The Long Wait



For the first time in 10 years, I do not have to keep siLent when I taLk about the EngLish Premier League.

For the first time in 10 years, Manchester United and CheLsea fans are not opening their mouths jeering at LiverpooL FootbaLL CLub.

For the first time in 10 years, LiverpooL FootbaLL CLub is going into the New Year sitting on top of the tabLe.

And for the first time in 10 years ... I can finaLLy say .. freak you, Man Utd and CheLsea fans. How does it feeL to be beLow?

Success comes with a price, and that is expectations. The EngLish League is a year-Long marathon. HaLfway through, now we await and see if my dear Reds can maintain.

HopefuLLy they can give me a good reason to ceLebrate my birthday in May when the season is over.

When Two Generations CoLLide

On Boxing Day, the squad of two generations cLashed for a game of footbaLL @ Tampines SAFRA.

Greats FC vs Knights FC

The 12 Days of Xmas

.. tweLve days, thats wat Amos Lim Guoann said there were. And so we beLieved .. coz he is our good oLd friend.

The joyous moments of the 2nd and 3rd day of Xmas are captured as foLLows ..


26th December @ Leon's pLace



The Presents.

Above: The Group.
Left: Charmaine's got mine.

Above: PL & WY, my dear dear friends who I invited Last minute and forgot to teLL them about the Xmas Xchange. A consolation picture taken with other peeps' presents.

Above: Pictionary Champions. Dun be fooled by academic results. These team is out to kill with their "art" and "vocabulary".

Above: Kenneth and partner.

Below: The host, Leon Tan.

Above: PL& WY + Long & Amos, oLd time schooLmates.



Right: The pair that doesnt spend Lotsa time together, yet being aLways cLose somehow, somewhere, sometime. Long & Clement

Season's Greetings

The bLog owner wouLd Like to wish aLL regardLess of status, a Merry Christmas! And, though earLy, a bLessed New Year too!

WorLd peace, Love and Lots of happiness for aLL.

PFC Season End BBQ @ PunggoL Park


PFC members.


PFC members + members' peeps.


Award Winners 2008 - Top Scorer & PLayer of the Year. No that ain me, it was on behaLf. Therefore covering the face is necessary.

Press conference for PLayer of the Year 2008. AbsoLute hiLarious, with microphones made from satay sticks, hotdogs and non-stop camera shots, and aLso a transLator (the PLayer of the Year can speak no good EngLish).

Press conference from the paneL of reporters.

It was 20 December 2008. A good evening of good food, fun and Laughter. ALL in aLL, it was a cooL evening with the company of good oLd friends and two babes.

December

ALas, a new year is coming!

The kids are right ... I am becoming "uncLe"!

The Lost Iron Horse

I need to whine.

Have yet to mention about that fatefuL day when I had difficuLty waLking after a 42-km run-stroLL.

Because I had to work, I went home for dinner and cycLed back to my workpLace. Because I TRUSTED the community, I pLaced the $1000-bike outside the Community Centre where I can see through the gLass paneLs. Because of work, I took just some minutes away from watching over the bicycLe.

Because I did not watch over the bicycLe, some bLoody b*$%^&# rode it away.

$1000!!! Just because I was shacked, need to work, and TRUSTED the community.

Lessons Learnt :

1. You can bLame everything and everyone. But in the end, you can onLy bLame yourseLf.

2. 听爸爸的话 (Listen to the man in the house). When he says, Lock the bike, you joLLy Lock it.

3. Trust the community (heLL no).

a stroLL through oLd schooL Nanyang PoLytechnic after dinner on this day. Every step sends reminiscence through my mind. PoLy Life was pretty cooL, I met Love, I met friends and I met Lots of passer-bies. Yea, PoLy is just a passing phrase after aLL, since nothing much has been retained of now.

the dinner with some good oLd peeps, and oLd peeps' peeps.

Run Your Own Race 07.12.2008

CompLeted the marathon in record time - about 7 hours. Okie that is crap timing. But as the theme says it, you run ur own race. And so I did.

Met secondary schooLmates RongChuan and Weichong with their friend OMY and thus, waLked haLf the marathon to the Finish Line with them, chatting much throughout, and not forgetting enjoying the food and drinks aLong the journey, fuLLy sponsored. We had bananas, energy geL packets, 100-pLus and mineraL water.

This time, there wasnt much pride, coz I did not push myseLf hard. But at Least the marathon was compLeted.

SadLy, had to rush down to work in a shacked-out fashion. For the next haLf of the day I sat in front of my Community Club counter, Like a zombie.

HighLights aLong the run were:

1. The same Woman of SteeL dragging a huge tyre throughout 42.195km. To think I carried nothing and feLt so Lethargic. Shame, shame.

2. A MusLim eLderLy man who ran past me on the second haLf of the marathon. To think I am one-third his age. Shame, shame.

3. The team of Singapore women cLimbers of Everest, who carried haversacks and the team tied a rope to each other and pushed themseLves through. They overtook me whiLe I was waLking in the Last 15km. Shame, shame.

4. After so much, I came to a concLusion that the medaL that I have coLLected, is nothing but just a piece of metaL with a ribbon.

I need to be stronger up there.

BLack November Mumbai

Terrorists hit India. One Singaporean woman dead. Young, bright, and supposedLy to have Lived a wonderfuL Life ahead. Wrong pLace, wrong time. Life is taken. And there goes her out of this worLd.

You can just imagine, what kind of worLd we are Living in. So fragiLe, so unpredictabLe. We are aLL caught between the fine Line of Living and dying.

So, pLease show more Love to yourseLves if you haven't been.


Just on MSN, I see one friend with a personaL message which he excLaims excitedLy over winning some cash in Starters for 4D. Guess what he bet on? The Singaporean victim's age, and the fLoor number of her hoteL room, which comes up to 2819.

Pretty annoying just how insensitive some peopLe can be, and to think that this friend of mine is a civiL servant, supposedLy to be "civiLised".

CoLLeagues of PeopLe's Association @ BaLcony

Gathering on Thursday to ceLebrate Sebast's burfday. The "Interest Group", as the guys have formed, cannot do without booze, just Like during the Induction Programme.

The Day Greats FootbaLL CLub Became Champions

Today, Greats moved one step cLoser in their pursuit of a first-ever Champions honour. This is by far my best moment through the years we have pLayed together since year 1998.

The match against AIG FootbaLL CLub aLso puts the icing on the cake with myseLf grabbing one goaL (weLL, I seLdom score anyways) and being nominated as the Man of the Match by my feLLow warriors.

Greats FootbaLL CLub has graduaLLy buiLt up a branding in the ESPZEN Amateur League over the past years since its inception.

ShouLd there be any interest in sponsorship of some kind, pLease feeL free to contact me. We would weLcome it with open hands!

For now I'm just being gLued to ChanneL 8's anniversary ceLebration with the intention of rekindLing dramas, actors and moments from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Its with much amazement that time passes in such a pace that we do not reaLise how many interesting moments we have faiLed to appreciate.

Later foLks.

A snaiL aLong the steps of NACLI (training institute).


A creation by anonymous on the windows of HaLL of Aspirations, NACLI. StrangeLy, we do not do this at our workpLace, do we? It is onLy out of the usuaL routine wiLL ur creativity set in.


Let me taLk more about my Induction Programme soon in the next few days.

Thanks for visiting, Evonne.

KnowLedge

The best intangibLe gift a man can get, in my point of view, is knowLedge.

To acquire new knowLedge is Like expLoring strange terrains for the first time, and that is simpLy therapatic.

Second day of a "honeymoon period" course went absoLuteLy weLL, with the ice aLmost totaLLy broken amongst the 27 course-mates who have just joined the company in no more than six months.

Just something to share with the very few peopLe who drops by once a whiLe ..

I have Learnt today that peopLe onLy see what they wanna see. This is one reaLity which can be reaLLy ugLy. We have aLL been brought up to beLieve in certain things which, in fact, do not exist.

D you remember when you were younger, the eLders wiLL aLways say "Don't anyhow run ah .. Later mangkaLi (dark-skinned man from another race) take you away!"

And so, when we grow up and happens that an Indian man waLks behind approaching you, chances are you wiLL feeL threatened and fearfuL. For aLL you know, you may have dropped your waLLet and he just wants to return you.

You wouLd have heard about Osama Bin Laden after the 911 incident. He became the worLd's most wanted. Months Later, a Sikh man working at a petroL station, became the first post-casuaLty foLLowing 911.

He was shot by a white man who drove and stopped by the station. When questioned by the poLice, the white man cLaimed he thought the victim was dangerous. He said, "I shot him because he is dark-skinned, grows a beard and wears a turban." ObviousLy, we can Laugh at this dumb shit, but can bLame reaLLy be put on him?

This is one syndrome known as "Lookism" and we are aLL infected by it. Somehow, the chaLLenge to break the race-barrier that is seemingLy improving on the surface, is onLy on the surface.

Think about it, how often in your workpLace, with coLLeagues from the minority groups, you speak your own tongue? The thing is, in Singapore, most Chinese wiLL never understand the how our dear minority friends are feeLing.

Try taking a waLk aLone down LittLe India ...

Road to raciaL harmony? LabeLLed "Working stiLL in progress."

There Is ..

My apoLogies for the previous post whereby a Singaporean Layman who thinks that Mr. Obama being President wiLL have no impact on Singapore.

Think about this, Mr. Obama has spent years schooLing in Indonesia. What if ... he decides to pump in miLLions on Batam or Bintan or some other Indonesian isLands?

Somehow the course that I am going through right now in NationaL Community Leadership Institute, is reaping Lots.

So Looking forward to the second day, tomorrow.

America Decides



Another history rewritten. The 44th Presidency of the United States of America was decided earLier on, with Democrat Barack Obama winning over the RepubLican John McCain.

FrankLy speaking, my knowLedge has been reaLLy Limited these days, other than knowing that Obama is born of an African father and American mother, and that he is the first black American to become President, and that he is considered a truLy gLobaL President (with even Indonesians, Japanese, and Africans aLL behind him), I dun think I have any idea what kind of impact this eLection has on Singapore as a whoLe.

WeLL, it doesnt reaLLy matter a Lot. The onLy good thing is that I am gonna be away from work for at Least a week. The company has sent me for an induction camp which my coLLeagues have aLL cLaimed to be the sweetest time of their working Life in the company.

Man, I am so Looking forward to it. May not be onLine for the next few days. So, tiL then, cya.

The Taurus Factor

I have an obsession to go against the odds.

When peopLe think things are not possibLe, often I try to make things work. Most of the time though, these peopLe get the Last Laugh. And I hear the words Like, " See, toLd u so."

NonetheLess, it is enjoyabLe going against the majority's thinking, coz nothing can be interesting going with the norm.

It may sound sick, but thats the Taurus factor ... stubborn.

Now You See It Now You Don't



Like every other working day, I go to the food court on LeveL Four of Hougang MaLL for my meaLs. For aLmost 99% of the time my meaLs are enjoyed with myseLf.

This day, I choose to sit aLong the ChiLdren's pLay corner. There is a chiLd of about two years riding on the rocking horse. He is pretty happy. Then another chiLd comes aLong. He rides on the other horse which is bigger but not as fun. So he goes to the first chiLd, Lays his hand on the head of the horse. The first chiLd is obviousLy pissed. He screams, and tries to push away the hand of the second chiLd, then starts crying.

The second chiLd, Looks at his mother innocentLy when she teLLs him to Let the boy pLay. He ignores, and hoLds onto the head. The crying chiLd then runs to his mother, who comforts him, and carries him to their tabLe. The second chiLd, now with the freedom to enjoy the horse aLL by himseLf, Leaves the corner to his dining tabLe as weLL.

The ChiLdren's pLay corner is now empty.

The moraL of the story is, it can be pretty boring to eat aLone, so much so you have to find "drama" to entertain urseLf with.

I wonder what kind of scenarios I can get with different chiLdren next time.

Striped icebergs, compLimentary from emaiL forwarded by MicheL Tan.

Enjoy whiLst it Lasts.







Soon, we wiLL see countries vying for new shipping routes, new Lands and probabLe naturaL resources exposed from the disappearing ice.

PrickLy Heat Powder

After our usuaL Tuesday evening footbaLL session, whiLst on our way back to Hougang, we taLked.

Sizhe commented that he Loves Tuesdays, because after it comes Wednesday. He Likes Wednesdays even more, for it is heading for Thursday. And Thursdays are good news, with Friday just next. And Friday, needLess to say, this is one of the best working days with the weekend in sight.

In concLusion, there are no bad days in a week, Less Mondays. What an optimistic way of approaching the weekend .. but somehow what he says contains Lots of sentiments shared by the cLique.

So, to brighten your week, do something you enjoy on either Tuesday or Wednesday. It shouLd be good.


P.S : titLe is pure randomness, it is physicaLLy right in front of the writer's dear eyes.

Recession

Fasten your seatbeLts, we are heading towards a recession.

You may not feeL it, but some signs are pretty cLear. My Dad's job is aLready hanging in the baLance, and the worst couLd happen in a year.

Fingers crossed, I think the possibiLity of me being homeLess is pretty high.


Nahh, I'm just crapping shit ... must be the Monday bLues.

The House Bunny



Great show! Must watch.

But biased wouLd be guys coz she is simpLy LovabLe, juz Like a Barbie doLL. The "bimbo" factor which disgusts many wiLL be forgotten with this movie promoting the good of it.

Taiwanese gaLs taLking about their sexuaL experiences. Freaking humourous!


P.S : Not for eyes of the underaged.

The FugLy Side

The 'garment' has yet again announced another increase ... if you'd hope itz ur pay, forget it.

The honour of the increase goes to bus fares. With effect from 1st October, Singaporeans wiLL aLL be paying some cents more for bus trips.

To aid the Low-income househoLds cope, schemes are avaiLabLe for the needy, such as the PubLic Transport Fund.

And aLready, beginning Last Saturday, streams of peopLe from aLL waLks of Life have visited community centres to appLy. Itz reaLLy amazing to see even those weLL-to-do peopLe wanting a piece of the fund, and aLso peopLe who do not reaLLy know what they are coming for.

Some peopLe just dun understand, do they? It is for Low-income famiLies and the needy.

Somehow, I think that this scheme is another media gimmick just to ease the tension which is expected to arise with the fare hike. There are stiLL those who are stuck at home, without a tv set, a radio or newspapers to even know about such a scheme. Im reaLLy wondering, if our nationaL pLedge supposedLy to be based on justice and equaLity, won't it be contradicting to award those no-so-needy peopLe instead?

So they say, the rich are getting richer and poor are getting poorer .. how true, when even the rich are trying to vie with the poor for such.

the crowd.


the rise of the bar .. and i tink i took a decent Looking photo here.


the proud grannies, parents, girLfriends, cousins and sisters.


the other side by me ... his honour actuaLLy.


under one roof.

Minister for Defence, Teo Chee Hean.

the moment.

New-born Leader

My brother's Commissioning ceremony was heLd earLier today, which sees 200 new officers in the army. WeLL, it is a good moment, for he is achieving wat I am unabLe to. Thus, I do feeL proud to put up the bar on his shouLder. Pictures to foLLow.

It is aLso the Lunar 15th day of the eighth month a.k.a Mooncake festivaL where it is beLieved the moon is brightest, roundest and biggest on this day. But does anyone know the moraL of this event? WeLL history has it that NeiL Armstrong, the first man to Land on the moon, craved for a piece of cake on it, so to ceLebrate his feat, the mooncake was invented.

Ok that was crap.

Truth is, I am not too sure about it anyways. Other than knowing that in ancient China, the mooncake was used to send messages which was written on paper and stuffed in the mooncakes. If anyone is reaLLy interested just go googLe it. Let me know and many thanks.


I had tuned in to the news on teLevision recentLy and there were the reports of typhoons in Taiwan. It brought much reminiscence of 2007 where I spent the whoLe chunk of that year there.

I do miss Taiwan for its unforgettabLe Earthquakes, typhoons, winter and other events throughout the year. More importantLy, friends I have made there.

EnvironmentaL ALarm

We aLL have a big part to pLay in keeping the earth in pLace. I wiLL teLL u guys why in the upcoming days, weeks or months to come.

The End may not be in this generation, but we cannot forget the chiLdren of the future.

If ..

This is a word such that it makes peopLe wonder what the other side wouLd be Like.

But Life is such, that you can onLy Look ahead. Yes, we can wonder, if .. things might have been better or worse, but nothing changes facts and reaLity that has happened.

Life is Like a runway train on a one-way track.

It never goes back.

So, if possibLe, dun Let ur Life be fuLL of "if's" ...

the coincidentaL stranger.


the Foursome.

The Nike 10km Human Race

Been a whiLe since participation in a running event after an absence from the country for a year. This charity run sure is very much enjoyabLe with the company of 10,000 others from home, and one miLLion worLdwide.

Of coz, not forgetting Jerms who paced aLongside me throughout, and Amos for running his own race at record time, and Lovey dovey Guizhong and Charmaine finishing together a few minutes Later. Jaz and Jo, surprisingLy, did pretty weLL even though I sure have premature doubts about them compLeting, and that they are just here for a LittLe stroLL.

Bumped into ex-schooLmates AmeLyn and Huiying, of whom we did meet juz a week ago whiLe coLLecting the race pack at CLark Quay.

CoincidentaLLy, therez this guy whose number is juz one apart from mine, and we din hesitate a second to have a picture taken together.

A shirt number with many admiring in awe, 0787778 is one I wouLd wanna extend my thanks to Amos for magnaminousLy exchanging with me. Or rather, I fought with Zhanrong to win the right for that number. ALL in aLL, I guesz it was destined for me to keep.

Upcoming, the Run For Hope, formerLy known as Terry Fox Run for Cancer foundation wouLd be next.

Now, who's in?

There are times when you grow sick of your routine that you expLore a LittLe out of it. Some days, out of my usuaL browsing of sports and sociaL webbies, I wiLL cLick on the LittLe icon of BLogger on the top of the page. It brings one to others' bLogs, and their very originaL Lives and interests.

It is a reaLLy wonderfuL experience, as I found some amazing ones which I think wiLL further enhance the coLours of one's Life.

Visit Gina Lee and her husband, Christopher.

Thing

When something means everything, everything eLse becomes nothing.

So Let nothing be something that takes away everything eLse, coz there are far too many wonderfuL things to appreciate.

August's ceLebrations and beginnings



The Beijing OLympics (08.08.2008) is here. Impressive opening ceremony I must say .. and impressive 5000-year oLd history of China. It is something that money cant buy. The OLympics aLso bring about a good chance of appreciating Ladies do sports. Can I say that the Canadian women soccer team has hotties .. hah.

So has Singapore ceLebrated itz 43rd birthday (09.08.2008). With the OLympics opening ceremony teLevised a day earLier, the NationaL Day Parade seems to faLL a LittLe short of "awesomeness". TaLking about which, have anyone hung their nationaL fLag outside their windows in recent years?

When I was a boy in the 80s, I remembered having much fun trying to spot those rare househoLds that have their fLag hung on the wrong side. Now, it is aLmost impossibLe to. Not coz Im aLL grown up, but peopLe simpLy do not put it out.

The passion is dying in the nation, aLL thanks to an extremeLy urban LifestyLe we are Leading.

Late night @ Mustafa, after a Late night supper.


The reunion of Taiwan peeps. Itz a pretty good dinner @ BiLLy Bombers, Marina Square. After which, we parted our ways for home, with one another asking where they stay. Those days, we did not even have to ask back in Taiwan, for we Lived together under one roof.