Ridiculous to write this after spending 3 years here but as I have too much time on my hands for the moment, here goes... Name Adel Summary self-description Bitter, melancholic... and loving myself for it Location Current: Evanston, IL, USA (as can be seen beside my posts all the time. DUH) Past: Bukit Timah, Singapore (Near) Future: Hopefully somewhere in the US of A, South Korea or China (Distant) Future: Siberia/Timbuctoo/Anywhere else hard to reach Occupation Current: Student for the past 10 years, ending this Dec Future: Translator/Advertising Copywriter/Journalist/ (Open also to remote possibility of full time tai tai playing mahjong and doing manicures & pedicures 24/7 ) Badminton-related stuff The Monumental Steps: Started playing age 8, started watching age 12 Most memorable playing experience: Secondary school hall, open area outside photocopying shop (Nauknip will know) with dodgy old racket belonging to my father, I think First idol: Heryanto Arbi Current idols: Read my other posts Biggest inspiration (s): Hendrawan for his never-say-die attitude; Candra W. for trusting le bon Dieu in the face of adversity; the entire Danish team for showing the best sportsmanship always Soft spots: Ra Kyung-min for being the biggest part of my badminton memory over the last 10 years; Halim Haryanto for constantly being screwed over by the decision of others Greatest badminton-related dream: Being in really close proximity to players (fulfilled on Flight KE41 last year); Interviewing players - not just on the game but on politics, society, personal life etc. (unfulfilled) Other sports Air Rifle, Long-distance running esp. along the highway inhaling CO emissions from passing vehicles Greatest life-changing experience Coming to the US of A. Nothing (and I mean NOTHING) even comes close. Biggest accomplishment (to date) Taking apart and re-assembling a bookcase twice my height all by myself Non-badminton stuff that makes me go aaaahhhh Literature: "The Road not Taken" (Robert Frost) "Love at First Sight" (Wystawa Symborzka) "The Seven-Step Poem" (Cao Zhi) Select phrases from "The Mill on the Floss" (George Eliot) Songs: "Gong Lang (Stupid Person)" (Mayday) "My Way" (Frank Sinatra) "One Moment in Time" (Whitney Houston) "Wo Chi De Qi Ku (I can endure pain?)" (Power Station) Quotes: "To a dying and decaying system, I shout my protests" (translated. Ba Jin) "Under the heavens, there is never a dead-end" (translated. Chinese saying) "To understand all is to forgive all" (translated. French saying) "Better to be Aristotle and unhappy than a pig and happy." (quoting my ex-humanities tutor, who quoted it from elsewhere) "Personality is a mere luxury" (from the aforementioned guy) Final words For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught. To say the things he truly feels; And not the words of one who kneels. (hopefully)The record shows I took the blows - And did it my way! - "My Way", Frank Sinatra Sorry if this dragged longer than expected but I never said you had to read it all.
Man, this stuff is profound! Let me guess, you took literature as a subject before and you loved it, right? By the way, I am not really fond of the subject. But we do have one thing in common, and that is BADMINTON! I love this wonderful game!
Hi Adel, I won't tell you "welcome", because as you have written, you are here for a long time, much longer than me. I was interested that in the literature that makes you "aaahhh" is poem of the Polish writer (very famous - she received the Nobel Prize few years ago) Wisława Szymborska. I know that poem, but since it is originally in Polish, someone had to translate it into English. It is interesting how the poem changes after the translation - I suppose that it requires a very talented translator to keep the translated text as good as the original is. I am not much in the poetry, but in the badminton - very much. If I was talented in the poetry (but I am not - same like in badminton) maybe I could write a badminton related poem (like some gifted members of our forum did recently). It was nice to read about you. Best regards, dzgdz
Future: Translator/Advertising Copywriter/Journalist/ (Open also to remote possibility of full time tai tai playing mahjong and doing manicures & pedicures 24/7 ) Hi Adel You sounded like you'll not be coming back. By the way, are you MAN or WoMAN. I'm a bit confused by your above statement when you mentioned that you don't mind being a 'tai tai' or what you meant was you don't mind marrying a tai tai? I always thought you are MAN.
*snickers* Have you ever read any of her posts that mention LDS? Adel is definately a girl, why do we have such issues resolving gender on this board, the only person's I've ever gotten wrong (to my knowledge) was peace given his comments about Lin Dan sounded exactly like numerous female posters posts (except that he admitted that he played, shock horror).
Thanks Pecheur for confirming. Somehow I must have missed some of the 'hints' she laid out before. I should have known when she mentioned her good friend Nauknip and they seem to have something in common apart from their school days, like the Korean shuttlers, especially Ra. And also the long hours on the phone with mum making a running commentary of important matches televised live in Singapore but not in the US. But I find Adel's writing relatively 'strong' as though it comes from the hand of a man. Anyway, welcome back Adel and I remembered you were very interested in all things Korean, its culture and language. I hope that interest continues to capture your imagination.
Yeah that's true she's never posted a pic ... then again I haven't either, I wouldn't want you guys to know I'm really a 13 year old girl
That's one way to play hard to get and so far u r doing pretty good since some of us here dunno if you're a man or woman
In response to all your responses... Loh: Aiyah! I'm a girl lah. Understand a lot of people think otherwise because of the "strong" writing. You'd be amazed to discover I speak like that too (again, Nauknip will know. Sorry hon, I'm implicating you here). Especially when I start swearing... ooops.... revealing a little too much here. As for coming back, I'm not too sure really. Would love to see more of the world while there are still opportunities. Then again, job prospects in the US of A aren't exactly rosy now. And I have some doubts about my own ability. Pecheur: SHARP! Dzgdz: Yes, I actually read an English translation of the poem and loved it. Honestly, I don't think any piece of literature has ever struck me like that besides "The Road Not Taken". I first came into contact with the poem when it appeared in a corny Chinese movie "Turn Left, Turn Right" (as the title suggests, it's about two people who are meant for each other but never meet - one always turns left and the other, right) and was so impressed by it, I *knew* I had to work on that poem as part of my independent study project. Result? I translated an English translation of a Polish poem into Korean. Needless to say, there were plenty of mistakes and I must have killed off the original twice in the process - but it was by far the most satisfying piece of work I'd ever done. Bluemp88lover: Yes, I took Lit S in JC (since your location says Singapore, I'm assumming you know what I'm talking about ) and got an "Ungraded" for it. Speaks volumes about my literary abilities. Fortunately, I enjoy literature a lot more now than I did in the past when I was too bothered by grades to truly appreciate it. And Kwun, for your peace of mind, I'm definitely NOT a 60-year old man. But I may be a 6-year old dog who loves chewing on furniture.
That place was windy wasn't it... And back then, I probably couldn't comment any more than 'oh, that's badminton they're playing'. Times have changed, eh? I still miss him... and still looking forward to meeting him personally. My first idol, for the very same reason, and more actually... Glad you left out the stuff that make you go 'boohoohooooo'. Would've taken up pages. The Seven-Step Poem's an interesting inclusion. Still reminds me of the Sobe ad though. Gong Lang is THE song. The awe-inspiring song best for shouting out loud at ktv and tell yourself to live your dreams! I didn't know you like the PS song too. I thought I was the only one who liked what everybody considered a corny song. Btw, no caps for 'nauknip'.
No!! Please don't get her started. Corny is an understatement. I watched it in the hotel when I was in KL for the ABC and when it ended, I jumped up from my chair and walked all around the room including the toilet shouting "SPASTIC!!!" non-stop. All IMHO, of course. It was a box office hit after all. Lit S in itself is no mean feat. Never touched lit since secondary two and I'm still proud to say that I scored a wonderful 32/100 for my secondary one final exam. And it's ironic that the first two times I'm posting in this intro forum is not in fact an intro of myself.
