I like to think that I’m a human just like everybody else. But oftentimes, people look at me like I’m an alien specimen to be studied. Is it that weird to sleep at 8:30 PM?
Recently, I’ve been going to bed as early as 7 PM. Every time the sun vanishes into the horizon, I am blessed with a hearty 8 hours of sleep. I do this to protect my mornings - a sacred time when magic may just happen. Alone in a dimly lit room, my very soul is ignited. The flame intensifies, and I let it burn. With the fuel of my soul, I do what I love most: I create.
Whether it’s a blog post, drawing, song, video game, YouTube video, website, or a Splinterlands team, I’m always creating. There is a special satisfaction to be had when making something with your own hands. You made that. It belongs to you, no one can take it from you, and you can use it to make others happy.
Card games have always held a special place in my heart. It all started when I was a child, losing game after game to my two older brothers. Being the youngest child, I wasn’t the best at anything. I don’t even know how I found it enjoyable to keep losing, but those games sparked a lifelong passion.
My card game journey was varied. It started with Duel masters and Pokemon, then shifted to Yu-Gi-Oh, followed by a brief period of Magic (I played Mono-Red Goblins with Cavalcade of Calamity). I discovered Splinterlands during beta, and during Untamed, I invested $10k to design Mimosa Nightshade, a Legendary Death summoner. I eventually returned to Pokemon, this time competitively. A few months ago, I achieved a Top 4 placement at a 400-player Pokemon card event. Now, I’m pouring my love for card games into Splinterlands again.
Drawing is another passion of mine. It started as a pastime during my mandatory Singapore National Service as a firefighter since phones weren’t allowed to be used for most of the day. In my Recruit days, I would be the sentry at the door, drawing while others used their phones. As soon as a Sergeant looked inside, I would shout “ROOM!” so everyone knew to hide their phones. During breaks between training, I would often draw while others napped (understatement, some of them were absolutely knocked out).
Last year, I committed to drawing every day, and drew for over 200 consecutive days. Despite not drawing everyday, I still enjoy it on some mornings. It’s a fun hobby that I strive to improve in. I’m getting my first proper lesson later today!
YouTube is dear to my heart. I first tried it as a kid, posting embarrassing Pokemon card pack openings, Pokemon playthroughs with my friend, and Ocarina videos (I actually played the musical instrument prominently featured in Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time; I had a playable replica). Don’t try to find my old videos. I privated them for a reason.
In 2021, I made videos to teach new players how to play Splinterlands. Now, I’m focusing more on challenge-style content, like the current New Account Challenge I’m running with Psilence and GatheringTheMagic. I’m at about $6 while Psilence is probably around $45. Not sure about Gathering, but I don’t think he’s near Psilence’s value. Psilence posted on Hive and is set to win the challenge.
I used to strongly dislike writing, but I spent the past few months furiously writing, rewriting, and revising countless essays for my university applications. My perspective on writing changed. Being able to write for myself felt good. and I wasn’t being watched over and told what to write, and was actively encouraged to explore myself.
Part of the reason I didn’t like writing was English class. I would get scolded for reading ahead and got a low grade in the easiest English class during IB; my teacher didn’t like me probably because that I didn’t talk about the patriarchy and gender roles enough. I hated English class – except when I played pranks on my friend! (A story for another time. Just don't open weird files in class.)
I highly doubt that I’m actually bad at English. I think it would be exceptionally difficult to get a 780 (out of 800) on the English section of the SAT if I was bad at English. But I enjoy writing now. I get an unmatched sense of catharsis when I pour my heart out into the words on the page. Also, thank you all for the support on my previous post - I was shocked when I saw the highest payout trophy!
I spent the last two years in Singapore’s mandatory National Service as a Firefighting Instructor, attaining the rank of Lieutenant, but that’s a story for another time.
I view coding as more of a means to an end. I love building websites, tools, and games with code, but I hate looking for that one missing semicolon in 800 lines of code.
What I’ve built:
A few games in unity (one of which won a game competition at my school!)
An inventory management system
Pricing excel sheet (not technically challenging but saved a lot of time)
Nightshade.gg (a Splinterlands account stats and rental tool for renters - go check it out!)
I plan on majoring in Computer Science in the US. One acceptance so far from Virginia Tech. If I get accepted to Stanford I’ll probably write about it ;)
I read when I read. I can get very, very engrossed in a book (for hours and hours at a time), to the point of missing meals because of it. Then I’ll stop reading for a while. I love reading, but I don’t read nearly as much as I’d like.
Three books that I love: Breath, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, and Challenger Deep (excellent fiction on mental illness - highly recommend).
Three books that I’m reading: Sapiens, Kant’s Prolegomena To Any Future Metaphysics, and Barbarians at the Gate.
Three books that I live by: Wooden on Leadership, Atomic Habits, and How To Win Friends and Influence People.
The Bible is also a pretty good read, has some great ideas to learn from. I would rather not go too deep into religion here, but just know that I grew up in a Christian household but don’t affiliate myself with any religion.
I also love making music. I used to make songs with a free trial of Ableton; just for myself and friends. I’d have to dig through my Drive backup to see if I have some of my old songs.
I also play the piano and am classically trained with a Merit in Grade 8 ABRSM Piano. I’ve always wanted to learn Jazz improvisation though… I’ll think about getting lessons.
I took Music in IGCSE, but absolutely hated it. I don’t understand why they force you to use software that is straight up worse than free online alternatives like MuseScore, or why they force you to create classical music. They could have just told me from the start that they don’t care about my songs, and wanted to teach me how to pass music exams instead of playing and making beautiful music. My teacher didn’t like me either.
I believe that the world would be a much better place if everyone acted in their own best interests. While this may sound contradictory, our best interests are not always aligned with our desires. After working hard, we naturally want to rest. But pushing in those moments is when we experience growth. When someone raises their voice in an argument, we want to follow suit. But It’s often better to do the opposite and calmly lower your voice – to deny your own desires for a better long-term outcome.
Friends and colleagues are often shocked by my lifestyle. I sleep early, abstain from alcohol and smoking (and drugs, obviously), and always have projects that I’m working on. Someone even joked earlier today that I’m on the “sigma grindset,” but in reality, I just love living my life this way. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced burnout (I’ve gotten close though). I try to do what I want, when I want, with the people I want. Usually, that’s solo, but I do form close bonds with people really like.
Before answering that, I want you to know that you can do more than you think. I don’t like it when people say that I’m different or smart. I wasn’t born able to write code, let alone read. I fail, and fail, and fail again to learn just like everybody else. I try not to put my attention towards my current skill level. All of my energy is put towards what I’m doing wrong, what I’m doing right, how others do things, and how I can improve. That’s it.
As for who I am, I don't fall neatly into an identity. I'm an artist, but I love solving math equations and learning about Lenz's Law. I'm a programmer, but I love to draw and write. I'm hard-working, but I also play lots of video games. I'm a jack of all trades, but I strive every day to become closer to a master in each. I don't like to assign myself an identity. I just am. I am an amalgam of beliefs, experiences, dreams, and fears. I'm still discovering myself, but I hope you learned a little about who I am from what I do.
Thank you for reading about me. Your attention is extremely valuable to me, so I'll take some of it and put it in a bottle. It’s on my desk right now. I’ll keep it under my pillow tonight. You don’t have to upvote, but I would appreciate upvotes and downvotes. They let me know whether a piece of writing was good or not, so I can improve for next time. I hope that you follow me, because I have more beautiful ideas to share.
If you take away one thing from this post, just remember this:
You can do more than you think.
