Friday, December 07, 2007

Ultimatum - FM 08

It's been a long time since i've been addicted to anything, but i've been subconsciously lured into the despairing vices of an extremely addictive computer game - Football Manager 2008. I've spent at least 4 hours on that game every day!!! *punches myself in the face*

It's so addictive that i can't stop playing even when i tell myself that i HAVE to STOP. It keeps track of the total amount of time i've spent PLAYING the game: 1 DAY 11 HOURS 43MINS -.-"""" I SPENT AN ENTIRE DAY AND A HALF PLAYING A STUPID CPU GAME!!! LOL!

It's really been robbing me of my time and i've been unable to make a start any of my holiday goals. FM 08 just SUCKS the life outta you. It's been keeping me up to 4am and even 5am at one stage. I would wake up at 1pm and there goes half my day!

So, at 3am last night.. i made an ultimatum to DELETE the game. It'll be hard, but i'll find my way, i can GO THE DISTANCE! :)

I had my MHS Valedictory dinner on Monday night. It wasn't a night to remember, rather, it's a sentimental experience that i'll always keep dear to my heart. The principal, the school captains, and the year level coordinators made some speeches that somewhat summarised the whole year and it's hilarious highlights. I think the funniest part of the night was when Andy Van performed a rap on stage - Numb by Linkin Park. haha! He wasn't the best rapper to any extent, in fact, he was close to the margin of unbearable terrible. Despite that, every word (He never failed to put a loud emphasis on all the F-words) that came outta his mouth tickled the hearts of every student and teacher in that grand dining room at the Caulfield Racecourse.

It was good to see all my friends again. It's funny how you say "hi" and "bye" to most of them as though you'll see them again very soon, when in actual fact, you probably won't even think about them till the next reunion! Sometimes it's hard to start a conversation after a relatively long time of separation. Sometimes i feel really phony when i talk to these people, partly because i know they're phony too. Well, these are acquaintances - people who are good to know but there's always a very thick invisible line that puts a "lid" the level of social intimacy.

Yet, there are a close group of friends who i treasure dearly such as the people on my table: Jin and Anthony, and the other soccer dudes who weren't: Tommy, Daz, Banh, Harish, lil Joe, Phan, Jono, Tom Wang, Marcus, Jase, Andrew, etc. It's easy to talk to them because you know that they'll still care for you even if you're a dick head. lol! Look at Tommy! :P We know that we've always got each others backs. When i say "hi, it's good to see you", i actually mean it from the bottom of my heart. When i say my goodbyes, i KNOW that i WILL see them again really soon. Thanks guys, you make my days at MHS worth it! :)

Well, i'm going to delete FM 08 right after i finish this post and i hope my days will be used a whole lot more productively! SO... here's a brief outline of my day. Uncle Steven's family and Uncle Tham Fuan's family will be coming over for dinner tonight, so i thought i'll learn how to cook! :) I haven't decided what i'm going to cook YET, but hopefully i'll get down to doing it. I've acutally organised a Futsal session with a whole heap of people from Fungus, MHS, chink school and other friends, and i'm DYING for a kick. HOWEVER, DANI, my lil sis, is coming over tonight, so i'll stay home to have a chat with her. I'll be leaving the house in about an hour or so to meet up with Daz, Tommy and Justin at the school gym. We're gonna TANK IT UP! :)

Okay... i'm going it fulfill my ultimatum in 5....4.....3....2....1....FM 08 DELETED! BOOYAH! :)

Monday, December 03, 2007

Am i a leader?

Wow! I've been so lazy since i finished my VCE. I've been spending a whole lot of time organising and playing futsal, playing FM 08, watching soccer, going out etc. that i've totally neglected my precious blog!!! I'm so sorry, blog... please forgive me?

Sooo much has happened over the past week or so. Firstly, I FINALLY FINISHED MY VCE!!! Booyah!! Those last five minutes of the Chinese exam were golden, every second ticking away was a iota closer to freedom. A huge burden was lifted off my shoulders when i walked outta that exam hall... the feeling was blissful and relaxing. Needless to say, i celebrated the end of 13 years of tiresome toil with a delightful game of futsal! haha! I had dinner with the soccer dudes at The Booth and then headed down to Whitehorse Aquatic Centre for what was one of the best futsal sessions i've had in a LOOONG time. I just felt so free and relaxed on the court, i didn't have to think of anything else except enjoying the beautiful game.

We also had a final growth group gathering last Sunday. We headed down to some Trout Farm at some far out place immediately after church. I'm not too sure where it was, but it was close to Buxton. I remember that because of the delicious Buxton burgers we had for lunch. OH my goodness! They're the BEST burgers IN THE WORLD! The width of the scrumptious fillings sandwiched by two toasted-crispy pieces of bread is close to the distance between to the tip of your middle finger to the bottom of your palm! 100% UNHEALTHY GOODNESS!

Anyway, i've been wasting my time quite a bit and i felt EXTREMELY guilty this morning... so i decided to make up a few goals so that i actually do something PRODCUTIVE during the hols. So here's just a few of my aims:

ONE
Read 10 Christian books to increase my spiritual maturity. I'm on the way to being a leader at Fungus next year, and i really want to be able to lead with confidence and substance. I'm currently an eighth into my first book, so i'll have to speed up a whole lot if i wanna get through those 10 books. I spent 3 hours clearing up my room last week. I threw out a whole stack of papers/files that was LITERALLY 2 metres high, and i also got to pick out which 9 books i'm going to read:
1) Extravagant Worship - Darlene Zschech
2) Every Young Man, God's Man - Arterburn & Luck with Yorkey
3) That Reminds Me of A Story - Gayle D. Erwin
4) Ready With An Answer - John Ankerberg & John Weldon
5) The Seven Fatal Management Sins - John W. Collis
6) Wild At Heart - John Eldredge
7) Mosques and Miracles - Stuart Robinson
8) Evidence That Demands A Verdict - Josh McDowell
9)Answers To Tough Questions - Josh McDowell & John Stewart
10) To be decided :)

TWO
I've been neglecting this gift that God has given me and it's making me feel unbearably guilty, so i'll spend an hour or so everyday to compose a few more songs and poems through the holidays. I was reading through my compilation of songs and poems, and i realised that some of them are actually rather good. I know that i COULDN'T POSSIBLY have composed those songs on my own, and i very certainly DO NOT have the ability to write those poems. So i guess i should sign off my poems as "God", not "isaac". Oh, i've also decided to buy a nice leather book to compile all the songs and poems that i've composed. That'll take a long while.

THREE
I'm gonna design a new personal skin for my beloved blog using a program called HTML-Kit. I'm not too sure how to use it yet, but i'm sure that it's gonna take a LOONG time to do so.

FOUR
Learn a few new songs on the guitar.

I was going to add another one, but i'll just wait till i accomplish these goals before i undertake new ones.

As i've mentioned before, I'm most probably going to be a Fungus leader next year and i've been going to a few "potential leaders" meetings with Qynn every Sunday. There are five "potential leaders" - Adora, Sue Ann, Nicole, Peter and myself. We've been doing a few personality surveys to determine our various personality traits, our strengths and weaknesses, etc. so that we can be assigned to roles where we can serve most effectively AND ALSO to learn how to cooperate efficiently with other leaders.

According to the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, i am a ESFJ (Extraversion, Sensing perception, Feeling, Judgment). It describes such a person as "warm-hearted, talkative, popular, conscientious, born cooperators, active committee members. need harmony and may be good at creating it. Always doing something nice for someone. Work best with encouragement and praise. Main interest is in things that directly and visibly affect people's lives."

I find that extremely interesting because i did a VERY SIMILAR aptitude test called the Myer-Briggs Personality Test just two years back and i was labelled an INTJ (Introversion, Intuitive perception, Thinking, Judgment) which is described as " Usually have original minds and great drive for their own ideas and purposes. In fields that appeal to them, they have a fine power to organise a job and carry it through with or without help. Skeptical, critical, independent, determined, sometimes stubborn. Must learn to yield less important points in order to win the most important".

I find the magnitude of the change rather intriguing.

Qynn took the "potential leaders" out for a bonding session yesterday. We had a nice meal at Mac Donald's before heading down to this entertainment centre down in Huntingdale where we played mini-golf and laser wars. haha! It was extremely fun! We competed in pairs and we decided that the loser of the mini-golf game would have to do 10 star jumps and 5 push-ups IN SYNC, just IN FRONT of the ticketing booth -.-"" I partnered up with Adora, Qynn with Sue Ann, and Pete with Nicole. It was my first time playing mini-golf. I thought it would be boring, but it turned out to be rather exciting and enjoyable! Unfortunately, Adora and i lost with a total of 54 in contrast to Sue Ann and Qynn's 52 and Nicole and Pete's 48 -.-"""" SOOOOO, we did the forfeit... it was sooo embarrassing!!! Everyone stared at us as though we were attention-grabbing lunatics! The video's on Sue Ann's camera, i think she's going to upload it on Facebook -.-"

After that we had a game of laser wars. That was fun too, and we ended the amazing day with a scrumptious meal at the Sofia's at Camberwell. What more can i say? The pasta and pizza were heavenly. Thanks for the wonderful day guys! I loved it!

The day wasn't over yet. Pete and i drove down to Darren's b'day party. Sadly, the blokes there looked terribly bored. Anyway, here's a lil tribute to my buddy:

Darren,

When i first met you,
You were irritating and scrawny.
Almost everything you did and said,
Was terribly raw and corny.

But i saw something in you,
That was rather special.
A heart of gold,
Not ordinary metal.
That's the best possession,
One could ever have.

As the years go by,
Time tries to steal it from you,
But i pray that you won't concede,
To the folly and crook of this world so bland,
That on His Word and his faithfulness,
You might so strongly stand.

A friend who cares,
isaac.