An Ominous Duan Wu

31st May 2006, Wednesday

It's the end of May and one of the well-celebrated Chinese festival commonly known as "Dumpling Festival" (because people start stuffing themselves with gluttinous rice dumplings till they suffer chronic digestive issues, or is it just me?) or "Dragonboat Festival" (due to the competition held to commemorate this occasion)...but generally no one really gives a hoot about this non-public holiday unlike our friends from China, Hong Kong or Taiwan....bummer...

I did not start this very day too well..it actually began last evening when I was suffering from that mysterious diarrhea once again...
I traced back what I had eaten for dinner to be the exact cause of my douldrum...and it could be the banana which was at the point of rotten...
I had one during Sunday evening as well...but Monday too when I was perfectly fine..so I highly doubt my favorite yellow-skinned fruit friends....

Fortunately I am still well enough to make it for work today...which now I am kind of contemplating a MC wouldn't be too bad for this wretched day...
I got up much earlier than before now that Dad had quitted his contractor job and no more transportation to the MRT station...
There are a routine SOP (standard operating procedures) to be done every morning especially what to bring along such as wallet, handphone..and one crucial activity would be dousing myself in eu de toillete...which I had forgotten for this very day..
Usually I am fine to do a day without my T shirt smelling refreshing (in the morning only) but today I just felt that my Mambo Tees just stunk..even to myself...
In times like this I am actually glad that I had like 5 micro-litres of an old bottle of CK One in the office...

But the worse was bound to happen...
Mom said that today was an auspicious day to treat oneself with some herbal essence..and in our case a nicely simmered "Emperor Chicken" (a chicken simmered with Chinese herbs which is supposed to be more powerful than Tokar Ali or Viagra)...
I really dig this delicacy from Mom especially the soup created which is strong in smell and appetite-inducing..I can have bowls of plain rice with the soup and the chicken...

WAIT A MINUTE... soup in my lunch capsule....is like the root of disaster...
I am a rough guy who tends to mishandle my stuff...and when I packed my lunch capsule into my slingbag, whatever contents within had to endure the bumps I took while scurrying to work...
Usually rice and some non-wet dishes are capable to hold their shape upon the rushing process..but for soup you would need a sublime air-tight vessel to ensure no spillage would be resulted...or in other case handle with extreme care..
Knowing me option 2 is definitely out of the window, and I had been assuming that my costly lunch capsule has to be justifying every penny we paid for it to contain the soup tightly with a trace of a chance to leak...boy was I wrong
I was on the train ride, enjoying my music and reading the sports section of Straits Times and laid my bag on its back on my lap as usual; before I was alerted by my inner conscious that the soup might actually leak in that position, so quickly I readjusted my bag's position to the vertical axis..well not exactly which I realized just as I was alighting at my destination.
I felt wetness in my inner left thigh and I had no involuntary sphincter muscle problem, so I was quick to think it's the soup.
A quick peek at the underneath of my bag proved that my hypothesis is right...
So that I was limping towards my workplace, hoping no-one would notice a wet jeans at some disgraceful nether region which people would assumed to be from my body instead of soup from the bag...while I am vexing about now my bag and the lunch capsule bag ahd to be thoroughly washed to be rid of the herbal smell..
Luckily, today's concoction seemed a bit light and not so "aromatic", so I would not have people giving me that "did that guy smell like herb" look when they walked past me the entire day...
Ultimately, I should have be more careful when come to transporting soup for lunch to work as 10 out of 10 times a spillage is bound to happen...

This very afternoon, had another classic mind game with JxMMy when I sought work to do yet he had been kind of hogging when opportunity arose...seriously others may not have noticed it but it sure was suffocating to work with him especially when he would pop in a few gimmicks daily and not notifying anyone ...I would pop in a few myself but I have none to begin with...
With the fact that I would be leaving in less than a month time, I am getting even more intolerant of his behavior..and all the best to whoever taking over my role..most probably Bobby but even they don't clicked that much...

Lastly I had been trying to put an act to appease my future supervisor to be dead serious and enthusiastic about my new job since meeting her yesterday...
However during our 1 to 1 conversation, I think I might had expressed to be losing concentration easily while she didn't seem to be too hopeful about my coming over as of before especially now I heard that another new staff would be joining the team...
Perhaps I was a bit too sensitive...
But for the long run of my new career and most importantly for my appraisal and performance bonus, I had to prove to them and myself my switch was a good choice...
So I tried to read through the specs of the machine I would handling and could not grip my attention even it was just a 1 and half page long write out...
Seriously with the likes of JxMMy and Bobby showing interest in long and dry scientific papers, I rarely do more hands on work...even domestic house keeping would be fine...
Is it I am becoming too easy with work itself? Or I am at fault for not showing enough passion?
I know when I have a job to do I would do to the best..but the problem is I lack that initiative factor and perhaps won't impress my employers too much...
Urgh....gotta start thinking of the way to play the politics to my favour soon...after the World Cup that is...oh lady luck please continue to shine on me...

Japanese word of the day: スープ ~suu-pu~(Soup) Maybe I shoudl refrain from bringing soup or any other watery foodstuff to work altogether...

Exploring Star World

29th May 2006, Monday

Woken up at 11 plus after suffering an excruciating pain in my stomach...I sensed a bout of diarrhea forthcoming...could it be the soursop after dinner or could it be the dinner itself when Mom experimented with spicing a usually-detested Long bean Fried Rice with a spread of sliced potato and spam and well covered with Parmesean cheese for her own version of baked rice which was quite appertizing...

The abdominal agony followed by the twice visit to the loo got me up till around 1 plus while I assured myself I would be well enough to report to work today...
I was pleasantly and unexpectedly entertained by one channel in my basic subscription of the cable network which I seldom tuned to.... "Star World", a subsidary channel focused on American free-to-air sitcoms, soap operas, dramas and reality shows.

I actually started to be quite interested with the line-up of programs early Saturday morning when I was awakened prematurely by the relentless flushing of the water cistern in my room which required an extra nudge to stop the water supply altogether.
By then my sis and her beau were at the airport, getting hyped up for their Taiwan-Hong Kong trip which means the house will be without her presence for the next week or so...
I tried to get back to sleep on a wonderful Saturday morning but my mind and ody just couldn't obliged and so I just channel surf till I started watching this sitcom known as "Arrested Development" which is hilarious in a rather sleazy kind of way (Now we are talking)...This was followed by "The Simpsons" (when Homer was forced to get a degree in Nuclear Physics in college) and "Whose Line is it Anyway?"...boy I sure missed those shows when the American humour can really tickle my funny bone which can be really witty at times (if you understand it) which is almost non existent in other high quality Taiwanese and Japanese programming that I had been tuning to these days...

The American humor surely was a breath of fresh air after tragic Taiga dorama and bewildering anime series left me really in need of something to spice up my life with...

However last evening I was watching how the American education had degenerated so badly when around 1/3 of the student population would drop out in high school and people like Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates were hitting the distress signal to rectify the problem so as to resurrect the American student's position back to the top 5 in the world (now they are like 29th in terms of Mathematics)
It was ironic to be followed up by this reality game show known as "The Scholar" with these 10 high school seniors with highly accoladed academic showings vyed for the final prize of a scholarship of around US$240,000 which should warrant them the financial mean of any Ivy League colleges out there...
While the challenge is interesting (with them taking film making classes and form 2 teams to beat each out with a 2 minutes long short film), a lot of focus on the internal squabblings (typical reality show credentials) and flirting around...at least half of the contestants got too intimated with each other and I only watched like 40 minutes of this particular episode to feel that they should focus more on winning the scholarship than doing the "O.C."...but then these 17-18 years olds got raging hormones which I had experienced before , so I couldn't fault them....afterall my good ol' buddy, CS had been too engrossed with skirt chasing in his varsity days...

I think I would kept tune to more of what Star World get to offer, that is if I remembered which was why the "alert" feature on the digital box should come in handy...I hope...
Anyway more on American TV, "Lost" which I had been following closely is at their finale for season 2 and I had been anxious to find out the truth about "the others" and finally by Sunday my "extraction" is done..only to found out I had "extracted" "24" finale instead...urgh....feel like killing myself there and then....

While Yogjakarta, Java in Indonesia suffered yet another calamity in the form of an earthquake of richter scale of 6.4 and death toll up to 4600 now (as of this morning) on Saturday, I went downtown, busking in the annual Great Singapore Sale...
Met up with Chan as we went checking out the various joints in Far East plaza which offer what we are interested in most, collectible toys (or figurines as I like to put it)...
Beside the grandfather of all toy retailers in Singapore, The Falcon Hangar, there are also that specific "Toy Nation" which was owned by this Hongkie who sold an item off without taking his auction on Yahoo for that same item which I bidded happily only to be disappointed by his irresponsbility...
Then there are other outlets like "Toy Questz" and "Earth X" which I had only seen this new stall since they relocated from Clarke Quay....
My main aim of the trip to the overcrowed Orchard Road would be taking the opportunity of the 20% storewide discount from Kinokuniya to stock up on my manga collections as well as getting my girl's Taiwanese idol magazine (nearly shot myself when lining up with that during payment) and a manga-exclusive figurine which I felt the timing of its arrival couldn't be more perfect...
A strange yahoo auction transaction was held at Starbucks Coffee at Plaza Singapura when my buyer who apparently had worked there before enlisted an ex-colleague to his to help him get the items (some really old BK Simpsons figurines going at $1 each)...I had a strong urge to ask for the payment in the form of a Frappucino instead (which cost more of course!)

Almost the La Tendo clique made our presence felt on that afternoon which didn't see an improved human traffic and the manpower status of Tay-chan & Eng Keong were enough to cope with Vincent still in Japan for his "chaperone-cum-guide" service for the St. Margeret girls...

For Sunday, once again I started my day pretty early and spent a great deal of the morning backing up files from my PC especially the capacity of my hard disk in decimating at an alarming fashion...
Meanwhile Dad continue his refurnishing tourney..this time the ceiling of the 2 toilets as well as painting of the pilings and toilet doors....

My lass finally called in the afternoon after I was starting to worry not hearing from her for like 3 days...
The call further compound the fact how much I wanted her back by my side and the sentiments should be shared across the line as well...
However this conversation span around me interrogating her expenditure habits over there which she didn't appreciate a single bit...me bad...
Well she said she would be going to France on business purposes this midweek and perhaps would join her colleagues to Paris...well luckily she does not own any fake designers' brands accessories if not she would be caught in the new stiffer legistration system across Europe on such bootlegged novelties...

Japanese word of the day: 星の世界~ho-shi-no-se-ka-i~(Star World)They would be showing the new season of "Rock Star" soon...this year in search of the vocalist for this new band called "Supernova" with ex members of Motley Crue, Metallica and Guns N Roses...cool dude!

Little Gang of the Gym

26th May 2006, Friday

Do you know that today is "Eat With Your Family Day" which comes in conjunction with Singapore's Family Week 2006?
I have the slightest idea and I am sure hell anyone would give a damn about it..
But of all people, our deputy director, the one and only dowager known as Old Hag seems to align herself with the government policy (since we are still partly civil servants) and encourages all the supervisors and head of departments to allow their staff to go back home at 5pm today...
Not like it really makes a difference to me since that's the usual time for me to knock off on Friday anyway (while stock last especially not likely to recur at the new workplace)...Then gonna see if Dad would be fetching me with his rundown company Hyundai truck (while stock last as well since he would be quitting by next week)...

Didn't start this last day of anotehr long week well when Mr Sore-eyes hand written one of thos "er..I think you did something wrong" note to highlight my grave mistake of mixing up a couple of processing plate yesterday..fortunately I managed to solve it easily if not I would feel even much grouchier...urgh...bear with it...just only less than 4 weeks with this obnoxious colleague....

Took my weight on the balance in the gym today and after cutting down by 7 kg from the point I started my regular workout since November, my weight is kind of stagnant at around 85kg when I think I mentioned before I am hoping to cut down to 80kg by June which seems like a lost cause out of the sudden since I had been hanging between 85 & 86 kg for the past month or so...
Seems like clocking 30 km (around 6km per day) on the threadmill is not sufficient enough to lose more weight or I had too much gastronomical indulgences over the weekends or even daily during meal time...Anyway it's the whole point of staying healthy.... I know it is taboo to say this, but I had not been on the MC for like a good 8 months now while others would be down with niggling sore eyes (OUCH! I'm bad there..)

Since I am doing the work out daily on my own, I find it really productive and I can concentrate more rather than when BY and the rest can even chat freely on the threadmills...
Chatting definitely doesn't compliment gym session at all when you just had to concentrate so as not to get injured...
But somehow there is this particular group of guys from a sister institute (I supposed) headed by this scrawny, buck-toothed lad who is also the one making the din everytime he entered the gym with his companions (always bound to have 2 or 3 with him)...
Perhaps an act of his belittled masculinity, he would always cajoled his companion to work on the various stations in the gym...and always whined about how little he could do as compared to the rest...
He is your model choice of "empty vessel made the most noise"..
For the past few weeks, I still seen him frequent the gym but instead of hitting the weights, he could be playing ping pong with some female colleagues..guess what he continues to makes a lot of noise...
As for his companions, think they benefitted a lot from his absence..at least they could work out in peace..though the frequency of their work outs had been much reduced recently

There are these couple of "aunties"...one is a skeletal Caucasian or Eurasian who seem to just want to do very light work outs and chat at times.. But at least beside myself, they are the few that comes on daily basis...
The Chinese looking auntie with full make-up and glaring jewelries while working out likes to slack around at times, perhaps taking a good rest from work...
Then an incident yesterday when she was doing sit-ups on the bench and suddenly a loud fartting sound derives from her location..
Fortunately there are only a handful then and no one was bad enough to snigger on this normal gastrointestinal phenomenon...but she would be known as the "Farting Auntie" from that oint on...

Of course you have the serious bodybuilding types who had the insurgent fetish for the weights and putting their muscles under a lot of unnecesary stress...
The one that comes in daily basis is this "chee-na" looking chap who the staff mentioned is very serious about his work out...and he even attempted to do cardio as well which is something eschewed by serious bodybuilders...who can carry tons but so short of stamina I believe I can beat them in 2.4km run...

There are a few who are as obssessed with the threadmill as myself...including a couple of middle aged men..one of whom would chat with me about how I could instill that discipline to come daily...
while another is like SIngapore No.1 Sweating Pot...because after each run, fishes can swim on the threadmill he had used...but I wished I could sweat that much as well...
Then there is this scantily-clad lady jogger who can really beat a lotof guys in terms of the speed she could hit on the threadmill and like myself she always put herself to the limit of around half an hour or so...
She would cover the timer display with her towel to restrict her mind from thinking about the time remaining I guess since it is a bane usually as your mind would brings about slack intentions to your body...

Although more and more ladies use the threadmill for cardio, many still wanted something lighter such as those climbing or stepping machines as well as the cycling machine which seriously can't make you sweat out as much...
There was this rather fleshy lady who I supposed is a fellow colleague of mine working in the same institute though I had never seen her till the gym opens, loves to hit the stepping machine and ignore the rule of not to hog an individual equipment (as there is only one of those in the gym) and would just step for like an hour though the friendly trainer, Faruk would comes by to chat with her..But it has not occur for a month now when she only attends the classes in the studio these days...

Of course there are other notesworthy characters I frequently seen including "ang-mohs", China aunties and especially Malay ladies who surely need the work out due to their fattening diet...
As long as you are there with a correct purpose, then time would not be wasted I guess...
For now I had to come out with new work out regime to shed that remaining 5 kgs which seperate reality and my ideal weight before the wedding....

Japanese word of the day: 汗(Sweat) In contrast to the No.1 Sweat-Pot, the scantily clad lady almost never perspire even after such vigorous run

Stalemate

25th May 2006, Thursday

Just a trivia...sort of...I am like 9 more posts to reach my 300th one...unbelieveable but it's true and perhaps I am like the few people in this world who have a discipline to blog consistently about nothing at all...However with a new job on the horizon, I doubt I will have the luxury of time to blog at work no more and I rather conserve valuable time at home for other affairs...Perhaps a weekly update by then...

I can't believe that I slept at around 11pm last evening yet was struggling to get out of bed this Thursday morning, much to the disgust of my mother...
Some updates on domestic front would be that Dad would be relinquishing from his contractor job to a factory worker at Mom's workplace which should take less toll on his aged body..
The entire family stamped our approval for his move which we felt would be advantageous for him at the long run..But it is really down to whether his rigid mindframe and huge ego could accomodate to a new job...
My sister and her beau who had abandoned their Eyptian escapade and was quick to channel their expenses towards a much safer Taiwan-Hong Kong trip which they would depart for this weekend...

I wish I could head for a short hiatus now overseas...perhaps to Milan with my lass or even better to Germany and basked in the World Cup frenziness...
Seriously life is taking a rather stalemate mode....even for a person like myself who binges on mundane, less adventurous lifestyle...
The new job would definitely perks things out and of course draining my energy for the 64 football matches to come by the 9th of June...(Just a note is that Matthew's wedding banquet would definitely clash with the England-Paraguay group match which is ok for me as I rather watch Sweden vs Trinidad & Tobago later)

Back at work, My Sore-eyes is back and quickly preoccupying himself with his side project with "UNCLE" and I barely had time to take a breather myself this morning as I took over the service role...
My supervisor was kind enough to entitle me with some free time during my last week of service here (starting from 19th June) to go over to start learning things which I had intended to anyway...
Despite what the girls had said about how conniving and fake my supervisor is and how biased she was towards JxMMy, I must say she treated me with utmost respect and appreciation and I will always remember her for that...of course she had always refrained from giving me "freaky" presents for birthday or X'mas unlike the girls in the past...

I'm gonna leave you with a trivia you wouldn't care to know as well...the recent Dreamworks animated movie, "Over the Hedge" is actually know as "森のリトル．ギャング(The Little Gang of the Forest"..perhaps the Japanese find that name much more kawaii... or simply they could not understand the word "hedge"...
Of course Verne the turtle is one of the main stars of the show but in Marina Park yesterday, joggers and animal lovers were helping 70 over young cousins of Verne who was lost in the drainage and release back to the sea...thank goodness they are not in some part of China, if not in the soup they will go...

Japanese word of the day: 古い(Stale)To me life can be like a loaf of cheap "Shop & Save" bread...it's way to stale...

Berthing the Sinking Ship

24th May 2006, Wednesday

It's really oxymoronic that I had no love lost for my naval days yet I had such high tendency to use naval terms to describe my life...(such as changing lyrics of songs with common phrase like "joining the navy")..Speaking of which the naval department sent some useless magazines to me, hoping that I would be a wee bit interested in what the assfreaks that remained the force were making a fool out of themselves with...

Well it is interesting to draw some analogy between my current career state with time spent in the navy...
I am now like going through the "leave clearing" period just before I ORD back then...
Unlike then with immediate effect of resignation, I don't think I can apply leave "legally", not that I am in dire needs anyway..
There are plenty of stuffs to do clearance with and very much like the clearance process in the latter days of navy when I had to hunt up and down for some mothers' sons to just simply sign...

Did a subtle negotiation with my supervisor with regards to my final day here will be brought forward to the Friday before as I had wanted...
With that fixed, I then sent e-mails to the HR department of the new place who is quite urgent to know the date I can start my stint there, so that they can duly informed my future bosses.
I also send an update on my status to that French supervisor of mine, hoping to show some entusiasim in terms of picking up the things there as fast as I could and to get acquainted with my new colleagues (hopefully and BY had reassured that there will be no JxMMy 2, 3 & 4)

I felt my 4 years here, at the end of the day I most probably attained a specialist status without much progress; as my superior admiring my eloquency and my way with words and presentation and perhaps my professionalism...but not for my diligence and passion for work as in both cases I had none, with end of the day, money and time counts...but then isn't that what is work for?
For every single person who is harping over my self confidence, there would be one enemy made for my candid and at times tactless behavior when handling users here.. Of course I had let my temperament get the better of me both here and back in the Navy...
I would not take extra efforts in both cases to do what is extra outside my responsibility and would indulge in my own stuff once work is done..the chronic lack of initiative could be the root of my demise and I could have no qualms over it..

In both cases, I am always thrown with secondary duties such as dubious role fo fire warren durong fire drills or like this afternoon, entertaining a bunch of Temasek JC students who came for a tour in our facilities when I feel the Museum of Civilization could be a much better choice...

Over the course of time I had gained some sound companionship with my co-workers but in similar fashion all the good ones starting to depart for greener pastures while the lousy ones stuck behind...
Then I had made some sworn enemies whom I love to hate (it's quite obvious who...)

Well my time at Navy can be mind-tormenting and at times feel like my life had been sinking like a ship in a whirlpool and for the past few months, I had got that recurring feeling with my current job...
But of course one thing the days at Navy can never compare to work life now would be the liberation from all the regimental crap which I am still hating till this very day...

26th of June would mark yet another journey in my career and whether I would be manuveouring a sinking ship..we shall see...better stock up the buff bags anyway....

Japanese word of the day:沈降(Sinking) The best solution is to find some life raft to keep yourself afloat at all times such as a hobby or a wife...

Skipper of a Sinking Ship

23rd May 2006, Tuesday

Usually a 2 days MC from JxMMy should be met with appropiate celebration such as champagne drinking, bunnygirl out of the cake striptease, fireworks, but on this very day I really hope he was around for that 15 minutes or so to handle those annoying in-house users...one actually...
a lady from the Histology lab who has a good records in my book but somehow pressed a frantic button and kept making request which bewildered me further as she continued to press for results...
Then you had people coming to query about the efficacy of our service which really get on my nerves when the blockheads just could not accept any reasoning...
Such wretched duty is what JxMMy has been craving for day in day out...not my kind of thing...

Spent the bulk of the afternoon, teaching Iris and Triana about the details of the service which is basically much regurgitation from what I had taught them the last time round..But with my imminent departure, it had become more urgent to impart the knowledge to them...
Also had perhaps the first chat with the girls since they joined to talk about career, office politics and other stuff...making me talk as much as the past half a year with JxMMy..no wait...more like as much words as the past 4 years with him...

Bobby would be taking over my shared facilities chores but seriously there's noting much to hand over except for some role-playing gimmicks to appease very few people up there...

A confirmation letter from my HR arrived with a list of people I should liaise with to return almost everything I had drawn over the past 4 years and the final day would on the 26th, a Monday but I am hoping to negotiate with my supervisor if I could take a few days forward by ending it the preceding Friday..although the other side ideally would want me there by the 19th of June...but I believe delaying by a week would be good especially for me with that penultimate match between Holland and Argentina on the 22nd...

Today is just feeling like cruising on a sinking ship at work, and unfortunately I was made the skipper of the day...

Japanese word of the day: 痛む目(Sore eys) That's what warrant 2 days off work for JxMMy..serves you right for indulging yourself with so much pornography!

Yoshitsune & Da Vinci

22nd May 2006, Monday

Still no confirmation of when my actual last day would be though my supervisor would follow up on that while the HR over the other side started probing me for the date already...
Of course with the fact that my supervisor so casually mentioning about my depature and all the covering of duties and additonal manpower, I am very sure now she had told the rest about my imminent depature...well at least JxMMy could start to count down the day for rejoice of being all alone once more...well it would be reciprocated in my case as well...

So Saturday was mainly hyping up for the show in the evening but took Mom's M'sia religious escapdade as an opportunity to go get some breakfast from BK..Of course knowing me, I wouldn't solely head out under the intolerable weather to just haul some food for my sis and myself..I went to take the passport size photos required by the HR department and boy I was hoping with a more well-chiselled face I would have finally a good passport size photo that wouldn't resemble those shown on "Crime-Watch" but boy was I wrong...
Now my photos would be the perfect picture to place beside CIA's "prospective terrorist suspect"...
By the way, I had given up on BK's breakfast which is running so short on choices but at the "abang" floor manager gave me an extra packet of coin harsh brown...

I was set to leave home after dinner that day and so occupied my afternoon by continuing my "Taiga" marathorn as I got more engrossed with the storyline which follows Yoshitsune and his Genji troop soundly defeating the Heike in the sea battle which the latter was bouyed on complacency that they would win.
In retrieving 2 of the Sacred Treasures (the the third, a sword sunk into the riverbed), Yoshitsune presented to the conniving monk-emperor and thus begun incurring the wrath of his brother, Yoritomo, enjoying his life at Kamakura with his obnoxious wife and her scheming father...

Before I got too engrossed I went on to work on my webpaged before departing for La Tendo and only saw the likes of Bryan, Chan, Eng Kiong and Tay-chan... the show was sparsely contained with customers, or prospective customers as it surely paled in comparison to other Saturdays in terms of sales I guess.
So it didn't take long to figure out to close at 8pm sharp while the rest started flooding in for the show which only began at 10 plus...
Matthew came and had dinner with the rest while handing out his wedding banquet invitations..I thought his absence for the past month or so had been preoccupied with his wedding arrangements and new flat...but later on Vincent annouced that he had decided to end the partnership with the rest but in an amicable fashion..I guess time is really not what he could offer and he would feel bad if he could not fulfill his duties to the shop.

Then we came to the Cathay Cineplex and it was still only about 80% done with a couple of retailers started business, otherwise 90% (make that almost 100%) of the crowd present on the boisterous Saturday night was there to catch a movie.
One aspect of this new Cathay franchise I don't get is that they actually offered cuisine restaurant-style such as spaghetti, steak, grilled fish etc. and actually had the service to deliver to the partons in the theatres...
Firstly in the case of the steak, while there's no propsect of a table in front of the seat, most probably one would have to consume using their thighs as a makeshift table (and having the prospect of sticking the knife into it as you don't have the luxury of light to see clearly)..Chan then made one of his "over the top" joke saying what if they actually offered steamboat? ooh..imagine the burnt one had to endure
Secondly doesn't the entire theatre would start reeking the smell of the food you consumed? I wouldn't wanna had the niggling black pepper sauce smell while enjoying a 3 hour movie, would you?

Ok..the movie itself is a close adaptation to the book and I was right about the actors performing their roles to a T though I'm not a big fan of a buffed up Tom Hanks... but Paul Brettany as the ghostly albino monk, Silas is a perfect choice..
2 main differences from the movie would be firstly Langdon was informed about the curator's murder at a book signing event rather than been woken up from sleep in his hotel like in the book.
Secondly, before realizing that Issac Newton was the knight in the riddle, they checked via the internet on a fellow passenger's handphone for clue rather than actually doing so in the library as written in the book.
Otherwise it was adhering strictly to Dan Brown's menuscript though blatantly missing out on highlighting some interesting points from Da Vinci's works, perhaps to not further incensed the Christian community further.
But the usage of some scenes to better explain the history is well appreciated but I was quite amazed they actually shot those scenes for perhaps seconds of showing in the movie itself.
I do feel the story got a wee bit too dry in the middle and too much talking might not be those craving for more Hollywood style action genre, maybe for people like Ferris...
Meanwhile I guessed Vincent was keeping himself awake till the show ended by 1am by finishing up almost half a bag of sweet popcorns...

I think I slept at 4 on Sunday morning and try to keep myself afresh by going back to sleep after waking at around 9 and wake up once more by 11.30am.
Dad and sis were already starting to paint her room the same tone as mine which would take up to mid afternoon when they were done.
I just spent a lethargic Sunday afternoon engrossed with the latter stories of Yoshitsune with him deciding to go on seperate ways from his brother's Kawakura shogunate and things were rosy with his vassals and soulmate Shizuka with him..
However too many evil people trying to put an end to Yoshitsune's legacy and without a real army of his own, he was cornered with few options at times and led a renegade life for the latter stage of his life...
He hd to bid his love farewell (an eternal one on a snowy mountain), hid like a prisoner in Kyoto, headed for Oshu, disgusing as mountain priests with his vassals (and was unwillingly beaten up by Benkei to conceal their identities when interrogated by a sharp manor), reluctantly seeking refuge under Fujiwara clan but his happy life there was cut short when the Fujiware lord died leaving the legacy to the incompetant eldest son who could not fulfill his father dying wish to shelter Yoshitsune from the capture of Yoritomo's army.
The 4th generation Fujiware lord, Yasuhira was way too fragile and succumbed to the threats of the Genji after a while and decided to serve Yoshitsune's head on the platter to appease the dominant force in Japan at that era.
This led to the progessive death of the admirable Yoshitsune and his vassals as even how great a strategist he was, he only had 6 up against the thousands of the Fujiwara regime...
It was painful process to witness the subsequent deaths of each of the vassals whom had grown so accustomed to.. (by the way Saburo the crab is actually one of Vivian Hsu's Black Biscuits buddy) and the eventual suicide of Yoshitsune in a shed, devastated by the fact that he could not actually see his dream country before his death..
Once again the Taiga series had put me in such emotional rollercoaster but ultimately the "nakama" kinship which I kind of yearn for was had a tragic ending...But more outstandingly, the fact that the evil basked in glory at the expense of the perishment of the good left me badly gutted...
Damn..gotta refrain myself from those lousy Taiga dorama for a while now...

Lastly got a call from my lass as she promised and with very little to update but a strong yearn to see one another persists if not just got even stronger...

Japanese word of the day: うんざりさせる ~u-n-za-ri-sa-se-ru~ (Disgusted) Aren't they any part of Japan's warring history that doesn;t contain an ending that leaves me disgusted?

The Ogre Girl

19th May 2006, Friday

Woohoo..it's Friday once more...this week didn't seems to creep that slowly as I had thought...
Looking forward to the weekend with a movie outing for thescreen adaptation of Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code" which didn't impressed the critics in the opening of the Cannes Film Festival and even bore my sister's beau to sleep...Perhaps it didn't cater to the taste of the general..Nonetheless this is the movie I am anticipating for this summer beside Depp & Bloom back in "Pirates of Caribbean: Dead's Man Chest"...

I wonder what one would do if you had to sit through an hour long MRT ride back and forth from work in daily basis...
The utopic situation would be finding a seat (which is challenge on its own) and snooze along the way..I had the luxury to find seats from my starting station but recently I just couldn't fall in slumber as easily as I would in the past, not that I had an efficacious sleep every night nowadays...
It would be good if I had a PSP to fiddle with or newspaper to read; but generally I would indulge in the tunes churned out by my iPod and my eyes would start to scan around the area to have a look at my fellow passengers...

I would say 80% of the commuters have rather average features which I would not take a 2nd look, but as of normal human being, I would tend to start gaping at certain personnel with belongs to the opposite ends of the spectrum..the eye candies and the hideous ones...
The former would always be great to start your day with...I know I may be married and all, but you can't fault me to take a second look when some Maggie Qs would step into the same carriage as mine... Then of course with my journey more exclusive to factory workers, army boys and Malaysian factory workers embarking from Kranji station, so it surely reduce the possibility of gorgeous office ladies (OL) in neat 3 piece office attire by ten folds...

Then you have the latter..the hideous bunch...I would think that would be around 0.0001% if one is to make it into my "hideous list"..usually some cosmetic defect or even fashion disaster...seriously I can't help to stare at people with warts, gourd or anything else related..I know I am been too candid but I guess these people would had get eagle-eyes on them on regular basis...at least I try not to look at them too blatantly...

Which comes to my main headline...
I hopped onto the train, slightly fuming by the fact that I barely missed the usual 7.15 am direct train.
Then my attention was concentrated on a scrawny, bespectacled guy who I had seen before on the train..then I remembered he had this female companion perhaps his girlfriend since they were quite intimate the last time I saw themm..and vuala...she's there grinning from ear to ear to see her beau...
I mean it's fine to induce some romance even on a routine MRT trip but it's this lady that as I mentioned above, I couldn't stopped gaping at and sadly she belongs to the latter kind...
Well I know I am bad and she is not that hideous at all, neither I could categorize her as pleasant looking...She is a stocky character with a face I would envisioned on an auntie perhaps in the middle age. She had thinning crown on her head yet she loved to swayed it as if she is spokesperson for Pantene or somethingl; and ladies take note, it seems like it's her no. 1 enticing move that got her beau smitten...*starting to get nauseous now* She got a rather hefty nose, a pair of sleepy eyes and not so perfect skin condition...But it is the fact that she would be busking in a new-found romance and starting to flirt with her lover-boy which make me raise my eyebrows like the Rock, and just don't feel to comfortable watching the whole scene with goosebumps starting to aggravate all over my body.. You might say it's none of my business, but down inside I had an insurgent craving to just see how demure can our female lead gets and how much more goosebumps could I endure..Seriously I would even consider about heading up that Brokeback Mountain if she ever made a pass at me

The very first time I saw this couple, the guy embarked as myself at Yishun and was joined by his lass in the subsequent station of Sembawang... At that junture, there was a guy sitting beside my Lover-boy and there was an empty seat beside that fellow passenger which she could sit on. However I recollected that she made a rather disgruntled expression and Loverboy had to kindly asked the guy beside him to "siam one side"...and they began their intimate routine with some teasing and sniggering and both started reading their own books...I supposed perhaps they are still on the verge of becoming an item so weren't really that intimate ..
Then today on the train, they grew a bit closer but still more "enticing tactics" performed by our leading actress here once more..meaning...more goosebumps for me...

But I am surely throwing my hat off for the guy...he had certainkly attained nirvana or something...
Men are "shallow animals" one must admit who took so much precedence on the physical aspect of women when come to attraction...
But then those are just skin deep, the personality & what lies within is way much more important...
You can have a Heidi Klume-lookalike but had so much expectations from you, ultimately you'll get suffocated out of your own life...
Then again I think there are also millions of men out there who wouldn't mind have their lives ruined just for a hook up with a Heidi Klume-lookalike...

Anyway turly wish this pair had a happy ending and a blissful life ahead, just don't flirt in front of me no more...I had enough of goosebumps...

Back at work, my supervisor is finally back from her overseas conference which I thought that she would only return on Monday...
But then she looked beaten but fatigue and jet-lagged, so I guessed it would not be ideal to talk about my depature details today...then of course HR gotta let her know I had tendered resignation and I believed she would come and talk to me about it, or would she?

Japanese word of the day: 美(Beauty)I guess I am one of those rare ones which is hideous inside and outside...OUCH

The Henry Conspiracy

18th May 2006, Thursday

Ok so officially I am only recieving like not more than 4 hours of sleep last evening.
As mentioned I tried to sleep at 11pm which I did and hoped that my alarm clock could wake me up enough to catch a supposedly classic final of the UEFA Champions League...
and surprisingly I was able to wake up even before the designated time of around 2.30am by perhaps pure impulse..only to go back to catch some more sleep realizing that I had woken up a wee bit too early (around 1 plus I think).

Anyway I wasn't groggy, not even bleary-eyed when the teams starting to come out of the tunnel after some time-wasting mass display and some French auntie diva breaking into vocal chords which none of the spectator at Stade de France nor millions of viewers in the 172 countries (as quoted by the commentator) watching this live extravaganza gave a hoot about...

So the match duly started slightly before 3am and Barca was putting early pressure with the usual slick passing with Ronaldihno in the engine room...
But when the Gunners put on a counter-attack, their main tormentor, Henry seriously tested Barca's GK, Valdes twice in as many minutes.
Then half way through the 1st half, I believed was Ronny who sent E'too through and outside the 6 yard box, the German No. 1 supposedly trip the Cameroonian...
Actually from replay, it seemed like E'too had already fallen on his own but Lehman perhaps had better not had a handful of his boot, thus the Norwegian referee was left but to show him the red card...
People would dispute he should had let Giuly's goal stand and Lehmann remained in this dream final...but then you don't hail from a country with 40% GST do you?

With 10 men remaining, suddenly Arsenal found their tempo and against the run of play, a Henry freekick was head powerfully by Sol Campbell into the top corner of Barca's goal with Valdes rooted (yeah he was definitely rooted)...
Henry did not seemed to busk into uncontrollable celebration and had to endure a kiss on the cheeks from a guy just recovered from depression.
With around 60 minutes or more left to find the equalizer, Ronny and gang just needed to find the midas' touch for breaking down a Gunner defence not conceding a goal since Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are still not snuggling together and jumping on Oprah's couch...
The closest they got was an E'too effort which substitute keeper, Alumnia just managed to palm away to make the probable goal hit the side bar...

I then try to entertain myself for the halftime of around 10 minutes, channel switching and bemoaning that if my alter ego, Krystofur van de Heinz is in the game, Arsenal would be 3:1 down now...(lack of sleep causes one to be delirious)

The match resumed with Iniesta coming in for a more more defensive Edmilson and it nearly was a shrewd substitution and the newly-capped Spanish international broke through the middle and had a shot on target but compatriot Alumnia managed to get the hold of it...
For some scary minutes, I thought ASREnal (sorry I just gotta rub that it but I don't really loath them as much as the moaning Mourinho's men) could have killed the game when Henry was one on one with Valdes, he should had put it away in his signature way but perhaps he had put on perhaps Emile Heskey's or Ronny Rozenthal's boots instead and the Catalans are still very much in the game...
Dutch MF maestro van Bommel haven't been playing too well and it was right for Swede hitman, Henrik Larsson coming to make his swansong while Oleguer who play as a rightback (while in my CM game he is only capable of playing CB) had been tormented by the fleet foot of Larsson's Swedish "kawang", Ljungberg and got himself a booking after several attempted to stop the winger and Rijkaard had to send on Brazilian Belletti on to preserve that numerical advantage.

The double substitutions worked magic for Barca in a now unforgiving Paris now with heavy rain pelting from the sky.
First Larsson, now the main danger in the middle to trouble Toure and Campbell, setup a delicious looking ball to E'too on the left which he darted in and sneaked the ball between Alumnia and the frame of the goalpost...
GAME ON!! That's what I exclaimed right then as well...
But little did I realized the best was to come with Larsson once again fighting for a loose ball on the right and fed the fresh-looking Belletti and he managed to tug the ball over Alumina and Barca is barely 10 minutes from their crowning glory.

I know it's bad to start time-wasting but Barca surely need to keep possession and keep the Arsenal attack at bay after Henry had shown more than one time that he could elude the tackles of Puyol and Marquez easily. Wenger threw in his last dice with Jose Antonio Reyes and pray for a miracle (well perhaps he should put in Bergkamp just for sentimental value since it would have been his final game in his illustrative career)...

But the final whistle was blown and I was exhilerated with the team I support actually won (as I had pondered for like a long time before they score that I could be the voodoo as everything I watch an important match live, the team I support will most probably taste defeat)
By then Mom was already up and ready to start the day and I quickly try to catch some more sleep before finally get up for my day at work too...

The post match interviews had Henry mincing his words that the E'too goal should not had counted for an offside..but then the Giuly goal should have counted as well..so no difference
But I felt it could a conspiracy brewing in Henry as he wanted to leave Arsenal a martyr till the very end and might changed for the Catalonia lifestyle in months time..and his lacklusture performance in terms of finishing could be aiding his future employer for only their 2nd European cup..and he was seen having a hearty chat during the cup presentation with E'too...perhaps they wanna go up that Brokeback Mountain someday, instead of going with Campbell who planted that huge smuack on him just now...

Then again do Barca really need Henry? Even without a fully fit Xavi or Lionel Messi, Barca is good enough to beat any other team...and on evidence a holding predator who could create goal scoring chances like Larsson would be the ideal foil in the middle while Henry might not be in that mold but with his talent, he should be able to adopt...
Sadly buck-toothed Ronny did not exert much influence on the game, he had some nice running and cheeky touches but generally I would give him an average 7 for no good attempt on goal and wasted freekicks and even corner kick as well...

I was quite surprised I didn't even fell into deep slumber on my journey to work and even now, almost 3/4 of the day gone I am feeling refresh...I think my regular workout is doing magic to my body...

However I came in to work with an email stating that the bandwidth of my webpage had been used up drastically over the past few days..and I know nuts about bandwidth except for tuning to radio networks while I am still a radio operator in the navy...
So I e-mailed the supprt helpdesk and they was prompt to reply that it could be due to heavy uploading and downloading that is eating up my bandwith and if it is used up my domain could be suspended for the rest of the month...
But seriously what is the point of getting a paid domain when I cannot to heavy uploading of files??

Japanese word of the day: 起きていること~o-ki-te-i-ru-ko-to~(Staying up) It's been a while since I stay up to watch live soccer matches but for the next month better keep the stock up for chicken essence, coffee and whatever methods to keep me awake at unearthly hours..

Of Natural Disaster, Tragic Accident & Football Extravaganza

17th May 2006, Wednesday

Mid week and the volume requiring our service increased ten fold and I can barely take a breather..Not that JxMMy doesn't wanna lend a hand, he got his full with his usual computer administration which include patching the Windows XP with yet another latest version of the service pack from Microsoft.
Seriously didn't he done that just a week ago?
I really never see so zealously patching up their OS as if calamity would struck if he has not done so...

Talking about calamity, the natural disaster season came in early this year..normally it should be around late summer (late August) as of last year when we see Hurrican Katrina tormented the million of lives of Americans living in the soutgh-western states (er..I may have got my fact wrong anyway)
Mount Merapi at Yogjakarta in Indonesia finally erupted yesterday with speedy evacuation done by local authorities when sign of lava flowing from the mouth and ash cloud spewing days before.
Of course, there are some "thick-headed" villagers would rather been engulfed by the lava rather than leaving their only possession in life..their land...
Over at Hong Kong, people are bracing for Typhoon Chanchu, travelling towards the former British colony at uncanny speed...
Then there is the strong quake felt in some Pacific Island and also certain part of Indonesia as well...
The earth is definite revoking against constant destruction of mankind but then could be God's punishment for the premiere of "Da Vinci's Code"...
Which I would be joining the La Tendo Clique for a highly-anticipated viewing at the brand new Cathay Cineplex (or more like a revamped one) come Saturday...

The torrid accident I witnessed yesterday morning had been reporting in the papers today with confirmation of the SBS running over a 64 years old elderly and dragged the victim for a distance of 50 m, which explains that morbid blood trail...
The victim was pronouced dead on the scene and now it is under investigation about the cause of the accident...
Seriously the morning traffic at this North Bouna Vista junction is a hotbed for accidents to happen. The road works for the Circle line had constantly caused inconveniences to people rushing off for work and drivers at time were not informed beforehand of the cosmetic changes that occured to the place and could be due to complacency, made a wrong turn and hit any of the thousands of pedestrians commuting around that area...Before they actually barricaded the center of the road, people can be seen vociferously jaywalking like their lives were not put in the danger...
As the saying goes..."Better be late than never"...

From recent posts you can see I had been hyped up about the forthcoming World Cup and this evening (or should more like tomorrow's dusk), we will witness a classic Champions League final beamed live from Stade de France in Paris between 2 teams who had a penchant of exciting, free-flowing football, Barcelona and Arsenal...
It surely would be the best extravaganza to offer soccer-hungry population worldwide in less than month for the biggest footballing kitty up for grab...
A lot of focus was targetted on the duel between Ronaldihno & Henry for which footballing god would come on top and get the sacred prize in European footballing scene...
Seriously not for many years have we seen 2 teams playing such entertaining football and yet manage to make it to the final which many had labelled the "dream final"...
Luckily it isn't Real vs Chelsea because we wouldn't want a pompus Portugese manager whining about whether a plump, bucktooth Brazilian striker had been offside for his goal...would we?
I will be rooting for the Catalans as my friend always said the Champs League should only involves champions of respective leagues rather than competant dopplegangers... Seriously how fantastic the current Arsenal squad is playing, they only finished 2nd fiddle last season and 4th this season while Barca clinched consecutive titles, and only justified to win the top prize as well...

I would try to stay awake for the kick off at 2.35 am, which means either I had to turn in early or forsake sleep altogether which can be hazardous on a work day...
Well let's see I can try to catch some sleep at 11 and whether my Pikachu alarm clock can get me up at those unearthly hours and sporting a musky eyes (i.e. JxMMy's) tomorrow for work...which I predict can't be any much productive....

Last note is that with my lass not gone for a good 1 month plus, I am surely feeling the void in my life..
Feeling a lack of lusture daily, as if nothing to anticipate when I get home or for the weekend when I would usually spend quality time with her...
Definitely I am missing her presence in her life gravely at the moment..
well that's why I have only soccer to binge on for the next month or so...

Japanese word of the day: 災難~sai-nan~(Disaster) It would be if I stay awake all night to catch the match and yet with a full day at work to contemplate with...

Throwing the Letter

16th May 2006, Tuesday

A monumental day for me....to witness a supposedly-deadly car accident early in the morning...
Nah seriously, I had the contract over the new place ironed out when the friendly HR officer, Wendy called me last evening as I was on my way home to come down to get it sign.

So I went over the office and the patient lady briefed me through all the documents and going intricate into little details into my contract.
I would reprised my role as a laboratory biologist in my current stint instead of research assistant as I had thought.
The pay had been rounded off the the nearest $10..meaning I got an increment of $0.60...woohoo...
She also went through the group insurance that we are covered, which is so much better done by the actual insurance company.
So all in all, there are lots of forms to filled, a medical check up back at YIH in NUS to proceed (hopefully no need anymore Hepatitis B shots) and made amicable arrangements with my supervisor to release me earlier from my current duty so as I could actually join them within a month instead of 6 weeks...

After the contract signing, I went to submit my resignation letter to the head of the HR at our side and many administrative staff by the side started raising their eyebrows with my sudden decision to leave but shrugged off as another tenderer of resignation which had caught on as a craze over here in recent months.

Now the crux of the matter would be when would be official last day, as I had expected around six weeks later, so that I can at least catch that penultimate crunch match between Holland & Argentina with ease before I move over....

Talking about the World Cup with the deadline for the squad naming over yesterday, with the exception of some teams like S.Korea, Ivory Coast, Iran and Croatia, I think almost all of the rest had named their final 23 and minimal shock omissions this time round but we won't be seeing the likes of Jerzy Dudek, Javier Zanetti, Kevin Kuranyi, Francesco Toldo, Christian Vieri, Fernando Morientes, Ruben Baraja, Vicente & Hakan Yakin this time round.

On paper Brazil should have the best squad with talent spreading at all positions with players hailing from major European squads.. Veterans Cafu, Roberto Carlos & Juan in the defence with some youthful impetus in perhaps Cicinho and Gilberto, covering in front of the erratic Dida.
But looking at the midfield and attack, that's where Brazil's strength lies as there are no even vacancy for the likes of Julio Batispta of Real, Ricardo Olivera of Betis, Ewerthon of Zaragoza, Kleberson of Besiktas etc.

Then we look at the 2 imminent opponents for the Netherlands in the group stage...

Serbia & Montenegro
A very sound defensive unit which includes Man Utd's Vidic which let in one goal in the entire qualifying campaign should be the base of this team. But I doubt they could keep clean sheets against the likes of van Nisterooy, Kuyt, Crespo, Riquelme, Messi or Drogba.
However their own attack are shone with proven goal-scorers like Osasuna's Milosevic, Athletico Madrid's Kezman and young Vucinic from Lecce. They can even not call up Darko Kovacevic of Real Sociedad who is struggling with injuries all season long.
In MF, the danger man would certainly be Inter's Dejan Stankovic, other than that the others are not really significant for a mention.

Argentina
If a team consist of Tevez, Crespo, Messi, Riquelme, Aimar, Julio Cruz, Maxi Rodriguez & Saviola cannot score more goals than what they had conjured back in 2002 when they made a disappointing 1st round exit, something would be gravely wrong.
They can even afford to not include the Inter trio of Javier Zanetti, Santiago Solari & Walter Samuel.
However the Argentine defense might be their shortcoming as their recent form shows that they might not be as strong as they are touted to be. But never say never.

I did not see a complete Ivroy Coast list and suspect with the shouldering the hope on the likes of Drogba, Bonaventure Kalou of PSG, Aruna Dindane of Lens as well as the Gunners duo of Eboue & Toure.

Well with the players involved been named, time to get buzzing for the the tournament to start in 3 and a half weeks time.

Anyway as mentioned that I started my day witnessing a horrendous car accident...it is true as I was crossing that make-shift overhead bridge from Bouna Vista MRT, naturally people would take a peek at their left side since the right had been covered up.
This morning we saw a SBS bus been broken down in the left lane of the road leading to MOE and then an illuminated polic vehicle on its rear.
Then I see the tarred road showing sign of it been doused with liquid till closer observation I noticed a trail of fresh crimson blood as the main cause of wetting the road. Curious onlookers starting to cluster around the scene, perhaps like myself bewildered what had actually happened.
But at the first glance one would have postulate the accident of a pedestrain been knocked over by the oncoming bus and been dragged for a certain distance.
However later on during gym, the staff there who came at around 6 plus mentioned that the bus had been broken down since then with no sign of accident.
So the tragic incident could be commited by another vehicle later on which is weird since there isn't much room for other vehicles to vamoose on with the stationery bus taking up a huge space.
Well it was not the best way to kick off the morning to witness such horrific scene and with such massive blood loss, let's hope the victim survived the ordeal and hope no one is thick enough to extract the car plate number of the vehicle involved for 4D or other form of gambling.

Japanese word of the day: 辞職(Resignation) Finally get it done today and now waiting for the repurcussions.

Analyzing the Oranje

15th August 2006, Monday

Back to work after a wonderful long weekend... It is always good to kick off a week without the presence of JxMMy even for half a day when he went reporting back to his reservist camp for perhaps a mass sodomization exercise within his company...er...I don't even want to hear trace of what had happened...

Wanted to have an early turn in last evening to gear me up for a supposedly long week ahead but I was too captivated by the Yashima battle in the Taiga dorama, "Yoshitsune" and was amused when a bewildered-looking Imai Tsubasa made a cameo as a young archer who took up the challenge from Heike to shoot down a fan for Yoshitsune's Genji army. NHK surely loves such cameo of someone close to the lead actor just as in 2004's "Shinsengumi" when Tsuyoshi of SMAP appeared as a comedic foreign naval officer when group-mate Shingo was taking the leading role. But this particular episode had a melodramatic ending with the passing of one of Yoshitsune's well-treasured vassal who sacrificed himself in order to save his lord from been shot by a stray arrow.. Classic comradeship during his passing but didn't move me as much as when Yamanami was wrongly forced to comit suicide in Shinsengumi.

I had intended to officially tender my resignation today and even notified the HR department.
However with my supervisor still in the midst of her overseas conference, the full resignation would not be completed without her signature of recognition.
Then I started wondering would the contract over the other side actually materialized and the HR over there actually advised me to tender only after signing the contract to be on the safe side...so more waiting game.
However Bobby whom I had as minimal conversation with these days as JxMMy (nah...I might see Bobby only 1/8 of the working hours in a week yet I spoke to him more) enquired about my departure which I started wondering which blabbermouth went to spread the news even before I actually resign.. could be my supervisor which by then JxMMy should know as well... Not a really a top secret as people would bound to find out eventually but at least after I had officially tendered my resignation.

Anyway with the World Cup coming in less than a month's time, the coaches of all competiting nations are to submit their final list of 23 players which they could replaced 24 hours before their 1st match in case of any unexpected casualties...
Competition favorites France and Holland had submitted theirs with French coach Domenech naming 2 uncapped players as the major surprises in the squad in Frank Ribery of Marseille (touted to be the next Zidane) and Wigan's transfer-requested fullback, Chimbonda.
Minnows Angola also drew their squad as well as Mexico who many felt would the dark horse of the tournament with relative unknowns in the soccer scene except for Barca's Marquez & Bolton's Borghetti.

But let us look through the Netherland's 23 which I felt as Soccernet had reported correctly that Van Basten would be making a grave mistake not to include Ajax's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar who is in a flurry of good form for the entire season scoring 33 goals altogether and recently managed to score crucial late winning goals for Ajax for the Champions League playoffs in the Dutch League as well as in the Dutch Cup against PSV.

Goalkeepers

Edwin Van der Sar: No surprise, the Man Utd 35 year-old custodian should be the Dutch No. 1 too. But he is proned to some silly mistakes now and then despite finding some form in his first season with the Red Devils.

Maarten Stekelenburg: An up and coming GK from Ajax but kind of injury prone. But in a country no shortage of talent for outfield players, Stekelenburg would be the only future Dutch No. 1 for years to come

Henk Timmer: AZ Alkmaar's custodian who should be having a blast for the past 2 seasons in terms of club achievement but tends to let in many goals as well...

Who could be in: Except for usual suspects like Ranger's Waterreus & Alaves' Westerveld who are equally crappy by the way, there aren't any notable ones to displace Van Der Sar.

Defenders

Kew Jaliens, Joris Mathijsen & Tim de Cler: All hailed from AZ with a supposedly member of the AZ's defensive quartet Barry Opdam missing. None are tagged with reputation like Jaap Stam or Frank de Boer but had done their job in the qualifiers in for Van Basten to justified their inclusions.

Jan Kromkamp: Liverpool right back who can advance in a wingback. Had problem adjusting to Spanish lifestyle in Villareal, and even the move to Anfield doesn't bring the best out of the former AZ man... well at least his sparse Reds appearance is better than Bouma's disasterious Villa run.

Andre Ooijer: Experience campaigner for PSV and the Dutch team, not the most skilful but enough to fulfill his defensive role. Most probably would be the 1st choice centerback in the line-up

John Heitinga: One of Ajax's academy finest in recent times. He was impressive in Euro 2004 as a right back and hope he would keep up his potential in the heart of the Dutch defense.

Khalid Boulahrouz: Khalid the Cannibal from Hamburg SV in the German League helped the club to the brink of a 2nd placing recently, let's hope he had inculcated a taste of some Argentines, Ivorians & Serbs in weeks to come.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst: Naturally a left winger but successfully adjusted into a winig back in Barca. This former Arsenal & Rangers man should continue his form after a great season at Nou Camp.

Who could be in: With Stam & de Boer out of the picture, I would expect the so-called "new Stam", Ron Vlaar to be included. But the Feyenoord-bound AZ youngster is deemed not a finished product yet.

Midfield

Mark van Bommel: The former PSV skipper and talisman had an indifferent first season at Barca. WIth the club on the verge of a significant double, van Bommel would doubt how much he had contributed to a team beaming with superstar MFs. Nonetheless without his arch nemesis Davids, this might be the World Cup van Bommel shines.

Philip Cocu: Old warhorse of PSV, still a fantastic player at his age, another experienced player van Basten would be counting on.

Denny Landzaat: Supposedly a stylish defensive midfielder from AZ who might not reach the heights of the likes of van Bommel or Davids

Hedwiges Mauro: Just made his 1st team debut a year ago and now he is in the National team to the World Cup (then again we have Theo Walcott), obviously van Basten has big expectations of thsi Ajax product.

Wesley Sneijder: I still remembered a 6:0 mauling of Scotland in the 2nd leg of the Euro 2004 qualifying ties when Sneijder created 4 goals and this hot prospect from Ajax academy should really go to bigger clubs abroad like predecessors like Seedorf, Davids, van der Meydes and more recently van der Vaart.

Rafael van der Vaart: Who would have thought Rafael made such smooth transition into German football with HSV and if not for a luckless injury mid season, he could had ended the season as perhaps the best MF in the German league. Should be one of the talisman in the Dutch midfield this tournament

Who should be in: Well unlike the defense, Holland has an embarrasing great supply of talented MFs with the likes of Nigel de Jong, Seedorf, Edgar Davids, Andy van de Meyde (if he is ever fit in everton), George Bouateng not to be included. However I would have taken de Jong since he is such an utility man.

Attack

Ruud van Nisterooy: Fallen out with his gaffer, and now should be look elsewhere from Old Trafford for football next year. The World cup is the perfect platform to sell himself after been the 2nd top scorer in Euro 2004.

Arjen Robben: His Chelsea career might end prematurely as his past season hasn't been as fantastic as his first one. Nonetheless Robben is still a left winger with so much potential.

Dick Kuyt: Feyenoord's top marksman should be seeking bigger club with the Rotterdam team missing out Champions League next season and like RvN, Dick should find the tournament an ideal place to make his mark.

Ryan Babel: One of the true surprise is the inclusion of this Ajax youngster instead of his more prolific team-mate Huntelaar. Should feature as a last bid for goal and nothing more.

Robin van Persie: Arsenal's attacker who had a supposedly a good season, in transition of becoming the next Bergkamp to partner Henry in the future if he is still there of course.

Jan Vannegoor of Hasselink: The longest name in professional football and this PSV frontman is not proving as prolific thiese days for the recently-crowned Dutch champions as he was back in FC Twente.

Who could be in: Beside Huntelaar, Roy Makaay of Bayern Munich would be an obvious choice for many but then his goal-scoring streak is not been actualized in international stage. Romeo Castelen of Feyenord is another significant exclusion while I am sure many country would want a striker on impressive form even in his twilight years like Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

In conclusion, the Dutch 23 is made up of sound experience such as van der Sar, Cocu & Ooijer as well as young raw talents like Sneijder, van de Vaart, Robben & Heitinga. Many players should be out to prove a point (or worth) and to redeem themselves as a nation who missed the last World Cup altogether. Whether they can reprise the eye-pleasing Total Football of the Cryuff era or whether RvN-Robben-Kuyt can re-enact a Bergkamp-Kluivert of 1998 against Argentina, we shall see in coming weeks especially with final warm-up friendlies to come...

Japanese word of the day: オレンジ~o-ren-ji~(Orange) I think I would be wearing my bootleg Unisport classic Dutch jersey regularly come June.

Wrecking Once More

14th May 2006, Sunday

It's Mother's day SUnday but my mom was no where in sight since I had woken up this morning.

I doubt I had slept like more than 7 hours for the past long weekend especially when my buddies "dawned" over my place on Friday evening.I am not sure whether I would have enough energy to endure a full 5 days working week next which most probably sees me tendering my resignation...

My lass should be busking in the remnants of ancient Rome at the moment, and would be glad that my buddy had brought back an electronic Japanese dictionary/ translator on her fervent request...

So with his sister's marriage solemnization on Vesak morning, my buddy made a long-awaited return to his home country for a long while and we took this golden opportunity to meet up with CS as well.

After spending the bulk of Vesak Day home-bound to rush up some updates for my webpage as it been the number 1 item on my weekend agenda, CS came over to pick me up after a much delayed at work (yes that slave-driving company of his coerced him to return to work on yet another public holiday). A good 20 minute to TW's new place at Telok Kurau near Eunos and we caught up with our Osaka-based game artist friend, once more with a unkemped hair-do to match his personality and profession.
Throughout our journey our insufficient knowledge of the surrounding area shows when we kept going the wrong way.
Eventually we came to Lorong G of this high end residential area lined with 3-storey bungalows with high fences and were duly greeted with the newly weds as well as the rest of the family whom I had yet seen as well for a long time.
And yes they still got that concept that I might be moonlighting as the gay partner to my buddy despite the blatant fact that there was a wedding band visibly on my finger.

After a buffet dinner where CS was gorging himself with oily otah and gallon of yam paste (which I only knew is a delicacy he had a soft spot on), we drove back to my place for a night of "confession" as we expected CS would do... Of course before that along the journey he would give a rather grotesque description of how a fellow colleague of his just lost 4 fingers in a freak accident to prepare the place for an impending visit by their CEO...which is totally unnecessary.

As expected the guys were awe-struck to see my display cabinet in the living which CS was quick to point out that it should have spread through the entire length of the wall, yeah he was walking on a thin line there...
More comments on my newly set-up master bedroom with more constructive ones instead of
disparaging ones...
Despite it's in the middle of the night and all of us had a long day, the reunion of the wrecking crew can never be lack of silly stunts for the camera to commemorate the occasions as seen below:





Over the course of the next few hours while worrying about the expiry of his parking coupon as well as constant checking (more like hounding) from his family as well as girlfriend, CS made a earth-shattering confession upon persistant cajoling by both of us as if he could not share with us. who he should be feeling safe with, he would have to coop inside himself for the rest of his life...
Of course I had made the right hypothesis months before and it is crazy it became true..
Due to the senstive nature, I felt it's better kept a secret till my vexed friend would be able to resolve eventually at his own will.
However his narration is out of the conventional mundane lives we usually lead, thus we always love for the unpredictable CS to dish out his stories at regular basis...
Wish we could do more than giving him mere advices.

On the lighter note, we went down the memory lane as we recollect some the interesting incidents which we are glad to be part of our memories and particularly we had experienced it together.
We even open the vault of TW's bleak love life.

It was a shame that CS had to leave by around 3 am with the fact that he needs to go back to work in hours time.
After he left, we contnued to ponder about that massive news he just shared with us moments before and what repercussions it would bring.

TW duly left in the morning after some delicacy my mom had served for my closest friend in my life whom she had not seen for a while now as well.

I was thinking I would spend a rare Saturday solely at home with the sky been gloomy the entire day and I was decimated with "空虛感(spiritual emptiness)" after watching " I"s" episode 4 when the male lead finally confessed his love for the female lead...
I got SMS from Tay-chan that an item he had bidded for me from Japan yahoo auctions had arrived and I left after dinner with La Tendo my desitnation by early evening.
I met a departing Karen along the way and Bryan was there but no sign of anyone else till Ferris came later.
A Nagoya-based toy supplier was here in town and I had a friendly Japanese conversation and was pleasantly surprised that we could hold one for more than a minute.
I left at around 7 plus as I took MRT few stations down from Bugis to Eunos and felt my topo skill surely had risen considerably by managing to make my way to TW's house after been there the day before only.

After a conversation with him with regards with how his immediate would be once his stint with Capcom ending in July, his father then sent him to Changi Airport Terminal 2 for his flight at the unearthly hour of 1 am.
By mere coincidence, the Nagoya toy supplier I was chatting a while back too was departing at the same time and was been sent off by the likes of Vincent, Tay-chan, Miyano and even Chan whom had met him during their winter Wonder festival trip.
It was close to 1 when TW's parent sent me home in their new Toyota MPV and I complete my weekend marked with a precious time with my buddies by reminiscencing the travel video of our 2000 "Tokyo Wrecking" trip... sure is rolling good times with out the big-haired Lauretta Alabones...

Japanese word of the day: 回想~ Kai-sou~(Memories) Unearthing the happy onese together...

All Linked Up

11th May 2006, Thursday

Local weather has been erractic these days as you will have afternoons with relentless downpour, and evenings and even mornings which so hot and humid, the presence of air conditioning is quintessential...It was like so humid in my toilet while I was washing up in the morning and that is only like 6 plus when the sun has yet to rise...
I wonder what my buddy would feel when he lands back in our sunny island in hours time.

The weather could also irregulates the homeostatic nature of everyone and one's mean body temperature would be higher causing people to fall sick easily or even have niggling ailments like ulcers in the mouth like what I am suffering now...One on the lower lips which really hurt when eating or simply brushing teeth.
This could be a resultant of my recent gastronomical indulgences of heaty snacks...
Which also starting to hurt my monthly budget a little and perhaps I should start curbing on regularly stocking up of chips..
You may ask why not curb your expense on figurines...are you crazy to even throw me that notion?

The lack of extra funds could be why I was not able to subscribe to the sports tier on my cable network to witness how the hapless Middlesborough was humbled at Eindhoven by a truly attack-minded Sevilla.
But I am sure not want to miss the upcoming World Cup with FIFA would announce the final squad list of all 32 competiting nations and a good time to gauge on paper who has the strongest squad...

The World Cup falls in June when I am serving my final few weeks of my employment at my current workplace that is if I can tender the resignation in time.
No call from the HR of my new employers which drew my curiosity that whether BY took that long as well to settle her contract merely months ago.
Having called her earlier the week, I felt it was still justified for me to "bug" her again for an updated status of the contract when she informed me that she has yet to get a respond from my current HR...GMD!
This could be constituted by the fact that the person she liaised with is on a week's leave and my supervisor who had gone overseas since Tuesday might not be around to do the actual approval of my transfer.
Nonetheless she advised me to enquire the HR department again on whether I could proceed with the resignaton on Monday.
If that would to be so, and taking into account that it is legistrative for me serve a period of 6 weeks, my last day would be on the 23rd of June, just after that juicy match between Holland and Argentina...ooh yeah (doing the Pollock gesture again)

One factor escalating my desire to leave this place fast would be the muted feeling within my department. Everyone basically doing their own stuff and preferably with as minimal interaction as possible.
I only spoke to JxMMy yesterday once to bid him farewell when I was knocking off.
It is surely blatant now that we can never engage a conversation about anything else beside work-based and even so I would want to get out of it as soon as possible.
Let's hope this chapter with my obnoxious colleague would come to a cordial end very soon...I am even contemplating of not wasting everyone's time by inviting him to my wedding dinner...that's how bad it is...
And there are those gimmicks he pulled which affect those working closest to him, (i.e. myself) which is very much prevalent these days and higher incidences during time like these when he is really free himself...

To liberate those tension that existed between us I would hit the gym on daily basis..firstly to sweat it out, secondly to lose weight and get in shape for the wedding, thirdly to truncate the time I have within his presence.
The work out makes me wanting some indulgences which is the snack as I felt the calories gained from the snack would be burned off eventually during my cardio regime....
Which led to a deflated bank account and a heaty body with niggling ailments and in times of heatiness one will wanna keep the air-conditioning going, which leads to greenhouse effects and global warming which leads to the weather getting erratic....see it all linked up and ultimately JxMMy D is the root of all evilllllLLLLLLLLlllllll.....

Japanese word of the day: 悪(Evil) Sometime I do wish JxMMy would be as evil as he is obnoxious so that I could really find an excuse to beat him up, not before he actually humbled me like Sevilla did to Boro.