EPL Week 19

(TT)vaches de chier

Andriy Shevchenko (@WIG, RED)
For Martins, Johnson, Kuyt, Berbatov, Defoe. Mourinho says he'll come good over X'mas.
Ummm, this X'mas perhaps?
Why didn't I get Johnson?

Robin van Persie (BLA, @WAT)
Needs a goal.
Gets two.
Scores a magnificent winner.

Michael Ballack (@WIG, RED)
Cheap pick.
Nothing doing.
Bleah.

Josip Skoko (CHE, @MAN)
Cheap pick.
Did well.
Came on to little effect.

Cristiano Ronaldo (@AST, WIG)
Should score.
Absolutely dominating.
Scores another brace, this time as a sub.

Steven Gerrard (WAT, @BLA)
For Rooney, Saha, Drogba, Bellamy, Anelka, Robben, Lampard. Top pick.
Bellamy, Anelka and Robben were cheaper and better. Hope he proves me wrong on Boxing Day.
Why didn't I go cheap?!

Gilberto Silva (BLA, @WAT)
For Davis, Nolan, Beattie, Meite, Ben Haim, Radzinski, Helguson, Dickov, Rosicky, Lee, Ferdinand, Vaz Te, Anichebe. The least of all evils.
Captain's goal.
Captain's brace!

Johan Djourou (BLA, @WAT)
For Senderos. Clean sheets.
OK lah.
Poor.

Paul Konchesky (@WIG, RED)
For Scharner, Cole, Boulahrouz. Clean sheets.
Got sent off for nothing.
Poor.

Gabriel Heinze (@AST, WIG)
For Vidic. Clean sheets.
Didn't play.
Denied five points by Silvestre's ill-advised lunge.

Henrique Hilario (@WIG, RED)
For van der Sar, Cudicini, Kirkland. Has a chance of CS.
Not bad.
Very bad.

Total points: 151.0
Predicted points: 125.2

--------------

The Group of Death III

Well done all!

Week 19 has just passed.

Aaron (1678 pts) strengthens 1st place with 151 pts, thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo, Robin van Persie and Gilberto Silva.

The gap is now 98 pts as Ben (1580 pts) slips in 2nd place with 104 pts and is 51.5 pts ahead of Hsu, no thanks to Kevin Davies, Henrique Hilario and Kevin Nolan.

Hsu (1528.5 pts) remains in 3rd place with 112.5 pts, thanks to van Persie, Francesc Fabregas, Ashley Young and Emmanuel Adebayor.

Theophane (1340.5 pts) goes up to 7th place with the highest score of 174.5 pts, thanks to Didier Drogba, Gliberto and Andrew Johnson.

Syafiq (1327.5 pts) rises to 8th place with the 3rd-highest score of 171.5 pts, thanks to Ronaldo, Kieron Dyer and Fabregas.

Amos (704 pts) rises to 19th place with the 2nd-highest score of 172.5 pts, thanks to van Persie, Fabregas, Patrice Evra and Dirk Kuyt.

Jasmine (1497 pts) gains in 4th place with 145.5 pts, thanks to van Persie, Obafemi Martins, Fabregas and Kuyt.

At the other end, Teckseng (1164.5 pts) falls to 14th place with the lowest score of 44.5 pts, no thanks to the negative Michael Ballack, Thierry Henry, Damien Duff, Aaron Lennon, together with Andriy Shevchenko, Chris Kirkland and Louis Saha.

See you next week!

Love Actually

One of the best rom-coms out there. With a stellar cast and an engaging story, it was worth every minute.

Everywhere you look, love is causing chaos. From the bachelor Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who, on his first day at 10 Downing Street, falls in love with the girl who brings him his tea, to a ...( read more )hopeless sandwich delivery guy who doesn't think he has a chance with the girls in the U.K., so he heads for Wisconsin. From aging rock stars, to a stony headmistress, to a monolingual Portuguese housemaid--love arrives in many forms, shapes and sizes. Here, ten separate--but intertwining--stories of love all lead up to a big climax on Christmas Eve, proving that love is the driving force in all of these people's lives.

New Year party

I'm looking forward to the first Young Adults ALG party in recent history on 29 Dec. I'm looking to a fun time of fellowship, makan and games. Come dressed colourfully and let me know if you wanna come. It's just $10 for the food, though you have tio bring a gift worth $10 for exchanging. Hope to see you there!

Blessed Christmas

Blessed Christmas to one and all. I may not meet you this Christmas, nor give you a gift, but rest assured you're in my thoughts. God bless you all.

Exam results

I thank God for excellent results for Semester 1. Managed to get a GPA of 4.83/5 with A* A* A A- A-, the former two in grammar and mathematics. I'll try to keep it up next semester, now that GESL is more or less outta the way.

EPL Week 18

(TT)vaches de chier

Obafemi Martins (WAT)
For Drogba. In good form.
Excellent job.

Jermaine Defoe (@MAC)
For Shevchenko, Berbatov. In good form.
Poor.

Robin van Persie (POR)
Needs a goal.
Not too shabby.

Michael Ballack (@EVE)
Cheap pick.
Delivers.

Josip Skoko (SHE)
Cheap pick.
Good return.

Cristiano Ronaldo (@WHU)
For Lampard, Gerrard, Barton. Should score.
Well done.

Arjen Robben (@EVE)
For Fabregas, Lennon, McCulloch. Gut feel.
Stupid gut.

Gabriel Heinze (@WHU)
For Carvalho. Stands in for Evra.
Unlucky to get booked.

Paul Scharner (SHE)
Must shoot more often.
AWOL.

Nemanja Vidic (@WHU)
For Babayaro. Might score.
Unlucky to get booked.

Chris Kirkland (SHE)
Has a chance of CS.
Dang.

Total points: 76.0
Predicted points: 64.0

------------

The Group of Death III

Well done all!

Week 18 has just passed.

Aaron (1537 pts) strengthens 1st place with 76 pts, thanks to Obafemi Martins, Cristiano Ronaldo and Michael Ballack.

The gap is now 69.5 pts as Ben (1467.5 pts) holds 2nd place with 74 pts and is 51.5 pts ahead of Hsu, thanks to Martins, Frank Lampard and Emmanuel Adebayor.

Hsu (1416 pts) remains in 3rd place with 70.5 pts, thanks to Martins, Ryan Giggs and Ashley Young.

Andrew (1299.5 pts) gains in 5th place with the 3rd-highest score of 83.5 pts, thanks to Martins, Ronaldo and Lampard.

Edgar (1203.5 pts) consolidates 7th place with the highest score of 87.5 pts, thanks to Steven Gerrard, Matthew Taylor and Louis Saha.

Ryan (704 pts) chases from bottom in last place with the 2nd-highest score of 84 pts, thanks to Craig Bellamy, Gerrard, Gary Speed and Giggs.

Jasmine (1284.5 pts) maintains 4th place with 71.5 pts, thanks to Martins, Giggs and Ballack.

At the other end, Syafiq (1157 pts) falls to 9th place with the lowest score of 41.5 pts, no thanks to the negative Tim Howard, Ricardo Carvalho, Steve Sidwell, Nemanja Vidic and Seol Ki-Hyeon.

See you next week!

12 Day of Christmas

This is totally hilarious! Boymongoose's rendition of an Indian 12 Days of Christmas in their latest album Christmas in Asia Minor, which includes classics like Hark the Herald Angel Singh and The Worst Motel.

Buangkok Green Christmas Carols

1. Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?
2. Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Kings Disoriented Are
3. Dementia --- I Think I'll be Home for Christmas
4. Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me
5. Manic --- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and.....
6. Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me
7. Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire
8. Personality Disorder --- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why
9. Attention Deficit Disorder --- Silent night, Holy oooh look at the froggy - can I have a chocolate, why is France so far away?
10. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder --Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

Taken from Germaine

4 Things that I...

4 names pple call you:
Aaron
Dear
Kor
Chin Wei

4 things that scare you:
Loneliness
Stepping on snails
Horror movies
Jasmine doing something potentially injury-causing

4 things you are wearing right now:
T-shirt
Berms
Boxers
Steroid cream?

4 things you want in a relationship (other than real love):
Trust
Give & take
God
Understanding
4 truths:
The grass is always greener on the other side.
There will always be people that you don't like.
It's not always about you.
God & I love each other.

4 physical things that appeal to you (in the opposite sex):
Smile
Eyes
Hair
Confidence

4 of your favorite hobbies:
Football
Playing drums
Board games
Hanging out

4 things you want really badly:
To be healed of eczema
To be successful in my career
To see my immediate and future family love God and one another
To love God in the way He loves me

4 places you want to go on vacation:
Hawaii
New Zealand
Australia
UK

4 things you want to do before you die:
Still got time, I'll tell you many years later.

4 stuff u hadn't try out and really wanna try it out:
Drive
Golf
Lead guitar
Go back in time

4 things you are thinking about now:
I'm late
I need to clip my nails
Someone's messaging me
Why am I answering these questions?

4 stores you shop at:
Mama shop
Adidas
POA
Online

4 people who should do this quiz:
Jasmine
Angela
Matthew
Ps Koo!

EPL Week 17

(TT)vaches de chier

Didier Drogba (NUF, ARS)
For Berbatov. Chelsea's dominant striker.
Diver.
Scores the winner.

Andriy Shevchenko (NUF, ARS)
For Doyle. Chelsea's subservient striker.
Poof.
Supplies the winner.

Robin van Persie (@CHE, @WIG)
For McCarthy. Takes a mean free-kick.
Flop.
NIL impact.

Michael Ballack (NUF, ARS)
For Bentley. Schizo-player extraordinaire.
Phooey.
Damn.

Josip Skoko (@MID, ARS)
For A Reid, Hleb. Wigan's utility man.
Fluff.
Much better.

Frank Lampard (NUF, ARS)
For Lennon. Put money, take money.
Only decent performance.
Unlucky.

Lee McCulloch (@MID, ARS)
For Fabregas. Will feed Camara and Heskey.
Bleah.
Pbbbbbbthh!

Ricardo Carvalho (NUF, ARS)
For Shorey, A Cole, Terry. I hate this guy's guts.
At least I didn't get Ca$hley.
Sucks.

Paul Scharner (@MID, ARS)
Must shoot more often.
Won the penalty. No points for that though.
Suspended.

Celestine Babayaro (@CHE, @BLA)
For Assou-Ekotto, Ooijer. Speedy fullback.
Dang.
Minus four!!??

Chris Kirkland (@MID, ARS)
For Niemi. Surely he won't screw me up again?
Injured?!
Played.

Total points:80.0
Predicted points: 135.4

------------

The Group of Death III

Well done all!

Week 17 has just passed.

Aaron (1461 pts) slips in 1st place with 80 pts, no thanks to Celestine Babayaro, Michael Ballack, Lee McCulloch and Chris Kirkland.

The gap is now 67.5 pts as Ben (1393.5 pts) gains in 2nd place with 104.5 pts and is 48 pts ahead of Hsu, thanks to Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, Andriy Shevchenko and John Terry.

Hsu (1345.5 pts) remains in 3rd place with 93 pts, thanks to Arjen Robben, Lampard, Drogba and Shevchenko .

Theophane (1099.5 pts) gets 9th place with the highest score of 114 pts, thanks to Jens Lehmann, Drogba, Emmanuel Adebayor, Emmanuel Eboue, Gael Clichy and Francesc Fabregas.

Wallid (1091 pts) gets 10th place with the 2nd-highest score of 111 pts, thanks to Wayne Rooney, Robben and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Theophane (1022.5 pts) gets 14th place with the 3rd-highest score of 108 pts, thanks to Rooney, Ronaldo, Nwankwo Kanu, Fabregas and Terry.

Jasmine (1284.5 pts) maintains 4th place despite 70.5 pts, no thanks to Tomas Rosicky, Carlo Cudicini, Ballack, Nolberto Solano and McCulloch.

At the other end, Irwan (978.5 pts) falls to 16th place with the lowest score of 56.5 pts, no thanks to Gabriel Agbonlahor, Gareth Barry and Steve Sidwell.

See you next week!

Flags of our Fathers

A poignant if slow-moving autopsy of what really happened in Iwo Jima when that flag was raised. What a farce!

EPL Week 16

(TT)vaches de chier

Dimitar Berbatov (@ARS, MID)
For Saha, Defoe, Bent, Keane, Camara. Belatedly starts scoring.
Phooey. Should've stuck with Saha and Angel.
Scores.

Kevin Doyle (BOL, @NUF)
For Angel. A literary revelation.
Scores as expected.
Couldn't sparkle.

Benni McCarthy (FUL, @CHA)
For Hulse. Good matchups.
Scores too.
Missed a sitter.

David Bentley (FUL, @CHA)
For Pedersen. In good form.
Can do better.
Very disappointing.

Andy Reid (@SHE, BLA)
For Barry. On form.
Goal.
Fizzled out.

Aaron Lennon (@ARS, MID)
For Gerrard. Can run riot.
What happened?
Slightly better.

Lee McCulloch (LIV, @WHU)
For Ronaldo, Malbranque. Will feed Camara and Heskey.
Unlucky.
Vast improvement, but still a damp squib.

Nicky Shorey (BOL, @NUF)
For Cahill. Good crosser.
Did well.
Well done.

Paul Scharner (LIV, @WHU)
Must shoot more often.
Good performance.
Comes good.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto (@ARS, MID)
For Chimbonda, Young, Baines. Speedy fullback.
Spurs suck.
Didn't play.

Chris Kirkland (LIV, @WHU)
For Reina, Friedel, Carson. Cheaper option.
If I'd gotten Friedel I'd have 23 more points.
Breaks even.

Total points: 114.0
Predicted points: 148.2

-------------

The Group of Death III

Well done all!

Week 16 has just passed.

Aaron (1381 pts) maintains 1st place with 114 pts, thanks to Andy Reid, Benni McCarthy and Kevin Doyle.

The gap is now 92 pts as Ben (1289 pts) strengthens 2nd place with the 3rd-highest score of 118 pts and is 36.5 pts ahead of Hsu, thanks to McCarthy, Brad Friedel and Kevin Doyle.

Hsu (1252.5 pts) remains 3rd place with the highest score of 124.5 pts, thanks to Reid, McCarthy and Friedel.

Jasmine (1214 pts) maintains 4th place with the 2nd-highest score of 121 pts, thanks to Reid, McCarthy and Doyle.

At the other end, Jeremy (985.5 pts) falls to 10th place with the lowest score of 18 pts, no thanks to Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Thierry Henry, Andriy Shevchenko, Michael Ballack, Wayne Rooney and Abdoulaye Meite.

See you next week!

Group Endeavours in Service Learning: Expanding Your Horizons

It's finally over.

I say that not with relief, regret or resolution, but rather in thankful matter-of-fact way that something that occupied and dominated my thoughts so selfishly has been lifted off my shoulders. Pardon the faulty analogy.

We will be formally reflecting on our project as part of our project assessment, but here's mine in an honest repartee, bound not by political correctness nor diplomatic non-commitalisms. I doubt there's such a word.

First, the hunky-dory stuff.

This project was a labour of love in many ways. Pragmatically, it was so because I poured in so much of myself into this despite that GESL is a pass/fail module i.e. everyone gets the same grade. Whether you're the idealistic group leader musting gut to get everyone to adhere to deadlines or a baritone slacker hanging on to coattails, if your project's a success, you pass, period.

Meaning to say, if I as group leader had put in minimal effort in conceptualising a project that required minimal effort and expenditure but yet carried it out to completion, we'd still get the pass.

But that was never enough for me. I punished myself by expecting a lot from my team members and I. For example, we picked a really difficult charitable organisation to begin with. While other groups picked children's homes or orphanages with children, we really went for the cream of the crop.

We engaged a home that took in teenage girls of every possible social malaise you could think of. Drug abuse, stealing, teenage pregnancies, gangs, beyond parental control: you name it, they had it. Looking back, I can't believe we did not realise what we were getting ourselves into. Being the wide-eyed idealistic lot of student teachers that we were, we believed we could touch lives the way MOE recruitment posters said we could. These were 11 to 16-year-olds that had been hurt in ways we could never imagine, much less empathise with. Surely they can't be that bad, we reasoned. They're girls after all. Boys are the problem cases. They'll respond to us, we said, because we have the right intentions. We were in for a wake-up call.

I would like to mention at this point that we spent the better part of four months framing and putting the project together from scratch, with little experience in organising events on this big a scale. Moreover, we were a group of nineteen diverse strangers; the only thing we had in common was that we were teachers-to-be.

And so as team leader I stumbled upon another fact of life: there's one in every herd. Having more or less been volunteered to be communications representative and then team leader, I struggled with the mantle of responsibility that had been thrust upon me. I faced subordinates older and wiser than I, but yet looked to me for direction. I had a female colleague old enough to be my mother! And here I was, fresh from NS and the leader of this motley crew.

Initially the momentum just wasn't there. Meetings were painfully drawn out and the lack of chemistry and consensus was evident. It was right there that I became acutely aware that we weren't all the same. More than a handful of our group were not prepared to put in their fair share. Their actions or lack of them lent weight to my argument as the project ramped up to D-day. A lack of initiative, responsibility, common sense were some of the milder complaints. Looking back, I would've put this people in less important areas of responsibility or done without them altogether. The frustrating thing for those of us committed and 'sold' on the project was the presence of these makeweights and the knowledge that we would all get the same grade in the end.

As deadlines grew nearer and horizons became shorter, it became incresingly essential for people to keep their end of the bargain in their areas of responsibility. But they seemed to thrive on been harried and hurried into doing things. It took a heartfelt and desperate communique from me to stir them into a semblance of activity.

That said, there were some invaluable members of the community that were integral to the success of the project. Without these people, we'd have been dead and buried. They helped identify my blind spots, stepped in the gap voluntarily and uncomplainingly, and fulfilled their duties on time and on target. These are the people, I told myself, that I'm doing this for. Not the girls, not the grade, not myself, but for my comrades who were equally sold on this project and would give their all for it even if they got nothing in return. I salute them, and it is a source of pride to me that I'll be serving alongside these people in civil service. I'd bite your hand off if you gave me the opportunity to serve with them all over again.

To put it simply, they made my job easier. Sure it was still difficult, but these guys oiled the gears. I thank God for His wisdom in telling me to put these people in the key positions of finance, administration and liaison heads. I shudder to think what would have transpired if the laissez-faire had been in their place.

It became clear to me that the teething problems we had at the beginning were essential in ensuring that our project was got on track as soon as possible, instead of later when the inertia would be difficult to counter. Sure we got off to a slow start, but we made up ground towards the end.

The mark of good planning is that when the leader is not around, the programme still runs like clockwork.

On the actual days of the event, my contribution was minimal. But I'd like to think that it was because my planning and instructions were so robust and comprehensive that I was not actually needed on the day! It was also down to the competency and enthusiasm of the activity planners and facilitators.

Shame on those hangers-on. A little anecdote: at one of the adventure centre's general stations, one group had just succeeded in achieving their target. They were encouraged by an observer to lower their target even further. Sure they were tentative, so they looked around them for encouragement. Instead they were faced with the demoralising sight of their facilitator and station master staring disinterestedly and listlessly at them. So they decided to give up.

This sickens and disgusts me. How can we claim to be teachers if our excuse for not motivating and stretching the girls are "they don't want to", "they'll be too tired" and "it's too difficult". Sure we aren't paid much, but any simpleton can then step in our shoes and give the same excuses. Another example: The girls were to collect recyclable materials from around the Home to dress up a mascot. I realised one group hadn't moved. I asked the facilitator why they had not. She replied that her group did not want to. I replied that the onus was on her to lead her group to do so. She replied that I did not understand her group and that if they did not want to go, then she would not force them.

I have never heard of such balderdash. I'd like to see her teaching in her school where her principal asks her why her students have not been handing in homework and she replies that they did not want to and she would not force them. How can you claim to be a teacher and have this sickening, malingerent attitude of tidak-apa-ness? If this is the sort of teacher teaching my future children, I'm afraid I can't really look forward to my retirement. If the teacher won't take the trouble to teach my children, why would my children take the trouble to take care of me?

I find such attitudes and behaviour abhorrent and thoroughly disturbing. I really hope these people just quit, break their bond, and find a job where they wreck just their future and not my children's.

And just to rub it all in, because of my efforts, they're getting the same grade I do.

Scum of the earth aside, the girls of the Home were a totally different kettle of fish.

Mind you, some of these girls had stinking attitudes too. They yawned audibly when things moved slowly, had tardy time-keeping habits, cursed freely and creatively, whined and complained non-stop, refused to clean up, listened to music when we were talking, etc. Wait a minute, you must be thinking. You mnust be even more pissed at their atitude then! The truth is, I'm not.

My disappointment with my non-contributing colleagues far outweighs any resentment I have of the girls anti-social behaviour. The reason is simple: these girls have been through so much more than I could ever imagine. If they emerge from those experiences bitter, disengaged, disinterested, untrusting, angry juvenile delinquents, I don't blame them.

The youngest, an eleven-year-old, was just two when she was abandoned by her single mother. She has never known her mother nor father. How is she to trust you or reciprocate when you show her care and concern? Some of these girls have been hurt by someone they trust, like a parent or boyfriend. How can they learn to trust and love again? We shake our heads and their youthful folly, their numerous piercings and lesbian tendencies. But look at their lot in life. How can we begin to even compare our lives? To claim we understand? To say we love them no matter what they've done?

My experience with them showed me this: their hearts are truer then ours. They have been hurt so badly that all you see now is a protective and hostile facade they have put up to prevent their vulnerable heart from being pierced again. Occasionally they let you in. You see it in their smiles, their laughter, their puerile posturing, and you think, I WAS ONCE LIKE THAT. These girls were never given the opportunity to experience the parent's love that I did, nor the protective environment that comes with it. They were instead thrown naked on a cold, hard stage of society's judgment, the unrelenting spotlight exposing their sins and weaknesses for all to see.

I realised some of these girls were once like my sister, or cousin or niece. What happened? What have we done?

Could the apathy we showed them, even if only fleetingly, caused them to give up on society the way society gave up on them? I hate the feeling that our project, borne of good intention, could have driven these girls even further away with our thoughtless and selfish actions.

My heart bleeds when I say this, but I really wish I could put myself in their shoes, and convince them to keep on fighting and get their life back on track. And yet I see colleagues' attitudes undermining and derailing the very objectives we had set out to achieve in the first place. It still sickens me.

Only Someone can truly help these girls where Man has hurt them. I thank God they're at least they're in a Christian home. Through the servants' hearts and agape love shown, I hope they too can experience God's love.

To borrow a line from Jack Black in the School of Rock, I know I've touched them, and they have definitely touched me.

Note: Touched (adj.) - Emotionally affected; moved.

Quotable Quotes IV

If you can't be a good example, then at least be a horrible warning. - Catherine Aird
Thirty-five is when you get your head together and your body starts falling apart. - Caryn Leschen
Behind every successful man is a surprised woman. - Maryon Pearson
I never married because there was no need. I have three pets at home who answer the same purpose as a husband. I have a dog that growls every morning, a parrot that swears all afternoon, and a cat that comes home late every night. - Marie Corelli

Driving

I had my first private manual driving lesson the other day and I must admit I didn't know how fun yet difficult it would be. The thrill of driving even at 40kn/h is unspeakable. However, the accelerator remains so sensitive that just a tad too hard and the engine speed just zooms up. Si chia twice some more.

EPL Week 15

(TT)vaches de chier

Louis Saha (CHE, EVE)
Has a chance to make amends.
Could've had more than just one.
Injured.

Juan Pablo Angel (MID, MAC)
For Henry. Cheap option. Henry injured.
Disappointing.
Very disappointing.

Rob Hulse (@WHU, @WAT)
For Shevchenko, Agbonlahor. Quietly impressive.
Impressively quiet.
Useless.

Michael Ballack (@MAN, @BOL)
Too cheap to sell.
Too good for nothing.
Comes good eventually.

Gareth Barry (MID, MAC)
For Fabregas, Petrov, Garcia. Villa penalty-taker.
And scores with a penalty.
Decent performance.

Steven Gerrard (MAC, POR)
For Sean Davis. Restored to central midfield.
Stuffs a goal down Benitez's throat.
Unlucky.

Cristiano Ronaldo (CHE, EVE)
For Sidwell. Must impose himself.
Unlucky.
Stunning in attack.

Gary Cahill (MID, MAC)
For Thatcher, Riise, Bouma, Trabelsi, Mellberg. Started in Villa's last two clean sheets.
Villa could've gotten a shut-out.
Not good enough.

Paul Scharner (@TOT)
Due a goal.
Almost fogged out.

Philippe Senderos (@BOL, @FUL)
For Shorey. Replaces Gallas.
Needs time.
... to get sent off.

Juan Manuel Reina (MAC, POR)
For Cudicini. Two clean sheets.
Good start.
Low on points though

Total points: 118.5
Predicted points: 131.8

-----------

The Group of Death III

Well done all!

Week 15 has just passed.

Aaron (1265 pts) maintains 1st place with 118.5 pts, thanks to Gareth Barry, Steven Gerrard and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The gap is now 94 pts as Ben (1171 pts) strengthens 2nd place with the 2nd-highest score of 133 pts and is 43 pts ahead of Hsu, thanks to Barry, Gerrard and Jon Arne Riise.

Hsu (1128 pts) remains 3rd place with the 3rd-highest score of 129.5 pts, thanks to Gerrard, Riise and Jose Manuel Reina.

Jasmine (1093 pts) gets 4th place with the highest score of 135 pts, thanks to Ronaldo, Riise and Reina.

At the other end, Irwan (855 pts) remains entrenched in 14st place with the lowest score of 45 pts, no thanks to Kolo Toure, Damien Duff, Paul Scholes, David Bentley and Khalid Boulahrouz.

See you next week!

Marketing buzzwords

New: Different colour from previous design.
All new: Parts not interchangeable with previous design.
Exclusive: Imported product.
Unmatched: Almost as good as the competition.
Simplicity in design: Manufacturer's cost cut to the bone.
It's here at last!: Rush job; nobody knew it was coming.
Field-tested: Manufacturer lacks test equipment.
Direct sales only: Factory had big argument with distributor.
Years of development: We finally got one that works.
New generetion: Old design failed, maybe this one will work.
Breakthrough: We finally figured a way to sell it.
Maintenance-free: Impossible to fix.
Satisfaction guaranteed: Manufacturer's satisfaction, on cashing your cheque.

Hello Kitty musical

How good is the Hello Kitty musical gonna be if the characters have no mouths?

Happy Feet

Too good to be true, and I mean that negatively. Too uber-cute lah.

The Years of a Man's Life

When God was creating the world, he was also creating animals and allocating their lot in life as well as their lifespans.

God told the cow, "You will work all day and slog for your master. You will live 50 years."

"What?" asked the cow incredulously. "Such a thankless job and you want me to do it for 50 years? Give me 20 years, and you can take back 30 years."

So God agreed and took back 30 years.

Next came the monkey. God told the monkey, "You will make monkey faces to make people laugh. You will live 30 years."

"What?" asked the monkey incredulously. "Such a thankless job and you want me to do it for 30 years? Give me 20 years, and you can take back 10 years."

So God agreed and took back 10 years.

Next came the dog. God told the dog, "You will sit at the door of your master's house and bark at whoever comes into the house. You will live 20 years."

"What?" asked the dog incredulously. "Such a thankless job and you want me to do it for 20 years? Give me 10 years, and you can take back 10 years."

So God agreed and took back 10 years.

Finally, it was the man's turn. God told the man, "You will eat, sleep, drink and enjoy life. That is all you need to do. You will live 20 years."

"What?" asked the man incredulously. "Such a wonderful job and you want me to do it for only 20 years? Tell you what: Give me the 50 years that the cow, monkey and dog returned to you and give it to me. Then I will live 70 years."

So God agreed and gave him 50 more years.

This explains why for the first 20 years of a man's life, he eat, sleeps, drinks and enjoys life, works all day and slogs for his boss for the next 30, makes monkey faces at his grandchildren to make them laugh for the next 10, and for the last 10 years of his life, sits at the door and barks and the people who come in.

Tapas Tree

Jasmine and I celebrated our second anniversary at this Spanish restaurant called Tapas Tree in Clarke Quay. No pictures this time, as the ambience was too dark to take any pictures, but we had a good time nonetheless. It set us back about $88.

The ambience is great for conversation and the chairs are really relaxing. Three amigos play pseudo-Spanish classics at the al fresco area.

Sopa de Ajo De la Casa - Garlic soup with egg and croutons - $7.50
This was heavenly. The garlic was so infused in the soup that it made the taste so rich and full. Strangely enough I could only describe it as really good instant noodle soup, but the fact was that this was really addictive.

Bacalao al Horno - Baked codfish with chickpeas - $13.00
This was supposed to be the tapas or appetiser but was the best dish overall. The cod was perfectly done and melted in the mouth.

Paella con Carne - All-meat paella with chorizo, chicken, ham and beef - $32.00
This was rather disappoiting considering its their main dish. The rice was a little starchy and basically didn't warrant $32. I'd much rather have had a few more tapas and bread.

Churros con Chocolate - Cinnamon-laced sticks with homemade chocolate sauce - $8.00
This was interesting. Have seen it before but never tried it. Rather nice but can get it cheaper elsewhere.

Tango mocktail - grapefruit and orange juice - $7.50
Meringue mocktail - Apple, cranberry and lemon juice topped with soda - $7.50
All sour and refreshing!

Food: 3.5/5
Ambience: 4/5
Service: 3.5/5

We're definitely coming back here to sample more tapas, and bringing some friends along!

EPL Week 14

(TT)vaches de chier

Louis Saha (@SHE)
Decent performance.

Thierry Henry (NUF)
For Camara. The King was rested but rescued the Gunners in the end. Vindicated.

Andriy Shevchenko (WAT)
Phooey.

Michael Ballack (WHU)
Rested.

Francesc Fabregas (NUF)
For Lampard. Disappointing.

Sean Davis (WAT)
For Landzaat. Disappointing.

Steve Sidwell (CHA)
For Ronaldo. Disappointing.

Ben Thatcher (FUL)
Pathetic.

Paul Scharner (AST)
For Lescott. Top drawer.

Nicky Shorey (CHA)
For Woodgate, Trabelsi. Good choice.

Carlo Cudicini (WHU)
For Weaver. Safe choice.

Total points: 82
Predicted points: 76.2

----------

The Group of Death III

Well done all!

Week 14 has just passed.

Aaron (1146.5 pts) maintains 1st place with 82 pts, thanks to Thierry Henry, Paul Scharner and Nicky Shorey.

The gap is now 108.5 pts as Ben (1038 pts) breaks the one-grand mark in 2nd place with the highest score of 106 pts and is 39.5 pts ahead of Hsu, thanks to Bernardo Corradi, Joey Barton and Kevin Doyle.

Hsu (998.5 pts) gets 3rd place with 77.5 pts, thanks to Nwankwo Kanu, Marcus Hahnemann and Ashley Cole.

Syafiq (853 pts) gets 11th place with the 3rd-highest score of 91.5 pts, thanks to Wayne Rooney, Tim Howard and Cole.

Ivan (811 pts) gets 13th place with the 2nd-highest score of 101.5 pts, thanks to Rooney, Kanu and Cole.

Jasmine (903 pts) slips to 5th place with 55 pts, no thanks to the scoreless Ben Thatcher, Denny Landzaat and Michael Ballack.

At the other end, Zikai (554.5 pts) remains entrenched in 21st place with the lowest score of 0 pts, cos he left out a defender in his starting lineup. He missed out on 33 pts. That's 154.5 pts he's missed out on. There's one every season, but not two weeks in a row!

See you next week!

The evils of liquor

A chemistry teacher wanted to teach his Secondary One class about the evils of alcohol, so he created an experiment to make his point.
Producing two glasses and towo small worms, he first poured s amall amount of water into the first glass.
Putting in the first worm, he asked the glass to observe it carefully. The worm swam about in the glass.
Then, he took the socond glass, and poured in a small amount of whiskey and dropped in the remaining worm.
The worm writhed about and samk to the bottom of the glass, quite dead.
"Now," said the teacher. "What can we learn from this experiment?"
One kid answered right away, "Drink whiskey and you won't get worms!"

What schools really want to tell you

On a school's automatic answering machine:

"Hellp! This is Singapore Primary School. Please listen tio all options before making a selection:
To lie about why your child is absent, press 1.
To make excuses for why your child did not do his work, press 2.
To complain about what we do, press 3.
To scold staff members, press 4.
To ask why you didn't get needed information that was already enclosed in your newsletter and several bulletins mailed to you, press 5.
If you want us to raise your child, press 6.
If you want to reach out and slap someone, press 7.
To request another teacher for the third time this year, press 8.
To complain about bus transportation, press 9.
To complain about canteen food, press 0.
If you realise that this is the real world and your child must be accountable for his/her own behaviour, homework and that it's not the teacher's fault concerning your child's lack of effort, hang up and have a great day!

Casino Royale

What Batman Begins was to the Batman franchise, Casino Royale is to James Bond. Daniel Craig is a fantastic Bond, suddenly strippping him of his debonair demeanour and gobsmacking gadgets and giving him a vulnerability that we can indentify with. Previous Bonds would never been seen dead in a Ford, much less alive. The film kinda dragged on towards the end; I thought the movie was ending for about 45 minutes! Excellent work for the kill scenes though. Extremele gritty and you really feared for Bond's life (and balls) in certain scenes. Guys, don't be afraid of squirming during the torture scene. I know how you feel.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!

Believe it or not, I'm walking on air
I never thought I could be so free-e-e!

I'm done with my essay! All 1,974 words of it! Of course I fully intend to edit and re-edit it, try to include a few more cross-references, but otherwise I'm done! Unbelievably happy!

Printing and submitting tomorrow.

Aaron - Football superstar!

"From day one, I wanted to bring pace, penetration, mobility and athleticism into the squad, and Aaron epitomises that." - Steve McClaren, England manager

"(Ashley Cole) may be a great defender but I don't think he enjoys playing against Aaron and I can understand that." - Martin Jol, Tottenham manager

"Aaron is a pleasure to play with. He is a tremendous talent and (we) are lucky to have a player like him." - Robbie Keane, Tottenham striker

"Aaron confirmed that his talent can no longer be bottled." - Soccernet Insider

"Aaron is one of the best talents ... and he showed that against a great team today." - Martin Jol

Class outing

Well, not quite. But I intend to bring a sizable group of my P3s out to Sentosa and Vivocity on 20 Nov to relax after their exams (not mine: I still have Maths on 22nd and GESL to worry about). Really looking forward to a day of reminiscing and being with those little angels (or devils).

Essay

OK I've recovered from cursing my essay to being half-done. Problem is I need to submit it tomorrow!

But shouldn't be a problem given my propensity for last-minute work. Just wish word count limit was bigger. Having trouble condensing.

Can't add printer

I can't add my HP PSC 1402. It was working fine until 13 Nov. Despite uninstalling it, reinstalling it, automatically activating the print spooler, it still can't be added. The error message reads: "Operation could not be completed." At one point it told me something about a RPC server problem.

I suspect it could be a print spooler problem or lack of disk space. What should I do?

Short and sweet

In a university creative writing class, students were tasked to write a concise essay containing the following four elements: religion, royalty, sex and mystery.
The prize-winning essay:
"My God," said the Queen. "I'm pregnant! Who did it?"

EPL Week 13

(TT)vaches de chier

Louis Saha (@BLA)
Pure loyalty.
Duly rewarded.

Henri Camara (CHA)
For Rossi, Drogba. Wigan have won three on the trot.
Why not Drogba?

Andriy Shevchenko (WAT)
For Henry, Kanu. He's starting to score now.
Good return.

Michael Ballack (WAT)
Too cheap to drop.
Wth?

Frank Lampard (WAT)
For Duff. Optimal opportunity against Watford.
Disappointing. You'd expect him to get among four goals.

Denny Landzaat (CHA)
For Young, McCulloch. Dropped to accommodate Lampard. Cheap filler.
Why not McCulloch?

Cristiano Ronaldo (@BLA)
Ronaldo remains.
Disappointing.

Ben Thatcher (NEW)
For Riise. A woeful Newcastle beware.
Good result.

Joleon Lescott (AST)
For Moore, Webster. Filler.
Why not Moore?

Jonathon Woodgate (WHU)
For Djourou, Ooijer. Filler.
Good choice.

Nicky Weaver (NUF)
Cheapest keeper around.
Good choice.

Total points: 92.5
Predicted points: 74.1

---------

The Group of Death III

Well done all!

Week 13 has just passed.

Aaron (1064.5 pts) breaks the one-grand mark in 1st place with 92.5 pts, thanks to Louis Saha, Andriy Shevchenko and Henri Camara.

The gap is now 132.5 pts as Ben (932 pts) maintains 2nd place with 84 pts and is 11 pts ahead of Hsu, thanks to Shevchenko, Rob Hulse and Joey Barton.

Hsu (921 pts) gets 3rd place with the highest score of 112 pts, thanks to Didier Drogba, Shevchenko and Ashley Cole.

Jasmine (903 pts) gets 4th place with the 3rd-highest score of 104.5 pts, thanks to Drogba, Saha and Camara.

Saiful (548 pts) gets 20th place with the 2nd-highest score of 105 pts, thanks to Saha, Shevchenko and Stewart Downing.

At the other end, Zikai (554.5 pts) remains entrenched in 19th place with the lowest score of 0 pts, cos he left out a defender in his starting lineup. He missed out on a top score of 121.5 pts through Drogba, Shevchenko, Camara and William Gallas. There's one every season.

See you next week!

Metaphors from student essays

Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze.
The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
He was as lame as a duck. Not the matephorical lame duck either, but a real duck that was actualy lame. Maybe from stepping on a landmone or something.
SHe had a deep, throaty, denuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog a at a lamp post.
She grew on him like she was a colony of E coli and he was room-temperature British beef.
She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.

Simple solutions

Singapore have announced that they have found the solution to global warming. Predictably, Singapore has launched the Speak Mandarin campaign that will single-handedly reduce and reverse global warming.
Why? Because Huayu COOL!

---------

During the space race in the 1960s, NASA decided it need a ballpoint pen to write in zero-gravity environments in outer space. After much research and development, the Astronaut Pen was developed at the cost of US$1m. The pen was an expensive success.
The Soviets, when faced with the same problem, used pencils instead.

Food for thought

Despite the cost of living, have you noticed how popular it remains?
A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.
To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal ideas from many is research.
Before you criticise someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticise them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
A clean desk is a sign of a cluttered desk drawer.
Confession is good for your soul but bad for your career.

EPL Week 12

(TT)vaches de chier

Louis Saha (POR)
Pure loyalty.
Well rewarded.

Giuseppe Rossi (SHE)
For Drogba. Stands in with Martins and Ameobi out. Showing my faith in this boy.
Newcastle never got off the blocks.

Thierry Henry (@WHU)
Top class.
Too physical for you Thierry?

Michael Ballack (@TOT)
He's purring now.
Like a pussy.

Damien Duff (SHE)
Injury risk but should play upfront.
Misfire, misfire!

Ashley Young (MID)
Consistent points scorer.
Wham, bam, thank you ma'am!

Cristiano Ronaldo (POR)
For Rosicky, Downing. Ronaldo returns.
Who's Beckham?

Jon Arne Riise (RED)
Clean sheet?
A little disappointing.

Craig Moore (SHE)
Cheapest Toon defender.
You get what you pay for.

Johan Djourou (@WHU)
For Scharner, Clichy. Clean sheet.
Clichy gets the nod instead.

Nicky Weaver (MID)
Cheapest keeper around.
You get what you pay for.

Total points: 67.5
Predicted points: 72.8

-----------

The Group of Death III

Well done all!

Week 12 has just passed.

Aaron (972 pts) slips in 1st place with 67.5 pts, no thanks to Craig Moore, Nicky Weaver and Johan Djourou.

The gap is now 124 pts as Ben (848 pts) gains in 2nd place with 83 pts and is 37 pts ahead of Rafizah, thanks to Dirk Kuyt, Nemanja Vidic and Joey Barton.

Rafizah (811 pts) gets 3rd place with the highest score of 110.5 pts, thanks to Edwin van der Sar, Ashley Young, Louis Saha and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Jasmine (798.5 pts) gets 5th place with the 3rd-highest score of 89 pts, thanks to Kuyt, Vidic and Saha.

Irwan (700.5 pts) gets 12th place with the 2nd-highest score of 95 pts, thanks to Kuyt, Saha, Steven Gerrard, Olof Mellberg and David Bentley.

At the other end, Zikai (554.5 pts) remains entrenched in 19th place with the lowest score of 32.5 pts, no thanks to Jonathon Woodgate, Andriy Shevchenko and Emmanuel Eboue.

See you next week!

Essay

I've had IT! Stupid essay!

EPL Week 11

(TT)vaches de chier

Louis Saha (@BOL)
Pure loyalty.
Pure unselfishness.

Didier Drogba (@SHE)
For Johnson, van Persie and Martins. The Drog's on form and Sheva's gonna be dropped.
Idiot.

Thierry Henry (EVE)
Top class.
Unlucky.

Michael Ballack (@SHE)
Who else can you get for 4 units?
He's purring now.

Damien Duff (CHA)
For Arteta and Barton. Newcastle's most dangerous attacking player.
Solid performance.

Ashley Young (TOT)
For Petrov. Consistent points scorer.
Disallowed goal.

Tomas Rosicky (EVE)
Due a goal.
Missed a close one.

Jon Arne Riise (AST)
For Ooijer, Johnson. Liverpool to put things right.
Expected more.

Craig Moore (CHA)
For Lescott, Clichy, Carr. Cheapest Toon defender.
Spot on.

Paul Scharner (@FUL)
Keeping the faith.
Good stuff.

Nicky Weaver (MID)
For Cudicini. Cheapest keeper around.
Doubles my investment.

Total points: 99.5
Predicted points: 74.1

----------
The Group of Death III

Well done all!

Week 11 has just passed.

Aaron (904.5 pts) strengthens 1st place with 99.5 pts, thanks to Michael Ballack, Louis Saha, Thierry Henry and Damien Duff.

The gap is now 139.5 pts as Ben (765 pts) maintains 2nd place with 87 pts and is 28 pts ahead of Andrew, thanks to Frank Lampard, Nwankwo Kanu and Nicky Weaver.

Andrew (737 pts) strengthens 3rd place with 96 pts, thanks to Lampard, Cristiano Ronaldo and Saha.

Jeremy (690 pts) gets 7th place with the 2nd-highest score of 119.5 pts, thanks to Wayne Rooney, Ballack and David Bentley.

Teckseng (652 pts) gets 10th place with the 3rd-highest score of 112 pts, thanks to Ballack, Aaron Lennon, Saha, Henry, Duff and Chris Kirkland.

Ivan (566 pts) gets 15th place with the highest score of 130.5 pts, thanks to Rooney, Lennon and Ronaldo.

Jasmine (709.5 pts) maintains 5th place with 77.5 pts, thanks to Ballack, Henry, Saha and Kirkland.

At the other end, Eddy (521.5 pts) remains entrenched in 18th place with the lowest score of 24.5 pts, no thanks to Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Emmanuel Adebayor, Harry Kewell, Stelios Giannakopoulos, Daniel Agger, Jermaine Pennant, Jens Lehmann, Gareth Barry and jamie Carragher.

See you next week!

The Departed

A thoroughly engaging tete-a-tete between two shadow agents that thrilled every minute. I kid you not.

A deadly applause

Bono is at a U2 concert in Singapore when he asks the audience for some quiet.
Then in the silence, he starts to slowly clap his hands.
Holding the audience enraptured, he says into the microphone, "Each time I clap my hands, a child in Africa dies."
A voice is heard from the front, "Then stop clapping lah!"

McCartney vs McCartney

It's a very sad world we live in when Sir Paul McCartney and his wife are facing divorce and all anyone seems to want to do is make jokes about her false leg. Personally, I think it's prosthetic.

News reports have confirmed that Paul McCartney has separated from his wife Heather Mills-McCartney. Mrs Mills-McCartney is said to be distraught over the split. "He has been my crutch for so long!" She said in an earlier briefing, "I have no idea why this has happened, I'm really stumped."

"She's running around in circles," according to a close friend. "She will need all the support she can get. It's not like it's easy to walk out on a relationship like this."

After his break up with Heather, Paul was asked if he would ever consider going down on one knee again. Paul said he would prefer it if we called her Heather.

It is not known whether a pre-nuptial agreement was signed prior to the marriage. Paul McCartney is one of the richest men in the world, and if an agreement has been signed it is believed that she won't have a leg to stand on.

Rumours abound over the split: "She's terrible," a source stated, "always
trying to get her leg over."

Another source has suggested that her battle with alcoholism was the cause. "Macca couldn't handle it anymore," a friend said. "He would get home at night and find her legless."

Many have attributed this to a problem which started with the present that Paul bought her prior to the wedding. He gave her a new prosthetic leg for Christmas but that was just a stocking-filler.

Mrs Mills-McCartney has tried to settle the dispute out of court but Macca had told her to hop it.

-----------

A miner in Africa has an accident and loses a leg. He says to his mate, "I'm doomed, who will want a one-legged gold digger?"
His mate says, "Try Paul McCartney."

-----------

Finally a poem by Sir Paul McCartney:

I lay upon a grassy bank
My hands were all a quiver
I slowly removed her suspender belt and her leg fell in the river

-----------

These jokes are funny but lets spare a thought for Paul please. Now she has left him, he's going to struggle to find another woman who can fill her shoe.

Happy Deepavali!

Wishing all my Hindu friends a Happy Deepavali!

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!

Wishing all my Muslim friends a Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri! Enjoy all the good food you've been waiting for!

EPL Week 10

(TT)vaches de chier
Louis Saha (LIV)
Class performance.

Andrew Johnson (SHE)
For Shevchenko. Just when I drop him, the Ukrainian scores. Then when I pick again, Mourinho will drop him.

Thierry Henry (@RED)
Top class.

Michael Ballack (POR)
For Sean Davis. Dirty German comes clean.

Mikel Arteta (SHE)
For Fabregas. A Spaniard by any other name would score as well.

Stilian Petrov (FUL)
For Ronaldo. Phooey. At least he played though; Ronaldo didn't.

Tomas Rosicky (@RED)
A bit too unselfish.

Andrew Ooijer (BOL)
Did ok.

Joleon Lescott (SHE)
For Trabelsi. Got the clean sheet and not much else.

Paul Scharner (MAC)
For Bocanegra. Should've had a shot or two.

Henrique Hilario (POR)
For Niemi. Should've gotten Kirkland for cheaper.

Total points: 112.5
Predicted points: 65.3

----------

The Group of Death III

Well done all!

Week 10 has just passed.

Aaron (805 pts) strengthens 1st place with the 2nd-highest score of 112.5 pts, thanks to Thierry Henry, Mikel Arteta and Louis Saha.

The gap is now 127 pts as Ben (678 pts) slips in 2nd place with 74 pts and is 37 pts ahead of Andrew, thanks to Andriy Shevchenko, Chris Kirkland and Frank Lampard.

Andrew (641 pts) barely maintains 3rd place with 85 pts, thanks to Shevchenko, Saha and Tim Howard.

Hingyau (547.5 pts) gets 12th place with the 3rd-highest score of 108 pts, thanks to Arteta, Shevchenko and Saha.

Teckseng (540 pts) gets 11th place with the highest score of 134 pts, thanks to Henry, Rio Ferdinand, Shevchenko and Saha.

Jasmine (632 pts) drops to 5th place with 91 pts, thanks to Henry, Saha and Michael Ballack.

At the other end, Kenneth (332.5 pts) struggles with a twisted ankle in 22nd place with the lowest score of 15.5 pts, no thanks to Darren Bent, Henrik Pedersen, Nolberto Solano, Stephen Warnock and Shay Given, who combined for -4 points.

See you next week!

Little Miss Sunshine

Remember how Sideways was the sleeper hit of 2004 (I think)? Well you're looking at Oscar material again in 2006. For eccentric characters, you don;t get much weirder than this:
A struggling motivational speaker whose family are sick of his speeches; his capable wife, who is about the only sane person in the movie; her gay, pre-eminent Proust scholar brother (a hilarious Steve Carell), who tried to commit suicide when his boyfriend left him for his rival; the son who made a vow of Nietzsche-inspired silence and writing on notepads until he realises his dream of being a pilot; his expletive-spewing grandfather who spends half the movie telling him to "F*** lots of women!", and finally the flower of the family, the adorable Olive, who they are all trying to get to California on time to take part in some Barbie Doll-lookalike contest masquerading as a junior beauty pageant.
A heartwarming road trip coming-of-age story that doesn't try too hard, with the lovable Olive the honey-coated heart of the whole story.
Alternative title: How to drive from 700 miles without a clutch and stuck horn.
I put next month's salary on the fact that you're gonna love this one.

Ray of light

First time i've seen the sun in a week! Haven't been able to because of the haze. Finally the haze was a respectable 63 so can see the sun. Never thought I'd be so happy to see it. Skin improved as a result of reduced haze. Long may it continue!

EPL Week 9

(TT)vaches de chier
Louis Saha (@WIG)
For Kanu, Samaras. Keeping faith in him.
Kanu scored too, but ift feels better when it's Saha.

Andriy Shevchenko (@RED)
For Angel. He should be hot this week as he has just recovered from a fever.
A real flop, this one.

Thierry Henry (WAT)
Watford beware.
Unlucky to have only 15 points.

Sean Davis (WHU)
For Valencia, Kranjcar. Based on recommendation.
My alternates weren't too good either.

Francesc Fabregas (WAT)
Due a goal.
Too shot-shy.

Cristiano Ronaldo (@WIG)
Should get the rub of the green this time. Maybe three deflected goals?
Not even three bench splinters on the bum.

Tomas Rosicky (WAT)
For Young. Due a goal as well.
Shoot on sight!

Glen Johnson (WHU)
For Shorey. Still affordable.
Excellent.

Hatem Trabelsi (SHE)
For Boulahrouz. Picked him too early the last time.
Perfect.

Carlos Bocanegra (CHA)
For Lescott. Cheap pick.
2 out of 3 ain't bad.

Antti Niemi (CHA)
For Howard. Fulham at home.
Disappointing.

Total points: 73.5
Predicted points: 74.7

----------

The Group of Death III

Well done all!

Week 9 has just passed.

Aaron (692.5 pts) strengthens 1st place with the 3rd-highest score of 73.5 pts, thanks to Louis Saha, Thierry Henry and Tomas Rosicky.

The gap is now 88.5 pts as Ben (604 pts) slips in 2nd place with 35.5 pts and is 48 pts ahead of Andrew, no thanks to Juan Pablo Angel, Cristiano Ronaldo and Niko Kranjcar.

Andrew (556 pts) gets 3rd place with 58 pts, thanks to Saha, Rosicky and Glen Johnson.

Irwan (482.5 pts) gets 8th place with the 2nd-highest score of 75 pts, thanks to Saha, Rosicky and Darren Bent.

Edgar (470 pts) gets 10th place with the 3rd-highest score of 73.5 pts, thanks to Saha, Matthew Taylor and Peter Crouch.

Eddy (434.5 pts) gets 14th place with the highest score of 81.5 pts, thanks to Jens Lehmann, Emmanuel Adebayor and Saha.

Jasmine (428 pts) gets 4th place with 52 pts, thanks to Saha, Henry and Sylvain Distin.

At the other end, Ryan (212 pts) remains entrenched in 23rd place with the lowest score of 19 pts, no thanks to Gary Speed, Sami Hyypia, Robbie Fowler, Mark Gonzalez and Nicky Weaver.

See you next week!

Quick thinking

Q: For a sentence using 'detail', 'deduct' and 'defence'.
A: Detail of deduct goes under defence.

I HATE THE HAZE!!!

Ok I officially hate it. I should be on MC tomorrow, missing a precious day in school because my face got swollen, especially the eyelids. I think the haze is the chief culprit, cos it certainly wasn't anything I ate.

I can't wait for the monsoon.

On the up side, a day's rest, time to catch up with assignments, and I skip ICT!

GLS Part Trois

This is a good time as any to say that what happened is all water under the bridge. I reacted badly and tempestuously, under impulse and without much thought.

At the end of all this, I realise I love my shepherd dearly and would do anything to defend him. And so I apologise to anyone I may have offended or misled, anad assure you that everything is back to normal, if not better than before. The incident proves even the best of us can make mistakes, and that we should be forgiving and not pass judgment.

Let's move on.

Wigan 1-3 United

The scoreline doesn't tell you anything. It only says United won.

I was thoroughly entertained and encouragingly heartened by the sight of United giving it their all in the second half after being second best in the first. Perhaps a good old-fashioned rollicking from SAF (a-la Tiger FC) did the trick. On came Giggs and the rest was history.

Ronaldo's first-half absence highlighted his importance to United; the second demonstrated Giggs'. Suddenly United were more incisive, more urgent, and the rewards duly came from the unlikely source of Vidic and more staple fare from Saha.

Solskjaer wrapped up proceedings and this would've done their confidence a world of good.

Christmas script

Finally, Yewhock and I have finished the script after working overnight on it. We'll be discussing it this Sunday with the rest of the crew. I think it's pretty good. I would, wouldn't I? =]

"Four people complain to a psychiatrist that Christmas is meaningless. What is he to do?"

Sharapova's not just a pretty face

Maria Sharapova - Nike Commercial - video powered by Metacafe

Penguins are stressed too

Bad Penguin - video powered by Metacafe

Post-mortem

Hi Guys & Gals,

Just an update on out meeting with Liping, Activities Coordinator for AG Home.

I discovered that Seng Kwang is an Aaron too!

That apart, AG Home have agreed in principle to let us hold a two-day activity for them on 4 -5 Dec 06.

The Planning Committee will be reworking the activities next week to suit their needs as we have underestimated their quality of life there. Frankly their home is really well-run and an eye-opener. We will not be submitting our proposal to Young ChangeMakers this weekend as it is too rushed, and will instead aim to get everything
(activities, budget, etc.) finalised, approved by AG Home, and submitted to YCM by 15 Nov, if not earlier.

As our theme is Expanding Our Horizons, Liping felt the activities failed to really stretch them, apart from the line dancing, TalentTime and career sharing, as they had done most of the stuff before, rock climbing included. So we'll be looking at how we can really s-t-r-e-t-c-h them.

There'll be GESL next Thu at 3.30pm. Shahidah and her Admin Dept will be putting together a short presentation with the pictures and some of the activities they have there. Planning Dept hopes to have something concrete to show you too.

We learnt that there are only 30-40 girls there between 12-18 years old, instead of 60 as previously thought. So the groups will be smaller in size. Liping reiterated that our men are to have no physical contact with the girls, so we'll be working furiously behind the scenes while our ladies bond with the girls there.

Special thanks to Seng Kwang, Kelvin (ad-hoc driver as well), Faezah, Fahmei and Shahidah for making the effort to meet Liping. We all had a fruitful time and despite Liping's discomforting frowning, we got on pretty well. Thanks again, guys!

We will be pulling perhaps one from each dept to add strength to our Planning Dept as they'll be heavily involved because, uh, the planning stage is reaching its climax. So maybe the heads can decide who'll be coming over? Can even be the head him/herself.

Hamzah will be planning the meeting date for Planning Dept to meet. Meiling, Faezah, Fahmei, pls let him know when you are free to meet. The three joining Planning Dept, pls post and let us know who you are ASAP.

That should be all. Shahidah, pls feel free to add anything I missed.

Guys who went, pls post activity ideas here so we can get a brainstorming going. Fahmei, SK, your ideas were interesting. =]

Yours sincerely, Aaron
PS: Their address is incorrect. Should be 119, Lor K Telok Kurau.

Wenger likens international coaches to 'joy-riders'

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has compared international managers to joy-riding car thieves.

Wenger has often expressed his frustration at seeing his players return tired or injured after international duty.

'Gerard (Houllier's) thoughts on the matter echo mine,' Wenger said. 'He thinks that what the national coaches are doing is like taking the car from his garage without even asking permission.

'They will then use the car for 10 days and abandon it in a field without any petrol left in the tank.

'We then have to recover it, but it is broken down. Then a month later they will come to take your car again, and for good measure you're expected to be nice about it.'

Wenger also complained that international managers fail to contact their club counterparts, with one notable exception.

'Sven-Goran Eriksson was the only one who used to come and talk to me regularly,' Wenger added.

taken from soccernet.com

Once again Arsene Wenger has got his anologies spot-on.

Viviocity disappoints

I went there myself to check it out. It's freaking Willy Wonka with the weird traffic police guy and they guys on Segways. Half the shops were closed and those were open were really disappointing, save for Tangs.

The kids' playground looked pretty good and Tellytubby-ish, if a tad small. And the sky park is just a waste of space. It's only a matter of time before the huge pond gets mouldy and yucky...

Punctuation is in the eye of the beholder

Dear Thomas,

I want a man who knows what love is all about.
You are generous, kind, thoughtful.
People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior.
You have ruined me for other men.
I yearn for you.
I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart.
I can be forever happy.
Will you let me be yours?

Maria

----------

Dear Thomas,

I want a man who knows what love is.
All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you.
Admit to being useless and inferior.
You have ruined me.
For other men, I yearn.
For you, I have no feelings whatsoever.
When we're apart, I can be forever happy.
Will you let me be?

Yours, Maria

A 6-minute history of Singapura

Taken from Talking Cock in Parliament, this is the funniest thing I've seen in years. This could become as big as the bak chor mee episode. Hossan Leong starrs.

Bloom's Taxonomy

I found a website showing Bloom's Taxonomy, showing different types of learning, and resulting incremental degrees of difficulty.

You can find it here. It is sometimes also represented as a pyramid.

The importance of punctuation

Men: A woman, without her man, is nothing.
Women: A woman: without her, man is nothing.

The Break-up

So romantic right? Brought Jasmine to watch. Her colleagues were like, "So romantic! Watching movie under the stars at Padang! What movie?"
"The Break-up."
But seriously I could relate to some of the guy issues like not wanting to do dishes.
Brooke: "I want you to want to do dishes!"
Gary: "Why on earth would I want to do dishes?!"

Spizza at Harbourfront

This time, we went with 3 other people for out weekend dinner. Had a difficult time trying to find food at the newly opened Vivocity and so we settled for dinner at this restaurant at harbour front. Italian food again. What's cool about this place is that they have individual female names for the different pastas. There are even names for the appitisers and desserts.

Salad



Titus - salad with chicken pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan


Appitiser



Caligola - crispy calimari with pizzaiola sauce

Pizza


Katerina - tomato, mozzarella, beef carpaccio, rucola, shaved parmesan



Tara - tomato, mozzarella, egg, bacon, button mushrooms


Personally, i enjoyed Tara. Sadly, it only reminds me of Terrible Tara in my class. The ever complaining, ever whining, ever not handing up work Tara. But it tastes so good here. Life is just full of paradoxes.

Spizza
Harbourfront
Food:4/5
Service:4/5(mind you, they were very shorthanded and the ever smiling manager had to handle a very unreasonable customer. Best man!)
Location: 4/5 (actaully 3/5 for some ple who said that it's less accessible compared to Suntec... excuses... humph!)
Cost: $11/pax

The lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer

I'm not sure if Nat King Cole ever did come to Singapore, but his little ditty should be our seasonal anthem right about now. Yes it's hazy, hazy night again in Singapore, as the PSI hit a high of 150 at around 2200hrs last night. I was safely indoors with the air-conditioning on and the windows tightly shut but there was a temple carnival downstairs with kids running and playing on an inflatable castle. This despite a warning issued by the NEA that vigorous outdoor physical activity should be avoided. The parents really don't care.



This is the extent of the haze near my house. Those of you who have been to my house know that I am able to see Suntec City (12km away) from my Sengkang flat on most days and nights, but I can't see anything now. I can't even see the school down the road.

It's causing the dirt to stick to my face when I sweat, causing a real irritated reaction. It's gotten quite bad these few days.

I don't feel good.

ORD anniversary

I can't believe it's been 1 year to the day that I collected my IC from my unit. Since then, Angela has almost snapped my IC, and I have switched from mass communications to mass education. Can't think which is more serious.

I'm halfway through my semester at NIE and have managed to keep in touch with only a handful of my 2 SIB comrades. *winks to Julian and Ben*

I do want to change my IC though, as I was a 12-year-old when my photo was taken.

Basic Theory Test

Hooray! Passed on first try. Dead easy lor. But my friend wasn't so lucky; she failed having said the day before that she could not imagine how anyone could fail basic theory.

Indeed what goes around comes around. =]

The Dilemma

You are driving your speedboat on a wild stormy night looking for survivors after a flood. You pass by a house and you see three people o the roof - an old woman who looks as if she needs urgent medical attention, an old friend who once seved your life and the perfect man/woman you've been dreaming about. The floodwaters continue to rise and you know they could drown real soon. Your boat can only take two people including yourself. In the distance you see the lights of another boat bearing down on your position, but that could come too late for the people on the roof as it is moving very slowly. Moreover, it seems to be a small craft and can only take two passengers. What would you do?

Model answer just below, so think about your answer first before peeking.

-----------

Ask your friend to take the old lady in your boat to the hospital. Get onto the roof and wait with the man/woman of your dreams for the slower boat.

Perfect solution huh?

Tuition lesson 2

Had another fruitful time with Eliana today. Managed to really isolate long division and multiplication timetables as her weak points. Grilled her for the best part of 90 minutes on this and still the results are unsatisfactory. Have instructed her mum to continue bombarding her to nable her to nail long division and her timetables by next week.
We also found time to do the multiple intelligence test on her. She is primarily naturalist and intrapersonal, no surprise for a nine-year-old girl, when they love nature and think they know themselves inside-out. The rest were rather weak so she wanted to take the test again. It also showed her to be average in verbal-linguistics when in actual fact her English is top-notch. It really convinces me the evaluation is not suitable even for Primary Three pupils.

GLS again

As far as I'm concerned, the matter is now water under the bridge. I met up with Pastor to talk about other things but we got to talking about GLS eventually.
I explained how we felt and he did likewise; I understood his position and he felt he misunderstood the situation. He will speak to the band soon regarding that day. To me, I'm glad we can just get on with it and have realised that I love my pastor dearly.
I'm moving on.

Idioms that almost make sense

When the snake falls in love with the spaghetti, it's time to buy a new hat.
You look more flustered than a barefoot squirrel in a tyre store.

Ask Dogbert

Dogbert answers tough questions with tough love.

Dogbert,

I'm becoming a little concerned about how my wife and I are raising our 3-year old. Whenever one of us makes a suggestion to him regarding an activity, he refuses to do it and within a few minutes presents the suggestion as one of his own ideas. I think we may be raising him to be a manager. What are we doing wrong?

John


Dear Toilet,

I wouldn’t worry. From what you described, the kid actually performs activities, albeit after claiming them to be his idea. An actual manager would convince other people to do those activities for him. Your son is merely a liar, and that bodes well for a career in marketing.

Sincerely,

Dogbert

==

Dear Dogbert

I plan to move into Mr. Adams’ house in the next few months and call it my own. My reasoning is based on Mr. Adams’ argument from Dilbert Newsletter #58 that there can be no "Holy Places" because we move through space and so no place on earth, i.e. his house, has a fixed universal point that can be recorded and owned. Can you advise Mr. Adams of this and remind him that any argument he uses to preserve his ownership can also be used to invalidate his theory about "Holy Places."

Your fan,

David


Dear Duhvid,

Allow me to respond to your coherent argument in a way that only you can understand: If a grapefruit is happier than a bulldozer, then that means your toaster can turn jam into sound.

Sincerely,

Dogbert

==

Dear Dogbert,

I have concluded that the only way I will advance further in my job is to sleep with the boss. The problem I have encountered is that we are both men and neither of us are homosexual. What should I do?

Ben


Dear Mr. Dover,

Try closing your eyes and listening to your iPod.

Sincerely,

Dogbert

Taken from Dilbert.com

In-duh-vidual Differences

Our health teacher told us that "1 out of 3 people who start smoking will eventually die." The other two apparently became immortal.

So a few friends and I were at a museum, and they had this wall of analog clocks with a city name written under each one, showing what time it was around the world. We had about ten clocks in view, when my friend looks at a clock, looks at his watch, looks at the clock again, and says, “Well, this one’s pretty close, but all the others are way off.”

In the interview, which had been going very well up to this point, the interviewer asked, "Why do you want to leave your current job?" In my Induhvidual moment, I responded "It's too much work." Needless to say I didn't get any further consideration.

A few of us were talking about fighter planes and one of my friends asked, "If a plane is going faster than the speed of a bullet when it fires, does the bullet come out the back of the plane?" We were all surprised when he failed out of the engineering program the following semester.

I was paying my cell phone bill with a debit card. The Induhvidual behind the counter carefully checked my signature with the one on the card. I guess that’s to prevent people from stealing wallets and going around paying the victim’s bills.

Taken from Dilbert.com

God's Debris by Scott Adams

I chanced upon an e-book written by Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert. This is by no means a comic book, nor is it humourous; on the contrary, it seems to be some sort of philosophical fiction written to get you thinking about existential stuff.

The author says that the e-book is "emphatically not for everyone". If you don't like your perceptions challenge, he says, this is not for you. It's a thought experiment, he says. I've taken to reading it, albeit slowly and cautiously. I believe his warning is that it could rock your faith, or strengthen it.

You can download the e-book here for free.

This is an excerpt of the synopsis for your cautious perusal.

Jasmine and Lizhu, this is exactly the type of book you'd relish.

---------

Synopsis

Imagine that you meet a very old man who—you eventually realize—knows literally everything. Imagine that he explains for you the great mysteries of life—quantum physics, evolution, God, gravity, light, psychic phenomenon, and probability—in a way so simple, so novel, and so compelling that it all fits together and makes perfect sense. What does it feel like to suddenly understand everything? God's Debris isn’t the final answer to the Big Questions. But it might be the most compelling vision of reality you will ever read. The thought experiment is this: Try to figure out what’s wrong with the old man’s explanation of reality. Share the book with your smart friends then discuss it later while enjoying a beverage.

Dilbertisms

"Well that really throws a wrench in the ointment."

"I think there's something wrong with my alarm clock; it keeps making this really loud noise in
the morning!"

When talking to a colleague about my newborn twins, she asked what genders they were. “A boy and a
girl,” I answered. My colleague’s next question: “Are they identical?”

"That's water over the bridge."

"You're dead meat in the water."

"That stands out like a diamond in a goat's butt!"

"You shouldn't violate the law because that's illegal."

"They have us by the balls of our feet."

"Never pet a burning dog."

"It's hotter than a French hen."

"They should lock him up and throw away the book."

"They cooked themselves. Now they have to lay in it."

“Make sure you cross your p's and q's.”

"Don't look a blind horse in the eye."

"I put my wrong foot in the wrong mouth at the wrong time!"

"Cows died to give us that cheese."

"Don't slap the hand that milks you."

"Call me back at your least convenience."

"It's six of one and one of the other."

"I can't do it in the spur of a hat."

"That's going to change the whole ball of works."

"They're not the brightest box of cookies."

"The pro's for are more than the pro's against"

“I wouldn't touch him as far as I could throw him.”

Singapore MCP Idol

I saw this post on my friend's blog, where she quoted it from Today. You can read the full letter at Todayonline.com. They've merged two letters into one but the meaning's there. Can't believe such Neanderthals still exist.

-------

Best get back to the kitchen
Letter from Seah Leong Khai

I refer to the latest figures on divorces released by the Department of Statistics ("Divorce, inter-racial marriages on the rise", Sept 26).

The 6,909 divorce cases in 2005 in Singapore is an alarming number. This is 8.2 per cent higher than in 2004 and has increased by 33.8 per cent since 2000.

Why do people get divorced? The most common reasons are infidelity, financial problems, unreasonable behaviour, physical and emotional abuse and failed expectations.

The conventional wisdom on divorce is that it only happens after both husband and wife have tried their best to save their marriage. But I have my doubts. In more than 70 per cent of the cases, it was the wife who filed for divorce. Why?

Women continue to work after their marriage and having children. This, I believe, must be the one of the main contributing factors for the high rate of divorce.

Women prefer to work after marriage because this provides financial independence. When things get tough after marriage, these women are not willing to ride it out with their husbands and are not afraid to call it quits as they know they can easily support themselves.

Another problem arises when women continue to work after marriage. Husbands, who are usually the breadwinners, expect to return home to warm home-cooked meals and a well-organised house. But if wives are also working, they feel stressed and complain about doing the housework after their day at the office.

Men will begin to feel deprived of these things. Tensions and misunderstanding build up.

If women stop working after marriage, I believe it can help to foster a better husband-wife relationship and thus reduce divorces.

Women should understand that if they can't stand the heat of working life, it's better for them to get back into the kitchen.

------

This is a sad, sad day for civilised society.

Irritating things to do in lifts

Say 'Ding!' at every floor.
Draw a little chalk square on the floor and announce that it is your personal space.
Stop at every floor, run off the elevator, then run back on.
Make farting noises.

New York, New York at Citylink Mall

Cost: $48.94

Soup:
Roasted mushroom cappuccino - Cream of roasted mushrooms with frothed milk. Topped with a sprinkle of cocoa powder. The perfect pick-me-up!

Main course:



Juicy burger supreme - A killer burger with a pure beef patty served real juicy. Roll up your sleeves now!



Brats wrapped in bacon & cheese - Bratwurst sausages (brats) tightly wrapped with bacon and grilled with loads of cheese!

Beverages:

Iced ultra-rich chocolate velvet
Dark strawberry quencher

Conclusion:

This could become one of my favourite places. Pricing remains a little steep but genuinely worth it. Main courses were typically American - hearty and sinful. The dark strawberry smoothie was wonderfully smooth and rich. The soup was a big disappointment though, probably cos I don't like mushrooms.
Jas: I love the soup! I love mushrooms! I prefered the dark strawberry quencher though. Less like milkshake.

Food: 4/5
Drinks: 4/5
Service: 3/5
Ambience: 3.5/5

EPL Week 7

(TT)vaches de chier
Louis Saha (NUF)
Cheaper alternative to out-of-form Rooney.
Injured.

Juan Pablo Angel (@CHE)
My statement of intent to Chelsea.
Recoups investment.

Thierry Henry (SHE)
The King is hitting form. Charlton beware.
Not clinical enough.

Luis Valencia (@BLA)
For Rosicky. Gut feel, this one.
Decent outing.

Francesc Fabregas (@CHA)
Due a goal.
Should've scored.

Cristiano Ronaldo (NUF)
He's doing well.
Hit the woodwork THREE TIMES?!?

Ashley Young (FUL)
Fulham are hopeless away from the Cottage.
Ace pick: 25 pts.

Nicky Shorey (@WHU)
For Eboue. Couldn't afford Manu, so in comes Shorey, free-kick taker extraordinaire.
Solid performance again.

Khalid Boulahrouz (AST)
For Baines. I think Chelsea can keep a shut-out, though I hope not.
Dropped.

Joleon Lescott (MAC)
For Trabelsi. Cheaper Everton defender.
Denied a clean sheet.

Tim Howard (MAC)
For Kirkland. Inspired by a Soccernet article about his faith. Hence my faith in him.
Denied a clean sheet.

Total points: 71.5
Predicted points: 84.2

---------

The Group of Death III

Well done all!

Week 7 has just passed.

Aaron (619 pts) retains 1st place with 71.5 pts, thanks to Ashley Young, Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry.

The gap is now 50.5 pts as Ben (568.5 pts) strengthens 2nd place with the 2nd-highest score of 82 pts and is 66 pts ahead of Hsu, thanks to Young, benni McCarthy and Frank Lampard.

Hsu (438.5 pts) gets 3rd place with the 3rd-highest score of 73.5 pts, thanks to Young, Lampard and Ronaldo.

Rafizah (479.5 pts) gets 6th place with the highest score of 84 pts, thanks to Young, Andrew Johnson and Edwin van der Sar.

Jasmine (428 pts) maintains 5th place with 61 pts, thanks to Young, Ronaldo and Henry.

At the other end, Hingyau (382 pts) does himself no favours as he drops to 13th place with the low score of 26 pts, no thanks to the scoreless Tim Cahill, Louis Saha and Tim Howard.

See you next week!

Mourinho is gay!

Need more proof?

Pierside Kitchen & Bar, One Fullerton

Cost: $100.25 after discount
Fully paid by the very generous Mr Wong. Thanks sweetheart.: >



Appetizer:
Seared Maine scallop carpaccio with Granny Smith, asparagus, mint & matsuhisa dressing - $18+++
The scallops were fresh and succulent. What a savoury start to the evening!



Soup:
Vichyssoise of celeriac, leek and potato, smoked salmon & chive bruschetta - $12+++
This cold soup took me by surprise because, well, it was cold. It was rather bland and disappointing.
Jas: I witnessed a very shocked expression on another diner when he tried the soup. So i guess we were not the only ones.


Main course:




Pan roasted rockfish with dukkah, quinoa tabouli, salsa verde & beurre blanc - $28+++
This was really disappointing. The fish and garnishing was quite limpid, probaably because I didn't know half the ingredients.



Oven roasted miso cod, new potatoes & sweet peas - $28+++
This was on the other end of the scale. It was overpoweringly rich and infused with miso; the whole dish left me hankering for water to wash it down. A few bites of the fish tasted really good, but after that it was a little too much. Best shared.

Dessert:



Valrhona dark chocolate fondant & vanilla bean ice cream - $14+++
Jasmine was waxing lyrical about it and I can't understand why. This was hot chocolate fudge ensconsed in chocolate sponge, but isn't that just a high-class microwaved Twiggie/Twinkie?
Jas: Hey, i'm a big big chocolate fan okie! It looks so plain boring on the outside but inside, it's oozing with dark high class chocolate. Hey Mr Wong, don't deny that your eyes were tightly shut when you put that spoonful of rich chocolate and ice cream into your mouth okie!!



White coffee pannacotta, Bailey's Irish cream & toffee ice cream - $14+++
This was the better of the desserts, I found. My only complaint was that the portion was a wee bit small.

Conclusion:
Food: 3.5/5
Service: 4/5
Location: 4/5

I agreed with Jasmine when she said we shouldn't have gone to Capella first; the rest are paling in comparison. And they almost let me go without paying for dessert. Had to point it out to them. Bloody $32.65 chivalry. =[
Jas: My HERO!!! My honest hero.

Next stop: Olive Ristorante, Labrador Park (al-fresco only; hope it'll be a cool night =])
Jas: This time, it's my treat. Mr Wong is going to ke tok me man!!! : /

pictures by Jasmine
words by Aaron

Happy Children's Day!

To all my readers who are children or were once children, Happy Children's Day!

To all teachers and students, enjoy your holiday!

To the rest of you, carry on working please. *sigh*

GLS part deux (via Allen)

Post removed.

John West salmon

Wah this is one classic ad!

GLS sound check (not rehearsal, sound check)

What is supposed to be an honour and experience turned out to be a damp squib. We turned up at Emmanuel AG expecting to tune up and get used to the layout and sound, and lo and behold! we were expected to play like it was a full-dress rehearsal. You give us the sings late and you still expect good shit form us? Get real. Emmanuel didn't rehearse either and yet we get all the shit. We're not big enough for you is it? Since they're hosting so they can get by with half-past-six music but we get a dressing-down cos we did better than them? Pathetic.
Had to cope with sub-standard sound and equipment, no dedicated monitors to speak of, lousy bass sound and still expect me to tone down. And after all of us rushing down from work, ask us to rush through the stanzas, demand why we did not rehearse, and shake your head and say we expected better? Well so did I; I expected much better as well.
Scolded Jasmine when she rushed down form work without dinner without even bothering to find out why, making the whole band feel bloody useless like turning up was our fault and then thanking us for turning up. Appreciate is a verb, a gesture, not just a word.
Bloody hell, take your Christian bureaucracy and stick it where the sun don't shine. Suck up to the big churches and leave us to face the music, why don't you.

-----------

Edit:
Apparently, we were a mistake and had to be grovellingly apologised over, when (get this!) no one else felt we played badly and even felt we played better than Emmanuel. Stop sucking up and take more pride in your own church man. Pathetic, not to mention leaving your ENTIRE band disillusioned and embarrassed cos you apologised to EVERYBODY for something we didn't even do wrong. Makes us look bloody stupid if you know what I mean. Bloody laughing stock can?
Pisses me off to the core. If you don't stand up for us it's still ok; must save face what. Backstab us some more.

-----------

Re-edit:
It's official then. We weren't even in the wrong in the first place. It was communicated to us that it was just a "test-drive" and that we were only required to play two songs.
Accuse us some more lah.
Even more pissed now. Let's see how you grovel in front of us now.

Tim Howard

Now you know why i support Tim Howard and hope he returns as first-choice 'keeper at United. For a man to overcome his disability, Tourette's Syndrome, which causes involuntary tics and outbursts, and play at the highest level is testament to his ability.
That he has persevered is down to his deep grounding in the Lord.
Read his interview here and scroll down to about three-quarters to read what he has to say about his Christian faith.

EPL Week 6

(TT)vaches de chier
Louis Saha (@RED)
For Kuyt. Cheaper alternative to out-of-form Rooney.
Should've kept Kuyt.

Juan Pablo Angel (CHA)
For Ameobi. Has hit the woodwork many times recently.
His strike partners Moore and Agbonlahor score instead. Suay.

Thierry Henry (SHE)
For Shevchenko and Johnson. The return of the King.
Just about pays off.

Tomasz Rosicky (SHE)
For Gerrard. Will he score?
No he won't.

Francesc Fabregas (SHE)
For Parker. Returns to my squad.
Shoot, dammit!

Cristiano Ronaldo (@RED)
For Cahill. Selfish = good YFF score.
Man of the match.

Stilian Petrov (CHA)
For Duff. Wanted to get him last week, so in he comes now.
Expected more.

Emmanuel Eboue (SHE)
Rampaging rightback.
Breaks even.

Leighton Baines (WAT)
For Boyce and SHorey. Totally based on recommendation.
Totally wasted.

Hatem Trabelsi (WHU)
For Aurelio. Had to get a cheap one. Him or Ooijer.
Why didn't he get a run-out?

Chris Kirkland (WAT)
For Reina. Dirt cheap.
Lousy.

Total points: 75.0
Predicted points: 84.3

----------

The Group of Death III

Well done all!

Week 6 has just passed.

Aaron (547.5 pts) secures 1st place with the 3rd-highest score of 75 pts, thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry and Emmanuel Eboue.

The gap is now 61 pts as Ben (486.5 pts) maintains 2nd place with 68.5 pts and is 48 pts ahead of Andrew, thanks to Frank Lampard, Dirk Kuyt, Steven Gerrard and Mark Schwarzer.

Andrew (438.5 pts) gets 3rd place with the highest score of 82.5 pts, thanks to Lampard, Ronaldo and Tim Howard.

Hsu (429 pts) gets 4th place with the 2nd-highest score of 76 pts, thanks to Lampard, Kuyt and Petr Cech.

Jasmine (428 pts) drops to 5th place with 58.5 pts, thanks to Ronaldo, Didier Drogba and Eboue.

At the other end, Zikai (283 pts) does himself no favours as he drops to 17th place with the low score of 21 pts, no thanks to the scoreless Luis Boa Morte, Michael Ballack, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Steed Malbranque and John Terry.

See you next week!