A fight to the finish

The percentage probability of Man Utd finishing the season trophyless has probably gone up slightly as a result of the events at the Bridge. Unlikely scenario but the probability figures would rise if they don't put in the crucial steam at the last few matches of the season. Fergie's line-up at the Bridge showed that he was prepared to lose there. It was clear that the second leg of the Champions League matter more. Lose at the Bridge, there's still a chance to win the title given the superior goal difference. Lose to Barca, no more chance and another excellent European run-up goes to the dumps. As such, Fergie felt that it was worth the risk in not fielding notable peeps like Patrice, Ronaldo, Scholes or Tevez.

A draw is sufficient and United would have been pleased with the point that is gifted to them courtesy of Carvalho's moment of blurness. But at the dying minutes, Carrick had his handball moment and the linesman gave Chelsea the penalty. Well, Ballack made sure Fergie get punished for his team fielding decisions and out Chelsea up at 2-1. At this occassion, it was job done without the need of Jose as boring Grant would have more than enough stars to overshadow some of the Man Utd players. Some credit should be given that Man Utd made great attempts at extra time to equalise again but those shots were saved by Cech and Shevchenko. Andriy was paid to score goals but he ended up being a better defender..hahaha. Fergie's decision to put in O'shea as the last sub probably showed that he was determined to defend the 1-1 scoreline and that it was not necessary to throw in "ass-saving king" Tevez to get another goal.

In the end, United just had to make it hard for themselves this time. The portrayal of anguish by the Man Utd players during and after the match possibly shows that the pressure is getting to them. The usually cool bling bling Ferdinand had to be restrained from his fellow mates from beating up Mikel. Apparently after the match, he had "accidentally" kicked a female Chelsea stewart. Lol, he claims that he was venting his frustrations by trying to kick the wall but his studs unintentionally end up on a human instead. Ferdinand's not the only one losing it. Patrice and some of the reserve gang were involved in a fight night brawl with the Bridge stadium staff. Man Utd's problem were further compounded with another injury on Vidic and Rooney limping off injured after scoring.

Things aren't going well too for the Catalans in Spain. It was another domestic boo boo for Barca as they lost to Deportivo. Both Barca and Man Utd are wounded animals now as they head towards the second leg. It would be interesting to see which club is affected more by the loss. Unfortunately for Stan, he won't be able to see the match cos he has some business to attend to...lol. Looking ahead at the Premier League, I would say Chelsea's final 2 matches would be slightly more harder than Man Utd since they needed to play away at a resurgent Newcastle at the St. James Park. Hopefully, a win at the Champions League semi-final will give them the boost to win the remaining two games.

A tribute of thanks

Before I officially begin the next chapter of my life, I would kinda like to write something to thank the people who have impacted my life in the previous chapter.

Starting from my days in SJI,

- Shi Xian for being a great friend, lower secondary classmate and hangout buddy.. (Josephian, 1E3 and 203 classmate) - you introduced me to GTA and Hitman! lol
- Christian for the 4 years as comrades to German class..Lol..miss the times in trying to flip coins to decide whether to go for class and hiding in Macdonalds (Josephian, 3rd Language classmate)
- Ravan and Jerry, though from other schools, but are part of the anti-elite gang in German class (3rd Language classmate)
- Linton for being my good buddy during NCC training and going through some of the shitty moments (CCA partmate)
- Poah Sin as the computer whizkid who help me to solve my computer problems, a great friend to hang out with and co-member in the anti-Ah Miang party (Josephian, 1E3 and 203 classmate)
- Jordan for bringing me in to the stage of rock band performance and music studio jamming (Josephian)
- Ahmad Sufian, Taufiq and Nabeel for the times in higher Malay class playing pranks on Cikgu Fauziah and remaining critically steadfast suspicious of the horde of Indonesian scholars that appeared suddenly in Sec 3
- Mr. Sydney Tan for the interesting and hilarious Lower Sec history lessons and thanks also for having faith in me and giving me the chance to study History 2158
- My SJI History 2158 teacher, Ms. Lee Siew Lian for the wonderful History knowledge that she has passed on to me - The SJI history notes remain so relevant and vital to me even up to my A Levels.
- Brother Jason for his mind-blowing English lessons, black humour and the infamous hell week..lol

- my church friends - Rachel and Christabel for the long-time companionship and growing up together
- Daniel Wee for teaching me and imparting me the knowledge of drums
- Uncle See Cher and Aunty Gwat Eng for providing my family a place to stay
- Aunty Lita for taking care of me in my younger years
- Pastor Joseph for his inspiring Youth group leadership and I learnt really alot from him during the missions trip to Thailand in 2004

- now on to NYJC - my good old gang - Tai Guan, Sandeep, Sharavanan and Matilda for the times we stick together against the absurdities that occur frequently in our JC life and also for the hanging out moments. Life was definitely less shitty around Serangoon with you guys around
- Ms. Kwok and Mrs. Teo for being wonderful English Literature teachers with such a zest for fun learning and not conforming to typical result-oriented mobs. I've seen plenty of Literature teachers who ironically could teach the subject as if it were Maths or Science. But I must say that both of my literature teachers here are really the epitome in innovative teaching and English Lit. Thanks for the life lessons that are learnt on the way, the opportunity that I had to taste theatre works and the fantastic experiences that are gained very often from outside academia. And the cozy Lit classroom with cushions and bean bags would always remain in my memories.
- Mr. Mao for his excellent guidance in Southeast Asia history. Although I may disagree with some of his methods as class tutor, his knowledge and teaching style in History is possibly one of the best I've came across. I've learnt alot from him, especially in the more advanced aspects of History. He instilled into me the interest of modern Southeast Asian history and made learning about long Thai names and messy Burmese eras into a breeze. Now, I'm a lot more appreciative of the history in my region and could see many research potentials that could be tapped in.

Well, a big THANK YOU once more to all the ones in the list above for making a BIG difference in my life and playing the major role in my life journey. They are significant individuals that had impacted my life and molded the very person I am today. God bless ya.

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts

William Shakespeare

Goalless Tussle

Ronnie just knew that it's not his night

It could have been 2-0 to Man Utd. Ronaldo's missed penalty and a bad call by the referee sums up the night. A bad omen perhaps? This semi-final match up is certainly a battle royale between two gigantic clubs in Europe. Both Man Utd and Barcelona have their own respective young talisman - Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. For United, it was a return to the stadium where they had tasted European glory back in 1999. However, the only returning remnants of that team is the manager himself and Ryan Giggs. Scholes himself had missed out the final due to suspension. It's a different United team coming to Nou Camp this time but Fergie would surely look forward in achieving another Champions League title to his name.

Of course, Nou Camp jumped into a shock when Barca conceded a penalty from a Gabriel Milito handball just 3 minutes into the game. It was as if Barca had lost the plot already and gifted the crucial away goal courtesy of Milito's flapping hands. It could be as good as game over for Barcelona so early in the game. Routine line up by Ronaldo to take the kick as he's being jeered by the thundering voices of Nou Camp......and he misses the penalty. It felt irritating at that moment since it sometimes look as if Ronaldo tried to be too clever but I felt that some sympathy should be given due to the situation he's in. In Old Trafford, it's pressurising to take a second one during the Arsenal match but he was spurred on by the home crowd. But I think that the nerves were not calmed from the excitement of an early penalty and it's not easy to step upfront with 98000 pairs of eyes looking and about 75% of them jeering. This was what happened during the ASEAN cup semis between Singapore and Malaysia where Khyril Muhymeen blew up his crucial penalty as a result from the intimidating pressure of the home crowd.

Ronaldo could have redeem himself at one point where Marquez was seen to be obstructing him and making no attempts to get the ball. The referee said no, probably because he didn't open his eyes to see properly or he was afraid to incur the wrath of Nou Camp for the second time. The TV replay showed clearly that it was even a more deserved penalty than the first.

Barca's possession is superior and Lionel Messi is still scary despite being half fit. It seemed that Man Utd were sticking to some form of game plan where they concentrate more on shutting down and defending rather than going on the attack. Baraca were allowed time and time again to dance around Man Utd's half but I must say that I'm impressed with United's defence this time in shutting down the attackers at the crucial time. Van der sar made a couple of brilliant saves but sometimes it just felt as if Man Utd were sitting ducks while Barca continued on the attack. Man Utd's attack is almost non-existent cos it really looked like they didn't plan to do their usual stuff. I agree with Fergie that the transition from defending to attacking was just not there. They play short passes at their own half and out of a sudden at Barca's half, the pump long balls. Tevez was giving away balls in midfield instead of putting them past Barca's net while I dunnoe what Park Ji Sung is doing there at times. To some extent, Barca was also cautious and they too played a short passing game. It was clear that both sides were playing it safe and not resorting to some careless attacking bravado. Man Utd survived the Barca onslaught but I'm having mix feelings on the 0-0 scoreline.

Good news is that United didn't get owned at the away tie like what happened in Milan last year. For Barca, they did not concede the away goal. Bad news for Man Utd is that if Barca scores, they need only a draw to go through. So, mathematics favour Barcelona in terms of probability of outcome. But the bad news for Barcelona is that many teams don't get past the net in Old Trafford this season and this is their turn to get intimidated on foreign soil. They may need to double up their spirit and resilience to get to Moscow. The outcome of the second leg could well be determined by what happens in Stamford Bridge this weekend. And United's next two matches could well determine whether they could get the Double, Single Premier League or are in danger of going trophyless in a cruel twist of fate.

One week to Uni

Exactly one week from now would be the enrollment day for my university life. It's gonna be a whole new ball game and Stan is reincorporating back into Malaysian education after 8 years or so. There would be of course some butterflies in the stomach just as when I first entered the Southern system but I hope everything turns out well at orientation next week..lol.

I managed to purchase a few stuff from my Singapore trip. After saving for a few years and waiting for the right time, I finally got a digital camera for my own! I scouted a few models and after contemplating for a long time, I decided to get the Nikon S600 since it fits in with the criteria that I'm looking for. Other than that, I got a couple of well-known fiction/literature books from Kinokuniya to read, thought-provoking ones to be precise. I drew up a list of those books after researching about them in the net. After looking around Kino and seeing the prices, I thought I had brought enough money only to get 2 books. And some of these are well-known classics but apparently, Kino don't sell the cheapo Penguin book versions like Popular. One common classics can come in between S$18 to s$23 depending on the version. When I got back home, I got really annoyed when I found out that I had actually had another S$50 in one of the angpaos.

Great news too for me when I got news from Mrs. Teo (one of my former Literature teachers) that my Commonwealth Essay Commended Certificate had finally reached the college. I thought that it would reach by the time I collect my A Levels result but there was no news of it. It was supposed to be sent last year but I think somewhere along the way from Britain to Southeast Asia, the cert just got bungled up and never reached its destination. I sent an e-mail to the organising committee but it took sometime for me to get a reply from them. Nevertheless, they rectify the problem and another one was sent quickly. Interesting to note that I've entered the competition twice and both years are at a time when I'm in the last years of a school. And both times I managed to score the Commended Award too..lol. I would have joined this year's one too but I don't have a school to attach to at the beginning of the year. Well, at least I can declare that I ended the career with a win, just like Peter Schmeichel..haha.

Drama Night 08

This year's drama night is kinda different compared to the previous years. The drama club had the honour of staging their play at the Singapore Repertory Theatre instead of Lecture Theatre 2 or 4. The show itself is splitted into two major plays and two minor acts. Nothing much to talk about the minor ones and I'll comment instead on the major two. First one is "Eunuch" (a longer title actually but lazy to type out) and second one "Walls". Generally, I would say that the actors were very eloquent and did very well in acting out their characters. The acting was top notch. and professional. The show has some returning veteran ones like Xiaoyan and Matilda and they certainly retained their charm. But the scripts of the plays did raised some eyebrows.

The script for "Eunuch" is written by a director codenamed "Scatterbrains" (to protect the identity..hahaha), who happens also to be the slacker teacher of one of my important subjects. Oh my, all I have got to say is that it is one of the most bizarre moments I have sat through. It was as though I'm looking through the glass of some fifth dimension. I literally had "space dementia" watching the play and the plot is even more weird than Muse's songs. There is an unorthodox combination of history and modern day dressing and the plot sequence jumps everywhere. A high emphasis was placed on the male genitals, specifically the various ways of mutilating it including frying it, stringing it high and nannies massaging and crushing the young baby balls in the name of pleasure. On stage too was a male who shamelessly strip and dress on stage. I really don't get the monologues as they sounded like what Scatterbrains used to teach for the past two years. There were also innocent bespectacled young girls uttering "penis" and munching on something suggestively. I wonder how their parents would have reacted watching the show. If the aim is to induce some sensuality, it's just being placed across crudely. There is nothing wrong in placing elements of sexuality in theatre plays as they are pretty common in many of them. In fact, sexuality is the lifeblood of English Literature. I just thought that Scatterbrains would at least write a script that put those themes across much more gracefully in such a way that the audience would admire its artistic beauty. I think all the audience are just left dazed after watching "Eunuch". Even Scatterbrains admitted that he got confused in the process of explaining the plot to his friends. Then again, that's what happened for the past two years when he is asked to explain his eccentric actions and behaviour.

"Walls" is something which many of the audience could relate to easily since it is based very closely to our emotions. But the script looked like a combination of Prison Break and some "father rape daughter" story from the tabloid New Paper. And yes, for some reason or so, it seems that there is some form of lesbianic tendency between the two main characters. I felt that the plot just stops too abruptly at some intervals and there is a potential for it to expand further. For instance, the director can try to draw some inspiration from Ken Kesey's book "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" since it provides some interesting ideas regarding psychoanalysis and the asylum. Apart from the script, the actresses in "Walls" did superbly in their professional portrayal of their characters.

Anyways, I'm just curious also on the reaction of the conservative college principal after watching the play..haha. In any case, I think our batch's "Othello" is possibly the best one that ever graced through the eyes of a college that don't seem to give any attention about the arts. The events that transpired especially last year showed that the the tiny little Literature department is a force to be reckoned with as compared to the legions that are found in the Maths and Science cohort.

19 years old

Well, it's the last year where I have a "one" in front of my age. I wanna thank my friends who remembered me on my special day :) Time really flies, as I reflect back on the various sort of situations that I have been in at every stage of my life. I'm 19 now and I'm heading into unchartered waters once again.

I don't know whether to classify my life journey so far as nomadic since every single change that comes along every year tends to be a major one. Major in the sense that it always require some form of overhaul of mentality and where I'm bound to lose at least a substantial amount of things I'm familiar with. I lost count the number of times I press the "restart" button in my life. I don't fancy changes but the frequency in which I'm swept by it makes me immune to it. And yet with every loss comes along another batch of gain. Some of these gains will stay eternally while others would just be swept away by the changing cycle or the torrent of time. Nevertheless these changes add colours of surprises to an otherwise mundane life.

I have to say right now I'm undergoing through the most exciting period of my life so far. I get this tingling sensation of awe and wonder by just thinking on the amount of possibilities that lie ahead of me. In any case, it just feels liberating to be out of "the system" and to know that I no longer need to trudge through the walls of comformity.

At the start of the junction, I wait in anticipation and curiosity at what life has to offer.

Birthday coming soon

I shall be off to Singapore tonight for a couple of reasons. First, my birthday celebration with my family. And then on Saturday, I'll be meeting up with TG and Sandeep to watch NYJC Drama Night as graduated seniors..lol. It's also to give some support to our Literature teacher lar..haha. I'm just really curious how the new management will function, especially with "new additions" from the staff room. I don't think I'll be staying long though and will probably be back on Monday.

Man Utd sweeps Arse-nal aside by 2-1

Owen Hargreaves celebrates his superb free kick - the kick that booted the Gooners out of the title race for good

It's gone. Arsene Wenger and the Gooners have to come to terms that the title race is over for them. Professor Wenger had earlier before the match refused to concede the title race since it ain't over until the fat lady sings. And now the fat lady sings. LOUD AND CLEAR. Although mathematically still there, they are 9 points adrift with 4 more games left and it would take divine intervention for United to lose all 4 remaining matches. Even so, Chelsea are more likely to get the title than them.

In any case, some form of credit must be given to them in the first half as they were the better team in the first 45 minutes. Their quick passing unsettled Man Utd many times and they retain the ball way better than the United players. Arse-nal's defense is ain't so good and Alexandre Song was a walking defending disaster but the Gooners got away with it everytime Man Utd counterattacked. In my opinion, United were very disorganised in the first half, the passing rate was bad and the only way forward for them was counterattacking. Communication was bad too and honestly, the United midfielders were all over the place and at many times, overlapping each other positions. Everytime Rooney goes forward, the attack breaks down in disappointment cos there's just no one to support him. Again, there's a screaming need for another striker for attacking depth. From the formations it looks like Ronaldo was the supporting Attacking Midfielder Centre (AMC) behind Rooney but he was silenced constantly by 2 or 3 bodies that surrounded him the moment he had the ball. His traditional role at the right is still the best since that's the area where he has the space to do his runs.

For all of Arsenal's possession, the finishing was on target but too tame to get the result. Adebayor had a few of those one on one chances and how the Gooners wished that Henry was there instead to mercilessly do his trademark slot past the goalkeeper. Anyways, just 2 minutes plus after the 2nd half had started, Adebayor finally put the ball in the net and I wasn't too surprised given the way United had defend. Replay came up and it looked as if it is one of those Rio Ferdinand's lazy days. Bad communication at its peak here with the defender captain and his goalkeeper feeling confused. Rio backed away thinking that Edwin would catch the ball while Edwin stood there thinking that Rio would head it away. Later, Ferdinand claimed that he heard someone shouted "Keeper!" but Edwin told him that he didn't say it. Lol! Was Ferdinand high on LSD or weed at that time that he heard some imaginary voice speaking to him? On the second look, it seemed that Adebayor was a dirty little cheater bug afterall with his "Hand of God" but no one saw it anyways. Ferdinand nearly made it 2-0 for Arsenal when a seemingly too quick ball bounced off him.

Justice may have been served when just 2 minutes or so with the Gooners in front, they conceded a penalty to United courtesy of their captain Gallas (who looks more like a clown these days). Another boo boo to them as deja vu seemed to smack them once again, reminding them of Ryan Babel's moment in their 2-4 loss to Liverpool in the Champions League. Cheers to Ronaldo for withstanding the pressure of taking a second penalty. Right afterthat, Anderson and Tevez was brought on to put in more attacking flair and from there the attacking play looks more solid. Paul was bad and ineffective. Period.

The pivotal moment was the free kick in which Gilberto had conceded. It was no questions asked for Hargreaves as he pops in a beautiful curl into the back of the net, a strike which David Beckham would have been proud of. Lehmann stood there stunned as Ronaldo had always being the higher probability to take it. Even the wall was surprised as only van Persie made the feeble attempt to jump. Seriously, are you sure Hargreaves is a defensive midfielder? Cos I thought he played as brilliantly as an attacking midfielder. The Roma match saw some of his beautiful technical crosses and he does made intelligent runs upfront. Hargreaves' free kicks are distinctly curls while Ronaldo pumps them in straight like rocket launchers. Whichever way, they are equally deadly.

From there, Arsenal was desperate to claw black and it was especially nerve breaking with Bendtner (ass-saving king) upfront. Edwin held his ground and Man Utd secured a vital win that gives them some breathing space. This means that Chelsea definitely has to win at Stamford Bridge if they want to topple United. Well for Arse-nal, tragedy comes in the form of a five point lead in February to being out of the title race. Just ask Keagan about the familiar feeling when his Geordies lost a 12-point lead.

Lesen Lembu!

Ok..it's 2 weeks. Made a mistake in the previous post but Stan has return after being connected to some high speed internet!..lol. Yup, pleased to announce that I've gotten my "L" license and equipped with some form of driving skill. Of course the ultimate one is the "P", but I'm happy to be able to initiate some basic operation..haha.

Let's recount what happened. So, I went to take my undang-undang (road sign + driving theory) test on April's fool day. Apparently, the computer testing centre is located at some other place and not at the driving circuit. While the computer test takes only like 20 minutes at most, the waiting time is attrocious. I sat my butt there for a good 3 hrs and I happened to be the last in the queue also. At first, I was glad to have some time to revise from the little booklet. But I got really bored after looking at it at 1 hr and the remaining time is spent at people watching. There were not only young fellas there but old housewives too. When it was my turn, I chose to answer the test in Bahasa Malaysia since I studied the entire manual using that language. Come to think of it, I'll feel weird answering it in English coz all the road signs and regulations are in Malay anyways. The results were tabulated instantly and I got 98%..haha.

The next stage was quite quick and it was the next day actually. It's time to go back to the driving circuit and this time, I had to sit for another class and listen to another lecture on the practical side of driving the car. The lecture was conducted by a retired Army man. Apparently, he's also a tester. It's 3 hrs from morning to afternoon but at least it's not as long as the 5hrs + undang-undang class. There was one old apek who was also in the class and he damn enthusiastic in asking questions..haha.

Well, I didn't expect to be thrust straight into my first experience in the wheel but in the late afternoon, that's what happened. The driving agent assigned me and one girl to a driving instructor. We waited for like 15 minutes while the driving instructor fill up some forms. Meanwhile, I had a chat with the girl and fortunately she knew how to converse in Cantonese. I let the girl go first since the instructor can only take one at a time. I was thinking at first that we no need to do any driving and just watch the instructor teach the technique since we still haven't get any license yet. But when I see the girl at the driving wheel, I thought, "It's on!". After 1.5 hrs at the sideline, it was my turn. And damn, I didn't even get a round-circuit-tutorial like the girl. I was thrown straight to the driver seat. One of the first things I realised during the first few minutes of driving is that the pedals are very sensitive. If your leg movement is not gradual, it's translated to jolts at the car. So my virgin legs at the pedals had to take some time to accustom how much to press the oil pedal and also controlling the clutch pedal. The clutch pedal is the most irritating one. If never press or lift correctly, the engine goes dead. Ahhh..the amount of times the engine went dead on me were numerous coz even a slight slip in estimation would stun the engine. There were three primary stationary stuffs that will be tested - Parallel parking, Three corners and the slope. The steps that were involved in going down the slope were kinda complicated and again the skill of estimation must be good there. After bout 1.5 hrs of practicing, my legs were kinda numb from pressing pedals.

I was told to wait for 1 whole week for JPJ to create my 'L' license. On one day while I was busy finalising Sergio Aguerro's transfer to Man Utd in Football Manager, the driving agent suddenly called to tell me that he would be picking me up to the driving circuit. At first I thought it's just to take the license since its already 4pm plus. But nope, they stay open beyond 5pm and the driving instructor ushered me into the car for my second practice. Woah, on the second time, I hardly put a foot wrong in the control of the pedals. No more dead engines and I could do it easily at parallel park, balancing on the hill and maybe only slight one or two problems at the three corners. No problem too in stopping and moving freely and I got really confident of steering through some sharp turns too. In fact, I got kinda confident that I got impatient with a car that got stuck at the top of the slope. It was a great practice and I can say I'm quite comfortable with the wheel now..lol. The driving agent passed me my "L" license afterthat :)

With so little time between now and university enrolment day, I really don't know where to go for my practice runs. It's too tight to make another trip back to Sungai Petani and I got less than 1.5 weeks in Taiping. In any case, the earliest that I can do a 'P' Test is 1 month later (regulation) and that means that there could be a possibility that I would do it in KL if I can find the lobang for it..haha. Right now, I just wanna savour my lembu :P