About Wushu training, Beijing.

And so I was away from 24 November till 3 December for martial arts training with my school team. Here's a documentation of the time there for those curious to find out about training Wushu (or other sports) in China. I'm not advertising or anything! Just sharing my experiences. Photos were taken by an Android phone so its not very good. 

Location: China, Beijing, Beijing ShiChaHai  sports school. (Pretty famous sports school in China if I'm not mistaken, here is the link if you wish to find out about it >>) http://www.admissions.cn/sch/

Temperature: < 0 degrees centigrade, around -6 degrees on colder times of the day. 

Training time: 9.30-11.30, 3.30-5.30 (We trained twice a day to maximise our time there, students usually only train once per day, so it's not as tough as you believe!)

Meal time: Breakfast 7.30-8.30, Lunch 11.30-12.30, Dinner 5.30-6.30 (We follow a rather strict timetable when it comes to our nutrition)

Lodgings: Within the school compound, in a hotel.

Hotel room, there is a computer/television at the front of the bed ( Not shown in photo)

Classes: While we trained alone as a team with their coach in the morning, we trained with their students in the afternoon session. The students in the class which we joined were considered average.

There were foreigners who joined their professional team. I believe they were from the national/professional team of their respective countries. Foreigners I met include: Italians, Australians, Canadians, Malaysians.

Their professional team is also further classified into 3 groups based on their skills (And age if I'm not wrong)
Obviously the older ones are better anyway.
 

This is  one of the places where the professional team trained. 

Also, we were allowed to use the gymnasium to practice some difficult jumps since its safer with all the cushions.

Gymnasium

Life there: We pretty much spent the time when we're not eating or training (Between 8.30-9.30, 12.30-3.30, 6.30 onwards) watching movies online so it's very laid back!

There are several places of interest located within walking distance of the school and of course good food to purchase, so its worth the time to explore those places. Not to mention plenty of clothes and electronic products! Noteworthy details: Starbucks located next to the school!

Favourite  part of the school: A giant greenhouse where the environment is cool and trees are still green

Huge bowl of noodles at 13 RMB or 2.60 SGD

Starbucks

5 or 4 storey compound located near the school (About 1km)  selling clothes and electronics, 

I'd certainly wish to visit the school again if I have the chance.

Rain

I feel uplifted when it rains, simply because its the most natural phenomenon that could happen in my city. Never at the mercy of people, it happens completely at the will of nature. No amount of trees planted in my garden city could allow my country to assimilate into nature as much as what the rain could provide. My city, having being located in the tropics, is the coolest in times of rain, and it makes the urban jungle feel alive again.

Celestial Asterisk Messier

Messier, specifically Messier55. A star among the brightest of Sagittarius.

Display pictures

I was just asked by someone to change my Facebook display picture into my own photo rather than some anime or fictional character. Well, along with our names, I'm sure the purpose of a display picture is to present our identities to the people who are going to view it. Since all my Friends on Facebook are likely to know me personally and would know how I look like (or at the very least after looking at my other photographs), why not feature a character which you like on your display picture which can better present your identity? Here's what I feel.

You are likely to be able to relate yourself to the character if you like him/her, which means you are likely to have a similar personality to the person. People who knows the character would know you better than just by looking at your face, because they recall the personality of the character in the story-line. Therefore, you can also present your identity better with that character. Even if you simply show a liking to the character without having any similarities with the character's personality, at least you show others some traits which you like which helps them better understand you as well!

Oh well, I'm just saying. If anything, the reasons I've stated are at least self-satisfactory.  

Friends

This post ironically talks about people who aren't actually one's friend. Unlike many others who openly regards everyone as their friend, I however, regard most people as an acquaintance. (Secretly, at the very least) Although it makes me appear as an anti-social individual, believe me, it's not that far off from the former. 

I believe that regarding everyone as a friend is not very much more sociable than being open to friendship.

We often overgeneralise what it means to be a friend. Some people does it with simply no agenda to it, but at other times for our darker agenda. Here's a few very common examples.

1. There are people who seek the approval of others (Probably of a higher status) by appearing to be friendly with the peers around them.
2. There are also those who seek to associate themselves with you just so as to keep an on your actions and progress before surpassing you when ever you falter.

Yet these people may be those who resent or scorn you the most.

What about those are related to you in school or at work, and simply address you as a friend for that reason and with no agenda at all? Perhaps it certainly didn't matter if we reciprocated their actions. Most of the time.

During a recent match (DOTA 2) a classmate of mine was taunted relentlessly by his ex-schoolmate whenever he makes a blunder. His schoolmate had been performing far below his usual abilities. Before long his taunts which bordered on insult, pushed my classmate over the edge they ended the day with a flurry of verbal assaults on each other out of frustration.  Yet, ironically, both of them, (including me) were on the same team. I cannot help but think that the schoolmate's actions were prompted by jealously as any another gamer would very much experience. His choice of words surely suggested so.

Certainly, nobody can be a perfect friend, nobody can have magnanimity to wish the best for the others when you do not share the same glory as them.

Nonetheless nobody can stop you from trying.

Would we truly live up to being a friend if, on multiple occasions, we were to dispatch an array of demeaning remarks on each other simply because they did better than you? Would we want to treat them as a friend if we have to bear with their infuriating remarks? The Oxford Dictionary defines a friend as an individual with whom one has a mutual affection, typically one exclusive of sexual or family relations. How sure are we that we display mutual affections with everyone we encounter anyway?

Then again, it's all up to how seriously we regard the term 'friendship'. Sometimes addressing even the most unreasonable as a friend would spare you more troubles, but on a personal note, I believe that if we treat our friendships seriously, we ought to treat the way we regard people as a friend more seriously.

My project work journey part 3: Paint-Probably the last time I'd be talking about this

Talk about the things you can do with paint! Since my group's written report would be handed up tomorrow, here is a list of my mock ups accomplished with paint. Embarrassing to say now that everyone's using Photoshop. Does anyone still use paint today? 

A photo originally taken from http://touchscreenuser.com/touch-screen-computers/what-to-look-for-in-a-touch-screen-monitor.html. Using paint I've simply erased the screen and its contents and added in my own contents to render it relevant for use as my mock up.

The rest of the coupons I've created in the mock ups. Not the most visually appealing I admit, but still felt a sense of accomplishment!

Project work, PAINT, and a confused individual

Unable to write any posts recently simply because there's too much things to do, too much things to say and I'm simply not able to decide on where to start and how to say without making it sound confusing.

Anyway, for the sake of making this look more complete, I might as well post this picture of a coupon I've created for my project on clothes wastage. on the coupon it is written ''Don't seal your clothes' fate because old is new again. Help combat clothes wastage by supporting the Fabric in, Clothes Out programme. Visit 'Together we can reduce clothes wastage'on Facebook for more information on our mission'' Although I have yet to submit the project I figured leaking a photo wouldn't hurt too much. Personally I liked the fact that I've used the Monopoly mascot's ''Get out of jail free'' cartoon as the picture. Ps: (The Facebook page has been changed simply to Fabric in clothes out)

On another note this picture is made entirely out of ''Paint'' the accessory found on every Windows computer at least. It's not very well designed but certainly better than what I had expected from this accessory. So there is quite alot you can get out of Paint I suppose!

1. Title was created from an online logo designing website.
2. Barcode and picture from Google image.
3. Everything else typed out with different fonts.