Sunday, December 27, 2009

Blog Refresh 2010

The new template for the blog has been successfuly implemented and modified. Hope you guys like the look and feel. It is now easier to navigate than ever, with my facebook and contact information easily accesible on the upper right menu.

There was a small glitch in blogger and I lost the right pane where I normally had a list of friends blogs. I am currently working to get the links back up.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

The Return Of The King


The Return Of The King is the final volume of JRR Tolkien's famous trilogy. In it, one of the main protagonists of the storyline was prince Aragorn (pic^). Raised secretly with great privillege by the elves of Rivendell, he lived amongst the deposed people of his father's once glorious kingdom. When all hope seemed lost, he took charge of his destiny, and rallied his peoples to victory, reclaiming what was rightfully his.

Alright, all my pictures are back in melbourne so im using a picture grabbed from the internets. I've taken new pictures but i also left my cable back in melbourne. I like this picture (or screenshot...whatever) as I find Aragorn's story inspiring. When you're in a rut, and everything seems like it's going the wrong way, you need to take a long hard look at yourself and rise above it. Look at the priviledges that you have, what is available to you, and use them to your advantage. Prejudice and negative thoughts will only hold you back. I used to tell myself alot of negative things about so many things in life that now I take for granted.

Possibilities open up when you have a positive outlook on life. It's dangerous to keep thinking about the negative side of things as it makes you withdraw to your own deluded thoughts...forming preconceptions and untrue ideas about what may really hold the key to your destiny.

2009 (2008 reflection click here)
...shall come to pass with an unexpected twist in the story of my personal development. It will be remembered as the year that I came to realize my greatest shortcoming - the predesposition to form negative thoughts in my head about all sorts of things I have no real experience about. A series of events that transpired in 2009 made me realize this. Some were personal and involve family, but others I can share publicly. Take the gym for example. I take it for granted now, but merely two years ago I was telling myself that it was pointless and that playing badminton twice a week was all the exercise I needed. There are countless other missed opportunities and half hearted initiatives that failed because of too much negativity. This is what will have to change in 2010!

2010 Prelude
To approach things with a positive mindset sounds simple enough, but is really not so easy in practice. Just like weight was a major issue in 2009, this would be the major issue in 2010. Now that I am aware of it, how I go along implementing this change is yet to be determined. If anything, I do need a more contemporary approach to fashion and the kinesthetic arts.

This holiday, up till January 13 when I return to melbourne, I am undertaking an extensive program for personal fitness that would hopefully provide me with the fundamentals of kinesthetic knowledge on a solid platform of an able, physically fit body. Long story short, right I now have subscription to not one, but TWO gyms (ok, one expires soon so i had to start another that ends on Jan 13). A new gym opened up just downstairs in my condo, and it has a really awesome program going. Here is my schedule for the week:

Monday: Krump, NYC Hip Hop, USMC Kettle Bell Circuit
Tuesday: Badminton, Oz Hip Hop
Wednesday: Capoeira, Strength Circuit
Thursday: Badminton, Seoul Hip Hop
Friday: Bounce, Tokyo Funk, Vogue and Wack In
Saturday: Strength Circuit
Sunday: BMW Program

It's pretty packed. Between sessions, I steal the occasional set at the cable fly machine or do dumbell exercises. I only effectively do a body building circuit twice a week (strength circuit). The focus is not go have bulging muscles, but to have a nice toned body. Capoeira is heaps of fun. It's a brazillian martial art that feels more like a dance. I really like the new gym that opened downstairs, they have a very contemporary approach to bodybuilding and their USMC (military style) kettle bell circuit tones just about every muscle in the body. I only go to Celebrity Fitness twice a week now for strength training. Love the LifeFitness wide/narrow/medium pullup bars.

Dance classes are done by StreetNation, and all the instructors are veteren professional dancers. Kudos to to Eddy, Eric and Seven. I have no experience whatsoever in hip hop and dont even listen to it but I found dancing it interesting. It has a basic groove that involves more of the abs and shoulders and a bit less of the hips unlike Salsa. The Krump is an awesomely macho dance, while the different flavours of hip hop all have their own feel to it. Tokyo Funk is interesting...think Jackson 5 or MC Hammer.

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

New Perspective



I am back once again for the holidays, and as I have done in years past, it's time for a review of my life...and what needs to be done, in the never ending quest to become a better man.

Site Progress (2008, 2007)
A big thank you for visiting my blog. This site now generates around 30 pageloads a day, 5 of which are individual return visitors, with roughly 50% of unique hits coming from google. As this site matures, the frequency of new posts will decrease, but in turn the length and quality of the posts will increase and cover a broader range of topics each under it's own bolded subheading.

Fundamentals Review

#1 Basic health and nutrition...Check
#2 Proper regular exercise, both strength and cardio...Check.
#3 Sleep cycle...Needs improvement.
#4 Social Connectivity...Needs improvement.

Given what I have been blessed with - a stable family, stable finances, a freaking million dollar scholarship, and a car to do the groceries, it's so so unbelievably stupid that I actually failed miserably at #1 and #2 throughout much of my youth. There are reasons for this, but they are too personal to share.

The End of 2009
2009 marks the end of a long spell of negative thoughts that clouded my mind with useless things not worth thinking about. It's better to live in the present, thinking and devoting mental effort to things that are really meaningful in life. I have to think about myself and what's best for me. And once I have taken care of myself appropriately, a solid platform from which to reach out ot others develops. It's easier to remember things about other people (naturally empathizing) if I myself am in a healthy physical and mental state. I had realized this by late 2008 (and blogged about it in Jan 2009), but didnt really have the fundamentals in place to ensure success in outreach initiatives - they ultimately did not go very far because of a lack of followup and true empathy (i was forgetting lots of things about people).

Outreach
I really do not have any excuse for being socially isolated. I have had, and still have all the opportunities in the world to click and connect with people, but until I find the drive to reach out and truly connect... to "bond" so to speak, remembering things about people will be difficult. For to truly remember and think about others requires me to drop my ego and (mentally) accept/tolerate/understand/approach others. Outreach attempts throughout 2009 met with varying degrees of success. I tried to spend time with varying social groups but it proved to be too much to (mentally) handle, asides from the usual problems of time constraints.

E V O L U T I O N
Better outreach should give me more flexibility in the game of love. I have to find someone worthy. I want someone who has traits that I sense will be successful in the game of life. For the apple doesnt fall far from the tree. Physical, mental and emotional attributes are all considered, though being a guy I have to say that I am strongly biased to notice the positive abstract (ie. non-physical, mental, emotional, cultural) attributes of women who are physically attractive (subconsciously or consciously perceived to be fertile. ie. "hot"). I make friends with anyone and everyone without any racism, prejudice or bias but when it comes to the game of love, I simply cannot say the same. Feminist bigots like to criticize men for placing too much importance on looks yet are themselves every bit as judgmental on men who are perceived to be losers in the game of life. One reaches out to everyone. Boy and girl. There is no descrimination. No bias. No prejudice. Cherry picking is selfish. It is judgmental. It is biased. It is prejudiced. No mother tells her daughter to marry an ugly, frail, short, obese, wanky loser in life who couldnt hold a job. Every girl wants her prince charming, acceptably able bodied, a leader and a winner in life. This is the darwinian theory of natural selection in action. Good genes and good traits are valued in the game of life. Relevant to me at this moment in my life is the fact that men who are losers are unwanted in the game of love.

Project Vanity
A lil bit of vanity will do me good. I've worn khakis and "uncle" shirts (slang for old outfashioned clothes that you'd find a middle aged man wearing) and plain white T's for long enough. I have completely neglected fashion for far too long. Underweight for many years, I had grown accustomed to wearing baggy shirts and khakis. Project RAM was a glowing success, and I had put on over 20kg this past year. Coming back to malaysia, I can now afford (clothes are too expensive in melbourne) to splurge somewhat on fashion. I am going to find clothes that highlight my developing secondary sexual characteristics (read: toned body). The idea is that by the time I return to melbourne, I would have refreshed my wardrobe to something more 21st century...and have the body to wear it with pride.

Of course, I will have to hit the gym, and throughout my stay in malaysia, I will be going to the gym every day. One day strength (barbells, dumbells, pullups etc) followed by one day of high powered aerobics (USMC circuit or swimming laps). The gym below my condo just opened. It's a really progressive place that places emphasis not only on strength but joint stability - with kettle bells and a few other exercises (one of which looks conspicously like manual labour). This is something I have been looking for since progressing from using strength training machines to free weights. Joint stability is very important!

Fifteen
Hanging out. "Lepak". Whatever you call it, there is no other way to building a social network. I am stuck at home this month. Friends are either working or not around...So it's imperative that I go out and mix and mingle. It's surprising how you meet new people. Mix and mingle with everyone FTW! A really pretty girl introduced herself to me recently. We clicked, but more importantly I also sense that we are compatible culturally and in matters of faith. Problem is, she's 15. Alarm bells went off in my head (Jailbait!!!). Kept on telling myself "no ezra. no." and didnt even ask for her number (though she asked for mine later). But the point is...15. So tempting. Must resist!

Livestrong
I just feel that I am on the right track. I need to take control of my life...kill the demons in me...expunge all the negative thoughts in my head...and live life to the fullest. Spiritual issues have also been completely resolved as 2009 came to an end, and from that solid platform I can focus on a healthy body, mind and social life.

A positive outlook on life.

A new perspective.