Double Whammy Loss

Ahh....the season of football is over now that summer is here. Fret not for the World Cup is looming this coming summer. Last night's Champions League Finals hosted by Paris in Stade de France was a magnificent sight. Two teams that stole headlines over the whole season were pitted together as what has been deemed the perfect finals of football champions - Barcelona and Arsenal.

The game started brilliantly for Arsenal with Henry wasting two good chances in the first 3 minutes. Following that, Barcelona started to engage their gears and get settled into the pace of the game. Unfortunately, a stroke of misfortune hit the Arsenal team...A suspicously offside Eto'o managed to run past the defenders and latched onto the ball. The rushing Lehmann was equally responsive but he was a bit tad late as he lunged and missed the ball completely, but not the ankle of Eto'o just outside the box. The ball trickled to Giuly's path and he nestled it into the back of the net! Pritttt!!! And yes Terje Hauge, the ref for the night, called a foul on Lehmann and within seconds, he was shown a red card, which in my opinion he doesn't deserve, and he was off. What a blow! He was the reason that Arsenal was unbreached in goal for the past 10 Champions League matches, against the likes of great football clubs Juventus, Real Madrid, Villareal. Alas, I knew this was bad and the match was only 18 minutes young. The Professor, Mr. Wenger, had to sacrifice someone, and a dissapointed Pires came off for what I deem the factor for the loss, Almunia, the backup keeper. Luckily, the goal was discounted and Barcelona was only awarded a free kick just on the touchline to the penalty box. Ronaldinho tried to whip his magic touch, but it was wide off the post.

To my astonishment, Arsenal came through despite their lack of personnel. Henry's ensuing free kick from the right corner of the Barcelona danger zone was met with the galloping unmarked Campbell and zoom past the net. With the advantage, Arsenal switched to a full defensive mode and turned Italy on Barcelona. Henry was even back beyond the midfield to help defend against an attacking force that boasts Ronaldinho, Deco, Eto'o, and Giuly.

With 15 minutes remaining, I was holding back my breath and praying that they can keep up with the relentless attacks of Barcelona to keep the current scoreline. The heavy rain disrupted the atmosphere of a great evening and made the condition of the pitch rather slick. And without doubt, that slickness was utilized by Barcelona when Larsson cushioned the pass to Eto'o which was already in an offside position yet again. However, no whistle, no flags, and he slipped a shot in the tightest of angles past Almunia. Curse the keeper....he should've blocked it completely if he had not lost his footing and balance prior to the shot. 1-1 is the score and I thought this looked bad for Arsenal even though they will proceed to extra time. Arsenal team looked very fatigued and you can't blame them for having played with only 10 men for the past 60 minutes. Then came the shocking blow. Larsson again was the culprit when he chased a heavy pass and squared to the fullback, Belleti. Again Almunia should have done better than to let it slip past between his legs. 2-1 with 5 minutes to go and it all seemed bleak. Henry had chances to finish off the game in the counter-attacks that Arsenal procured, but his usually clinical finish deserted him on that night. For the rest of the game, Henry was lost in oblivion as well as Ashley Cole which always seemed to leave the left corner position exposed to the luxury of Oleguer and Giuly.

Final whistle and Barcelona triumphed. Tears came from both sides, but one brimming with achievement, and the other with disappointment. I was crying deep down inside too. Arsenal looked on and only could watch and not touch or carry the trophy as they were handed their runners-up medal. Again, luck has not been with Arsenal. Maybe the new Emirates stadium will give off better fortunes (yes, riches and luck). So, the question now is will Henry be staying? With the way Vieira was treated last summer, it is very much well be possible that he might depart Arsenal. Yet, he knows that he is irreplaceable and betraying the trust and love of Arsenal fans will be hard to swallow for him. My guess is he will sign the new contract and lead a renewed Arsenal team to the new stadium come late August! Hopefully, new players will come in and help to convince Mr. Henry that they are mounting a serious comeback to snatch the trophy they so desire.

Anyway, the news of Yohan's grandma passing has been unfortunate. It was a sad loss and I may never had the chance to meet her. I am sure his family is grieving with the loss, and all I could do to help as a friend is to offer my prayers and thoughts so that they are strong and brave enough to get through this phase. I almost lost a dear part of my family a few years back and I could not imagine how it will feel like. The person I mention is my father. Struck with a fluke heart attack, his chances of surviving at that time was only 15%! Two of his main artery was blocked and it was a major collapse of the heart. At the operating table, the surgeon told us to not expect much, and luckily my mother acted quickly in signing the necessary documents to proceed with the medical treatment. As he was lying there helpless and looking very desperate, he called on to me and made me promise him to take care of my mom and my two brothers. I cried like I never cried before and I yelled back at him refusing to accept and that I wanted him to be there to see my youngest brother graduate from university. Then, he called my mom and told her not to be angry with him and to forgive him. They had a big argument a few days ago, and he felt remorseful for what happened. I knew my mom was devastated and couldn't say anything more other than nodding. We stayed by his side throughout the whole procedure. The surgeon was telling us to keep him calm as it will reduce the chance of agitating the heart more when it was already failing. We prayed and prayed and the miracle happened. The angioplasty procedure, which was putting a balloon like medical device in the artery helps open the flow in the artery and it started to ease the blood flow to the body and the brain. So, within the next 20 minutes, my dad was past the critical stage and we were relieved. Now...I still can't imagine losing someone. It is just too painful, and I hope I don't have to experience it soon, but again, I feel sorry for the loss of Yohan's grandma. Hope she finds her peace and that she is relieved from the mortal suffering that she has to endure. I am not sure if that was her first stroke, but she may also had other illnesses. May God take her and guide her to the next life. And I pray to the family so that they can find the strength to get back to their normal dailly routine.

Peace out my friends.

Vesak Day - The Aftermath

Wishing a happy Vesak Day to all the Buddhists around the world...and not forgetting the rest of the people that are living in this beautiful Earth. I'm not exaggerating, but I am honestly extending my warmest wishes to everyone.

Now...I went to pray in the morning on Friday in the temple near Bugis. It's thought to be the most miraculous one (as mentioned by certain someone), and I had believed in it too since the early days I was in Singapore. This time though, I made a more sincere pray and hoping for a better opportunity be it in career, love, and life. In return I made a vow to visit the temple more often should my prayers be heard. Although it was the festive day itself, our early trip was worthwhile since it wasn't so crowded early in the morning.

Wow...look at the time...it's 12:20 AM on Tuesday morning. I just finished chatting with Sue and Hanz, and a couple more people on MSN. It's unusual for me having a 6 windows chat at the same time. I just barely managed to keep up and follow through what's going on in each window. Hanz and I were chatting about tix and got mixed up with Coldplay and DaVinci Code. hahaha...not surprising since I never multi-chatted with so many people before. So, anyway, this weekend's gonna be the day the DaVinci Code gets thrashing and some critics from a couple of different views. Nonetheless, Singapore slapped an NC-16 rating on the movie which came out without any cuts or editting.

Doing some soul searching after the frivilous chat session, I came to the realization the beauty and the pain of love. My dear friends just broke up recently, and it made me feel remorseful for such a long-journey cut short on a stale relationship. I know how they felt for I have experienced some kind of similar emotions and roller-coaster journey. I missed that feeling of being embraced by love and care by that special someone who you gave equal or more in return. Being in love is such a beautiful thing and I missed it. Unfortunately, the situation that I am in right now does not give much room for that luxury, or am I wrong? Sometimes I felt that having someone to listen and share your worries with takes away a load off your shoulders. Also, the pressure does not come from within, but also from outside, namely parents. I've been instigated and manipulated to fess up my love life. Is there the Ms. angel hidden/conveniently left out from my circle of friends/families. hahaha...how I wish that was true. I told my mom, if there was one, I wouldn't be at home by myself! I would be by her all the time if I can!

Well, looking back, I am being self-centred. I wanted so many things for myself. Where's the thoughts for others? Well, here's one to start, Happy Mother's Day mom! hahaha...it's the best I can do now, and hopefully there's more to what I can share with people in return for what I'm getting out of my desires.


Looking forward to DaVinci Code...followed by Over the Hedge and X-Men III. I heard good reviews for both the movies, so I hope I can dig out enough to watch these movies.

Overqualified - Underqualified

Yes, time for another update for da Poochhouse...woop wooP! Hmm....I've been thinking (now isn't that rare??)....should I keep publishing my complaints on this page? I think I better cheer up my readers! hahaha....A couple of things to look forward to.... Champions League Finals in Paris on May 17 between Barcelona and Arsenal. Both very exciting teams to watch with their own Spanish and French flair mixed in with samba and tango. Henry vs. Ronaldinho, Fabregas vs. Deco, V. Bronckhorst vs. Cole, Eboue vs. Oleguer, Eto'o vs. possibly Reyes. Puyol and Marquez against Campbell and Toure. It's a mouthwatering event with a sort of world cup-like preview.

Anyway, Arsenal pipped Tottenham in the weekend to take the fourth place finish to qualify for next season's Champions League spot. It's also the drawing of a curtain for the holy grail ground of Highbury which has been a London icon for the past 93 years. And it also marks the new beginning of a magnificent Emirates stadium just less than a kilometer away from Highbury. It's where they will begin a new season with more exciting things to come from the young uns. hahaha...

Nuff of football, back to reality. Vesak Day is coming. I'm preparing to pray a lot and a lot....hopefully finding a door, a path, an opening to a brighter future. I've been pondering many options a lot, PR(Citizen) by going NS, keep going with job search for work pass, going back to Indo, possibly Batam, or maybe a new destination which I myself may not know. I've also been bothered by a recent event that kinda put me off track for a bit. Wow...what else can I put in that makes me such a problem to myself?? It's not that I'm not suitable for the job, I just feel sometimes I'm overqualified yet underqualified for the positions I applied for. Maybe somewhere deep inside me I fail to acknowledge that I'm putting my pride ahead of logical reasoning that my degree worth much more than what I'm going for. Or that my lack of work experience is hurting my chances of an interview chance. Whatever it is, I can't really figure it out. I can't really find out what the HR department of the companies I applied to does with the screening criteria. Do they follow the requirements strictly? Not even some margin for flexibility? Even following up doesn't get my anywhere. Thus, my only conclusion is to wait patiently and hopefully when there's a chance I'll make full use of it. Bootlicking all the way!! hahaha...

So....nothing much really so far. I've got rid of my recent worry, and hopefully by getting rid of this "bad luck" I'll get a little portion of good fortune ;p. One can always hope for the better right? Anyway folks....hope to hear some updates soon. NBA playoffs is here too, I can't catch much of the action, but here's my bet...it's gonna be the Heat! hahaha.....Go Superman and Flash!

Going back to school

Yes, have you watched Stephen Chow's movie? Back to School 1 & 2? And with all the rage and rave about MI:III, the spy bug has caught on to me really fast! So, a secret spy doing some undercover style mission in a school. MI: Getting a job. hahahaha....

Yes, I know I was down. I get back up knowing I got the backing and support of my friends. Thank you all very much. I know I can count on you all to help me when I'm in need. And mark my word, you will always find Brian whenever you needed it...my ears, my shoulders, my muscles (not saying I'm muscular, but physical help like moving house), my time, and of course my opinions. The reason I was down was related to a couple of issues, not just the one I blurted out, but I'm glad I kinda find my feet again and start to walk again. Hopefully my walk will pick up and I will reach the destination sooner. Pardon my pun - not intended literally.

Ahh....so back to the topic. Back to school! I figured out after many hours and sweat (yes, Singapore is damn hot!) that rather than spending my time just applying for jobs and reworking my resume and cover letter, why not go for classes?? Damn...why didn't I think of that earlier? Duh....money, time, effort. I did think, but never extensively as I thought going back to school also means more expenditure. So, I scoured some certification classes, and I came upon this SIMM (Singapore Institute of Material Management) through the APICS (American Production and Inventory Control Society) website. I think I found my direction which is towards production and inventory control, but not much experience to land me those coveted interview spots. So, I thought getting that certification would be very helpful. Alas, none of them are affordable, but I came upon this little Professional Certificate for MRP II. Yes! This is what I'm looking for....a small baby steps towards my goal. This will definitely make my resume stand out a little more than the others. And so, I enrolled.....some moolah out of my piggy bank...and sacrificing a weekend towards it. BTW, the course is only a 2-day 12-hour program, so it shouldn't be too bad.

YEAH....that sums up my brainracking weeking. After spending quality time thinking, I think this was a good outcome. I hope I don't worry you folks too much. Relax....at the most, I'll treat you all to a chicken rice feast....any amount of servings ^_* (provided I get some incoming moolah from work *cross fingers).