The End

This blog is dead.
Thanks for staying till now.
I will no longer update this blog.

Cheers.

The old man and the boy

Today was the inauguration of a junior angel. After the celebrations were over, God pulled the junior angel aside. The junior angel, joyious from the celebrations, asked God to join in the merry-making. God politely declined.
"Why not?" asked the angel.
"I have a question for you." The angel probed further, but got nothing more from God.
He led them to the gates of heaven. God raised His hand and pointed to the gates. The angel followed God's hand. There, on the other side of the gate, stood an old man and a boy.
The old man's face was wrinkled with age, and he looked regal with his hair swept back and long flowing white robes. The boy was scrawny, garbed in dirty-looking rags twice his size. The boy caught the gaze of the angel, and quickly turned away.
God spoke, "Who of the two is the wiser, young one".
The angel took in the two of them again. The boy, his head bowed, never once looked up. The old man, with a gentle smile and eyes with a twinkle of spirit in them, nodded gracefully at the attention of the angel.
Swift was the angel's reply. "The old man, of course."
God laughed a hearty laugh, which puzzled the angel so. "Is that not so, my Lord?"
And such was God's reply.

"At first glance, it may seem so, for the years has been blessed upon the man who lived a longer life than the boy. He has been through more experiences, and has seen plenty more. But is that what being wise truly means?"
"The man was born into a family of affluence. He has led a charmed life. You might like to think of his life as that of Jobs': he had every material need he asked for. He was the heir of a business dynasty. So he led his life as the heir, the successor, the head, and finally the ancestor of that dynasty, eventually passing on all his material wealth and success to his heir and son. The hardship that he knew was the work he encountered, and he knew it well, for it was in his family and in his blood. His marriages were arranged, and life was orderly."
"But he knew not of the things of importance."
The angel opened his mouth to speak, and God allowed him to. "But surely, being in a position high in society, and being able to live through the years, speaks volumes of the knowledge he has gained. That must surely amount to something."
To that, God replied. "But what did he live for? What did he die for? Hear the story of the boy, and reconsider your opinion."
"The boy led a short life on the mortal plane, and if I were to tell you the details of his life, it would be insignificant. I would, however, relate the last 5 days of that boy's life to you."
"5 days before he arrived here, he learned about Love. The love of one's mother, as she died to save her only son. The love from a fellow human, as the soldier who killed his mother defended his life against the inhumanity of the slaughter from that said soldier's fellow men."
"4 days before he arrived here, he learned of Fellowship and Lost. He felt the bond developed between his orphan friend, as they embarked on a journey out of the warzone, seeking sanctuary. He also felt the lost of said fellowship, when his friend died from a landmine blast while they scavenged for food."
"3 days before he arrived here, he learned of Compassion. He understood sharing, felt hunger and experienced the joy of having that hunger cured. He stumbled upon a family taking refuge in an abandoned warehouse. The family was surviving, but barely doing so. The father saw him, looked to his wife, and said, 'We have 4 mouths to feed, and only enough for 3. There's barely enough to go around.' His wife replied, 'Now we have 5 mouths to feed, and there will be enough. I will not stand by while another suffer.' That night, he understood Joy and Bliss."
"2 days before he arrived here, he understood Life and Death. In the morning, he bade farewell to the hospitable family who gave him a roof over his head for a day. He felt like he could look forward to the future. He felt he could look at tomorrow, and not fear it. He knew that his past was what brought him here today, and he did not fear it either. He knew that today was all he had now, the present that he must cherish. Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. The three components of Life. In the evening, just before the last ray of light gave out, he reached a fence. A man-made border, and a symbol of Hope, for beyond that fence, he believed Freedom lay. It was there that he was shot. He felt Pain, and Hope seemed to drain away as blood flowed from his right shoulder. He felt Life flow away as the darkness of night fell, and Death beckoned like a lullaby lulling him to sleep."
"Yesterday.."
"What did he learn yesterday?" the angel asked.
"Yesterday, he lied on the earth. His heartbeat slowed with every minute passed. He felt himself returning to where he belonged. He smiled as he thought about all the things he has learned. He smiled as he got to know Me. Yesterday, he learned about God. He saw me, as I saw him. There, he gave his life to Me."
"You see, my child, the wise do not fear death, for fearing death would mean to fear Me. In knowing Me, he knew that his time on earth was temporary; that all things material will come to an end. He knew it, and with that knowledge, he felt humbled in My presence."
"And the old man?" probed the angel.
"He knew none of this. He may be wise, but the young one is wiser."

-=Fin=-

p.s. I hope in no way I've spoken blasphemy against God. I felt an urgent need to encompass my ideals of life into a post, and felt the best way to do so was with a story. Not elegantly crafted, and perhaps a little too shallow, but I hope that some of it rubs of you. Forgive me if I've offended anyone.

Blood+

This is a cool vid I found of the opening title of an anime I recently started watching. The song, Aozora no Namida by Takahashi Hitomi, is the 1st opener for the anime Blood+. This vid features a few cut scenes. Not sure if they're from the series itself, or specially drawn for this music vid. Either way, cool vid, awesome song.

It's gonna be a Blue final

In today's FA Cup Semi-final, Manchester United lost to Everton on penalties, 4-2. The score after extra-time was 0-0.
Chelsea, after beating Arsenal yesterday, will face off with Everton in the finals at Wembley. Both blues (Chelsea and Everton) overcame their red adversaries (Arsenal and Manchester United) to book a place in the final.
Lucky Colour of the Week: Blue.
Penalty summary:
Everton's Cahill starts his run up.. and blasts the ball up and over the bar!
United's Berbatov steps up to the spot. He shoots. . . Howard saves! Berba's cheeky pass down the middle was stopped by Tim's legs. Howard jumped to his right but somehow managed to get his legs in the way of Berba's shot.
Everton's regular penalty taker Baine steps up. He shoots. . and SCORES! Slams the ball into the roof of the net. Foster stood no chance.
It's United's captain, Rio Ferdinand, to take United's 2nd penalty. Rio sends the ball to his left. . . but Howard palms it away! 1-0 to Everton!
Former United player Phil Neville, and Everton's captain, steps up to take the third penalty. He starts his run up.. and calmly sends Foster the wrong way. 2-0. The ball snuggled into the bottom left corner.
United sends Vidic for the 3rd penalty. Vidic is taking quite a long run up. He starts his run. . oh! Vidic checks his run! Howard is caught off-guard. Vidic continues his run up. . and dispatches it into the bottom left corner! Howard dived the wrong way! The ball went in off the post!
It's 2-1 now. Game on. Everton's extra-time substitute, Vaughan, takes on Foster for the fourth penalty. Vaughan starts his run-up, and scores! Foster went the right way, but was helpless against a shot of such calibre. 3-1 to Everton.
If United misses this penalty, It'll be all over for the Red Devils. Anderson steps up to the task. He starts his run. . and calmly dispatches the penalty. 3-2. Anderson winks to the fans ;) There's a glimmer of hope for United.
Everton's Jagielka will be taking the fifth penalty. If this goes in, it'll be all over for United Quintuple dreams. Jagielka starts his run. . and SCORES! 4-2 is the final score, on penalties; Everton have booked their tickets to the FA Cup Final!

Drift and the Rain

On my way home today, drove quite fast. West side drizzling, road was wet. Car was wobbly. Mayb I wasn't in the right frame of mind. I took the corner from Brickland Road into CCK ave3 @ 60-100kmph (not sure of speed. I started braking from 100kmph, but only turned into corner a little later). I don't know why, but I didn't release my brake at all. My tires locked up, and I skidded like mad. Luckily at 40kmph, just before bumping the traffic light, I released the brakes abit, and car snapped out of the skid. I applied a little acceleration and managed to crawl to the next traffic light.
Zzz.. my thought process just froze. didn't react at all. I'm disappointed with myself. Luckily nothing happened. Twisted my wrist abit too holding the steering wheel in a very awkward position through that turn.
Bowled at Mt Faber SAFRA before this. out of 6 games, had two 20X games. one 200, one 202. I'm happy :) It's been quite awhile since I got scores like that. But, my release is super inconsistent with my new drilling. Need more practise.
Rain. When travelling at 100+kmph and hitting a puddle of water, the effect of water resistence is felt alot more. Must remember that. Was travelling along Jurong Town Hall road. Just past the Science Centre omw to Bt Batok Rd le when I hit a big puddle while travelling on the right most lane. The puddle slows the speed of the right side of my car relative to the left, causing my car to veer towards the right. Almost went up the curb wor haha. Lucky I reacted to that in time.
Don't know why I didn't travel slower. Mayb coz I wanted to get home faster. But I think it's coz.. I juz felt everything was going so slow. 90-110kmph felt.. normal =,='"

Sleep,
Ambrose

Piao Yi

Jay Chou-Drifting - Jay Chou

If only I could drift my car as well as I drift through life . . .
Ah well. I'm a safe driver. I SWEARZZzzz.
. . .NOT!

I feel tired. I lack direction, energy, motivation in life. I hope that will change.
And yet, I hope it won't. Life feels so serene now.

If anyone is interested in purchasing any IT related products, please contact me. Just leave a comment or tag here, or call/sms me :)
Alternatively, you may visit http://www.pricewar.com.sg . However, the site is currently being revamped, so it would be preferable if you contact me directly with regards to any purchase. You can also email me any enquires at ambrose@pricewar.com.sg .

Today was damn fun. First time live fishing ie. not in fishing pond. I caught... ONE SUPER SMALL ?boxfish? (looks like a puffer fish, but squarish haha) super energetic lor tt fish haha. but so small! gimme false hope only haha. Was with Yi Tong. My "boss" haha =p

Sigh.. the ITE short course I wanted to apply for maxed out le. Have to wait for next window... IN JULY!?! zzz.. I refuse to wait 3 months for it. I'm gonna find alternatives.

Met Zhimin today while out with friends playing billiard haha. So coincidence.
Today met alot of ppl wor. In NUS I saw (but didn't say hi) to Faith from my PS module proj last time, and my CG mates Ray and Kelvin. I think I saw Diana too.. ahhh but wat the heck eh? Barely acquaintance newayz bah..

Today also commemorates the longest blogpost I've done in.. MONTHS! hurray! XP

I'm also considering starting up another blog site to blog about the animes I've watched :)

Speaking of blogs, Pauline from my Stats class has started a blog-shop!
Do feel free to check it out! http://meek-concept.blogspot.com

KK. that's all for now. Good Morning/Nitez! :)

FB Quiz

So i did a quiz on facebook, that supposedly links my birthday with my personality.
and here's the result. . .

"December
Loyal and generous. Sexy. Patriotic. Active in games and interactions. Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations. Fun to be with. Loves to socialize. Loves praises. Loves attention. Loves to be loved. Honest and trustworthy. Not pretending. Short tempered. Changing personality. Not egoistic. Take high pride in oneself. Hates restrictions. Loves to joke. Good sense of humor. Logical."

True? False? you decide. I honestly think that this is quite close to the truth. Then again, most of these quiz give ambiguous answers that suits most personality traits ;p