Eternal Recurrences z. z’ Z” ZZ
I realized that it has been over several months since my last post. My sincere for the next 5 minutes apologies for the lack of update. Yours truly tries very hard to believe that everything from the weather to yesterday’s nasi lemak directly caused me to not blog?
Anyway, with my calendar cum schedule on my desk as I type this, I’ll try to regurgitate what little remnants of my memory for the past few months. . .
Well, let’s see. After the terrible performance in the year end exams, I somewhat turned into a book lizard… book worm you say? well unlike the worm, throw and book at a lizard and the lizard.. runs away. whee~
The month of october, my retainers are now only worn at night from here on. Finally I can parade my 2 rows of white charm without the hindrance of metal detector detectables comensalizing on them. I can’t believe my friends only noticed this metamorphosis one week after the change. zzzz.
Oh yea, I participated in the MBSSKL closed chess competition. I led my group of myself and 3 girls into the 2 day competition. In the end, everyone did well and we managed to snag 2nd place. We only missed 1st place by half a point but it was ok. I would say that Melia’s performance was most admirable. Despite her earlier losses, she stayed calm and in the end managed to emerge as the best girl player. Ichibanne! Later during the prize giving ceremony I was somewhat elated, despite the fact that the medal that was awarded was one made of plastic and poor quality silver paint, this was the first time I actually received any medal for chess, as well as the first time I receive the type of medal that people put on necks. Basked in fame for about 5.204 seconds in front of the camera with Mr Wong. After that the paint on my medal started to corrode. . lol
Hari Raya appeared.
During the holidays I attended 2 chess training sessions organized by the school. below are some notes I jot- ted:
MR GRANDMASTER WHO REPRESENTED MALAYSIA SAYS:
I will not repeat
1. The aim of the game - always remember, capture the kind by any piece possible: check check check checkmate
2. Every piece has a different power
3. Chess is a game of the mind - concentration is important for knowledge utilization
4. King is powerful at end game; definition of end game when all that is left is pawn n king
5. Queen’s power, any direction and number of moves
6. Rook is better than bishop because it can cover both white and black squares
7. Knight’s movement is white tile to black tile to white tile, so be careful not to get forked by it. It can fork up to 7
8. Bishop is slightly better than knight because it can capture the knight when it’s stuck at the side of the board.
9. The pawn has some powers, namely: promotion, en passant and move 2 steps in beginning
10. The middle square is important because it allows any piece to travel the shortest distance to anywhere else.
11. Kingside castle is defensive
12. Queenside castle is offensive, but because king is nearer the centre, it is more vulnerable
13. At the beginning the king is a baby, but it will grow up to become powerful later
14. Learn fool’s mate
15. The best defence is a good offence
Links: www.fide.com www.worldchessnetwork.com www.bestinchess.com
On the 2nd day.. continuation
1. When playing, make sure every move has meaning, don’t simply move. The more questions you ask, the more answers you get.
2. Think about the objective of each move
3. Don’t defeat the purpose of freeing pieces by not mobilizing
4. Concentration
5. Don’t waste moves - never make same move more than twice
6. When you defend you can never win
7. Queen is an attacking piece not defending
8. Don’t defend a pawn with a piece
9. Connected pawns are important for end game
10. Knight can multiple fork
11. Pin = immobilize fork - 1 attack 2 … scewer - attack front piece back piece lose
12. Make sure all your pieces are protected
13. Can never win if pieces don’t come out
14. 6 rank pawns = powerful = rook cannot stop it
15. King and pawn square measure = draw to win
16. Pawn run - parallel
17. No distractions during game - win with honor
18. Knight protecting knight = redundancy sometimes
19. Play both sides of the board (left right) to confuse opponent
20. Offer gambit to advance offence
21. Knight combo defends both boards plus its powerful and safe
22. Control centre square by placing knight there
23. Black play defensive first then attack
21. Castle king off early for safety and easier development
25. King side castle with knight and bishop relatively safe
26. Bishop attack board from afar
27. Aim rook at queen from afar
28. Run away from attack is better than exerting pressure on something sometimes
Well, actually number 18 - 28 were never part of the lesson, but rather what I managed to observe from the battle between Alex Gan and Mr Grandmaster. The interesting thing was, Alex won. Nicely done.
In the end of the month there was class party and Mrs Naga’s retirement. Class party was… fattening, especially the roast pork from a certain classmate. 
jem jem jem oh jem
November now
On the 9th we went to visit star cruise, nice ship. Inspiring and amazing architectural designs. Our guide was courteous too.
Went up the 1010 waterfall during jungle trekking on the 12th, pictures of the event are posted in my albums, adventure, nice it was 
On the 14th there was another media interview at Mandarin Oriental. The reporters came, asked questions, met Sanggeet, had a fun time eating hotel food and entertaining the reporters.. time flies when you’re being interviewed.. lol
on the 15th there was the MBSSKL orchestra audition. Finally I was able to reveal the piece which I was practicing for so long - sunburst. Well, my audition went ok, didn’t expected the sight reading.. lol.. nice to see a big turn up
On the 18th was Yen Fong’s birthday. I consider myself lucky as I was able to narrowly avoid 2 accidents. Had a fun time BBQing at Fong’s place, and later we played some truth or dare in Fong’s room. lol sad sad sad, I only kena once :p
On the 19th was the start of the PJKN, it was an amazing experience for me. Besides being able to experience a glimpse of what PLKN is like, I also got to know many new good friends, as well as come to know my other friends who went with me to the camp later. Strangely, my usually unpatriotic self died after attending the camp. For me, the camp spoke to me very directly, that I’m the youth of the nation, and as the youth we are the spirit that will carve a name for this world, become the savior of mankind.. yada yada yada..
On a lighter note, the environment at Kuala Kubu Baru was really REALLY nice. It was like entering a gigantic secret garden, it was like genting highland… only better. And also during the stay with the foster family at Kampung Gedangsa… kampung life is surprisingly serene, peaceful and harmonious.. everyone is so nice to each other, and my foster family is very nice too. Lack of facilities is no biggie, and I could see that the everyone leads rather simple but contented lives.
After the camp I signed up to participate in the Anugerah Remaja Perdana. Or the Duke of Edinburgh award overseas. Currently still need to fulfill some sporting hours as well as community service to qualify for the bronze award.. at this juncture, it would appear perhaps that I"m being too active or playful for my own good considering the impending hailstorms that STPM will bring, but I do have a feeling that if I don’t join all these stuff now, I may not be able to do them ever again. . .
On the 5th of December I went to a survivor camp at Kuala Kubu Baru again. Despite tons of challenging activities, the highlight of the camp was the night owl. Where the participants were first blindfolded and then led into different spots in the jungle to spend the night alone. It was an experience I will NEVER forget. I couldn’t sleep throughout the night. Wild animals come near me, mosquitoes bug me like crazy, waiting for sunrise was really torture, and the distant roars of tigers didn’t help either. It was in short, a very good lesson about survival. This experience slashed my procrastination. Because it showed me that in order to survive, one needs to be well prepared. ..
If not, you die.
lol
Yesterday went to Chow Kit road.. the lecture about Jatidiri Malaysia at Stanford hotel was cancelled due to poor attendance. Bought a watch that was both quartz and digital and has a world map on it at a watch stall in Chow Kit road. Deja wu indeed.. this is the watch that I have been somewhat unconsciously dreaming about.. and when I saw it I just knew I had to buy it.. well, I was watch hunting anyway :p
Today went jungle trekking again as usual, with Wei Leong, Kevin, and Kok Hong. Our trek was 80 minutes this time. Kevin and Kok Hong made some japanese rice balls which were quite nice. I must learn how to make them, they’re quite filling too, and they make excellent survival rations.
rite, time to go wedding dinner.. xD chiaoz
There were Muet trial exams in the school. . . we were required to not exert noise on the examees.. lol
