Joan of Arc Fail

Bull's eye! Almost. And it was just once.

It was a surprise to see the other team's manager's email invitation for a teambuilding event between my employer and my baby customer. After two and a half years! And the choice of activity absolutely made it much more exciting, Archery.

The Overall Experience

I didn't really know who to hitch with. The people I thought I know who would most probably be kind enough to take me in, didn't even bother to reply. Since they couldn't accomodate me, at least they could have mailed me back that they too would just hitch in and can't attend to me. That could have been much appreciated. Anyways, who cared, I got the customer's resident engineer with me. Lucky me, he is brother's good friend. So I hitched and made a new acquaintance with his PE. Geylang Community Center was somewhere in Geylang, Paya Lebar, East Coast, where else? Ah, it was darn a long route. And really remote!

We were late, apparently. As soon as I arrived, there were more new acquaintances waiting. It was a hodge podge of races - Dutch, Chinese, Pinoys. A few good talks during the practice with the white men got me into the conclusion that they were very cordial as they presented themselves amicably.

Ask me how it went for my actual shooting, uhmmm. Well. I made shots. Outside the target. One bull's eye. Another outside the target. And another. Joan of Arc fail. The worse part is I didn't get any score for the individual competition. The Italian and the Chinese from customer side excelled. Not bad, Pinoys are competitive enough, 3 of us were able to get thru!

Now for the team competition. I must shoot the target right! Or shame on me. Well, I got 2 out of 3 attempts. 14 out of 30. Yay. Well, at least. Joan of Arc fail.

The corporate activity ended with vouchers for free Archery sessions for the winners and photo shoot for the entire team. It was really fun! With the new acquaintances and new learning for me, it was so much worth it. Who cares about Joan of Arc fail. ;)

The best thing after every game is of course a hearty meal. And it couldn't get any better if you're with the big bosses treating our most loved customer. Apart from what's usual, Chinese dishes were never this good! As a CNY tradition, we had the Yusheng. Oops! I forgot to make a wish! I always find the rough tossing of salad the Chinese way very fun! Mmm-mmm.

Enough with the personal experience.

The Game
Let me share the ABCs of Archery from a first-time player. The most notable terms one has to get on with for the parts of the recurve bow and arrow are the arrow rest located on the middle of the bow just above the handle and the nocking point which locks the arrow in the middle of the bowstring.

After the glossary, on with the basic shooting techniques.
1. The Body Stance.
Place one foot on each side of the shooting line. Find your balance and comfy stand.
2. Nocking of Arrow.
Place the arrow on the arrow rest holding the arrow near its nock. Snap it into the nocking point.
3. Positioning of Fingers and Grip (Bare Bow).
Set the first groove of your three middle fingers around the bowstring 2 to 3 finger spacings below the nocking point creating a hook.
4. Pre-draw (Tensioning The Bowstring).
Draw the bowstring a little. Raise your bow arm towards the target. Raise your right elbow such that it is perpendicular to the body.
5. Lifting of Bow.
Raise both arms til your right forearm is above your chin. Keep the bow perpendicular to the ground. Arrow nock should be at eye level.
6. Full Draw of Bow.
Draw the bowstring backwards and push forwards with your left arm simultaneously while lowering both arms.
7. Anchor.
Arrow should be parallel to the ground, arrow nock is in front of the right eye, draw hand should be touching the cheek, right arm should be parallel to the ground, arm and shoulders locked in place.
8. Aim.
Close your left eye with the right eye aligning the arrow nock, arrow point and the yellow portion/bull's eye of the target into a straight line.
9. Release And Follow Through.
From a curled, hooked position, straighten all three fingers together quickly. Upon arrow release, maintain the aiming sight on the bull's eye. Left arm should be kept level and steady.
10. Disengage And Evaluation.
Upon the arrow hitting the target board, lower the bow gently, resting the bow arm in a comfy position by the side of your body. Evaluate the shot before re-nocking a new arrow.

Safety Precautions, of course.
1. Always walk and not run to the target board to retrieve arrows.
2. Ensure that nobody is standing directly behind you and in front of the target board when withdrawing arrows from the target board.
3. Never point the bow with loaded arrow at anyone.
4. Always wear closed shoes.
5. Never load your arrows when someone is in front of the shooting line.
6. Always ensure that arrows are properly nocked.

With the basics that were taught to us by the professional coaches, the new learning was good enough. But definitely, I'd be coming back for another round of play again.

End of Summer

Finally.

Almost a half a year later, I got the chance to sit the weekend for the not-your-usual-happily-ever-after-ending story. That, probably makes this film interesting.

I was Tom. She was Summer. I felt the strong need to finally watch 500 Days of Summer today, on the birthday. For all the reasons I could think of, this is the perfect time for me to free myself from everything, probably, in preparation for Autumn. Or probably to just make me realize that it is my Spring that's beautiful.

My 500th day of Summer has ended today and Feb is coming. :)

Twenty Four

At the onset of my soon-to-be-24th year, specifically 23 days before 24, I took my camera, took a smexi back shot of me for a pool made by and for both amateur and pro young filipina photography enthusiasts from everywhere, posted it, and typed, "To me, twenty-four is a very sexy age. And it smells of youth, independence and power." Roughly six months later, today, here's my inevitable affirmation, OH YES IT IS. 

Come Clean...This Twenty-Ten

I'm back! Allow me to wrap-up my 2009 as I invite the onset of 2010 in my personal site. The previous year had been a series of peaks and troughs, and of gray and hot pink. Everything else in between, I hereby translate into words...

I do not prefer to take the well-travelled road. I create my own path and methods as I take guide from the credible ones to the point where I'm headed to.

There is at least one person or two in the professional arena whom you could look up to to keep you inspired and motivated.

Humility is a crucial part of "credible" integrity.

One does not have to brag about what he did. His lead and example shall speak for himself. 

We need not wait for New Year's Resolution. It won't happen. There's no time more appropriate than "today" to start something or change an existing thing that has proven to be life's liability.

Differences are a lame excuse for misunderstanding. Open minds see it as an opportunity to learn what you might have been missing all the while.

Wisdom from the old and experienced; Refreshing and new ideas from the young and learning.

I am human and humans are inclined to rationalize. Some more, I am woe-man, I can't help but over-rationalize. That's fine if it leads to good reflections. But when it's excessively done that it becomes annoying, we get wasted energy in the form of what we call self-inflicted pain.

Silliness at work with light-hearted colleagues make a not-so-great day turn fine. Plus, occasional after-office talks always make a great stress-reliever. 

Things beyond our control are, well, things beyond our control. But they aren't the things that should keep us from making our move.

We cry at our loved ones' death mainly because of regret. I guess we could let them go whole-heartedly if we knew we did not fail to make them happy while the opportunity was there. 

Probably we'll all be going through that phase when living seem darn pointless. I DID.

One research said that people change every after 2 years.

In 2008,
The world was a large observatory. 

Two years later,
The world is a large observatory. I keep my senses open, immerse myself in contemplation... and learn.

Twenty-ow-eight had been the realization; 2009, the tough transition. And Twenty-Ten? The execution.