New Fitness routine

So... after a long hiatus I decided to start gymming properly again. Well, I was already gymming since I started work at the pathetic gym near my workplace, but it is missing a Squat rack and a Bench rack, so I couldn't do those two all-important compound lifts. Plus I still stuck to my 3 day mixed routine, which wasn't giving me any noticeable gains, apart from a slight increase in definition in my arms.
During this time, there was a period of maybe a month where I increased my diet too, eating an extra snack each day of usually chicken fillets and drinking a banana milkshake every afternoon. I'm not sure how much that really helped apart from packing on some stubborn tummy fat, but I did gain 3 kg in the 3 months.

This may or may not be me, with a slight post workout-pump, and sucking in tummy.

Now, I will be starting on a 4 day split routine - chest, arms, rest, back, shoulders (I do squats with chest day, and crunches with back day) - and hope this routine gives me more gains. I'll evaluate the overall routine again in 3 months. I'm a bit lazy to up my diet again, due to the extra costs/time, but I know this will limit my gains too. Sigh. It's tough to get bigger.

I will be logging my progress over at http://crazerkfitness.blogspot.sg/ , so as not to flood this blog with such boring posts. Ok bye!

[ad] NoQ - Order books online!

The Offer
A few weeks ago I received an email from a 'NoQ Bookstore' offering to sponsor me with a $30 book voucher because apparently I loved reading books and quoting from them (based on my blog)

This was quite ridiculous as the only book I mentioned reading and quoted from was Guidance and Voice of God. 

I would normally just click ‘Spam’ on such emails, but I actually recognized the company’s name on one of my friend’s blog (he received a similar offer) and it seemed pretty legit. Thus I had a look through, and apparently it’s real! Woo $30 to spend!

Regardless of their selection criteria, this is free $30 so hey, might as well help them advertise. I was looking through their online store and everything seemed REALLY cheap. Like not sure how come they can discount so much! And apparently they have a Price Guaranteed Programme http://www.noqstore.asia/PriceGuaranteedProgram.aspx, such that they promise that their prices for the books you want are the lowest (Read through that page carefully for T&Cs)

The Initial Browsing
I began browsing their website, and because I wasn't very familiar with the hot books, I clicked on their 'This week's specials' as well as their 'Bestsellers' links for a more streamlined selection. They seem to have all sorts of categories, from Humour to Christian Titles to Parenting and Puzzles.Quite impressed with their wide range of categories.

The Search
I eventually decided to get a Mitch Albom book (after seeing 'Tuesdays with Morrie' on their bestsellers list, which I've already read), so I typed in 'Mitch Albom'.... but the search results were pretty confusing.

Why were there four results for the same book? Upon further scrutiny, the first and last ones were hardbacks (at different prices?) and the middle two were different mediums (CD-audio and Paperback). 

Perhaps if there was some way to combine the same title...
Even for the book I wanted 'Five people you meet in heaven', the results were strangely scattered (not grouped together like this one) with random results among each other. And it's not apparent on first glance what the difference between them was.

Regardless, I placed the order, and in about 2 weeks or so I received the book at my doorstep in a cardboard box with some cushioning plastic... and it was in good (brand-new) condition! Would have been nice if they had plastic wrapped it though, to preserve the 'new-nest' a bit more. 

And because you somehow read this boring blog, you get another 15% discount off the prices! Just use the code CRAZERK at checkout. This offer is valid from now till 31 October 2014!

NUS Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize

 I went to school today to collect my graduation gown and my invitation package. I didn't give it a second look because I was kind of in a rush.

Upon arriving home, I took a second look at the invitation card and got a shock:

What?? I won??

I knew that my prof had nominated my thesis for this prize, but I had not received any news from him or anyone about it since then. So this was quite a surprise. :o

I went to check out the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher website archives for winners and lo and behold...

Indeed I had won! And my name was listed first ! haha. cheap thrills.

I read on further in my commencement package, and apparently because I was an award winner, my guests had VIP seats! Which are basically closer to the stage I think.

Nice silver invites (instead of an orange colored card I believe)

This was such a random pleasant surprise!! I totally did not expect to win at all and in fact I found it a bit strange why my prof wanted to recommend me back then. Thank God for this great blessing!

Oh, and what is the prize, you may ask? Well, according to the website, it is $2000....but "the prizes awarded must be used towards participation in related activities/programmes which includes overseas/local conferences/workshops, leadership seminars or any such related activity approved by the Faculty/School that are deemed to add value to a student's education and overall development."

BOOO. I was thinking, what on earth can I go for, now that I've started working and all. So I just emailed the Dean's office to ask about it and this was their reply...

ZOMGGGG I'M RICHHH!!!

$2000!!!

I'm so happy :D

--

Anyway, here is a link to my thesis if any crazy soul wants to read it. It is more or less the same thing as what I submitted for the prize, just a little polished up results and discussion. Just skip the Results section as you probably won't get it if you don't know a lot of stats. I've heard the methods section was rather interesting so don't skip that :p

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cimmzbhcogy2b8k/A0072092%20-%20GOD%20PRIME%20AND%20APPRAISALS.pdf