end of fifa world cup germany 2006

and yes, after entertaining the world for the past 1 month.. world cup 2006 has finally come to close.. with 2 matches and 4 teams, and with france and italy vying for the coveted spot of world cup champions 2006..

saturday ended with a bang!! with schweinsteiger scoring 2 goals!! oh yeah, a match without the superstars.. ballack, friedrich & mertesacker were all benched coz of injuries.. so many 1st timers got to play, which i tot was pretty good, coz everyone on the team played at least once during this world cup, except for the 3rd goalkeepers.. and yes, oliver kahn came back for the very last time to be the goalkeeper of the german squad and captain as well.. oh yes, though portugal had possession of the ball for 57% of the match, plus an unfortunate old goal by petit, germany won!!! oh yeah, they are 3rd for this tournament.. much an acheivement for a team, who was said to be put in an easy group, such that they could qualify for the round of 16.. but they went to send sweden and argentina home.. but to lose to the italians.. but they picked themselves up and went on to take 3rd place..


kahn had to take 2nd place as choice of goalkeeper for this world cup.. but he did the most gracious thing and went on to encourage lehmann!! and yes, this is his last international match.. figo, pauleta & kahn are officially hanging up their boots.. and *sobs*, neuville may not be playing for south africa 2010 coz of his age!! *sobs*


a very happy but confused coach at the moment.. who brought this team from nothing to something.. oh yeah, a once-upon-a-time national player as well: jürgen klinsmann.. i will want him back as coach too and see this type of soccer-playing style repeated in 2 years time..


one of the 2 teams which i supported for this world cup: germany.. and the other is the hot favourite: brazil.. and i tot that germany would have made an early exit.. but brazil threw in the shocker first.. i'm still convinced that uncle mark was trying to trick me.. but oh wells.. and germany ended the whole campaign with a thank-you party at the fan-mile in berlin, with a turnout of over a million ppl... and wearing an adidas t-shirt which said, 'danke deutschland' and printed in the national colours.. and teamgeist: 82 millionen.. ganz schön!!

and yes, to the finals at last.. i must say that, my stamina is only successful for one match.. consecutive matches just totally kill me.. and yes, so i was drifting in and out of sleep during the final showdown between france and italy.. hmm, as much as i would have expected the italians to win, i really wanted the french to win..

the match started with a pretty but risky penalty kick by zidane.. but materazzi did an equaliser that just stayed that way through the full 90-minutes and into 2 extra time of 15-min as well.. and yes, i admit!! i fell asleep 10 mins into the extra-time play and woke up just to watch the last penalty shootout by the italians.. and for the record, i always, no fail, but to fall asleep during the finals of soccer matches, namely euro 2004 and germany 2006.. the only final, which i managed to watch successfully, was that of korea/japen 2002.. but i always manage to wake up in time to see the golden goal scored.. well, as for the italians, i'm not sure if the word 'golden goal' seemed appropriate.. esp. after learning about the reason for zidane head-butting materazzi.. so like the paper said: materazzi's mouth.. although some still think that zidane doesn't deserve the golden ball award but honestly, he does.. he was the inspiration for this team, that played so badly during the group stages but still managed to oust korea out of the round of 16, which i was fuming over.. and brought the team all the way to the finals.. so credit should be given to this guy!! esp. since he came out of international retirement for this world cup!! and it's almost justified why he head-butted materazzi.. never insult ppl's family!! so there goes zidane's 2nd brush with the world cup trophy.. and yes, he is hanging up his boots as well..


and yes, here's the azzurris hoisting up the coveted world cup trophy.. i stayed up till 530am to watch this scene, something which i love to see every world cup.. and yes, that marked the end of fifa world cup germany 2006.. the baton has already been passed on to the south africans, in preparation for 2010..

so.. no more late nights.. no more heart attacks.. no more neighbours shouting in the middle of the night.. no more uncles at coffee shops till 6am.. both legal and illegal betting companies will take a good rest for the moment.. and yes, it will all repeat itself in 4 years' time.. but for me?? don't be surprised if i end up finding ways and means to watch euro 2008.. *laughs*..

and the flame got snuffed out..

as of today, the world cup has been pretty much too heartbreaking, too eventful.. let's see, nakata is quitting soccer for good.. roberto carlos has called it quits with the national team... beckham stepped down as captain, quite emotional actually.. and so much more.. and yes, oldies like zidane and figo came swinging back in action.. esp zidane, since he bowed out of the scene 2 years ago after a disaster campaign in lisbon during euro 2004.. so perhaps, he should be the one bagging the 'golden ball' award?? and frings got suspended from the semi-finals coz of his brush with the argentines..

but nothing can be as heartbreaking as having 2 goals scored in the last minutes of the 2nd extra time of a match!! gawh!! talk about being shell-shocked.. coz that was exactly how i felt at that very moment and the day after as well.. everyone knew better than to talk to me that day and mr. designer just had to go, forza italia.. i'm just surprised no chairs were flying around.. arpan had to call all the way frm canada to do damage control.. gawh!! but i really believed that it would go into penalty shootouts and the germans will definitely have the advantage in the whole affair.. but nope.. quoting the straits times, the italians 'huff, and they puff, and they blew the germans down'.. oh gosh, i couldn't quite sleep after the match was over.. and it was as though the whole nation just went silent..


and this was how it looked like across the whole of germany, along every fan-fest that is present in each state.. even in paulaner brauhaus in singapore.. it was so hard to watch the last moments of this game.. with many of the players ending up in tears.. it's as though the water dam has just collapsed.. there was even a shot of klinsmann having to pull odonkor up to his feet.. it was just heart-breaking..


eine sehr bittere pille... und sie fahren nicht mehr nach berlin.. zum hotel aber nicht zum olympiastadion.. man kann nur 'schade' sagen.. aber es gibt noch das spiel um platz drei zu spielen.. aber leider werden 3 sehr gute fussballspieler nicht mehr spielen, weil sie weh tun.. aber oliver kahn wird spielen.. wer wird gewinnen? weiss ich nicht.. man wird um 3 uhr sonntag frühmorgen wissen..

so france will play against italy in the world cup 2006 finals.. and yes, the 4 french guys will most likely be sighted as latecomers on monday morning, or perhaps not even appear.. hmm.. both are equally good teams, considering how the french came back with much force, after a disappointing start to the group-games.. and it will be good for zidane to leave with a great addition to his comeback from retirement.. so place your bets.. no money involved.. give your vote.. just stay away from the betting companies, both legal and illegal.. there's no need to lose your home over world cup.. else there won't be any more to lose when south africa 2010 comes along..

brilliant idea!!

keisuke was a tour-guide... and he travelled the world.. hmm.. i want to travel around the world too, so maybe i should go become a tour-guide too!! plus, since i love talking so much crap, might as well channel that energy for some good..

idea?? oh yeah!! =)

a weekend of history..

it was a weekend of history.. so much pain, tears and ouch!! it hurts man.. let's give a rundown of the quarterfinal matches.. but a disclaimer first, before any chairs come raining down on me, it's just my personal opinion!!

1. it was indeed a repeat of euro 2004, whereby england and portugal had to end their big tie, with penalty shootouts.. and beckham was not part of the penalty shootout due to injury.. and all the powerhouses just couldn't get their shots right.. rooney got sent off for rude behaviour.. why does it feel as though that it was a disaster in making?? and i fell asleep during the match.. again!! it has to be something to do with the country involved.. anyway, as much as many ppl did not wish for england to qualify for the semi-finals.. but it was just really upsetting to have them exit this way.. and yes, portugal is into the semi-finals.. and perhaps deco will play...

2. the last quarterfinal match was played at 3am back home.. so i was soundly asleep in my bed.. but what the world!! what the world did brazil do, to repeat the faults of france 98!!! argh!!! i bet, the whole world nearly fainted upon hearing that!! i was like, uncle mark, you are bluffing me right!!!! and he went, i bet with you odds 1:10 that it's true!! *faint!!!* so now what?? will i get a day off if france wins?? but amongst us all, we are just hoping that portugal will do something and deny france of its entry to the finals..

3. germany vs. argentina was one of the many matches, whereby one sees the lagging team fighting so hard to get themselves back in shape and in the running for the contended spot.. the beautiful header by klose put germany back in the run.. and yes, yet another penalty shootout.. putting additional pressure on lehmann, who did a beautiful job in his position.. as much as germany is a good and improving team, argentina really put them to the test and made them looked like a mess on the field.. but it was good play between both.. but as mentioned before, one team has to go home and unfortunately, argentina had to be the one to lose out in penalties.. though italy 90 was due to a goal during the match.. oh wells, enough said, and so germany will meet italy on tuesday night!!


and the photo of the weekend is this shot between lehmann and kahn.. so yes, kahn was overlooked as the no.1 goalkeeper and lehmann took his place instead.. but prior before the penalty shootouts, kahn spoke words of encouragement to the very-much-stressed lehmann.. and yes, this was the shot taken after the end of the match.. so perhaps, this world cup is indeed all about, making friends..

beauty partnership

that's exactly what these 2 guys did!! klose and podolski.. and klose is still the leading contender for the 'golden shoe' award.. with ronaldo still a goal behind.. and yes, deutschland hat auch das viertelfinale erreicht!! but sweden was really disappointing during the match.. it's as though they lost their fighting spirit!! oh my gosh, it was really disappointing to see that happen.. but anyways, germany got it!! sehr schön!! so they are gonna play the first quarterfinals against argentina tomorrow evening.. and goodness gracious!! it's gonna be so heartbreaking.. coz it's like a final of its own!! 2 powerhouses and 1 has to end its journey tomorrow.. *gawh!!*

it's stupid but somehow, every single match that england has played, was just plain BORING!! i never failed to fall asleep during any of the england matches, though i was no way near tired!! and yes, david beckham had to come to save the day.. and the camera was actually focused on victoria beckham, prior before the shot!! right.. and yes, no miss at last!! so no more slippery grass from that of 2 years ago.. but this is gonna be like a repeat of history, whereby portugal will play against england in the quarterfinals!! it's so like that of euro 2004.. but with portugal winning 5-4 in penalty shots.. so we shall see..

and what was truly irritating is the fact that france qualified!! everyone was like, WHAT!!! and of course, a truck load of ppl lost their money to all the bookies and authorised betting companies.. but there were those who betted on france and won loads.. coz the odds were too high!! but goodness!! they qualified!! but the fact that they are gonna play against brazil is gonna be quite a sight to watch.. a repeat of france 98.. hmm, but don't think that ronaldo's gonna run a tummyache again..

and anyway, ronaldo just broke the record for being the top goal-scorer for all the world cup matches!! but he actually resembles more of a ball himself now.. hmm... time for some weight-losing..

oh yeah, do check out the adidas +10 advertisements.. oh man, it's so extremely cool!! i always love the adidas ads during all these important soccer seasons.. anyone recall 'the road to lisbon' from 2 years back??

on the sideline, so sue me for being fat and claustrophobic!! i'm sorry for occupying 2 seats on the sbs buses then!! =P

just passing by..

it's been a pretty emotional week.. deutschland hat das achtefinale erreicht!!! jawohl!! ganz spannend!!! the rest has to be typed in english coz my german is just bad yeah!! yupz, germany came out tops in group A and is gonna play against sweden tomorrow evening!! sehr interessant!! aber nicht so gut für das schlechtes herz.. and yes, klose is just so good!! and not to forget podolski!!! his goal was just beautiful.. 3 passes and into the goal post it went.. oh yeah, oh yeah!! but i still like that goal put in by frings in the opening match!! talk about pretty!! i can just go on forever actually.. but shall move on..

and i seriously think that it was mean to have eucador attacking ballack during the 2nd half of tuesday's match!! it was utterly ugly and plain blatant!! i mean, it's tough to lose but hey, it's all about fairplay here.. so get a grip man!!

but it muz have been a heartbreaking moment for england when owen was severely injured and had to be flown home immediately for treatment.. that left crouch aka 'mr giraffe', as good as without a mentor.. and definitely for japan as well.. it must have been more than a heartbreaking session.. esp. since they had the misfortune of that last 8 minutes of the match against australia.. and to have to play with the powerhouse, brazil, yesterday evening, which just confirmed their seats on the flight home.. it's even more painful to watch.. but one muz really give credits to kawaguchi for all his marvellous saves of the oncoming balls.. and yes, ronaldo finally came back from his pluto-planet and decided to put in some good play yesterday evening.. and eventually scoring 2 goals, putting him on an equalizing position with gerd müller, in the total number of world cup goals scored..

yupz, with s.korea as the only east asian team left with chances for the top 16 playoffs.. hmm, if my energy does permit me, you will still see me online at 4am..

but you know what? i didn't mean to go on and on about world cup on this post.. it was actually meant for something else.. but i digress.. and yes, you will say, what's new?

somewhat, i went past many places which have somewhat been a part of my memories from 2003.. hmm.. was making my way down to wei & cindee's place, when i had to take a long long bus ride to bedok interchange.. it then reminded me of that silly senior-junior bbq session at east coast park during o-week.. and in any case, it ended up as a dinner session for kel li, edwin, peijia and me..

simei seemed somewhat familiar, before i realised that i have been there twice!! once was to changi hospital to visit andrew with the rest of the ac folks.. and another was to the condo estate nearby for kel su's 21st.. and to think that, all of the above happened in the year 2003.. when a-levels were still fresh in our minds.. when freshmen orientation brought in so much fun.. when we started the nightmarish and stressful days of chem engineering but just to learn to get through these days too.. and to think that so much have changed over these 3 years..

so time flies yeah.. even 'passing by' seems so foreign.. and according to einstein, somewhere along the river of time, just somwhere behind that bend round the river, that scene still exists.. but we will never return to it.. jack finney's 'from time to time' is just all about imagination..

silly things one thinks about when there's too much time on hand [installment 4]

statement/ thought of the week.. comments are very much welcome.. unfortunately the comments link is missing in action somewhere.. otherwise, just tag yeah.. opinions are very much appreciated... so here goes:

is it better to work in an area where cat fights occur too often or to work in a place where testosterone-level is at its maximum?

FIFA Fussball-Weltmeistershaft Deutschland 2006

scheiße!!! ich war dort!!! ich war!! scheiße!! sowieso ist es schon 6 tage, seit die weltmeistershaft angefangen ist.. es macht so viel spaß und spannung!! mein herz muss starker sein, sonst muss ich zum krankenhaus gehen.. aber nein!! es wird nicht passieren!!


the opening ceremony was wonderfully graced by beautiful ppl.. and i really mean, beautiful ppl!! claudia schiffer and the greatest player of all, pele.. and the best part of it all was that, this ceremony reunited all the players of each winning team every world cup season.. and yes, the bavarians gave the world a really nice, traditional welcome to the 18th world cup.. okay, hand it to the really proud bavarians to do it all right!! sehr schön!! macht' sehr gut!!

hier sind lahm, schweinsteiger und frings.. ingesamt hatte deutschland 4 tore im ersten spiel!! sehr schön.. besonder das tor, das frings gemacht hat!! sehr sehr schön!! das ist schade, dass michael ballack nicht spielen kann, aber keine sorge, er wird bald noch mal spielen!! nicht so gut defence gegen costa rica... hoffentlich wird ihre defence verbessern!! das erstes spiel war in münchen: home of bayern munich..



and here's the japanese fans during the game between japan and australia.. i just love the poster that the japaneses made.. though it sounds really like some forces of evil uniting together, like way back in history.. and it's quite an attempt for the japaneses to get their german right.. just take a good look.. but applause for efforts too..


one of the hardest match to watch.. not only was the first half really boring, japan scored a controversial goal as well.. such that the aussie coach went ard pushing a japanese team fellow.. but japan's saving grace was its good defence, which unfortunately, went a little more than haywire toward the last 6 minutes of the game!! the kangaroos thrashed the sons from the land of the rising sun at the stadium in kaiserslautern with a final score of 3:1.. just look at the conflicting emotions of aloisi and ono.. talk about heart-breaking..


and finally something for asia to be extra proud of.. not to mention that i watched this match, completely in black and white.. don't ask me why!! more than a sad case.. s.korea vs. togo, which is a first-time world cup qualifier and to think that they were leading after the first half!! till one of the togo players got sent off and then came the golden boys: lee c.s & ahn j.h, who sent in 2 beautiful goals and sent the whole korean crowd into a mess.. and as usual, the koreans recycled the 'reds' t-shirt from 4 years ago and brought all their musical instruments and created a din.. oh yeah, s.korea defeated togo on the soils of frankfurt with a score of 2:1..

and yes, that's the 3 matches which i've managed to watch so far.. oh yeah, more to come, especially now that i've gotten my hands on an online source.. oh yeah, oh yeah!! but crap, tonight's match of deutschland gegen polen is played at 3am over at my side of the world.. should a miracle happen such that i can survive and stay up?? we'll see.. and to requote the today paper's writer in last friday's edition, if germany is to win any match, all hell will break loose.. i'm sure it did last friday.. so let's see about this evening..

the day when they say I DO..

hmm.. was wondering how to title this post.. but here it is: the day when ppl say: i do.. pastor nick said during the exholtation, that in marriage, the man will lose his bachelor's degree, while the lady will gain her masters..

well, taking a look back.. i missed 3 weddings when i was away.. 3 really great weddings of great friends.. all of whom, i have not seen since i left.. except for nenek!! well, i was caught red-handed while crossing the road in front of carlton hotel.. and yes, i 'sent' the 2 newly sweet lovebirds home to indonesia.. only to look forward to welcoming the good old lovers back for their wedding showers soon.. in the near future..

that aside, i attended 3 weddings in the past 6 weeks!!! woohoo!!! record for me man.. haven't been to so many weddings in a such a short period of time..

first up was josh & amelia!! first wedding in a long while, which i wasn't doing anything for.. and the very first wedding dinner i got invited too!! bet you are wondering what's so great about it.. nothing but just there to share their joy.. =) oh yeah, their wedding was held on labour day.. and bet you are wondering why 1st of may.. coz there's a story behind it.. *laughs*.. no details to be revealed here!! =P

next up was my council treasurer with his sweetheart: fariz & liyana.. it's an experience for a muslim wedding, though we've seen tons of it in the hdb void decks.. but it's different when they are your friends.. that aside.. another experience was to walk through the whole of geylang.. erm, coz their reception was held in one of the association buildings.. anyway, it was an EXPERIENCE!! enough said.. pretty nice to see council friends once again, though it seemed so long ago..

and yes, today.. this very afternoon was wei & cindee!!! i must say, aunty jean is really good with the decorations.. oh my gosh, talk about professionalism.. it's brought to a greater height.. i love the decors to the max. man!!! and yes, when my 'teacher' gets married, i'm gonna try my hands at the decors.. and talk about 'a small world'.. yes, it's indeed small..

to each of the weddings, there's a different feeling to it.. be it spent with church friends or schoolmates.. it's a brand new journey ahead for all of them.. nobody promised it to be a bed of roses.. challenges will be there.. there will perhaps come a point whereby either party will want to kill someone.. but it's about working it all out together.. as a body of unity and not as a single entity..

enough said.. i'm gonna be a really kind soul here and offer my help for you guys' wedding decors.. of course, that will mean that you all have to supply me with a budget to work with too.. ie. for the purchase of the decoration materials too.. no worries, i won't mess up your decors.. trust me, with a huge guarantee plus chop!! working towards more addition to my portfolio.. *laughs*..

meanwhile, looking forward to attending the wedding showers of the stars of my self-improvised mastercard advertisment..

went for 2 movies in the not too long ago past.. mission impossible 3 and over the hedge.. oh my gosh!!


well, yours truly had the privilege of catching this movie at the brand new cathay.. but what i missed more, was the picturehouse.. i can always remember my first art film there, which was a japanese film titled 'love letter'.. and how did i learn about this film? blame it all on the then-fm 933, which used to have some programme titled, under direct translation, 'vomit-central'.. but it was a good movie.. oh man, i loved that movie and still do... and oh, i digressed!! m:i:3 was hideous.. blamed it on the fact that i've not watched an action movie for a long long time.. so there was too much explosion, too much noise and the soundtrack was horrible.. even kelvin li thought so!! esp he's a rock/ metal fan!!!! and it's a joke hearing tom cruise speaks chinese, though his intonation is so close to perfect.. okay, but it's just another movie.. not much of an impression made.. but what really did made an impression was the following movie..


this really made an impression.. a really good animation since.. i can't remember when.. yupz, not exactly a really exciting plot but it was good.. good for silly laughters and just silly moments.. esp, when you get the free commentaries from the rest of the kids in the theatre as well.. well, one went 'i love you, you love me, we are happy family..' and there's definitely loads of 'mummy, how how?? look!!!'.. but cool.. i really liked this film though it was an impromptu decision.. but all's good when there's great company.. okay, enough said, go figure!!

next aim: relive the classics..

just finished a surprisingly good book, minus all the law details and all.. surprise will be the word.. and this one is much better than 'skipping christmas'.. skipping christmas is pretty stupid.. it was actually made into a movie a couple of years back.. but i can't remember the title offhand..


anyway, just as stated in the commentary, it really brought on the real moments of being on the field.. but well, we don't have american football here, so there's no way of understanding the euphoria and excitement of football.. well, it's back to relive the classics of john grisham, since i pretty much own much of his new books.. and the stories are just about the same as each other.. so off to national library for the classics..

man of letters.. an adaptation of cyrano de bergerac.. inspired by from a doctor's diary.. and it was indeed, resembling much of cyrano de bergerac.. all the poetry.. the confession in the shadows by the balcony.. the death of the loved one in a revolution.. the saying of the last words, at last by the poet himself.. the realisation of the secret love all these years.. but minus the nose..

a wonderful piece by dick lee.. and i saw the man himself!! oh yeah, he was seated 3 rows behind me.. i'm not a 'singapore idol' hopeful, but just that i've been that fascinated with the man since the days of snow.wolf.lake.. but during the opening piece, you can truly identify the styles of the man.. it's just so distinct.. and there's a bit of everything in this musical.. from the lights and sounds of beauty world, to the tone of seriousness in forbidden city, to the wonders and fantasies of love from snow.wolf.lake..

and what a team he has put together to produce this entire musical.. with iskandar ismail as the music conductor.. talk about long-time collaboration.. and yes, the wonderful cast as well.. hmm, i'm equally charmed by robin goh, though he's vertically challenged.. but man, he is a man of talent.. ranging from chang and eng, to army daze, and now to man of letters.. and there's r j rosales, whom i am even more charmed with.. otherwise known as the other half of the chang and eng.. it's just a pity that he's only a cameo role in this production.. and there are other prominent ones like the husband-and-wife partnership: lim kay siu & neo swee lin.. and emma yong as well, whom somehow i kind of mixed up with pamela oei.. that which is really surprising is that, my old-time friend is part of the orchestra and my og junior is part of the ensemble..

what's really special about this production is that, it does not have a programme.. instead it has a programme printed in the form of a newspaper titled 'the undergrad'.. a really refreshing change from the usuals of a book that cost 20 bucks and will only be read once before archiving occurs.. not to mention that it's in commemoration of nus's centennial celebrations.. but nope, i wasn't part of the lucky bunch with the free preview tickets.. i purchased mine way before the university sent out that loud email screaming 'freebie!!!!'

as you can see, i can go on for ages about this production.. giving a complete breakdown of the entire musical.. but time does not permit this doing.. if i get ard doing it, tune in for more in the very near future..

silly things one thinks about when there's too much time on hand [installment 3]

welcome to the third installment of my silly, nonsensical write-ups.. today's entry wasn't exactly thought up when i had nothing to do but rather, just a sudden urge to put something down on this blog space..

well, let's see, today's topic has to be written with much research.. but unfortunately, i have absolutely minimal interest towards doing this research.. perhaps in the very near future, if the day deems it fit to be done.. so let's talk about, what get the guys so excited about.. ie. cars!!

i know exactly what you all out there are thinking about.. and yes, that could possibly be one of the many things that guys do get really excited about.. i mean, look at the many hypothesis and pictures drawn up of, what the possible sectional view of a guy's brain will look like.. but there are definitely the high cost, latest technological tools and gadgets that get these bunch of ppl excited too.. especially in the world of automation on the roads..

all the talks about.. 'oh, check out that car there.. man, just look at how high the fuel consumption will be and all..' or 'look at that baby there man, wonderful colour and model.. and man, there it goes at the traffic junction.. man, i wonder what's the horsepower of that baby man..' or 'man, check that exhaust out.. and hear the sounds of the engine..'

perhaps, these things which the species, supposedly from venus, will take a slightly longer time to understand or perhaps will express negative interest in it and rather focus more energy on sales of tangible items.. well, women do love cars but they just view it more as a convenience and necessity, than 'my other half'.. or the easy way out, is to get ppl to chauffeur them around.. convenience brought up to a greater level.. after all, the guys are always saying that, women are the worse drivers on the road, so might as well dudes, chauffeur the girls ard and save all the driving 'hazards' of meeting unfriendly female drivers and then go ard complaining your guts out about that driver you met, perhaps a mth ago..

after all the talks about the feel, the speed and the outlook of the car, the next item on the agenda will be the maintenance.. it's important to make sure that there's friendly after-sales services.. preferably with many warranties thrown in.. but do read the fine prints.. they ain't fine for no reason..

despite having absolutely no head knowledge about anything about the features of the different models available in the market, i already do know which car i will want as my first car.. well, but much has to depend on the million-dollar question: when in the world will i take my driving lessons.. and the billion-dollar question will be: how long will it take for me to attain the acceptable financial status, before splurging it all on a brand new baby..

so till that day comes, let me just start getting myself educated about the world of automation on the road.. lest there comes a day, when i do get to drive on a autobahn..

'bali - a land of mysteries, the last paradise on earth..'

hmm.. paradise is where you make of it.. it does not necessarily has to be a tourist attraction but rather, a place where one is happy and feels contented and all.. it can even be one's own backyard..

well, a direct translation of the title will be, the story of bali island.. but the really wonderful taiwanese went, what happened on bali island?? *stare*.. right.. hmm.. that's besides the point.. pretty interesting plot but what an ending.. i thought i've finally selected serials with pretty happy endings.. but nope, this just had to end in a negative sense.. go watch to see what happened.. i'm not letting the cat out of the bag.. but enjoyed this one much.. so what's next??

issac said...

aunty siew lee: issac, what do you want to write on this card for mummy?
issac: (after staring and thinking for a while) mummy has 3 boys and a girl..
aunty siew lee: issac, how can you write, 'mummy has 3 boys and a girl' on your mothers' day card to mummy?? you have to write something to wish mummy..

one quick post for the week before zooming off to watch more tv.. been having a great affinity for this song for a pretty long time, esp after that one time radiowaves on tv2.. here's jay chou - si mian chu ge.. it's talking all about paparazzi.. but the way he described them throughout the song that's pretty intelligent..

shall leave you all with this mtv.. i love especially the part whereby he does a waltz with zhou xun.. it's so perfect.. and the steps are so well-defined and just look at the setting of the scene!! it's in a perfect ballroom, with long floor-to-ceiling curtains.. or one would rather call it drapes.. well, the wonders of europe, whereby there's much of these buildings still left standing or refurnished.. whereas in asia, one will only get them in the rich folks' houses or some state buildings.. but anyway, it's pretty room.. and yes, the last part of the mtv, whereby he dumped the bag into a passing gondola.. just reminded me much of the movie, casanova.. the beauty of venice..

before i muse any further, here's the mtv for your viewing.. if you think it's irritating, shut it off then..

healthy food, traffic jam & elections..

had a really wonderful and healthy dinner yesterday evening... how about this? make your own pizza.. with fresh ingredients such as red & yellow paprika.. button mushrooms.. ham and crab sticks.. with great tomato sauce and cheese.. not to mention that the crust was home-made.. man, give it to cheepeng pls!!! *applause*.. great dinner.. and how healthy can it be?? the red & yellow paprika were actually organic food.. this just totally reminded me of the bio-tomaten, which i bought back in münchen, which were actually way too HUGE!!!! and man, they were HUGE!!!! oh, and there was yogurt and grapes for dessert.. cucumber and grapefruit for starter drinks.. erm, vegetables??

healthy food aside.. let's talk about pollution.. big, huge traffic jam on clementi road.. goodness know where did it start from.. there was even a jam in clementi ave 1!! goodness gracious.. and who says that the mrt can't experience jam too?? the train bounded for boon lay just stopped in its track for a good many minutes..

on a more than a sidenote: the elections are coming.. call it 'singapore votes 2006'.. and great, almost the whole of the entire west side experiences a walkover.. jimmy is so excited that he gets to vote for the first time.. florence was disappointed that our area had a walkover.. so the moral of the story is?? if one wanna vote, it's time to shift to the north or the northeast side of the island..


and this picture is titled: the day God spilled paint..

and i say..

arpan said, what a semester it has been..
and i say, what a year it has been..

did i kill a snail by accident??

after a really sudden downpour, many snails usually would come out of their 'homes' to take a little walk along the pedestrain pathways.. but unfortunately, with my overwhelming haste to get to the bus-stop, i might have applied a tat too much pressure and the next thing i knew, i heard, CRACK!!! i looked back and saw a pile of gathers on the pathway.. so did i kill the snail?? wait, is it even a snail to begin with?? goodness knows..

hmm.. when i need to de-thaw myself, i would and will usually walk over to the windows facing the tank farm.. coz that's where the sun is as well.. but then, upon looking at the thick layer of ice that has formed over the pipe carrying liquid nitrogen, i will, unfortunately, get excited and wanna run over to just look at it upclose..

call me insane, if you must.. =P

fragmented

just feel like blogging.. not another silly installment but nonsensical stuff..

the cleaning aunty left for genting highlands yesterday evening.. i told her not to contribute too much to the casino industry.. and suggested that she passes me the money so that i can buy more 'bird nest' and 'buddha jumps over the wall'.. and she went, if i win money, i'll buy you all anything you all wanna eat.. hmm.. aunty won't be back till wednesday..

hmm.. and what am i doing, looking through their blogs and all.. what am i trying to learn? am i trying to keep myself updated about their lives and wanna be sure that there's something to talk about? what am i doing it for??

ouch, i ate too much.. my brain hurts.. i need my sleep..

silly things one thinks about when there's too much time on hand [installment 2]

welcome to yet another installment of 'silly things one thinks about when there's too much time on hand'.. today's topic is on another silly, nonsensical one.. round of applause please!! let's hear it for 'VALVES'..

right, that's what you all are gonna say.. but unfortunately i'm the one calling the shots here so you have to listen to me..

well, so much for high-flow valves or low-flow valves.. whatever those valves are.. eventually we still have to crack our brains to fix them up and bring about the correct flow rate required.. but let's look at the most wonderful valve system in the whole world, whereby the flow rates have all been calculated and there's no need for after-sales to be done and all, unless one develops atherosclerosis.. so let's hear it for our blood circulatory system..

don't you think that it's so wonderfully made? think about this, although the pressure of the blood flood upon the point of leaving the aorta is so high, it is sufficient to pump the blood throughout the whole body once through.. my gosh, just think of the distance covered.. think of all the little capillaries, where the pressure is low enough not to burst the vessel, yet high enough to allow the continual flow of blood still.. think of all the head losses.. goodness, i bet hydraulic calculations still can't beat this man.. and look at the valves at the veins, which are so wonderfully designed to prevent the backflow of blood.. yet having sufficient muscles around the walls to contract and force the blood forward back to the heart..

does it just make you marvel at Him? man takes years to figure all these out but at the beginning, He has already known it all.. and He puts the 'system' in us, such that we can figure it out as technology advances.. He has such great wisdom, no wonder solomon asked for wisdom as well.. i'm just quite thankful that we are so wonderfully made, even the little details have all been taken care of... well, although most of our systems within bear much resemblance, but externally, we really do differ.. and that's what makes us special.. despite the difference, we are still created in His image..

formed from dust, yet we are still 'precious in His eyes.. because of His great love, He gave His only Son.. everything was done, so You would come..'

some crazy zhang fei taiwanese variety programme on tv at the moment.. with lousy singing from this singer, who's name is better not mentioned.. but that's not the point of this post.. i'm here to talk about a movie, which may bear some resemblance with that of moulin rouge.. but at least there was good singing in there..



okay, i'm biased again.. coz there's my favourite actors in there and all.. perhaps love.. well, it's pretty much of an arty-farty film.. so there's some reading between the lines required.. but otherwise, i pretty much enjoyed this movie.. not a tragic love story.. nor a simple, sweet love story.. but rather, it's pretty complex.. go watch to understand my point..



and there's initial d too.. a movie, which has been in my checklist since last year.. and finally, it's checked.. just reminded me of all the crazy jokes made over this movie amongst my colleagues in uob.. hmm.. i just love the movie.. enough said..

silly things one thinks about when there's too much time on hand [installment 1]

welcome to the first installment of 'silly things one thinks about when there's too much time on hand'.. been wanting to file this entry since friday.. but haven't gotten around doing it.. though there's much time on hand..

well, for the first installment, inspired by the latest article in time magazine, which did a review of the 1906 earthquake in san francisco.. so the topic for this installment is about the methods and probability of dying..

well, the article compared statistics from the earthquake with that of the 9/11 attacks.. and man, the probability of dying in either incident was actually the same.. even better, the number of deaths resulted was the same.. so.. be shocked!! dying in an earthquake or from terrorist attacks has equal chances of happening..

it's just funny how death can come in so many ways.. i'm not talking about the dumb movie 'final destination', which has a never-ending number of sequels, which just keep getting worse.. look, one can die from taking part in the olympic games.. just take a look at LOST.. it makes taking planes look so dangerous.. and who can rule out the possibility of some meteoroids hitting our lovely planet, after all that years of speculations, which our dearest scientists have done.. and note, the probability of a meteoroid colliding with earth is the same as that of a plane-crash.. of course, there are still many other possible ways.. let's just not go into those which are widely discussed and personified by hollywood's psychotic movies.. if you must, there's one worthy of mention: dying while being buried beneath cement.. check out the french movie: jeux d'enfants..

it can also be due to one's health, which occurs from inside out.. medical thrillers never fail to present both the medical causes but also interesting, but gruesome description of how person x dies or whatever sorts.. one classic example is robin cook.. check out fatal cure: dying due to excessive exposure to radiation, whereby the source was actually placed under hospital beds.. or from being buried behind a slab of cement.. but do read his books for just the text, they are actually good thrillers.. john grisham's books do not have that much of gruesome murders and all.. but another good writer.. but then again, i'm biased.. they are my favourite authors!! *bleah*

okay, enough of my first installment, lest i launch into even more crappy stuff.. disclaimer: i'm not depressed!! it's a must to state my disclaimer.. but just silly stuff that just popped up since i've got so much free time.. =P

pregnant cats and flying moths..

i saw a pregnant cat this evening, which was trying to climb up the tree, but it was a failed attempt.. pregnant cats: something that were once mentioned long ago.. flying moths: hmm.. really interesting and memorable to be worth the mention.. a moth that had too high an affinity for devin's shorts back in nias.. well, it literally just sat there for a photo shoot.. another reason? it's the 3rd month of the lunar calendar.. what the chinese calls 'qing ming'.. well, they believe that moths are the souls of their loved ones, who have made a slightly-too-early departure from this earth..

oh, i just realised, learnt and am totally convinced that.. i'm absolutely CROWD-PHOBIC!!! i was so closed to dropping dead at the bus stop yesterday evening.. it was absolutely and totally horrible, spelt in capital letters!!!

on a bimbotic sidenote: i finally bought my pair of heels.. totally expensive and the heels have a plastiky-feel but who cares!!?? great shopping spree this afternoon though.. and my birkinstock look-a-like from kappa has no sizes left and unfortunately all catering for men.. so i had to settle for something else.. hmm.. once in a while, i really do envy the guys.. their wardrobe will never go out of style and though it's the same old boring cut, it always looks so good.. beat the ladies!! fashion never last for more than half a year.. and before one knows it, the whole wardrobe is bursting with clothes and threatening to explode.. i just want more jeans/ pants.. now?? waiting for more sales..

just wait till i *bleah* back at you..

what a start to the day.. woke up a tat too late and then of course, was late for work.. and what a hostile lady at the bus-stop.. sorry that i was really sleepy and there's just too many ppl at the bus-stop and you are the one whom i said 'excuse me' to.. and maybe i sounded a little too loud.. but does not mean that i'm following you on the queue to the bus, when my aim was to cut through the crowd and get through.. and how the world am i to walk, if you and the rest of the crowd are still blocking the way.. #2&*(sGkg&#*


oh, i broke my own record!! i completed the entire drama serial within 3 days!! full house.. a great recommendation from nolly.. my dad's threatening to ban me from watching any more drama serials.. and *round of applause*.. i found the theme song too!!! woohoo!! i just love this show.. too sweet and ain't that draggy, which is a good thing.. draggy stuffs tend to get too boring after like 4 episodes.. looking forward to more serials..

alcohol + food + me

a bad combination.. tested and proven 3 times..

wait, does that mean i can no longer drink anymore?? what will happen to my tequila sunrise?? glühwein?? i want my tequila sunrise!! *humph*

*screams*... the spread of h & m to asia.. it's traumatising enough that i saw them literally every 2 doors away in stockholm.. and there's 3 stores along the stretch from mönckebergstraße, thru jungfernstieg till gänsemarkt..

actually, the store chain ain't coming to singapore.. hopefully.. just that i stumbled upon this top which is actually produced for sale in H & M.. and i got it for only 2 bucks.. *laughs*.. for something that will cost about 7 euros.. *doo dee doo*..

part of my reintegration plan.. but no worries, not as serious as it sounds to be.. watched army daze @ the drama centre located at the new national library.. well, yours truly was a tat late so didn't have sufficient time to walk ard the new library..

standard storyline.. not deviating much from that of the movie itself.. but it's really cool on how they play pun and insult the government.. honestly, the only way to do the latter is through all these local plays.. so much hokkien and so much singlish.. man, it just feels totally singaporean.. and my gosh, the play was sold to a full house.. and loads of ppl from saf and mds from there too..

haven't laughed that much for a really long time to come.. reminded me of the crazy days back in year 1, when we will laugh so crazily and for prolonged periods, that we almost cried.. miss you rag comm..


and this was what i've been up to for the whole of last week.. returned back to my obsession of the korean drama serials.. man, now that i'm done with this one, i need a new serial.. recommendations anyone??

sep 05/06 - hamburg, deutschland

i promised that i will do a write-up of all my trips.. but then again, laziness got the better of me.. so here's summary of all the key events that took place during the entire sep period.. so here goes..

30th sept 2005

here's eufo and me at changi airport.. the start of an adventure..

1st oct 2005

transiting with lufthansa.. above the skies of germany..

15th oct 2005

self-declared tour of hamburg city with my friends.. here's the hamburg rathaus..

23rd oct 2005

blankenese.. beach along the elbe..

29th oct 2005

schönes wochenende nach bremen..

4th - 6th nov 2005

great friends, great company.. in front of brandenburger tor, here in berlin..

18th - 20th nov 2005

gathering of all the singlish speakers.. missing loads of ppl, who were busy sleeping back in djh.. here's the hardworking bunch that climbed the kölner dom.. no prizes for guessing correctly where we were..

2nd - 5th dec 2005

all the way to lübeck.. just to catch my ryanair plane..


here's isabel's sister with me at gamla stan.. hopefully i got the location right.. oh yes, i'm in stockholm!!!

16th - 19th dec 2005

shengrong & keve came down from münchen to hamburg for a visit.. here's them at the weihnachtsmarkt am rathausplatz.. this was the stall, where they bought a coconut, which went back with them to münchen but they forgot all about it and the poor coconut rotted..

22nd - 29th dec 2005

the tower bridge down in london..


visit to the leeds castle at kent on christmas eve with the guys..


what a sense of suspense and mystery.. here at the roman baths with eufo.. and so of course, we're at bath.. with the pool water, which requires much of an acquired taste..

30th dec 2005 - 4th jan 2006

another great moment of fun and great company.. in the romantic city of france.. man!! and i visited this tourist attraction 4 times!!! *faint*..

4th - 6th jan 2006
yusen came down to visit.. before flying back to newcastle to mug hard for his exams.. and he went.. things are so cheap in germany!! as compared to back in newcastle.. hahaha.. jealous?? *bleah*..

21st - 22nd jan 2006
han came down from stockholm.. but what a terrible host i was.. stuck in the world of studienarbeit and lab reports.. crap, that cost another precious weekend in hamburg.. but what's cool?? we saw a car got towed away at reeperbahn.. and the cold draft hit germany.. and temperatures dropped till -10 degrees on a bright sunny sunday morning at the fischmarkt..

26th - 27th jan 2006

here in my living room.. here's nitya and me.. on her last leg of the trip to germany.. before returning back to nottingham for her last semester.. man, time flies..

10th - 12th feb 2006

hans christian anderson's little mermaid.. and my favourite disney cartoon and children's story too.. of course, not the one whereby she actually became bubbles.. so we walked a long long way before we finally found her.. by the river side.. on the outskirts of copenhagen..

13th - 18th feb 2006

here in münchen.. with the frauenkirche and the münchener rathaus..


up on the forbidden marienbrücke.. getting a really good shot of the neuschwanstein schloss..

18th - 20th feb 2006

if münchen has all her lions.. then hamburg has all these statues of hummel.. here's noelle and weeyang with one of the many hummels... well, the godiva hot chocolate made a guest appearance too..

23rd feb 2006

departure in the early morning.. auf wiedersehen..

food count

who says i cannot do a food count!!!!???? come, let's see what have i eaten so far..
- long john silver junkie food
- seafood hor fan from the coffee shop at my place
- loads of kiwi
- bengawan solo's lapis sagu
- bengawan solo's pineapple tarts
- lays potato chips!!
- my mum's cooking.. *yummy*

what else do i want to eat??
- crystal jade at holland village or suntec city
- dim sum @ china teahouse
- mei zhen xiang's bak gua,, [chiu weng refused to bring it over for me!! *humph*]
- really good and authentic fried hokkien prawn noodle
- all my favourite stuff from tiong bahru market
- fruits like durian, mango, longan etc..
- swensen's fish & chips
- haagen daaz's midnight chocolate cookies by the waterfront.. [phantom blogger, you better come back and do this with me!!!]
- fried kway tiao
- many other food which i cannot recall offhand..

return of the fattening days.. bwahahhahaah!!!

am ende..

endlich ist mein kasten hier angekommen.. so ich denke, dass es alles ist.. alles ist schon am ende gekommen.. ich weiß nicht, wie zu sagen, aber es gibt zu vielen errinerungen drinnen.. leider habe ich alles vermisst..

werde ich irgendeinmal zurückgehen oder werde ich nicht? ich weiß nicht.. wie lange muss ich warten.. wie lange dauert die ganze wartezeit.. kann jemand mir sagen??

jetzt muss ich alles auspacken.. und es gibt so viele schwierigkeiten, weil ich nicht weiß, wo ich alles aufbewahren kann.. schwierig..

new phase, new blog outlook..

the effects of a jet-lag results in the refurnishing and the new look of my blog.. back to my days of butterflies and flowers.. enough of 'lost memories' coz memories are meant to be kept and not lost... sights are meant to be taken with the eyes and perhaps with the camera too..

hmm.. haven't announce it officially but yeah, i'm back.. came back from germany last friday morning.. touching down to really warm and hot weather.. can't wait for cold water to fall on me.. and man, i have not sweat for 5 months!!! oh yes, i got my phone fixed too.. so it's back functioning now..

unpacking was a chore.. and my things are still lying all over the house and my room.. yeah, just wondering how dynamics things can be and now i'm sitting in my room with my com in singapore!! hmm.. weiyao & leeying flew off on sunday night.. they are going down to the baden-württenburg area.. and yingchao is flying off this friday evening to hamburg.. hicks.. and the rest are leaving late march and early april..

well, all good things have to come to an end.. so let me just enjoy singapore now.. missing on the food, friends, family and whatever else.. like emma said, take time to integrate back in then.. =)

give me a while to get my photos and my individual posts up.. stockholm is still not up.. hence talk about london, paris, copenhagen, münchen.. the many visits by many friends: shengrong & keve.. yusen.. han.. nitya.. noelle & weeyang.. *laughs*.. till i get there.. =P

my last movie in hamburg.. casanova.. a man of wits and charm.. but man, look at what happened when he meets a lady, to whom he is devoted to...anyway, this was meant to be a post for yesterday evening but i was busy doing something else..

my usual grindel-palast movie partner: layya, rushed from an exam to the movies.. and guessed who we met there? chen yi was there too!! so the 3 of us ruled the whole theatre for the 1700 movie..

great movie with great company.. i'm so gonna miss everyone and everything about this place.. sometimes i wish that time can just stand still and just stay as it is.. well, that's an idealistic thought.. hmm.. till then..

back to casanova.. a pretty confusing start.. left me a tat too confused.. but then as the movie went along, all was well and woohoo!! talk about pure cool.. believe it or not but i went to 'wikipedia' the real casanova later the evening.. *shocked*..

wikipedia.. my new definition to google..

determined to make my blog back into a movie-food blog again.. so yeah, i started the new year without my yearly dosage of movies in theatres with my family and cousins.. but i had a good replacement.. 10 days after chinese new year.. i went to watch memoirs of a geisha!!! oh my goodness, now i'm determined to read the book when i get back home..

went straight down to grindel palast with layya, right after my matlab paper ended.. tried downloading the movie last week but the dialogues were completely messed up.. but who cares.. i watched the english version of the movie and still have the weird german version to entertain me when i'm bored.. and yes, i love the colours and the sceneries of the entire movie.. hmm.. i can go on and on.. i'm just charmed by the movie.. well, let me read the book first, then i shall comment further..

time for dinner.. *bleah*

summary..

the week of chinese new year.. a small quiet reunion dinner at bunatwiete with eufo, watching 'hot chick' while trying to study for exams.. a overly nervous studienarbeit seminar on monday evening.. last minute cramp for the exam of industrielle kostenlehre on tuesday morning.. staying over at chen yi's place.. eating pizza and watching 'lost'.. eufo's verabschiedung party..

eufo left yesterday afternoon.. i went for retail therapy.. shopping a little too much.. trying to cramp matlab into my brain for the last few days.. unsuccessfully.. project yet to begin and all.. i just don't want to faint..

should have done this long ago.. but i never did.. and after much 'nagging' and all, i finally did it this morning.. watched city harvest's sermon, which was 2 weeks ago.. but it was good enough.. i just need input.. else you get what i mean, by feeling dry? yeah.. it was good and though it's more than 10000km away.. it just felt good..

gone back to the state of updating my blog..

goodness gracious!!!!

this afternoon felt totally like my first german vocab test back in semester 1.. late for class coz of some dumb technical error in the printer, which the administrator was unable to rectify... caught by surprise over the written german test, which i thought was meant for next week.. *bleah*

cold draft hitting the whole of europe.. thank God that i'm not in russia or in berlin.. thank God that i survived that freezing cold sunday morning, after which, your hands just kinda lose all sense of touch.. and it snowed yesterday night till this morning, followed by mini flurries.. man, if the snow was thicker, i would have lie in the snow and roll around in it..

oh, a bit of free advertisement.. go check out this site: smell of rain... one movie which my friend is starring in and i honestly think that it's pretty well done.. unfortunately i have no money to aid in the financing but i will definitely want to catch it when it is officially released..

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..

i was about to believe that it won't snow for some time to come.. but it did.. and i do love it when it snows.. well, at least in hamburg, coz it makes the weather better and not so cold as well.. beats not snowing, with strong winds.. that's worst..

i love fresh snow, when it accumulates and is left undisturbed.. gives me the opportunities to do silly things like, leave my handprints in the snow.. i love the feeling of walking on fresh snow.. the 'crunch' sound that it makes.. i love the sight of snow falling from the sky.. i love the feeling of snow falling on me.. cold it is, but no one gets that back in tropical asia.. if it does snow back home, everyone around the world has a great deal to worry about..

i dislike melted snow that turns into slush, which is totally wet and slippery.. i particularly have low affinity for snow that has gathered and hardened into ice coz it's really really slippery.. tested and proven.. enough said..

did i mention that it snowed in london for an hour on the morning i left for bath? it was pretty awesome, but snow in london?? and have i mentioned that it has been snowing since 330pm this afternoon?? but it has now tapered off to a mixture of snow and rain..

well, little things that will be greatly missed..

everyone's coming back..

jerome came back early this morning but of course, i was too sound asleep to know.. but i realised it coz the main door was unlocked.. radek just walked into the house 10 minutes ago.. so all that's left is paloma, who is supposedly to be back on wednesday..

checklist?? herr mathusall just and finally replaced our cooking stove, so now we have a workable oven!! woohoo!! but there's a whole list of 'to-be-done' before we can use the oven.. and we even have blinds in the living room to give more privacy to the house, since we are all staying on the ground floor..

so this marks the re-opening of school after the christmas break.. and soon the semester will end as well.. habe ich ein bisschen falsche gemacht? ich weiss nicht aber ich werde bald nach hause fahren..

asean party 2006

and indeed, it was really asean.. we had ppl from 5 of 10 asean countries.. namely, singapore, malaysia, vietnam, thailand & indonesia.. and so, we had food from all over the place.. we had indra making tempe.. siang fung cooking penang laksa.. can't remember the names of the rest of the food... eufo and me did instant mix of nasi goreng.. but we did too much rice.. so that's dinner tomorrow too.. or whatever works man..


a bit messy here.. but there's actually a lot of food.. but some got cut out of my photo.. *boo*..

dinner was great and after that, we had our honourable organiser, dan, who played the guitar for us and sang some really oldies..


after a while, ronny took over and went way 'soprano'.. and danny and farmi were trying desperately to shut him up.. well, it was a heck of a time.. dan gave us a free concert to guns & roses, ronan keating, all for one and many others.. my goodness.. it just reminded me of the good old days of union camp back in year 1, when we were still 'green' freshmen, subjected to the 'torture' of the seniors.. vulcans back then, was a singing bunch.. the girls made the guys joined evil and the vulcans took over the whole bus and literally the camp by singing anything and everything under the sun.. irritated the heck out of others though.. *bleah*.. it reminded me as well of the time back in nias.. when we were just sitting around in the eating area and abang franky would come along with his guitar and then we would all start singing, though i had and still have absolutely no understanding of the language.. hmm.. in some ways, i wished that some of my guitar-playing friends were around, then we could have all launch a good session of singspiration.. missing those singspiration sessions and cell group too.. hicks, gave youth camp a miss this year.. *boo*..

oh wells.. we cleared up close to 10pm.. hmm.. that marked one weekend less in germany and one day nearer to the end of christmas break.. well, i'm actually on christmas break till monday and my housemates will only be back next week so i have the whole house to myself!! quite a good feeling and cleaning up actually felt quite therapeutic.. *madness*.. and here's all of us.. a little slanted and dark though.. opps..

on a bimbotic sidenote, my reef slippers are disintegrating!!! oh my pretty yellow flowery slippers.. boohoo!!

it's time..

it's always the time of the year when all of us are supposed to sit down and think about the past year and reflect on it.. well, mine is more than a little too late.. it came 5 days too late.. blame me for being stuck in paris.. one place, which i don't think i will ever return to.. the germans will say, es gefaellt mir nicht.. that practically sums it all up..

read a few blogs since i got back this morning and not that i have done much reflections.. there's much which i'm supposed to do, for example: sleep!!! since it was quite an uncomfortable 12-hour coach ride back from paris.. oh, lesson learnt? no more coach rides.. i'll just pay for train rides..

2005.. it went passed.. just like that..

10th jan - 30th apr: semester 2 of ay 2004/2005
it was quite a painful semester with 7 modules and having 2 papers on the same day and ending my entire exams within a week.. it was painful enough.. but there were the moments of making friends with exchange students.. went to many 21st parties and missing many too.. 'killing' each other during lab sessions.. copying homework till the wee hours of the night.. my favourite studying buddies, whereby one has graduated and the other will graduate before i begin my 4th year.. my dearest cn6.. all the studying buddies in central lib.. enduring one last semester of german language at cls.. and most of all, planning for my upcoming exchange trip..

3rd - 21st may: my first stint as a waitress

23rd may - 15th june: trip to nias
this was really more than an experience.. it was overwhelming and it left me much questions.. it became a trip whereby i learnt about myself.. it was painful, but it had to be learnt somewhere.. it set me into a state of confusion but i'm still trying to understand why.. nias, gave a different light to many things.. it brought fear, it brought joy.. it built and sealed new and old friendships.. who can forget uncle's mega-watts smile, ibu's washing abilities, nenek's 'keeping the house in order', devin's suntan lotion, abang franky's batak food, abang taku's love for the kids.. and all those hours of just sitting around, enjoying each other's company though language was a huge barrier..

17th june - 23rd sept: working at uob
a reluctant return back home.. came back, burnt and totally kampong-style.. insanity but i started work immediately.. everyone scratched their heads, wondering what in the world is an engineering student doing in a bank.. it got to a point of getting so tired with work but yet, somehow it just went on.. skipped school to work despite having bid for all my modules and all.. made occassional guest appearances back in school but ended up disturbing ppl instead.. love my colleagues and miss them loads.. keeping contact is tough, but someday, i will try.. *bleah*..

1st oct - now: student exchange in germany
something i looked forward to since the days of immersion.. plans of turning it into an ia-session did not work out.. i'm just too lazy and tired to repeat the whole story here.. it was a roller-coaster ride that took a year to plan.. well, it is still a ride.. i came here, against all odds.. a year of planning, yet still coupled with so much hick-ups and stumbling blocks.. it came to a point of frustration and irritation but i went on with it.. so here i am, sitting in my hostel room, typing this very entry.. during the 3 mths here, i made friends.. friends from both asia, as well as from the european union.. friends from the trips which i took out of hamburg.. oh, in the 3 months, i toured berlin, koeln.. explored hamburg, but bit by bit.. finally left the country for stockholm, london & paris.. with less than 2 mths left of my exchange, it comes with a sense of what-ifs and what-nots.. many plans, perhaps will just go unaccomplished.. but with each closing door, perhaps a new door will open up.. but it is just a matter of time.. how long will the wait be? in the words of many germans here, i don't know..*laughs*... you must be wondering what have i been learning here.. in the light of the remaining time and with much to do, all has to be done before my departure..

in general...
sometimes i wonder, how did i go through this year.. a year when dynamics rules over equilibrium.. manchmal war es leicht, manchmal war es schwierig.. aber ich ging weiter..



thanks for all the support back home and here in germany.. thanks for all the friendships.. thanks for all the sweetness for the past year.. thanks for all your love.. it comes a point, whereby i have to stop receiving and start giving it back...

2006... in the new year..
there is much that i want and much that i will like to accomplish but i know well that by controlling much, i will eventually lose much as well.. all i can say about the new year is, cheers to the year that has passed and applauses for the new year.. it will never be an easy walk, but there are ways of making it easier..

to summarise the year before, in the words of robert frost..

two roads diverged in a wood,
and i-- i took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference..