Today I took the MRT home (next 156 was 27min away based on IRIS) and saw something interesting and had a thought.
One of the exit (E) at Serangoon MRT required you to take 3 escalators up to reach the surface. There were also flights of stairs next to the escalators. Upon walking out of the gantry, the first escalator is right in front of you, so most people would take the escalator rather than the stairs.
Escalators are usually placed in opposite directions of each other, so to get to the second one you would have to turn left, walk a bit, and turn left again to take the escalator. The interesting thing is this: the flight of stairs were to the left of the second escalator. This means that for people to take the escalator, they would have to walk past the stairs first, then take the escalator.
Food for thought: was this made on purpose? For me, I may climb the stairs just because I would have to walk that extra distance to take the escalator. I wonder if it is part of the plan to subtly make people climb stairs - for whatever reason. It is a pretty smart move on the developer if that was their intention.
This led me on to think about some of the innovative ideas I heard about before. For example, making stairs that would play a note (much like a piano) each time someone steps on it. Or make rubbish bins play some sound when a rubbish is thrown in. Simple and effective ideas. Maybe all the problems that we face may have simple solutions as well?
And today, I took the stairs.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
NAPFA
Finally got my 30 points!
2.4 - 9:29
Pull ups - 18
Shuttle run - 9.7
Sit up - 50
SBJ - 250 (!!)
Sit and Reach - 51
The sense of euphoria I felt after jumping over 246 for SBJ was indescribable.
And a post on AS soon!
2.4 - 9:29
Pull ups - 18
Shuttle run - 9.7
Sit up - 50
SBJ - 250 (!!)
Sit and Reach - 51
The sense of euphoria I felt after jumping over 246 for SBJ was indescribable.
And a post on AS soon!
Friday, April 16, 2010
http://www.universalsports.com/news/article/newsid=462834.html#gebrselassies+impact+extends+beyond+running
Amazing man, more people should learn from him. He could set up companies in other countries and earn much more, but he chooses to invest in his own company.
"I always ask (American) journalists, how many years have you been helping this country, how many years have you been sending food to Ethiopia or Africa?" Gebrselassie said. "But if we learn to help ourselves, we help America and Ethiopia. In the future, when you send something, don't send us things that make us lazy. Food, for me, is like a temporary solution. A solution that is long lasting must be something to transfer knowledge, something that shows how to change the situation, how to change the country. I like the saying, ‘Don't give a man a fish, show him how to go fishing.'
Amazing man, more people should learn from him. He could set up companies in other countries and earn much more, but he chooses to invest in his own company.
"I always ask (American) journalists, how many years have you been helping this country, how many years have you been sending food to Ethiopia or Africa?" Gebrselassie said. "But if we learn to help ourselves, we help America and Ethiopia. In the future, when you send something, don't send us things that make us lazy. Food, for me, is like a temporary solution. A solution that is long lasting must be something to transfer knowledge, something that shows how to change the situation, how to change the country. I like the saying, ‘Don't give a man a fish, show him how to go fishing.'
Thursday, April 15, 2010
(Something that starts with S) Seventeen!
I turned 17 2 days ago! 3 more years and I would have lived for 2 decades, thats pretty long if you think about it. Thanks to all who wished me happy birthday, doesn't matter if its early or late. And thanks to my class for the wonderful card! So fun reading all the messages =)
9 days to AS, then its a pretty long break. And NAPFA's next week!
9 days to AS, then its a pretty long break. And NAPFA's next week!
Monday, April 12, 2010
its all good!
1 1839 SAMUEL BURSTON Australia Arden High School 00:32:53 00:21:07 00:53:59
2 1858 LI JIANRUI Singapore SAF 00:35:56 00:21:49 00:57:45
3 1849 TAN JIAYU Singapore NGEE ANN POLY 00:35:21 00:22:47 00:58:07
4 1842 JOSHUA RUSSELL HOONG HSIEN RUI Singaporean Temasek polytechnic 00:39:00 00:21:58 01:00:58
5 1834 AUGUSTINE TAN CHENGFU Malaysia Hwa Chong Institution 00:40:46 00:20:20 01:01:06
6 1819 JOEL WONG JUN JIE Singapore Singapore Sport School 00:38:42 00:22:43 01:01:24
7 1800 ZACHERY LIM Singapore St Andrew's Secondary School 00:38:44 00:23:04 01:01:47
8 1840 BARNEY ONG PECK YUEW Singapore Temasek Polytechnic 00:39:59 00:21:56 01:01:54
9 1850 KENNETH KUAN CHEE YIN Singapore Raffles Institution 00:39:49 00:22:31 01:02:20
9th place! 2 more years...maybe I'll reach the top!
2 1858 LI JIANRUI Singapore SAF 00:35:56 00:21:49 00:57:45
3 1849 TAN JIAYU Singapore NGEE ANN POLY 00:35:21 00:22:47 00:58:07
4 1842 JOSHUA RUSSELL HOONG HSIEN RUI Singaporean Temasek polytechnic 00:39:00 00:21:58 01:00:58
5 1834 AUGUSTINE TAN CHENGFU Malaysia Hwa Chong Institution 00:40:46 00:20:20 01:01:06
6 1819 JOEL WONG JUN JIE Singapore Singapore Sport School 00:38:42 00:22:43 01:01:24
7 1800 ZACHERY LIM Singapore St Andrew's Secondary School 00:38:44 00:23:04 01:01:47
8 1840 BARNEY ONG PECK YUEW Singapore Temasek Polytechnic 00:39:59 00:21:56 01:01:54
9 1850 KENNETH KUAN CHEE YIN Singapore Raffles Institution 00:39:49 00:22:31 01:02:20
9th place! 2 more years...maybe I'll reach the top!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Osim Singapore International Triathlon 2010
Months after signing up for this race, the day finally came. Back then it seemed like forever before 10th April would come, but eventually it did.
The day started relatively late for me, 7.15. Ate a simple breakfast of cereal, took a bath, and went off to ECP with my parents. Upon reaching at about 8.45, I saw that the area was pretty crowded and bustling with activity, as the Kids and Mini Triathlon were ongoing. Quite cool to see little children running along with their bikes out of transition area.
Went to get my body markings, put my stuff in transition, and visualised the race (where to come in from the swim, where to exit bike etc etc). Then went for a short warm up swim, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. After just a short time in the water, it was already 9.40 and I realised I was going to be late, so rushed to the transition, put my specs there, and hurriedly walked all the way (barefoot), past the carpark to the starting area.
When I reached the starting area, all the green caps were already ready to go. I was thankful I didn't miss the start. Went in, waited for a while, and the race officials told us to wait till 10 as there were lightning warnings, a thunderstorm about 100km off Singapore. At 10, they told us wait another 30 mins as it still wasn't good to go. So I waited with my parents under some tentage for quite a long time. At 10.30, same thing. This lasted all the way till 11. Then they told us the bad news; the swim segment will be cancelled as it is too late already and if we had the swim, the road closure would run out by the time the elites had their races, and they would have to cycle with the cars. Hence, they "sacrificed" majority of the people's races for the elites. Oh well.
With the swim cancelled and with 15 minutes before the next update at 11.15, I went back to the transition area to wear my specs and race belt. We would start at the same place, but now we would run across the beach to the transition and start our bike leg directly. So now the race was a duathlon instead of a triathlon. At about 11.20, all those in my age group started lining up at the start line, and could feel the adrenaline from everyone. We were all anxious to go after waiting for close to 2hrs. Finally at 11.35, they got confirmation that it was all clear, and we were flagged off!
Right from the start, some crazy ang mohs sprinted all the way to the transition area and equally crazy Singaporeans followed closely behind. I ran at a relatively slow pace for about 150m to the transition area. I was in and out of the transition pretty quickly, only screw up was that I couldn't really find my spot when first coming in. And I got to practice running with my cycling shoes, and also running with my bike.
I didn't feel very strong at the start of the bike, and was doing about 33-34 for most of the start. I reckon I was about 15th out of the transition, and tried my best to go as fast as I could on the bike. Overtook some people, and some people overtook me too. At the first U-turn, was pretty shocked as the turning was super sharp and narrow. Legs were spinning throughout the ride, felt like I wasn't pushing enough yet at the same time couldn't push more. After the first lap, the people from the other waves have also started and the bike course was slightly more crowded on the second lap. Pretty uneventful, although my speed went up slightly to about 35km/h. My bike was pretty slow compared to the other youths from my age group, so room for improvement there!
After the bike leg, I ran into transition, took off my shoes and helmet, put on my shoes, and I zoomed out of the transition pretty quickly. Surprisingly, my legs felt pretty good and I guess it was the result of the brick trainings that I did. For the first part of the run I was following this dude and we were going at about 4.15min per km I think. We passed some other runners, and I felt pretty strong. Then after the U turn, he sped up and I couldn't really keep up, so I ran alone at about the same pace. I passed about another 3 more people, but 1 guy (might be 2) passed me. Nearing the finishing line, I remembered to pose for the cameras (yay!) and sprinted past the line.
My watch timing was 1:02:53, which was better than I expected. According to my dad my position was 15th, which was very disappointing for me. Didn't feel super tired after the race, which probably meant I could have pushed more during the run.
I've lots more to work on, especially the bike. However, I'm quite glad with my run as I think this is my personal best for 5k (about 22min), even though it was after 20km of bike. Just got to cycle more with Joel. Was a good race, although I'm sad that we didn't get to do a proper triathlon. All in all, a good first multi-disciplinary race!
The day started relatively late for me, 7.15. Ate a simple breakfast of cereal, took a bath, and went off to ECP with my parents. Upon reaching at about 8.45, I saw that the area was pretty crowded and bustling with activity, as the Kids and Mini Triathlon were ongoing. Quite cool to see little children running along with their bikes out of transition area.
Went to get my body markings, put my stuff in transition, and visualised the race (where to come in from the swim, where to exit bike etc etc). Then went for a short warm up swim, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. After just a short time in the water, it was already 9.40 and I realised I was going to be late, so rushed to the transition, put my specs there, and hurriedly walked all the way (barefoot), past the carpark to the starting area.
When I reached the starting area, all the green caps were already ready to go. I was thankful I didn't miss the start. Went in, waited for a while, and the race officials told us to wait till 10 as there were lightning warnings, a thunderstorm about 100km off Singapore. At 10, they told us wait another 30 mins as it still wasn't good to go. So I waited with my parents under some tentage for quite a long time. At 10.30, same thing. This lasted all the way till 11. Then they told us the bad news; the swim segment will be cancelled as it is too late already and if we had the swim, the road closure would run out by the time the elites had their races, and they would have to cycle with the cars. Hence, they "sacrificed" majority of the people's races for the elites. Oh well.
With the swim cancelled and with 15 minutes before the next update at 11.15, I went back to the transition area to wear my specs and race belt. We would start at the same place, but now we would run across the beach to the transition and start our bike leg directly. So now the race was a duathlon instead of a triathlon. At about 11.20, all those in my age group started lining up at the start line, and could feel the adrenaline from everyone. We were all anxious to go after waiting for close to 2hrs. Finally at 11.35, they got confirmation that it was all clear, and we were flagged off!
Right from the start, some crazy ang mohs sprinted all the way to the transition area and equally crazy Singaporeans followed closely behind. I ran at a relatively slow pace for about 150m to the transition area. I was in and out of the transition pretty quickly, only screw up was that I couldn't really find my spot when first coming in. And I got to practice running with my cycling shoes, and also running with my bike.
I didn't feel very strong at the start of the bike, and was doing about 33-34 for most of the start. I reckon I was about 15th out of the transition, and tried my best to go as fast as I could on the bike. Overtook some people, and some people overtook me too. At the first U-turn, was pretty shocked as the turning was super sharp and narrow. Legs were spinning throughout the ride, felt like I wasn't pushing enough yet at the same time couldn't push more. After the first lap, the people from the other waves have also started and the bike course was slightly more crowded on the second lap. Pretty uneventful, although my speed went up slightly to about 35km/h. My bike was pretty slow compared to the other youths from my age group, so room for improvement there!
After the bike leg, I ran into transition, took off my shoes and helmet, put on my shoes, and I zoomed out of the transition pretty quickly. Surprisingly, my legs felt pretty good and I guess it was the result of the brick trainings that I did. For the first part of the run I was following this dude and we were going at about 4.15min per km I think. We passed some other runners, and I felt pretty strong. Then after the U turn, he sped up and I couldn't really keep up, so I ran alone at about the same pace. I passed about another 3 more people, but 1 guy (might be 2) passed me. Nearing the finishing line, I remembered to pose for the cameras (yay!) and sprinted past the line.
My watch timing was 1:02:53, which was better than I expected. According to my dad my position was 15th, which was very disappointing for me. Didn't feel super tired after the race, which probably meant I could have pushed more during the run.
I've lots more to work on, especially the bike. However, I'm quite glad with my run as I think this is my personal best for 5k (about 22min), even though it was after 20km of bike. Just got to cycle more with Joel. Was a good race, although I'm sad that we didn't get to do a proper triathlon. All in all, a good first multi-disciplinary race!
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