from Unity: The Official Athens 2004 Olympic Games Album
I'm just the same as you
I could be the same age too
Do the same music you do
Everyday
No matter what separates us
The same stars we see at night
No matter what's up against us
Still gonna have dream burning bright
I believe we fear what we don't know
We can be our own enemy
But if we conquered
And if you took my hand
I'd see a girl you'd see a man
Chorus:
Everybody has the same dream
A dream in their heart
Get a chance to make a life
Love somebody they want
Open your eyes we're all the same
We won't be scared
So let's sing together now
Na na na na
In this Universal Prayer
I see the smoking light
That complicates a simple life
I'm here and you are there
Miles away
All you gotta do is believe
That anything you want you can reach
There's no limit to what we could be
So open your mind
And set yourself free
I believe we fear what we don't know
We can be our own enemy
But if we conquered
And if you took my hand
I'd see a girl you'd see a man
[Chorus]
And in this dream I have at night
That I don't understand the world at all
You might be right but it seems to me
That we've come too far to fall
Cause I believe that tears
That try to save our souls
And hardest time will come
And all this pain will go
So try to understand
The precious things I've said
Every woman every man
[Chorus]
The 2004 Athens Olympics ended this morning. Was contemplating whether to watch the closing ceremony live, but in the end I decided to tape it. I've only watched a little bit of it, but after looking at the pictures on the Net, I think the fireworks are really breathtaking. Anyway, think I've been suffering from a hangover the past week ever since swimming and badminton ended. Promised myself not to watch anymore Olympics, but in the end I ended up watching diving and a little bit of athletics. Think I was just really bored, trying to occupy myself with stuff so that I don't have to study. But I must say the weekend's been much better. I'm suddenly motivated to study. I think it's because I know that Prelims is like really really soon. Must've been really worried so started studying quite a bit. Oh well.. another last-minute studying..seems like that's always the case for me. I've tried but I don't think I can study way ahead. But progress has been quite slow as usual..lots of stoning. Anyway I'm kind of glad the Olympics are finally over..means I can really focus and that I can't stay up late now since there's no more Olympics to watch on TV. Think 4 years are like really fast! I don't think Sydney was that long ago.. and in 4 years' time it'll be in Beijing. Who knows what'll happen to me in 4 years' time.. but then I think the timing will be much better so I think next time I won't have to stay up in the wee hours of the morning to watch. Oh well..anyway I just recalled recently that I've kept pictures from the Sydney Olympics. But I seem to can't find them now..must've thrown them away. I think for me the Athens Olympics are much more exciting than the one in Sydney. The Sydney Games..well there was only Thorpe. In Athens..there's also Phelps..haha Sin Hui and I are always gushing about him. And I think I watch much more of the Olympics action this time round (opportunity cost is sleep) than last time round even though last time the timing was much better.
Anyway here are some moments from the Olympics that I find memorable:
Li Jiawei beating Wang Nan in q-finals, but in the end she lost in semis and bronze medal play-off match (table tennis)
Ronald Susilo beating world no. 1 Lin Dan in the first round (badminton)
Taufik Hidayat winning the men's singles gold medal - Indonesia's only gold medal from the Games
Michael Phelps winning a record 6 gold and 2 bronze medals (swimming)
Ian Thorpe winning the 200m freestyle - "race of the century" - beating Hoogenband and Phelps
South Africa winning the men's 4x100m freestyle relay in world-record time
Aaron Peirsol winning the men's 200m backstroke - he was promptly disqualified, before being reinstated
Justin Gatlin beating Maurice Greene, the G.O.A.T., in the 100m final (athletics)
Hicham El Guerrouj and Kelly Holmes winning the double - men's 1500m and 5000m; women's 800m and 1500m
This Russian girl who won the pole vault and breaking the world record
Liu Xiang winning the men's 110m hurdles for China's first Athletics gold medal, equaling the world record
Paula Radcliffe stopping in the women's marathon
USA 1-2-3 in men's 200m and 400m
USA being disqualified in the women's 4x100m relay
USA losing to Great Britain in the men's 4x100m relay by 0.01s
Nicholas Massu winning 2 gold medals in tennis - Chile's first ever in the Olympics (tennis)
Men's Synchronised 3m Springboard fiasco - the Chinese pair got zero for their final dive and went from first to last place (diving)
American Paul Hamm winning gold in the Individual All-Round despite landing badly - it was later discovered that he shouldn't have won the gold due to a judging error (gymnastics)
Crowd booing after the judges gave Alexei Nemov too low a score
The Dream Team being beaten by Puerto Rico, Lithuania and Argentina in semis (basketball)
Argentina winning gold in men's soccer and basketball - Argentina's first gold medals ever
Iraq making it to the semis by beating Portugal in the group stage and Australia in q-finals (soccer)
Kay..after writing so much about the Olympics, think I should really study now.
Now that I'm done watching the Olympics cos swimming, badminton and tennis have ended, I really have no excuse not to start studying. Anyway.. I'm so happy Taufik "my brother" won the Men's Singles for badminton. Not bad considering that he's unseeded. He beat so many good players, like Gade. Oh..and Indonesia also got bronzes from Men's Singles and Doubles. Not bad I suppose. Swiming... Phelps won 6 golds and 2 bronzes even though he didn't swim in the medley relay. That guy is really a freak.. he's so good.. think he won all his individual events with Olympic record times. I thought he would lose the 100m butterfly, but he won it at the final stroke. One of the shocks was Australia not qualifying for the medley relay, but I guess overall the swimming event was really exciting..from the 'race of the century', Phelps' feats, to world record-breaking swims by Australia and USA in medley relays to conclude the competition. I guess we won't be seeing Phelps and Thorpe again for quite some time cos they seldom show swimming on TV. The tennis event was quite low-key this time. I was actually quite hyped up for another Roddick-Federer final, or at least seeing some good matches cos quite a few of the top players are in Athens. But obviously..there were many upsets and before I know it Roddick, Federer and Ferrero are out..so no point for me to watch tennis.
Anyway I got my church membership today. Was at the main service again to get the membership. This time I wasn't as nervous as I was last week; think it's partly cos I'm sitting with my sunday school class pple this time. Thanks guys for coming again and for coming up to the altar!
Kay...another brand new week..a new start. I must really motivate myself to start studying. No more wasting time unnecessarily. Must cut down on TV. Self-discipline and gd time management..think I really need those now! Still 1 1/2 weeks before the start of prelims. I guess it's better to start studying later than never. Hopefully I'll prevail!
I can do all things through God who gives me strength
Sigh..keep on watching Olympics all the time, mostly swimming and badminton. I'm really sacrificing my sleep. Like last night slept at 12.30, the previous night slept at 2.30, Sunday night slept at 1.30. I was up watching swimming finals on Sunday and Monday nights despite taping the finals. Taped last night's final cos couldn't take not sleeping enough anymore. Sigh..I feel really guilty cos I haven't done a lot of work yet and I'm like watching so much TV. Can't resist the temptation. Sigh again...
Anyway just watched Taufik won his quarter-final match against Peter Gade. It's quite sad that those 2 have to meet in quarter final cos I like both players and I think both of them are really good players. But obviously I support Taufik more. It'll be really interesting to have him play against Susilo. Haha.. obviously I'll still support Taufik. Anyway...I still can't believe that Australia lost the 4x200m freestyle relay to the US. The Aussies are the defending champs and world record holders. They have Thorpe and Hackett, like 2 of the best swimmers in the world. Oh well.. and Thorpe was the last qualifier for the 100m final.. But think he's really lucky cos Popov, who's a much better 100m swimmer, didn't qualify and was only 0.02 sec behind. Still quite happy though that Thorpe won the much-hyped showdown. I thought it'd be more of a battle between him and that Dutch guy, and not him and Phelps. I actually don't mind both Thorpe and Phelps, but I prefer Thorpe. Anyway now on to tennis...I can't believe Federer lost..like 2nd round or something? Oh and Ferrero lost too..but that's kind of expected cos he's quite off-form now. Roddick almost lost..what's up with all the seeds losing? So I guess I won't be watching another Federer vs Roddick match. Now I'm hoping that Roddick wins.
I'm still not sure whether I should apply for scholarship or not. It's cos of the bond..like 6 years.. that's quite long and I may not even be in Singapore yet. Oh well..think I should be doing my work now. There's gonna be Amazing Race and that badminton match tonight. And I also don't want to sleep too late.
SOMEONE TO DIE FOR (Jimmy Gnecco feat Brian May)
from the Spider-Man 2 Soundtrack
Before you landed
I had a will but didn't know what it could do
You were abandoned
And still you're handing out what you don't wanna lose
You make me drop things
Like all the plans I had for a life without you
Someone to die for
Someone to fall into when the world goes dark
Someone to die for
Someone to tear a hole in this endless night
Someone like you
I'm drunk when sober
The room is spinning
You are what I hold on to
You're taking over
I find that giving in is the best I can do
Someone to die for
Someone to fall into when the world goes dark
Someone to die for
Someone to tear a hole in this endless night
Someone like you
Someone to die for
Someone to die for
Someone to die
Someone
Someone
Someone
Someone to die for
Someone to fall into when the world goes dark
Someone to die for
Someone to tear a hole in this endless night
Someone
Someone like you
I finally got baptised today. Was supposed to have been baptised last year since I actually took the baptism class last year. But I told Pastor Peter I wasn't ready yet, so I postponed it to this year. Anyway, I was a wreck of emotions before the baptism. I was excited but nervous at the same time. And my anxiety heightened when we started singing the doxology, which was just before the baptism. After that Pastor Malcolm Tan called my name so I had to go to the altar bringing the hymnal book. There was a couple who also got baptised. Anyway, basically Pastor Malcolm just read what was written on the hymnal book and we had to say "I do" to the questions. Then after that it was time for the baptism itself. I wasn't really sure how it'd actually work out. Anyway he asked me whether I wanted sprinkling or pouring, so I said sprinkling. Then after that he baptised me and sprinkled water on my head 3 times - once each after he said "Father", "Son" and "Holy Ghost". Then after that he used the water to draw a cross on my forehead. Haha.. didn't expect myself to be so wet. Anyway after that we had to turn around and face the congregation. Pastor Peter recognised me from the interview during the June holidays (to tell him that I was ready to be baptised) and shook my hand before I went back to sit. I also got the baptism certificate, but it was still wet from the water. The sermon after that was quite meaningful..it was really appropriate for today's occasion. Anyway I had to sit in front for the service today cos I was going to be baptised. Was accompanied by my mum in front. My brothers were also at the service but they refused to sit in front. Oh well..think they're too embarrassed haha. Must thank my sunday school class pple for coming to the main service today to support me - zaneta, zhimei, yu wei, raymond, stella, the 2 michelles, hannah, jian jia, dawn, alex, shao onn and lina. I just wish that my dad would also come for my baptism. I knew it'd be a miracle if he came cos he's a non-Christian, but I was just hoping... In the end he didn't come though.
Anyway, after the service, I met up with my class pple and most of us went to the canteen after that to have brunch. There was supposed to be something going on today.. there were like many stalls set up, selling food (like a mini fun-fair), but I didn't feel like eating then so I just bought a drink. We were all in the canteen for quite long..until about 11 I think. Anyway after that I left to meet my family for lunch at Gengis Khan. I really went to pig out there...I'm still full now and lunch was over like 7 hours ago. And I have to eat dinner soon also. The food was of course just absolutely wonderful. But what makes me cherish today's lunch was that my whole family was able to have lunch together. It's really rare for both my parents to be in Singapore at the same time (I think the only other time that has happened this year was Chinese New Year), so I'm really grateful for the times that we're able to spend as a whole family. I seldom see my dad here..he only comes here once in a while and usually he only comes for 2 days at most. My mum..well she comes here more often..like once a month.. but still she only stays here for 2 weeks. Most of the time, it's just me, my brothers and my maid here. I think next year will be even worse.. with me finishing A levels and my brother finishing his O levels.. and with both of us unlikely to be staying in singapore..most likely we'll be going overseas to study. It really makes me sad sometimes not to be able to spend time with my family more. I guess I better treasure the times that I spend with my family more. Anyway after lunch, my mum went back home and my dad went to perth...
Anyway... I switched on the tv yesterday to watch the Olympics and the first thing I saw was Michael Phelps strolling into the pool area for his 400m IM heat wearing his headphones and probably listening to music. Can't believe he's just so relaxed when there're like so huge expectations placed on him. Needless to say, he won his heat. I taped last night's swimming final. I think Phelps won his event with a world record time. But I was more interested in the 400m final which was supposed to be contested between Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett. In the end I think Thorpe won narrowly. Think he must be really lucky cos he was actually disqualified during the qualifiyings for a false start. I'm looking forward to the showdown between Thorpe and Phelps. I hope Thorpe can win... Oh ya I just realised that for the tennis men's singles, there're like many top players (which I thought was surprising considering that the Grand Slams are actually more prestigious and the US Open is just around the corner..). Think some of the tennis matches should be shown.. so I'm hoping I can watch another Federer-Roddick final. Tonight there's going to be the badminton match between Ronald Susilo and Lin Dan. And I think at the same time they're going to show the swimming finals (the 200m freestyle semifinal should be shown) on another channel. I don't know how I'm going to tape those 2 at the same time.
I feel really bad for myself. The Prelims are just in 2 weeks' time and I haven't started my revision at all (doesn't help to know that some of my classmates have). I'm quite paranoid about prelims, but I still do not have a sense of urgency. Which is really bad. I haven't even finished all my tutorials yet. Just finished Stats 9 this afternoon, which took me like 3 hours to finish. Still have vitamins tutorial and lots of econs stuff. And I still have the HC '03 Physics Prelim paper to do (which I haven't started at all...ok maybe I can consider that revision). Argh!!! I really feel like screaming my hearts out. And I thought I was going to have more time. I actually promised myself to stop watching The O.C. until after prelims (anyway I still have 3 episodes that I haven't watched yet) and maybe Alias also. Then I found out that they're not going to show Alias till 30 Aug and O.C. for quite some time. But then there's the Olympics. And I don't think I can miss it..I mean it's like once in 4 years. And then I must also complete the Stanford application (at least part of it), if I want to submit it in time for Early Action. Oh well.. think I'll figure out a way. But I've set a goal for myself for Prelims and I guess I'll just have to do whatever it takes to achieve my goal even if it means sacrificing some stuff.
Tonight there's going to be a lot of stuff (sports-wise) going on. Besides the Susilo vs Lin Dan match and the 200m freestyle semifinal, there's also the Hungarian Grand Prix and let's not forget the Chelsea vs MU showdown. The odds are stacked against MU this time, but I'm crossing my fingers that they can get at least a point from the match (and hopefully my youngest bro will lose his bet haha). My brothers and I thought that Liverpool would, for sure, win comfortably against Tottenham in the first EPL match, but obviously we were all proven wrong cos Liverpool drew. Thought Liverpool would be better under the new manager but I guess it may be the same old story all over again. I certainly didn't expect Owen to leave and Vieira to stay.
Think I should be eating my dinner now. It's getting quite late.
Went to run just now. I think I ran about 1.5km. I haven't run for a very long time and I'm not surprised that my stamina is deteriorating rapidly. I think I really must exercise more often..have been lazing around these past few days.
Anyway, I went to the exhibition on the various US universities at VJ yesterday, and I had the chance to talk to some of the students at the various uni. Got to know more about the school life and stuff..and gave me more insight. But I'm still as yet undecided over my last back-up school. And I must really start doing the application stuff soon..especially if I want to meet the Early Action deadline. And I must also start revising for Prelims at the same time. Still struggling to finish tutorials right now. I simply have no time at all! Maybe I should really cut down on my TV times like what my mum said recently. She thinks I'm watching too much TV. Right now I'm watching 4.5 hours of TV per week and personally, I don't think it's too much. But maybe it's because I've really got to find time to watch tv cos she just won't allow me to watch tv during meals. Sigh.. with the olympics and singapore idol coming up, I dare not imagine how much tv i'll be watching. And whether i'll have time to study and do my applications. Sigh. Maybe I should really sacrifice some of the tv shows I watch cos I don't think there's a show that's gonna end anytime soon. Oh well..guess life involves making some sacrifices.
Tonight's the Community Shield match between Arsenal and MU. Guess that means it's the EPL season is going to start soon. Can't wait for it to start and I really hope MU can win back the title. I'm actually more weary about Chelsea than Arsenal this time around. Speaking of the match later, I think it's really quite ironic that I'm actually rooting for MU to lose the match.
Sigh...i'm so fed up now cos i've to change skin again. Apparently i exceeded the bandwidth for my avril skin. Decided to change back to my previous skin cos I quite like it. Anyway MU lost to AC Milan 8-9 on penalties after letting a 1-0 lead slip in the injury time. Sigh.. this is turning out to be quite a lousy day.
TALK TO ME (Smash!!)
Every night I hear you cry
Don't you wanna tell me why
I'm afraid of waking up without you
Many misunderstand but when I reach and touch your hand
I can't feel you anymore
You see my million miles away from me tonight
Baby but I'm right beside you
Talk to me
That's what my love is here for
Can't stand to see those tears in your eyes
I'd do anything it takes to make it right
Baby
Talk to me
Even if it's just to say goodbye
Whenever so hard to say
Whatever makes you turn away
Can't be any worse than I imagine
You gotta tell me what you need from me
So hold you close so set you free
Coz I just wanna see you smile again
But I can't help you if you keep me in the dark
Open up your breaking heart and
Talk to me
That's what my love is here for
Can't stand to see those tears in your eyes
I'd do anything it takes to make it right
Baby
Talk to me
Even if it's just to say goodbye
I don't know how to ease the pain you're going through
Baby tell me what to do
Talk to me
That's what my love is here for
Can't stand to see those tears in your eyes
I'd do anything that takes to make it right
Should I hold you close so set you free to fight
Baby
Talk to me
Even if it's just to say goodbye