[ioc initial beginnings]
yup... tomorrow will be the start of my gruelling eight days at the ioc plus i have got work committments on hand too....

just take a look at my schedule and you will know the many things i'll be involved with - ioc, work, passion day, team singapore events and the list goes on... not to mention the sp stuff that i'll be doing....



being part of ioc will be a great eye-opener... it's the first time that singapore's hosting a sports session on a large scale...

and two days ago, i got my accreditation pass...

it's super cool i must say... some features include a special barcode that tracks where you enter...



and i am now a full fledged ioc volunteer... yeah!!

tomorrow afternoon, president of the ioc jacques rogge and president of the snoc teo chee hean will open the olympics exhibition at the raffles city atrium...

more on that tomorrow....

[marina country club]
you can imagine how tired i have been.... at work and at home too...

interviewed an up and coming singer for the graduation special of span news that will be published in the straits times life section in july...

and i scribed the story last night... i just filed the story some 10 minutes ago....

one interesting thing that happened today was a meeting for the people's association's passion day this weekend...

i literally crawled out of bed this morning... the alarm kept going off but i was still lazing in bed...

the meeting was held at the very lovely marina country club.... and it has an excellent view of yatchs too... plus hougang's advisor eric low is a big shot there...

i remember going the the west coast yatch club for a training session years ago... deja vu you might say...

it has a cool pool... a bistro and a couple of chalets there....

i'm looking forward when i go there this weekend...

pity though... i forgot to bring my camera along which explains why this post has no photos...

but i promise to take lovely shots soon....

[what a bash]
it is almost a month to the big singapore birthday celebrations and i was in the office preparing the invites for the hougang constituency national day dinner....

me and my colleagues had to label close to 900 cards today....

[we care]
If you have read the papers today you would have found out that the Northeast CDC has launched a booklet called the Northeast Community Services Directory...

The booklet lists the help available for the needy, disabled and troubled youths and where they can find help in the Norhteast region....

The launch event was attended by Mayor of Northeast CDC Zainul Abidin Rasheed and Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean...



This is another step towards helping the community - one of the few after the Public Transport Fund that was announced recently...

Tomorrow, PM Lee will launch ComCare, an initiative that is said to better help needy families providing monetary aid as and when they feel it is necessary...

Also spotted in the vicinity was Straits Times reporter Daryl Loo, who filed the story in today's ST...

There was a special appearance by Terence Cao...



And soccer veteran Fandi Ahmad with his cute little daughter in tow...

[what next]
what would you do to win a few thousand dollars? run around naked?

well almost...

was volunteering just now for the N.E.X.T. Challenge - a fun-filled amazing race event - organised by the Youth Executive Committees in the Northeast District...



okay... back to the topic... what would you do to win three thousand bucks, i-pod shuffles and HP digital cameras?

well... at my station - which was at Hougang - participants had to cross a 'river' with four sheets of newspapers...

apart from that, they tried scaling walls, did lots of running and had loads of fun...

while crossing the 'river', they had to put their creative minds to the test...



some did it the conventional way of stepping on their members' toes...

while others hugged their team mates....



some even had their mates on their backs!



the fastest record for crossing the river was 3 minutes and 35 seconds....

though i had to reach the venue as early as seven in the morning, it was an experience that allowed me to see how creative some people can be....

these kids are as young as 15 years old and they can make it big one day...

and some even gamely smiled for the camrea which explains why the photos are so nice...



finally at four in the afternooon, the hougang team headed back to the headquarters at Tampines where Eileen Wee was...



and that was how I spent my Sunday.... doing volunteer work and making a difference... Plus I also met Fandi Ahmad and Terence Cao but that's tomorrow's story...

[my challenge]
what's the real challenge when i go to work everyday?

i leave the house half-an-hour before time, rush to buy lunch and rush to catch the bus...

when i step into the office, i see many messages on my table - tasks that i need to do today...

the challenge?

it would be to clear my desk and finish up each and every message request....

[final ioc briefing]
i'm pretty excited and looking forward to the ioc... it will be in full swing in 19 days...



and so, the media support committee toured the raffles city convention centre this morning....

and then it was the main briefing in the afternoon at the ssc theatrette....

there'll be a few areas that i would probably involved in... i could be at the international broadcast centre, the main press centre or the press briefing room... perhaps even in the thick of the action in the ballroom too...

today's papers even confirmed the attendees from spain... and so other than david beckham, raul would also be coming to singapore.... i guess i'll have to read more sports news so that i can recognise the people when i see them during the eight days at the ioc...

and yes... the ioc pass is super "cool".... had a glimpse of it today during the briefing session...

volunteers even have sponsored tees and shoes...

it's a once in a lifetime chance to get this close to the olympics.... i'm loving it...

[manufactured tv]
was rooting for silver at the quarter finals of the project superstar just now...



and boy, we see something hotter than singapore idol coming up.... the tv theatre was filled to the brim and fans even had to sit on the stairway...



spsu turned up in full support... and the other mmsp contestants too...

it looks like she'll be going quite far... tune in to this edition of the quarter finals on 30th june....

[painting for ndp]
was a pretty cool day today... cause i went out with my cool bro...



the thai food at thai express was pretty hot... but nonetheless i enjoyed it...

then at work i did banner painting....



it was a time of tins of paint and hands.... of guys and gals and friends....

and what we were doing was a banner for national day... with all our handprints on the cloth... hougang advisor mr eric low's was in the same letter as mine.... mine on top and his was at the bottom at the center of the banner....

and it was super colourful....

[pck rawks]
when i woke up this morning i was catching up on news in singapore... and while reading the papers i saw a super negative review of the pck musical...

i was given free tix for the show yesterday night's show... i watched it and it wasn't too bad...



the reporter got to catch one of the not so well-rehearsed ones i guess... i felt it was pretty hilarious... and i loved tan keng hua's acting....

contrary to her story, the stadium was packed to the brim last night... and no one left halfway... perhaps those who left halfway during her show that night were given free tickets...



and so i went with solomon... we got there pretty early and were chilling out before the show... both trying to be funny...



and the rest of the people at the show....



during intermission...



and after the show...

it wasn't that bad... really... and i love shows... and plays... and live tv recordings.... and that's to let you know if you still don't know that...

come this friday, i'll be at the mediacorp tv theatre watching the live recording of project superstar...

[journey back home]
after five days of enjoyment it was finally time to leave the resort... and head back to singapore...

and these were my roomies....



and i was bus leader too...



of course as bus leader i have some privileges.... i got a super big seat....



and we saw the famous malaysian tower... kidding...



and lunch at the swan restaurant was great...



the journey was long... and most of the time what you see are pineapple plantations... and pineapple plantations.... and more pineapple plantations....



and so we reached singapore late at night.... around nine-ish....

[scenes in kuantan]
i guess the title says it all... i enjoyed my church camp so so much... however, work permits me from blogging as i have loads to do... so let the pictures do the talking...

the resort had two pools... yes, two... and i was always visiting the one with the pool side bar... drinking away, relaxing and enjoying the sun... and the company...



and at the other pool, there was the remains of an old ship which was turned into a chill-out bar....



the nightlife was pretty serene.... i spent one night chilling out at the lounge...



and the sunrise was just as excellent...



that pretty sums up the scenery at my camp resort in kuantan...

[holiday]
the long awaited break is finally here...

to all who have been reading... i'll be on holiday....

be back soon with updates of my trip...

i'm all packed up and ready to go.... see you in kuantan....

[in the spotlight]
team singapore's gonna have a gathering this friday...

but... i'm out of singapore!

anyway... i have finished reading the book launched by team singapore and the singapore sports council....

and just in time for the read! singapore marathon....

one interesting fact.... sportsmen featured in the book are generally not good at their studies.... so if any of you here think you don't really love books, try to go out in the sun to play... you might find a sport you can excel in...

the book has 10 inspiring stories of athletes.... including lovebirds ronald susilo and li jiawei... no juicy stories of their relationship but a few tidbits here and there....

it tells of how each sportsman or sportswoman started out playing the sport..... the ups and downs after winning a medal.... their life wrongly portrayed by the media.... their interesting tips and words of wisdom and their biographies....

quite an interesting read i must say.... it is a step into their lives... into their shoes....

and apart from knowing who they are and meeting them, you get interesting nuggets of their life experiences...

wonder why they titled it in the spotlight and not in the sportlight....

but that's another story....



and good news for readers of this blog... i have one copy of the book to give away...

email me and tell me why you deserve it in no more than 50 words and if your mail is selected, you win... it is that simple.... so go on, send in your entries to ephraim@singnet[dot]com[dot]sg

[burnt]
i'm burnt out... i'm tired... weary...

i've been working overtime and working on my off days.... and working two shifts on other days... i enter the office at eight... leave at ten at night....

perhaps i'm getting to engrossed as i always am when i do things....

work is not as fun as it should be... i'm beginnning to feel the pressure... it's kindof monotonous....

i need the extra dynamic blast... a change... a shock... a break...

for the past two weeks, it has been event after event after event.... and you tend to get tired after a while...

i've been using my creatuve juices at work... designing stuff... editing photos.... i'm really making full use of my talents... draining all my cells... and i haven't been going the the gym like i used to.... i have slacked...

i need a break.... one in five years....

and yes, i'll be getting a break soon.... finally...

[work and more work]
as time passes fast... work piles up fast too...

add that to the stories that i have to do for the upcoming ish of fullstop means having to have late nights and spending early mornings collating data and interviewing people.....

heng i still got my coffee and tea to keep me awake in the morning...



and also... my keyboard is not working.... a good thing is that my bro's back from france... so i'm doing work at my desk.... and that means i have to look at two laptops to file my story...



the brothers versus the laptops...

theory: the elder you are, the smaller the laptop... of course my bro's laptop is the coolest of the two...

[an open letter]
dear silver,

yes you... silver ang zihui...

six months ago when we first met, i remember seeing you in a red t-shirt and jeans... dressed so casually, one would not have known that you were a mr and miss sp contestant... i even mistook you for their nanny....

as i watched you at the numerous photo shoots and dance practices.... i saw a great transformation in your image and style...

after you went on a diet in preparation for the mmsp... you looked gorgeous... dressed in black with your silver earrings (no pun intended) dangling from your ears you stunned even the most handsome guys...

though you were not the hot favourite, you were one of the three that were sure-wins....

when the results of mmsp were announced, i was exhilarated that you got second place... people then wondered why you didn't name yourself "gold".... how corny...

that night, we partied like crazy till the wee hours of the morning at a restaurant...

i remember you as a bubbly and charismatic girl... always happy though you had countless problems bugging you...

it was another great meeting where we attended the sp talentime with diver... what a wonderful time of song... as usual, we never stopped partying...



now, almost seven months later you have emerged as one of the 24 finalists in project superstar...



i know it was sheer hard work and motivation that got you there.... keep up the good work.... you know that we'll always be behind you...

all the best and work hard.... stay happy always...

regards,
ephraim