Sports Madness Week - 2

I know I'm rambling on a lot....but what to do? I love sports -playing them as much as watching them on tv or live. This time, I'm hooked to the Winter Olympics games. I know the time difference is a compromise with me having to stay up till late in the night. I know I was crazy to catch the opening ceremony at 3 in the morning, but it was well-worth the wait with breathtaking shows and displays. Hats off to the Italians and the organizing committee for putting up a great stage and capping it off with fireworks that lead to the lighting of the Olympic torch in the Stadio Olympico (yes, it's Lazio's and Roma's homeground.)

Of all the events, I grew to like the speed skating events. It's technical, it's skillful and it's a grace to see them skate on the skating rinks. I didn't realize South Korea was such a powerhouse with their world top-ranking athletes both in the men's and the women's. Another delight was the 5000m relay event where you have 4 skaters exchanging the race every 1,5 laps. It requires sublime change-off timings, skills and great technicality. I also caught glimpses of the slalom events, curling, high jumps, bobsled, dance skating, snowboarding, and the ice hockey games. I know I'll be waiting for the 2010 Vancouver games and following it more now that I know it's very interesting. =P

Also, mid-week, came the most anticipated matches of European football competition. It pits top English teams with top Spanish teams - Arsenal vs. Real Madrid and Chelsea vs. Barcelona.

I watched the Arsenal team reduced to its youngsters and make-shift backline. Regulars - Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Cole to Makeshift - Ebuoue, Toure, Senderos and Flamini. The oldest being Toure and the rest 21 and below. Surprisingly, they held up the Madrid Galacticos splendidly with teamwork and great concentrations. Marshalled by the giant German keeper Lehmann, the backline was stiff and sturdy, no signs of those shaky defending that costed them the losses in the EPL. The midfield also worked industriously with Gilberto, Ljungberg, Hleb, Reyes, and Fabregas, pouncing on every mistakes and every loose balls that were up for grabs. The front was commanded by the charismatic Thierry Henry who was not only an inspirational captain, but a world-class striker in his own right. Ronaldo meanwhile was left to find his own form and looked so lost in the game. He lost the ball to Henry who muscled and gazelled through 2 defenders before slotting in the only goal of the game to the far post of the outreaching Casillas. Casillas was the only true hero other than Beckham for Madrid for the score could have been worse off by 2 or 3 goals. Beckham had chances but misses and great defence frustrated him as you see him furl a piece of turf. Great competitiveness indeed. Even Raul came in late to help but couldn't get much support to the team. Robinho looked nowhere like the wonder-kid and looked more like a teen lost in a big boys game. Zidane couldn't get a touch, Reyes playing with the ball and outwitting Cicinho like a pro against an ordinary player, Gilberto and Hleb should be commended for locking down Zidane and Guti to their sub-par game and the whole Madrid team played like an amateur team, compared to the Arsenal team that produced great team-work and chemistry, holding on their own against the heavily-favored Madrid team at their homeground. Hopefully the return leg will produce another great showing from the Arsenal team.


Meanwhile, the other match pitted Chelsea against Barcelona - finesse vs. flair. The build up against this match was carried over from the last year's bitter loss suffered by the Barcelone camp. The pitch was left to deteriorate badly and looked like a muddy field, and drew complaints from the Barcelona side. It started great with Barcelona completely dominating possession and openings. Yet, no showing for goals. Nonetheless, the brilliant play of the young Argentine teen, Lionel Messi prove that Barcelona don't only rely on Ronaldinho or Eto'o. The electrifying teen terrorised the right flank which eventually caught on Del Horno's nerve and earning him the red-card for the bad challange. Crespo was nowhere effective and Drogba was only a slight improvement. Yet, second half saw the Chelsea team taking the lead through an own-goal by midfielder Motta. Valdes was unlucky to bump into motta as the ball trickled into the goalmouth. Equally bizzare is how Chelsea managed to concede the goal in the same manner. The usually firm and dependable captain Terry managed to flick a Ronaldinho free kick over the falling and grasping Petr Cech. As such the score was level in no time. Barcelona got hungry after the first goal and to show for the blunder, Terry cleared two sure goals from Ronaldinho and Eto'o. Even Messi managed to curl-in a left-footed shot that bounced off the bar. Then the moment of magic came alive at the feet of Ronaldinho - getting the ball in the middle of the park, he danced through the Chelsea midfield, zoom past a couple of players before releasing the advancing Henrik Larsson. Albeit the heavy pass, Larsson managed to pull back, passing it back to Marquez who delivered a beautifully weighted curved lob that met Eto'o's powerful glancing header past Cech. Scoreline read 2-1 and lasted til the end of the game. Deserving winners and hopefully they manage to contain Chelsea in Nou Camp in 2 weeks time.

So, the first legs saw two wonderful game...a teamwork with inspirational captain marvel winning against All-Star stud team, and flair and beautiful soccer (as the new Nike ad shows and ambassadored by Mr. Cantona) winning against finesse and confrontational money-rich team. Some scorelines that disappoints: Liverpool - Benfica (0 - 1), Werder Bremen - Juventus (3 - 2) the Old Lady facing some tough luck in Germany. AC Milan - Bayern Muenchen (1 - 1) Bianconero getting a last minute penalty, Inter - Ajax (2 - 2)

Two weeks time, I'll be having heavy eyes and deprivation of sleep again. But hopefull it'll be rewarded by amazing games with desired results... =P Arsenal drawing or winning in Highbury, Chelsea -hopefully losing- in Nou Camp. Liverpool beating Benfica and Juventus going on with a W. Hopefully Muenchen wins because I don't want to see another Juventus - Milan. And that's it for a sports madness week. Oooo did I forget to mention that Lions won against Iraq 2-0? hahaha....I think I'm slowly being turned Singaporean. and in the weekend, Asian Aeropsace will be a breathtaking experience with Airbus A380 on show, Apache (the meanest military chopper ever!!) F-15s, a couple other fighter jet and some other "smart" planes. Can't wait. Til the next report, I'm off cause my paws are hurting from typing =P

Sports Madness Week - 1

It's truly a mind-boggling sports week with hits and misses...highs and lows...glories and embarrassments....and a spectacular view for participants and viewers around the world!

First off... NBA All-Star Weekend ( some spectacular, the rest a sore to the eyes), next an eventfull two-week long Torino Winter Olympics, and the mid-week European Cup clashes...

NBA All-Star Weekend 2006 at Houston produced some jaw-dropping, disbelieving surprise, and moments of glory for the underdogs...All past winners were dethroned by unlikely champions...First, the Skills challenge where Steve Nash was the reigning champ...he was against LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Dwayne Wade...all of whom are more than capable all-rounders. I had my bets on Steve Nash keeping the trophy at his nice cozy home...Yet, he shocked everyone by coming in last in the preliminary....all because he couldn't made the free-throw jumpshot which has been his bread and butter. LBJ and DWade came through to the finals...with Dwayne Wade coming a little better than LBJ through his more accurate passes and shooting. - Deserving Champ.

Next come the Shooting Stars which comprises of 3-player teams, an active NBA player, a retired NBA player, and an active WNBA player. San Antonio had TP, Wecker, and Kerr, Lakers had KB8, Magic, and Leslie, Houston had TMac, Swooopes, and "Glyde" Drexler, and lastly the reigning champs Suns with Marion, Majerle, and Miller. This was somewhat a forgetable event with Spurs taking on the trophy all thanks to the sharpshooting TP. He banked the half-court shot in his first attempt. Surprisingly, all half-court shot were made by active NBA players - KB8, TP, TMac - except for the Suns, made by the WNBA player. The quote of the day - "I even banked that last shot for Kobe" as TP cheekily mentioned to Kobe.

3-Point contest was one of my favorites. This year had a strong competing participants, Q defending the title, Nowitzki, Ray Allen, Billups, Terry, Arenas. I thought it's the year for Allen, and he was pacing it early by being the leader of the 1st round. In a stroke of luck, Nowitzki's last bucket counted when replay shown that he actually still had it in his hand when the red light came on. That made the difference of making it to the final 3. So final 3 had him, Allen and Arenas. And what luck, Nowitzki found his stroke and he was in the zone, drowning threes like he does with free throws. And well, the trophy was his to keep when Allen missed most of his last balls.

To cap off the nite, it was the Dunk contest. This year was somewhat "exciting" with Josh Smith coming back and with lots of expectations. Also with him are electrifying Andre "Iggy" Iguodala, Nate "tiny" Robinson (5'9 for God's sake!!), and Hakim Warrick. I thought it was gonna be Smith vs. Iguodala...but heck, Robinson's first dunks scare the shit out of me! How in the hell can someone who's as tall as me made those ridicolous dunks?? Let alone doing it acrobatically!!
Smith was disappointing through and through and he was deservingly left out. Iggy had a SICK, SICK, SICK dunk. The dunk to be remembered next to VC's inhuman dunks! AI had thrown the ball to the backboard and with Iggy running from the bleachers, he caught the ball midair behind the backboard, glide through the air, under the board and dunked with authority. A slight mistake and it'll cost him his head and a "dunk" to remember if you know what i mean =P Nate Robinson managed to top it off with a jump-over Spud Webb (FYI the '86 Dunk Champ who's only 5'7! God must be crazy!) and he did it effortlessly!! The result was a dunk-off since the final 2 dunks got both of them the same score....the dunk-off was grimacingly boring as Nate had to throw 18 times before getting an acrobatic, high-flying dunk. Meanwhile Iggy managed to make Natey's dunk spectacular by doing something mediocre. Sigh...as such Robinson was the champ and a refreshing champ.

So recap...shortest guy won the Dunk Contest, tallest guy won the 3-point contest, the scorer -not the King- won the skillz contest, and the neighbouring team won the shooting starz by making most of the shots in quick fashion.



Then the weekend was brandished with the all-anticipated East vs. West All-Star game. The jacket was a nice design with patches of their previous "flights" (the design was taken off NASA's spacesuit with patches of their previous flights missions) which signifies the All-Star game participated. Then there's the name below the team logo and the flag of the country of birth since the players playing the All-Star game has been consistently filled with foreign players. Introductions for this year is very memorable with the starters making a dance routine. Yupe...dance routine and that means Yao doing the snake dance when passed from Steve Nash to Kobe to TD and TMac. The East did a somewhat weird dance but still quite pleasant with DWade, AI, LBJ, VC and Shaq doing the routine in unison. The game was filled with "thrillers" for the fans in the first quarter with alley-oops...dribbles and sorts before getting more serious in the late quarters. TMac was burning by running away with the clear contention for the MVP award, before LBJ decided to take it into his own hands and erased the 21 point lead built up by the West team. I hated to see the West and TMac lose the winner's trophy and MVP, but with the East and the Fantastic Four Detroit players, they won with with defense and grit. TMac had the last shot but it was blocked by none other than the King himself. What a way to shame the hosts. Anyway, great times...great moments - Shaq guarding KB8 while doing cross-overs, and ended up with Shaq manhandling Mr. KB81 himself!

So in the end, East won again, LBJ is truly the King and everyone gone home happy...

PS: Check out the dunks in www.youtube.com

Interview with Infineon

Yes fellow poochies....I got my first interview after a month's worth of applying to jobs and waiting. I was supposed to have the interview on Wednesday Feb. 15, but the day before, I had a call to change the date to the next day. Who could've figure that on Wednesday night, I got another call from the interviewer himself, Mr. Edwin Chin, that he had to leave Singapore on that Thursday, and changed it again to the Friday. I thought to myself...okay, that gives me more time to prepare...but is it a test? is it because I'm not that high up on the list? Nonetheless, I got myself prepared for the Friday.

I got dressed - blue shirt, blue tie, black pants...carrying my bag which contains my documents, and a plastic bag to carry my oversized MBA diploma. It was such a hot day and both the heat and the sun made me sweat so much even though I just had taken a cold shower. On the way there by bus, I got stuck in the rain...didn't bring umbrella....had no choice but to keep on going....walked briskly to the front office of the company about 10 minutes early. I was supposed to meet with the HR lady, Ms. Jane Yeo. first to confirm all my credentials and documentations. She was a very nice lady, very warm and a little klutz...hahaha...I said that because she keep apologizing for being absent-minded. Anyway, she was also curteous enough to ask if I needed to dry myself since she can see how I was a little drenched.

Meanwhile, after confirming all the documents, she left me to wait for the interviewer. The slated interview time of 5 PM was still about 15 minutes aaway...but I waited for almost an hour before Mr. Chin showed up. I had gone to the front office again to ask for Ms. Yeo and also for Mr. Chin. Some busy guy he is! So when he came....about 5:40 PM....this rather plump, short guy apologized and we started the interview. It was somewhat a rather casual, relaxed interview...he saw my credentials and asked first why I didn't stay in Canada/USA. I coolly answered that I just wanted to come back to be near my family since it's been a while that I've left home. He shared his own experience of being away in Europe for education and work. So then he went on to ask about my two working experiences in Ford and City of Windsor. Great I thought....I prepared this and answered similar to what I've prepared....not forgetting to link to the job responsibilities of what I'm being interviewed for. So, after that, he told me that he was actually planning to put me into a different position, Material Planner instead of the Production Planning that I was called there for. Then he was a bit disappointed and told me that he's actually looking for an experienced candidate, and that I was still considered a fresh Grad. Further on, he asked what's my stress level. I go on to tell him that I can handle stress pretty well because I do time-management for projects and so on.

Even after hearing my answer, he persistently told me about the stress of the job and the working environment is not like what I've experienced in the States or in Canada. I told him I understood that and that I've expected that for preparing to work in Singapore. He then went on to briefly describe the position that he wanted me in, and that he told me the pressure will be on me all the time because I literally have to be the "runner" and be responsible for whatever is lacking. I countered him this time with the experience I had when at Ford I had to cover for one of my supervisors and that people were giving me problems. I told him that I can manage it pretty well.

So after a few more questions, and questions from myself, we ended the interview. He told me that if I can work in Batam, I might be placed there as well. Then before ending the interview, he told me that he'll be interviewing a couple more candidates (Yeah right....) and that I will be informed as late as end of next week if I'm called for a further round of interview. So I thank him and I left. Hopefully after I send my thank you note, I can get some positive feedback. Anyway, for now, I can only pray and hope it's some good thing. I mean, the pressure will be there, but I have to also be prepared to handle the tasks, the burden as well as the risk. Until then, good luck....

Happy Valentine's Day

Wow...V'Day is here again....I can't believe how much Singapore society has changed or it's the other way around...me not knowing how it's like back then...I guess it's a mix of both. On my way to Junction8 in the afternoon, I saw couples and schoolgirls....infected with love...and pampered by the male counterparts. Flowers, gifts, companionship, whatever form it may be, they're being proudly showcased on the girls...A few glimpses and you can see that V'Day is very much celebrated here by the younger generation!! Girls schools receives flowers...what about the co-ed? I can't imagine...but judging by the diversity of uniforms....RGS girls, CHIJ girls, Cedar girls, SCGS girls, Nanyang girls, St. Margaret's girls....all prominent girls schools are either carrying flowers or accompanied by boys from RI, SJI (my alma mater). and JC students. My my....what a sight to be reckoned with. I myself just enjoyed the sight of beautiful girls embued in love...hahaha dun mind the sight....gotta say I think I must be a bit jealous and also envious.....Nonetheless, I'm not really in the exact mood to be in love or looking for one. As for now, one thing is certain...I goota find myself a job, and a career before moving on to the heavier judgement calls such as gf and wife-to-be. I only know one thing...getting a gf and more specifically Asian girls do pose a burden on your pockets....hehehe...sorry girls but for a while, I will be an elligible bachelor....

Singapore Jobhunting 101

Welcome welcome to another weekend in the lion city...me...well, same ol' story....enjoying life...ahhhh....hahaha ERRRRRRKKKK....no way! In a way yes, but not so much. I have dedicated much of my January and after CNY towards some serious jobhunting mode. As I mentioned the last time around....been sending out lots of applications and resumes and the time should be about right when I am getting calls....and guess what? I did....Now the time to prepare....what's the basic survival skill you need in Singapore?? Everyone needs to adapt to their new environment and Singapore is no different.....so I'm introducing to you, the one, notoriously famous, and one of a kind in the world..drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrum roll........SINGLISH!!! TAH - DAH!! Not only that....this comes with its own dictionary!! YES PEOPLE!! The Singlish has been so widely adapted in Singapore that it's officially an accepted language here....people speak it, people understand it, and others have to do the same when they're in Singapore....here's the link to get yourself acquinted with Singlish.

Anyway, back to jobhunting topic...I did get my first call for my applications....It's for Infineon....a break-up from Siemens...it's pretty huge Semiconductor company and it's HQ-ed here right in Singapore for its Asian-Pacific operations....so it's some huge shit...hahaha...I wonder if I can deal with the intensity....Nonetheless...I got a few more days to get myself pepped up for this. Hopefully this will be my lucky break. At the same time....it's the 15th and CNY is officially over...time to pray and what a lucky coincidence....I'ma gonna pray hard and pray for lots of lucks....so there you go...the schedule for my Sunday!

A slow week...

Eh...nothing much...this must really suck being me now...who would've thought that being alone can be such a bad thing now...sigh...Must be because love is in the air everywhere...guys flocking to jewellery stores, booking flowers, planning that extra something something for their partners...I envy them, yet find them a little excessive...hahahaha....I am such a sore loser...fine...another V Day spent alone...

Anyway, I guess I should be more positive about my job prospects....It's been around a month since I sent it my applications, so the time for the fruits to ripe should be about now...I'm hoping to get a call or two, but then again, if nothing happens, I should just keep on being positive and patient.

By the way, Riko came by on Sunday morning. I thought he would be coming the day after, but soon after I was ready to go to bed, I got a call and that he's already in the airport! hahaha...at about almost 2 in the morning, the only way to go to the airport is by taxi....I got in this taxi which was a Malay driver....a friendly guy...talked a lot and it was interesting how people are so nice around here...

So there I was about 2:30 AM in the airport...met with Riko...hugged...kissed...hahahaha..NO WAY! I thought I was gonna accompany him in the airport till his next flight which was at 7:30 in the morning, but then he didn't really wanted to, so we got back to my house. The taxi driver we got was also very nice...I talked with him about me looking for a job and he told me to be patient and also to try many things...but I was talking with him in Mandarin and Riko didn't understand any single thing....when we got to my place, the driver told Riko to learn chinese...hahahaha.....cool guy...he knows we're Indonesian.

Back at the crib, everyone's sleeping....I myself was quite tired...and Riko was surprisingly quite fresh....we talked for a bit and at abt 4, I was at my limit. I pulled my tikar and slept in the living room while Riko slept on the sofa....we woke up abt 5:30 and was ready to go back to the airport...before we left, my mom woke up and talked with Riko for a little bit. After that, we got onto the taxi again to the airport. After Riko checked-in, I bought him breakfast and enjoyed the little time we got left before he boarded. I was beat...I was ready to go home....an hour ride by MRT to home and I have all the Sunday to sleep it off!

Family gathering suspended indefinitely

Chinese New Year is technically still going on...it last for two weeks, but for me and my family, it's time to part with one of the member....at least for short-term period. My second brother has gone back to Australia to continue with his summer session. Well, more accurately, to commence on a test he "accidentally" missed out the last semester. Apparently, he's missed out the test because he did not get up on time to write it. Luckily for him, the professor was kind enough to let him re-take it on Feb. 3rd. So there you go!

Anyway, back to CNY...we had a nice little dinner. As a family all together plus some students who are staying with us.


Here's the dinner we had on the eve of CNY

Then, I got myself a couple of ang paws for the first time in the last....oh well about 5 - 6 years....So happy....It's supposedly believed to be about helping children or young adults get assisted to get on with their burdens and lift up their fortunes...so as I am still single and most importantly unemployed now, hopefully it's a turning point whereby I will start to have more fortunes in getting a job and god forbid a girlfriend and maybe future wife-to-be. =p

And guess what? We have our first family picture for quite a while. So much has changed since the last complete family picture...exactly about 2 years ago...my graduation...but the only one that remains is the one with my dad in the hospital. I had to put on the gown and take picture with him and my mom and my two brothers in the hospital room. Unfortunately also...I've lost all the pictures for my undergraduate graduation ceremony (blame it on the damn ungrateful thief! BURN IN HELL!!) hahaha....I am not normally that emotionally-challenged....Anyway, that picture that I had left was good enough.

Anyway, here's the pictures of all of us together


Me, Andrew, Mom, Fendy, and Dad.


Another pic different position...


With the students in our house...


And lastly, Mom and Fendy....

Hehehe...that's all for the updates folks...now back to my cookies and goodies....MWAHAHAHAHA..........