Friday, July 21, 2006
19/7/06 Wednesday, I went for horse riding with JH and Wendy in the Blue Mountains! Finally managed to try it this holiday. We went for 1.5hr horse riding in the wilderness but within the boundaries of the stables for $45. But traveling time takes a long time there by train and taxi. We had to board a train from Central to Blackheath (direction towards Blue Mountains) for 2h before boarding a taxi to Glen Centennial Stables, which was a 20 minute ride down the mountain. We were greeted by a friendly female guide who handed us indemnity forms and our helmets. She briefly introduced us our horses and how to control them. Before long we mounted our horses and off we go! I was amazed by how high I was from the ground when I mounted my horse, it’s no wonder that when one can get injured one fall off. We cautiously followed our guide out of the stables with our horses in tow. Our horses would always follow the guide’s leading horse and wouldn’t venture far and only listened to her whistles and calls to move faster than a trot. No matter how much I kicked to beckon him to go forward faster, he wouldn’t. Along the way we past through forested area with some deep ravines and some smooth plains, it’s a different feeling to be riding in a natural environment. We spotted wild kangaroos, cows and sheep much to our delight! Haha….The 1.5hr quickly past before we knew it. We became snappy happy with my camera!
I hope to come back for longer rides! Or even day rides! Anyway, another taxi and train ride back to Central again, another 2.5hr of traveling………. This whole trip cost us $85 each. If we can find friends who can drive….hiak hiak….the traveling costs can be saved!
JH, Wendy, Me!
On my black steed!
Good boy!
Guide's steed
Dreams never come true
11:15 am |
Friday, July 14, 2006
Letter from International Society of Poets........
How I wish I won Lotto....so I can get the Outstanding Achievement in Poetry Award crystal award and commemorative medallion for my efforts from the poem I wrote....
___________________________________________________________________
Dear Grace,
I’m sorry you’ll be unable to join us at the upcoming International Society of Poets’ Annual Convention and Symposium to be held at the legendary Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, July 20 – 23, 2006. It promises to be our largest and most prestigious poetry event ever, as we are celebrating our 20th anniversary. As you already know, you were selected to be honored at this event, and we were looking forward to you reciting your poetry in front of more than 2,000 attending poets and celebrities from over 50 countries.
However, because we don’t want you to miss out on this amazing opportunity altogether, we have arranged a way for you and your poetic accomplishments to be part of this event in a most important way, without you actually being present. Although you’ll be unable to participate in the convention contest (you must be able to recite your poetry in front of the contest judges to win), you can still receive your Outstanding Achievement in Poetry Award (a custom engraved 13-inch tall crystal statuette), and your bronze Commemorative Award Medallion. We will also include one full year of membership into the International Society of Poets for 2006 and a subscription to its magazine, Poetry Today. All you have to do is allow us to present one of your poems at this year’s convention in your place.
Grace Lim, Your Poem Can Still Be Read at the Largest Gathering of Poets in History
It’s so very important for us and your fellow poets to hear your poem read with the same passion and emotion which you intended when you wrote it. This will allow your poetry to receive the exposure and recognition you deserve. All you need to do to have your work presented is submit your poem quickly, and then I can email you a special access code where you can call a designated phone number and record your poem in your very own voice. Imagine all of the attending guests at this years convention will hear you read your poetry. If you choose not to record your poem, we have arranged professionals to do it for you.
Now, let me tell you a little about the awards and special items you will receive once you confirm your participation by sending us your poem. You will receive all of these items immediately following the convention:
● Your Outstanding Achievement in Poetry Award ($300.00 value) is a magnificent work of art made from imported crystal; it is hand-engraved and mounted on a three-tier solid marble base. This will be the first time ever we have bestowed these crystal awards. They have been created by artisans that we commissioned specially for this year in honor of our 20th anniversary. This impressive 13-inch award is so valuable and fragile that we have designed a special carrying case to ensure the protection of your prestigious award.
● Your bronze Commemorative Award Medallion ($40.00) is a forged bronze medal with intricate detail that’s brilliantly displayed on a colorful nylon ribbon.
● Full one year membership in the International Society of Poets for 2006-2007 ($60.00 value) entitles you to a personalized membership card, an embroidered ISP patch, an ISP window decal, a one year subscription to Poetry Today magazine, and entry into exclusive poetry contests for members only.
Grace, all that’s required for us to immediately send you all of these awards is for you to send us your poem that will formally be presented at the convention. Your convention poem can be written on any subject, in any style, and can be up to 40 lines in length. Because you will not be present, we must ask you to send a nominal fee ($169.00 plus shipping and handling) to cover the expenses we incur presenting your poetry, and to cover the costs to insure and ship all of these extremely bulky and heavy awards to you. For this small fee you will receive over $400.00 worth of ISP membership materials, including your lead crystal Outstanding Achievement in Poetry Award!
Grace, my purpose for making you this offer is for you to see for yourself what an amazing organization we are. I sincerely look forward to meeting you in person and having you read your artistry in front of thousands of fellow poets who attend this live awards event every year. Unfortunately that’s not the case this year, so we are trying to do the next best thing. I’d like to offer you one more special gift when you send in your poem and confirmation form, because I would really like to see you in person. I will send you a coupon for $100.00 off a future convention. That brings the total value for this offer to over $500.00! We are making a tremendous effort to include your poetry at this year’s convention, and we hope that you will return you confirmation form and poem as soon as possible.
Click here to submit your poem.
Sincerely,
Steve Micheals
Convention Chairperson
P.S. Your lead crystal Outstanding Achievement in Poetry Award, bronze Commemorative Award Medallion, embroidered ISP patch, and ISP window decal will be shipped to you by Federal Express Ground service. Your subscription to the award-winning Poetry Today magazine will arrive separately. All of these items are accompanied by a 100% money-back guarantee. If you are not satisfied for any reason simply return them within 60 days for a full refund, no questions asked.
Dreams never come true
10:46 pm |
Paintball 8 July 2007
Last Saturday, I joined other Kendo club members for a full day of Paintball on Rouse Hill, about an hour’s drive from Central Sydney. Luckily, JH and myself managed to grab a ride from a fellow member and saved our transport money! :D We were the first to arrive and waited for an hour for the others. But the moment we went out of the car, we were back inside within 10 minutes, it was so cold outside! Slowly, everyone arrived and we gathered to fill up our indemnity forms and presented our identification cards to proof that we are 18 to be able to play Paintball. I pick package 2 which came with a standard gun and 600 paintballs for AUD$100 plus standard items like camouflage overalls, thin layer of armour and protection googles. There were different packages to pick and choose to our hearts content, like upgrades of guns, more paintballs and other peripheral accessories as well. Some of the members upgrade their guns which can fired paintballs at 8-10 paintballs every second or purchase as much as 1000 paintballs.
After I’ve paid for the package, I was given a tag to be hung round the neck, this tag can be used to buy drinks, identify the package I pick, buy more bullets etc. and only pay at the end of the day. I was provided with thin armour and camouflage overalls which I just wore over my clothes. And we proceeded for a briefing about the rules of the game and proceeded to collect our ammo which are paintballs (paint in small round thin plastic shells) and our proectection googles. After securing our googles, we went into the area for gun collection. I realized the gun was rather heavy due to the gas tank at the end of the gun. The gun can be quickly reloaded with paintballs rather quickly in an intense battle.
We were lead to our first battleground with plastic air floats with different shapes and sizes. We were split into two teams with red tags and no tags. Each team start from the opposite end of the field and after one whistle is blown the match begins. Every one ran and ducked behind the air floats and start aiming and shooting. I got hit in the head early in the game and was stunned at the impact of the paintball. The pain only went away after 5 to 10 minutes. I will never forget the pain. And if it’s the real impact of a real bullet, it’s no wonder that one can lose consciousness. We played two rounds with this battleground before proceeding to the next one.
The next battleground was littered with many abandoned tree trunks, logs and twigs. And there were oil drums that are markers for the starting point of each team. This time’s operation is to be the first to obtain the other team’s flag. In the middle of the battlefield, there were many zinc wall partitions that are good hiding places to engage on an offensive stance. Some preferred a gung ho style of just dashing towards accomplishing the goal while others approached too cautiously in the first round. After a few rounds of intense battle, I kind of felt that our team (with no tags) are losing because there’s no team cooperation. There’s no leader to give instructions and no strategy to follow. It’s just blind shooting upon sighting a target.
After several rounds of defeat, we proceeded to a battlefield, which is much more interesting and was one of my favourite. This battlefield had many oil drums, abandoned cars and two caravans. That particular mission for that battlefield was for the police to crush a group of drug traffickers who are all inside one of the caravans. As police, we just concentrate on eliminating the people inside the caravan. However, when the roles are switched over. I had to lean really close to the walls of the caravan, and try not to stick my head at the windows and doors or I’ll be bombarded with flying paint!
In the next section, I did better as I begin to hit as least a few opponents. Blue oil barrels that piled up as high as 2 metres and we were warned not to climb on the barrels but only duck in between.
Before long, it was time for a break and lunch. Lunch was a self-service burger. Grabbing a bun and pile up lettuces, tomatoes, cheese and a choice of chicken or steak. Drinks were not provided and had to be on our account.
After the lunch hour, it’s another 3 hour intensive battles with goals that include protecting a medic to obtaining the enemies flag to eliminating everyone.
The final playing field was a large area of forested area with only trees and decomposed logs to give us cover against the enemies who are hiding among the backdrop. We had to start from the bottom with an oil drum as a starting point and had to overcome an upslope before approaching the main area. I had to approach cautiously and slowly as the enemies can spot any movement. However, this round lasted the longest which caused my legs and knees to get tired due to the constant kneeling and crouching. The camouflage overalls blended so well with the backdrop that I had a hard time spotting the enemies. Luckily, I managed to survive the end of the round but my team wasn’t able to win this time.
As everyone’s paintballs were close to reaching zero, our referee declared the final rounds of free play where everyone can shoot anyone, be it a friend or enemy. I suffered the most bruises as many paintballs came flying in my direction on the head, thigh, hands. Multiple impact at once really hurt! The final person standing was Joel, who just kept shooting and kept getting hit till his whole body had many bruises.
Overall, I enjoyed the feeling of “killing” off some people with realism; different feeling altogether as compared to PS2 games. I would like to go again!!
Dreams never come true
10:45 pm |
