a lot more work needs to be done post-competition.

It's a pity that I don't have enough leave days remaining to go to Japan earlier... but I'm also looking forwards to enjoy spending time with my fiancee overseas xD

I'll probably share more about my thoughts on the team and of Trampoline Singapore post-competition too! We're an awesome bunch of people and I love them all so much <3

About Me?

So since we're back to the whole "new blog" situation, I guess it's only sensible for me to post some things about myself :P

I might include these in a sidebar if I do get around to doing it, but no guarantees.

Age: 25+
Sex: Male
Loc: SGP
Relationship status: Engaged to the most wonderful lady in the world :)

3 Hobbies:
1) Trampolining. I can (nearly) fly :D
2) Making lame jokes and puns. Puns are awesome. I think an ex-English teacher of mine used to claim that puns were the lowest form of humour, but the look of dawning realization on the target's face makes it completely worth it. I don't make puns to make you laugh, I make puns to make ME laugh (at your reaction).
3) Gaming. I play (and really like) RTS and puzzle/trivia games. Not that much of an FPS person, though it can be fun sometimes. My favourite games right now are AoE2 and Civ4.

3 Inspiration(s) in Life:
1) People who don't let things like age stop them from doing what they want to do. Live your life the way you want (as long as you've deal with your responsibilities, of course)
2) My parents. My parents are awesome. I don't know how they put up with me while I was younger, for one thing.
3) Heem Wei, because she went to the Olympics hahaha. While I'll probably never make it there, it never hurts to dream... especially if it motivates :D

3 Pet Peeves:
1) Intolerance
2) People who refuse to use logic
3) People who think they know for more than they actually do (hey, I guess that means I peeve myself sometimes)

3 Words to Describe Myself:
1) Assertive
2) Honest
3) Can't Count
3) Makes Too Many Jokes :3

3 Important Ideas:
1) Life can be either tragedy or comedy, and it's nearly completely up to you which one it'll be.
2) Nothing in this world is black or white. Everything comes in shades of gray. And remember, it don't matter if you're black or white. *instrumental* OOOWWWW!
3) I should be sleeping.

3 Things to take with you onto a desert island:
1) A good book
2) Some water
3) A working boat with enough fuel to get back home on.

That shall be it for today!

Bye :D

Hello World

Well.

Hello, Blogger. We meet once again.

You know, I honestly have no idea why I suddenly decided to create another blog - and I have no idea what to type.

I say "another" because I've had a couple of blogs in the past. I remember blogging a lot back in my late primary and early secondary school days in the pre-Facebook era - and oh man, some of the things I said and did were just... completely cringeworthy. 

I guess I could've just revived my old, longest-surviving blog. But times have kinda changed. I've changed a lot, too - and hopefully, most people would say for the better. So... while reviving my old blog (yet again) does have its appeal, I guess this is the point where I officially leave the old one on the shelf to slowly collect dust serve as a wonderful memory of times gone by.

RIP

Kern's 3rd blog

First Post: 24 Mar 2005

Last Post: 12 Jan 2014

Farewell, old friend. It's been wonderful.

You were a reflection of me - one that I gave bits and pieces of my life and soul to*; you were a friend I could be honest with (perhaps sometimes TOO honest with), one that truly acted as a mirror and showed me both the parts of myself I liked and the bits I detested. You were... nearly me, once upon a time.

And after 12 long years... it's finally time for me to let you go.

...

Look at me, getting all maudlin. All the nostalgia is hitting me HARD right about now.

Anyway.

It's been so long since I really just sat down and typed anything for fun. But at the same time, it somehow also feels like I'm returning to something I didn't really know I missed. I like writing. I loved the essays I had to do and the reports I had to write (and I'd like to think I was reasonably good at them). I even wrote some fanfiction a couple of years back. And I guess penning my thoughts down just feels calming - maybe not ALL of my thoughts, but some of them.

Who knows what this blog might bring about. I haven't even decided what to do with it yet. Plenty of possibilities, and plenty of time to decide. Gotta work tomorrow, so this is where I shall end off for tonight.

See you again.

Kern

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*P.S.: My old blog was not and is not a horcrux.

P.P.S: I love the Harry Potter Universe.