a huge thank you..

just a big thank you to all of you who have made this day extra special...

to xingyi & peijia.. it was a really great surprise!! and i was greatly surprised.. love the chocolate cake loads.. so rich and thick.. talk about getting on chocolate high.. for all the trouble that you both went to, just to get me the cake.. thanks loads babes!! and to reen.. thanks for an early greeting and the pretty little card!! these 3 babes have really been 3 wonderful reasons to be in the class i'm in for the past years.. to jianz.. for having the thought of buying a cake but complained that there's no candles.. to cheewei.. who wanted me to pick something from her bazaar stall.. and much much more.. i'm biased!! sue me then.. but i love my class!! =)

to florence... for the mail that got eaten by the post office somewhere in bedok but to be delivered on time.. pretty purple card with a disclaimer stated.. thanks for the many 154-bus trips, ice-cream and mudpie session, west coast park outing and soon soon!! a kite-flying session.. wait till i get my hands on that..

to ade.. and i tot you forgot.. though this gift is the most 'un-me' gift of the year.. but it's really interesting, just that i have absolutely no idea what to do with it.. but thanks for enduring subway with me.. =)

to eunice, margy, huiran, jo and suren.. thanks for the 'surprise-jasmine' session.. love it loads.. not to mention the rich cheese cake.. but i'm still not cheezy!! thanks for the many years of support and love.. let's age with grace!! =)

to nitya.. the one and only card that i look forward to each year..

to eufo and gek koon.. lab will be terrible without you two.. even if we have to resemble pck's king kong & ah goon, who kept going for tau-hui break, but thanks for all the bad fumes, the terrible and boring engin food, the smokey environment and all.. =)

to the many others who have made this day as it has been.. once again, thanks!!

no. of movies watched: 1.. no. of durian eaten: erm.. from 2 boxes?? no. of macdonalds outing: 1 packet of large fries.. bmi index: i'm within the acceptable range!! woohoo!! *applause*



it was a girls' night out.. yupz, with beautiful shoes, clothes, bags and make-up.. with posh dinner arrangements and a cool trip down the streets of champs elysee in paris.. yeah well, the devil wears prada.. i think any girl will kill to have the wardrobe, which was featured in the runaway office.. *breathe*.. and yes, anyone will kill to have the job of the glamorous stage.. but all at a price.. quoting miranda priestly, everyone wants to be 'us'.. and lose your soul to the big political fashion world there.. well, there are 'miranda priestly' everywhere, not just in the fashion industry but in every industry.. well, that aside, it was a great girls' night out..

sunday was leeying's farewell.. that girl!! flying off this coming saturday to do her masters.. and we surprised her with a singapore lion stuff-toy!! well, you better carry him all the way up the plane and down and finally to your room and hug it every night!! we will miss you babe!!

well, am i working too slow or what? spent the whole of yesterday conceptualising the display boards for nias and it's only done till 2004.. there's still 2005 and 2006 to go as well.. *breathe*.. but the highlight of the day, was uncle jeam's stash of durian!!! yummy!!! we had the really sweet ones to the slightly bitter ones and the totally, completely, terribly bitter ones.. huiran couldn't bear to finish the last one.. and we were so sure that we would lose our voices today.. but thank God, we could still talk and sound real normal!! yummy!! i want more durians..

gawh!! time is flying!!!

no. of efforts on trying to curb my eating indulgences: numerous..

had my 1st mid-term of the new semester and man, it seriously felt bad & terrible.. not to mention that i had to constantly remind myself, that i have to somewhat and somehow score for this exam and it's not just a simple pass.. argh!! i need to get back to the norm of this system again.. on the other hand, no more 6-8pm lessons anymore!!! yahoo!!! that means that i can be on time for cell.. well, almost.. i'm just hideous!!

it's only the start but i'm starting to lose sight of the aim and the purpose of my fyp.. but colin did made a really good point, the whole project has to be integrated into the big picture and that way, it really does motivate on to go on.. hmm, i just have to find that big picture and put everything into place..

oh, florence and me checked out west coast park on sunday evening.. and boy, it was really great.. not to mention that i got to see part of psa at work.. up close.. darn!! where's my camera when i needed it most.. and yes, we were conceptualising an idea of a kite flying competition and guess what? yours truly has just been arrowed to organise a kite flying-cum-bbq gathering!! oh man, i need to convince uncle mark to come and help with the cooking.. if uncle weng kong can come, it will be the ultimate bbq!! we will have the best smelling pit in the whole park!!! we will promise to take care of abraham.. =) *laughs*.. now it's just to pick the perfect time to have this whole event..

big pour down!!

no. of chocolate indulgences: lost count.. no. of big pour down days taken note of: 2.. no. of weeks into sch: 3.. no. of weeks that felt like a holiday still: 3.. no. of kids populating the streets: uncountable coz it's the sch holidays again!! *gawh*

it's been a long time since i got to hear the 12 o'clock bell chimes, which the govt plays every month to signify the 1st day of the month.. so it just felt kinda good to hear it again.. that aside, this week is finally THE WEEK when it rained so hard.. well, it hasn't rained for a while or has it rained that hard for a pretty long time.. so when it was pouring cats and dogs, it just felt good.. but wait, it will only feel good, if everyone's indoors!! who would want to be out that getting all wet and resembling much of a wet chicken!!?? and great, the most unglamorous things had to happen on this very fateful day as well.. and they just had to happen in a series of 3.. oh wells.. that aside.. too unglam to be mentioned..

this was a week of mtg old friends and seeing them after such a long long time.. justin's back!! and i'm such a great friend by helping him save so much money on his text!! *quick thank me again!!!* chiu weng is still as evil to me as usual.. and after quite a number of years, i saw chin choong and ying jie again.. well, i couldn't recognise ying jie coz he has this big yellow/ golden hair.. hopefully it doesn't degenerate to jootz's burnt-bush colour from a couple of years back.. great to be talking rubbish and being all green with envy of their hyp room.. just like mein onkel's honours room..

oh, it's teachers' day today!! woohoo!! happy teachers' day to all who's applicable of the title.. =) and i discovered a nice place to look at sentosa in the evening/ night, without having to get on the bridge to sentosa.. oh yeah, just get some insect repellent prepared.. just in case..

quoting the words of prof. tan's words.. there's still 273 days and it will be all over.. *gawh*.. and on a sidenote: sometimes it really feels that painful to see the same image but in a different setting.. and i can feel my heart aching.. oh wells!! =P

here's a photo from some time back.. sean said that i will eventually land myself into a vicious circle.. camy said that i'm an 'united nation'... but i don't really care?? some have already gone home, while some are going home soon, while some have still some time to go.. but i miss all of them.. in big ways and in small ways.. i just want to say 'thank you'..

a final pack-up..

weight: unknown.. due to the recent bouts of tummyaches.. no. of shopping indulgences: finally!! at the count of ONE!!!.. no. of bag-indulgence session: numerous.. no. of chocolate indulgences: just finished up with kakaocreme.. started with rum & raisin.. *yummy*.. no. of lunch/ dinner appointment: 4..

an accidental spill-out of winterwear wardrobe, resulted in a big pack-up in my room.. well, it was very much needed anyway.. it's just a matter of time, before i need to get everything in place.. anyways, in doing so, my room has resumed to the way it was approximately a year ago.. with only one last small plastic bag worth of items to be put away..

as i fingered through the things around in my room and hidden in the cupboards and in blind spots, every single item seem to tell of a little bit of my life at each pt of time.. photos may fade.. stuff may yellow.. memory may fail.. but when something comes into one's line of vision, memories do return..

nostalgia.. but that aside.. just learnt of something that leeying's gonna do.. hmm.. i'm in much admiration of her courage and decision though.. it's really really a quantum leap of faith.. made me wonder much about boon's 'light at the end of the tunnel'-statement..

nus university hall..

well, something that i wanted to post but kinda forgot all about it.. anyways, i was that bored and i was way too early for lecture so decided to check out this place.. which i think, resembles a tat too much like that of the amercian embassy along holland road.. and there's just something absolutely not right with all the new structures and buildings in singapore.. somehow, they always have some futuristic 'space-craft' located at the top of the building.. oh wells.. anyways, what i really like is that of the following...


sue me!! i was that bored.. but what really struck me was the interior design of one of the admin blocks.. yupz, these pillars that stretch through a couple of levels actually left an impression on me.. could really enjoy the feel of 'space'.. which was a really good thing.. i mean, for a school that is cluttered with buildings and engineering faculty being so overpacked on a hilltop.. it's nice to have something like that around in school..

and after spending quite a fair bit of time tracking down the architect of this work, here it is: rsp architects planners & engineers.. and i realised that they actually did ucc as well.. wow.. check them out.. pretty cool but very futuristic impression..

school has started!!

weight: unfortunately, it's on the rise.. number of familiar faces saw in school: somewhat countable but thankful for them too.. number of times that old chang kee has tempted me: 2 times and counting.. number of days have past since school as started: 4..

school has officially started.. and well, everything has started rolling again.. snowballing rather.. hmm, it's really good to be back in school.. well, one truly appreciates what the adults mean by, school days are still the best..

it is good to smell the weird smells that each place in school carries.. to see familiar faces, though it's really much lesser than that more than a year ago.. yet, it feels strange all over again.. the mad rush everywhere.. unfamiliar faces and you suddenly realised that you are one of the oldest around in this institution now.. gawh!!! gone were the days when freshman still sounds that fresh..

thankful for making friends in unknown lecture classes.. and to even stumble upon my sec. sch classmate, whose name i unfortunately mistook for another.. total, utter embarrassment.. thankful for catching up with ppl all over again.. classmates, sep friends.. whoever man..

well, perhaps a little depressing, coz one year from now, it will be another decision-making time.. a bigger one perhaps.. but before that comes, here we are, having to brave through yet another year.. perhaps we may hit a pt, whereby we want to kill each other over project.. perhaps there comes a time, when we want to destroy some property in school.. but well, it's tough but we have gone through 3 years.. so give yourselves a pat on the back and look on ahead..

so, welcome back to school!!

the first day of my holidays!!

weight: oh gosh.. don't ask, it's complicated.. chocolate indulgences: further increased up the scale.. no. of fireworks seen: 1, while the other fell apart.. no. of appts with tall and desirable guy: 1.. [hmm, shall let mr. designer's ego inflat a little and girls, if you need the contacts, msg me yeah..]

that aside.. today is the first day of my holidays!! woohoo!! come on man, give it a 3 cheers!! =)


bevor ich andere sage, musste ich die folgende sagen.. scheiße!!! ich war spät, deshalb habe ich ein bisschen des film nicht gesehen!! gawh!!! nicht gut!! aber das film ist sehr gut!! jawohl.. die musik ist ganz gut und man kann wirklich die ganze laune fühlen.. sehr schön, obwohl die handlung sehr traurig ist.. aber das ist ein gutes film!! wenn du zeit hast, musst du das film sehen!! und ja, ich muss von wikipedia lesen, über was ich nicht gesehen hast.. oh oh!! und ich habe die uni, ludwig-maximilians-universität münchen, im film gesehen.. ja, ja, ich kann sagen, dass ich dort war.. nicht in 1943 aber in 2006..

yupz, so that's almost how i spent the first day of my holidays.. though i gave rag a miss.. hmm, on 2nd tots, perhaps should have gone, then could have seen ppl and see margy!! miss that babe loads.. and yes, who can forget about foodie!! dim sum buffet!! eat your hearts out man!! don't give a hoot about the weight, as long as i'm happy man.. and food makes me happy.. oh, did i mention that i intend to stuff myself with loads of food over the course of these few days?? jawohl!! who cares about weight.. let the slimming sanctuaries take care of that for me.. *laughs*.. when they come along that is..

borders is having it's 30% newspaper-cutting offers again!! gosh!! and i'm an idiot when such moments come.. and borders is having a slogan of 'have a bookshelf that others will be jealous of'.. oh yeah, i love that slogan but such a lifestyle can only be substantiated if i have the financial means of financing it too!! though i do not deny that my bookshelf is expanding as well.. hmm, i've yet to find a good coffee joint, where i can sit down and drown myself in a book for the entire day.. well, tampines mall sounds really cool but man!! the distance will be enough to kill me..

fireworks with a french theme, just did not work out coz of the crowd and the fact that i don't like crowd.. mr. designer can testify to that fact.. well, but at least i can say that this year i caught the national day fireworks.. right outside the national stadium and standing in a really good spot, with great company to enjoy the wonderful showcase of colours.. hmm, i shall let the photos do the talking then.. when i get ard uploading all of them, with appropriate commentaries..

the bridget-jones way..

weight: exploding on the scales.. chocolate indulgences: 4 times and counting.. junk food counter: in desperate need to visit the supermarket for replenishment of stock.. shopping sprees: unfortunate figure of -1.. visit to the beach: close to a perfect zero-score..

the title of this post says it all.. you all know which book i am currently digging into.. teaches one to blog, bitch, swear.. well, mainly to bitch.. well, let's try out how this new feel fits with my blog..

surprisingly and tiring week.. goodness gracious.. talk about having the wind taken out of you.. break ain't much a break and was zooming off to so many places.. cool stayover on friday, throw in a crazy session of 'madagascar', which sent us into a frenzy and waking the occupants of the house up.. but i'm lousy!! i was the 1st one to knock out..

that aside.. guess what have i been up to?? freeloading!! oh yeah.. with much much food and all.. excellent food, which i was awesomely treated to.. oh yeah, wonderful experience of freeloading.. the whole experience lasted for more than a week.. but shoot me man, for i have the fortune of eating and tasting it all!!


1st up, we had the wonders of singaporean delights.. cheepeng & aunty amy being the instructors and advisors of this session, it's no wonder that we had such wonderful food!!


2nd up, we had food hailed from the land of genghis khan!! oh yeah, the land of mongolia, whereby it's a little hard to picture ppl from there coz it's so far away and the climate is simple close to an artic-challenge..

let's see what we had here!! potato salad, which is a fission of russian & mongolian cultures.. carrots with mayo.. and it totally did not taste a tat like carrots!! and most importantly, the national food: buuz!! there's 3 variations: beef with vegetables.. beef with potato.. beef with rice.. schmeckt sehr sehr gut!! die mongolische mädchen können sehr gut kochen!!


3rd up, we had food hailed from the land of the rising sun!! what you see in the picture has one missing dish, which was food hailed from kazu's hometown.. doesn't that looked like some dish on a japanese restaurant's menu?? oh yeah, they were that pro and good!! my gosh!! and we had diy-maki rolls too!! yoshie single-handed organised the whole dinner and the rest of the japanese chipped in and helped in all sorts of ways.. well, i was late so i only got to see the end of the preparations.. now, how can the commercial japanese food beat this homemade one!!??


taku was in town during the weekend.. on a stopover to bangkok.. yeah, devin's back too.. to finish up his final semester at smu, with exchange in nus.. uncle jeam joined us coz he hasn't seen taku for a long long time.. debbie will be off to china for a mtg this wednesday.. and both uncle bernard and debbie will be off to the states in the very near future.. great friendships, great memories and stories that came about in a really weird way but will go a long long way..

and yes, we had vegetarian food for lunch.. what a change!! meat that isn't meat but taste totally like meat.. seafood that ain't seafood.. but well, it compliments my 'see-food' diet so no complains.. great food, with great company.. a tired but well-spent day!! =)

all he had to do, was to just point and click.. and yes, michael newman's life went haywired in the end.. well, fast-forwarded, skipping all the things that he wanna miss and getting to what he wanna get to.. so much for a universal remote control but it ended up controlling mic's life!! and yes, work vs. family/friends... find the balance and stay away from the remote control.. not everyone gets a 2nd chance like mic did!!

well, not a movie i would have caught if it didn't come for free.. and my ticket flew away.. went on a mini chase to get the stupid ticket back.. oh wells, and yes so i successfully watched the movie.. and yes, big underlying theme!! family/friends should take precedence over work.. an erroding social knowledge that has been pushed to somewhere behind the back of the brain..

on a sidenote: wenn man nicht mehr weiter machen kann, braucht man jetzt wirklich eine pause... aber leider gibt es keine zeit.. warum gibt es keine zeit?? zeit ist immer da, aber es geht immer.. es wartet auf niemanden.. das ist schade, weil in das leben des jemandes, es viele schöne erinnerungen gibt, geht die zeit leider immer.. oh scheiße!! ich brauche eine pause.. eine kurze pause?? aber ich denke, dass es nicht genug für mich ist.. eine lange pause?? aber es ist unmöglich!! *gawh*.. ich brauche einen großen urlaub!!!

... what if you found the one you were meant for... but you lived 2 years apart? ... how do you hold on to someone you've never met?


the poster is done as such, coz he was indeed living 2 years apart from her... and they never met.. well, they did.. or rather, he did see her and he knew how she looked like.. but she didn't... she didn't know who he was.. but he belonged to a part of her memory 2 years later, when she recalled the incidents 2 years ago..

wikipedia was supposed to save me from tearing but it did not.. i can honestly tell you that your heart just cringed up... when you see keane reeves standing by the window, looking at the fireworks in 2006.. when you see sandra bullocks finding the book 'persuasion' under the floor boards..

and indeed, how can one wait for someone he/she has never met.. but he did... he waited for her.. 2 years seem like a long time but he said "i'll wait.. and we'll meet.. tomorrow.. 2 years from tomorrow.." oh man!! i just love this movie, even though it has received bad reviews.. it's so much like casanova.. a classic that i will love and will want to buy the vcd to watch it again and again.. fine!! i'm pathetic when it comes to such good tear-jerking movies.. =P

and it has a good promotional theme song.. 'somewhere only we know' by keane.. oh man, great song with a well-made trailer.. sue me for being biased!! =P

on a sidenote, how did i end up watching this movie? well, you see... all my brilliant plan of watching helen, the baby fox fell apart.. well, the movie was sold out with only one seat left.. so after much delibration with yoshie, sei & florence, and while racing against time too, we decided to settle for the lake house.. well, guessed sei was the only one who was bored through the movie but was too nice to complain.. gawh!! yoshie and me were in the 'no!! oh no!! it's can't be like that' mood.. well, we never talked through the movie but could sense it coz she was seated next to me.. and yes, we were in the front row!! front row.. thank God there's no volcano lava flowing down on me this time round..

oh gosh!! i love the lake house.. now, i wanna watch the original korean version of it.. il mare..

the most blog-worthy wedding..

well, i've been to 4 weddings since i got back.. and each of them is special in its own way and definitely significant too.. all of them belong to close friends of mine.. but the one, which i went to on sunday evening, was the most blog-worthy..

some dialogue played out not too long ago...
price of nokia 6100: sgd 200
price of singtel sim-card: sgd 30
price of phone call to china: sgd 2/min
BUT look on uncle bernard's face when debbie picks up the phone: priceless..
for everything else, there is mastercard.


isn't it a pretty sight to see uncle with debbie? and the funniest thing that debbie told us was that, she has heard so much abt us and we have heard so much abt her.. but we only finally met a year later.. and although uncle's the groom, he was still calling the shots during the dinner, reorganising all the sitting arrangement and all.. debbie was like, oh wells..

hmm.. this picture would have been more complete, if the other 2 lovebirds have been here, instead of being stuck in indonesia.. miss them loads but no worries, i'll definitely be seeing much of them in 2 weeks' time.. and there's abang franky and abang taku.. much to say but shall not do it here..

yupz, so happy for uncle!! and yes, his american visa is finally approved so the real wedding bells are gonna be ringing from afar!! and uncle still refuses to ship us over to the states.. but anyway, CONGRATULATIONS uncle & debbie!! =) God bless you both on this journey ahead!!

goodness gracious!! so much has happened over ther past week and there's so much that i want to blog about.. but hmm.. events are supposed to be in order of precedence but i'm gonna skip that this time.. and arrange them according to importance, which will definitely be the immediate post that one will read about..


jack sparrow is back!! oh yeah.. and he's still that loveable pirate from the 1st installment.. well, at least one sequel that doesn't leave one scratching his/ her head upon leaving the theatre.. one classic example is matrix reloaded, where there were just too many questions dropped throughout the 2 hours.. and the only baffling part of this, is perhaps, if elizabeth swann has somewhat fell for captain jack.. and yes, as keira knightley said, elizabeth's character has just grown darker.. anyways... my gosh, the pirates from the flying dutchman reminded me of the orcs.. they were that disgusting.. but thank God for a light dinner prior to the movie..

and yes, i just found out that wikipedia actually does spoilers for almost all the movies even screened in theatre.. my gosh, the synopsis of this movie was actually given to the detail.. right down to the scene after the credits.. so perhaps it's a good site to visit prior to any tear-jerking movies.. well, to prevent the tears from flowing during and after the movie..


and yes, i managed to catch cabaret too.. with fei xiang, emma yong etc. in it too.. but throughout the whole performance, it just failed to strike a chord with me.. i left feeling that this production is much a 'forgettable'.. strong cast like rj rosales was actually casted as part of the ensemble!!! that, itself is pretty much a mistake.. kinda disappointing though esp. since much was said abt the film-version.. fei xiang is good.. but i can't help but worry about his safety, esp since he was prancing ard the stage at his age!!!

mr designer said that i'm biased coz this entire production is set in germany.. but nope, when a production doesn't leave an impression, it just doesn't.. the only reason why i can remember this production, coz i have the programme sitting on the table next to me.. but another reason is, coz i watched it with my phantom blogger, who's finally back.. and now unfortunately gonna go for a wisdom tooth operation tomorrow.. oh wells, i've nothing much to comment abt this actually..

and yes, on a really bimbotic and klutzy sidenote, my favourite pair of purple slip-ons, which has been with me for a period of time and purchased from my favourite shoe shop i.e. vnc, finally gave way on sunday morning!! on the way to church!! oh gosh, i was debating if i should go home and get another pair of shoe, then cab my way to church or just simply buy a new pair.. and oh wells, i chose the latter..

now that the world cup is over.. unfortunately that is.. kind of weird not to read about soccer news anymore and to see that long string of ppl outside singapore pools every day.. and don't try to psycho me into epl or what italian seria a and what not.. i'm holding on to my word of euro 2008.. anyways, so i need a new form of entertainment right??? and yes, i found them once again in the form of television but oh yeah, all my tear-jerking korean dramas again.. so here's 3 of the latest which i have completed..


yeah, and it was a sad love story.. everyone just cried from the start till the end of the entire show.. a bitter ending.. happy??? well, it depends on how you view it then.. anyway, the original lead actor, song seong hun was only showed in the trailer coz he had to return home for national service.. that's besides the point.. but i thought that the trailer was really well done..


my name is kim san soon.. yet another comical serial recommended by nolly.. well, for the entertainment factor and it's all about the love relationship between an older lady and a younger guy.. enough said.. no prizes for getting the ending correct..


well, this just got voted to be another of my all-time favourite!! save the last dance for me.. and boy, the lead actress, eugene, is just so pretty!! oh my gosh!! *faints*... and this is a really really awesome serial.. this one gets the run for my tears man.. *gawh*.. it's just so sad!! talk abt pulling at one's heart-strings.. anyways, go watch it now on channel 8, then you will know what i am talking about..

here's my precious find from the great singapore sale.. but it's not that great after all.. oh yes, well... as what florence and me will call it to be: investing for the future!! *gasp*.. isn't it absolutely sweet and cute!! so here's bumble-bee baby bootees for junior!! and the label at the back of the packaging says, one size fits all.. but anyways, really absolutely adorable bumble-bee baby bootees!! *muackz*

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..