Cheated

(Pic from SnoopyStore.com)

Been feeling a little cheated and aggrieved today. Because last weekend was the shortest one I ever had (ok, I know last year's and 2003's were also the same, but it still sucks). Just 47 hours long, to be exact.

At least it shortened the countdown to going home by one hour.

Still 151 days to go.

公公不要亂亂吃！

慧慧∶“Gong gong，這個是什麽來的？慧慧要吃！” (They're peanuts)

Ma ma interjects∶“這個不是你可以吃的東西。慧慧不要亂亂吃。”

慧慧 to gong gong∶“Gong gggooonnnggg！不要亂亂吃！”

(My mum couldn't describe my dad's reaction to me...)

151 days to go.

Doubled

Just found out about this.

The good news: My Singaporean bank account's interest rate has DOUBLED! Fwah...

The bad news: From 0.125% to 0.25%.

Like my family likes to say, zoh yiam beh giam (use as salt also not salty).

Still 152 days to go.

Me and my big mouth II

For the second time in a couple of weeks, I've spoken too soon. They've been out in full force for the past few days. So bad, they even made the local newspapers (see for example, here and here).
(This is the least 噁心 pic of a housefly that I can find.)

Oh, and I found out that the bigger blacker ones are actually their cousins known as bush flies.

152 days to go.

Dress sense compared

After er... observing Sydney gals for quite a while, I can't help but notice some common characteristics in their dress sense. And it also brought the dress sense of their Singaporean counterparts to the surface of my subconscious. Now, I don't normally notice these things (read I not ham sep! Well... maybe just a little :P) but these characteristics are so common place here and such a contrast to what I've seen in Singapore, I'd be blind not to notice.

Characteristics peculiar to Sydney gals:

i) The gothic look seems popular. Especially the thick eye-liner thing. And given that they are fairer here, so the contrast effect is er... quite extreme.

ii) Actually, the gals here seem to put on thicker make-up in general. The older they get, the thicker the make-up. Both these observations are opposite of what I see in Singapore. My hypothesis to this phenomena is the Singaporean weather. Singapore gals will just have their make-up melt on them if they lay it on too thick. And I suppose the warm weather will make it uncomfortable for them. I suppose Sydney gals have the luxury of "make-up friendly" weather.

iii) Rectangular-shaped glasses are pretty popular here. And I must say they are very suitable for the women here. It just doesn't look quite as charming on the few Singaporean, no I mean, Asian women I've seen wearing them. I suppose it is due to the difference in body shapes.

iv) Which brings me to this point. Sydney ladies like really low-cut, cleavage showing tops. Even in the depths of winter. The ladies here certainly know what their er... assets (pun unintended) are, and dress to show off their best parts. In contrast, Singaporean women are svelte and choose to wear more body hugging clothes to show off their 曲綫美. Women are very sly, I say.

v) I'm not sure how to describe this, but those type of "oversized-with-eyes-still-visible-silver-frame-light-brown-fading-to-transparent-lens" sunglasses are quite popular here. Silly me. A picture paints a thousand words, so here's a pic to illustrate:
153 days to go.

Garang guni

慧 goes through a lot of phases. I suppose it is part of growing up. Her current phase, unfortunately for my mum and sis, is naughtiness. Certainly, complaints from my mum (via phone) and my sis (via e-mails) about her have increased recently. One such complaint involved our ubiquitous garang guni man.

She had been naughty one morning, e.g. refusing to bath amongst other things. So my mum issued the following ultimatum,

“慧慧坏坏。。。送給 garang guni zoh soon (become garang guni's granddaughter) lah！”

Just at that moment, a real garang guni happened to pass by.

"GARANG GGGUUUNNNIII! Gu po zua, gu sa ko, gu tien si ki! GARANG GGGUUUNNNIII!" (old newspapers, old clothes, old TVs)

慧 immediately runs to the bathroom for her bath.

Later in the afternoon, 慧 was minding her own business in the living room when a second garang guni passed by! This one used one of those "ba poo"s instead of shouting to advertise his services.

But 慧 still knew it was another garang guni man. And she knew she had done nothing wrong this time round. So she sauntered to the kitchen and asked in a visibly irritated tone,

“嗨。。。爲什麽 garang guni 會來。。。？！”

I was told the “來” was specially emphasised and prolonged.

154 days to go.

End of a good thing

All good things come to an end. I still can't help but feel dispirited (pun intended) about it. Next Wednesday sure experience withdrawal effects one... *Sigh*

Still 155 days to go.

Darkest hours

The lady of steel, 秋 sent me a rather strangely worded e-mail two nights back.

The gist of it was Le Tissier is not well. Very. Easily the worst since treatment commencement.

It sounds more psychological this time than physiological. We've been told that the side-effects get progressively worse with each round of treatment, but it is still quite a shock for all of us when it happens. I shall omit the details here, out of respect for my two dear friends and for you, the reader.

What was so strange about the e-mail was I did not detect a single bit of fear nor panic from 秋. She was just setting down the facts in the most politically correct manner and even managed to close in a positive manner:

"but.. hopefully, things will pick up.. he's making a conscious effort to control his own emotions..

don't get too worried though.. things should be fine as long as he continues like today..

ok gota go! see your reply soon!"

Maybe she was under time pressure and just had enough time to put down the bare facts for me (but the e-mail was pretty long). Maybe it is just her inner strength keeping her emotions under control (like she has demonstrated before). Or maybe she just didn't want me to worry and made the effort to word it carefully.

Well, if it was to not make me worry, then she has succeeded to a certain extent. I lost only a little sleep thinking about the e-mail. And thinking the same thoughts that have been repeated umpteenth times since I flew back here. I always reach the same conclusion:

The only thing I can do now is to make sure I know where my passport is kept.

155 days to go.

My green bag

This is my green bag. I had mentioned it quite some time back.I've been using it since August 2003. That's more than 2 years now. I am in Sydney for about 8-9 months or around 36 weeks a year. Each week, I go grocery shopping twice (at least). Assuming I need two plastic bags (the green bag is very big, equivalent to two plastic bags' capacity) each time I shop, that means I've saved 2 * (36 * 2 + 8) * 2 = 320 plastic bags up to the present point in time.

Now that's a record I am extremely proud of.

As you can see from the pic above, my green bag is well-used and a bit worn out. I fully intend to bring it back to Singapore with me next year.

Akan Datang: Calling home

156 days to go.

Fly count

The fly kills count has been low this Spring. Just one kill and another one that got away. I was trying to be merciful for the latter case (and succeeded).

But of course, there is still one more month to go before Summer hits us.

157 days to go.

How I spent my Sunday

Most of it anyway.
158 days to go.

<밀애>

I seldom love movies because they had touched me. Not because I don't like feeling emotional. Rather, it is just that very few movies touch me that deeply.

But the one I caught last night, "Ardor" or "密愛", did. I was almost ready to make the decision to get its DVD when the blot of an ending put paid to that idea. Nonetheless, it is still the best Korean movie I've watched thus far. By the proverbial country mile. I was just so mesmerised by the acting (ok, and I admit, the beauty) of the female lead, 김 윤진 (Kim Yoon Jin). The movie has earned a spot in my list of honourable mentions.

綺 once professed her lack of faith in marriage to me. I kept getting reminded of that conversation (ok, and I admit, of her) as the movie progressed.

"I don't have faith in marriage. So what if I do get married eventually. He will probably cheat on me. Heck, most, if not all men cheat."

I was really tempted to ask her why she plans to get married then, but I held my tongue.

I was also tempted to ask her why she seems so cynical and doubtful about marriage, especially of her own impending (keyword) marriage, but I held my tongue.

I was even more tempted to ask her if what she has just said has so blatantly contradicted her act of getting married (soon), but I held my tongue.

159 days to go.

Annuities misunderstood

On the Tuesday just past, a local free tabloid published an article on annuities. When I saw the headlines, I was pleasantly surprised. I thought that annuities are finally getting the publicity they more than deserve. Looking at the broader picture, I was hoping retirees would react positively to the article, go read up on it and ultimately, get themselves annuitised. But careful reading of the article quickly led to dismay.

Why dismay? Because the article stated that annuities are INVESTMENT (my own bold) products, NOT (my own bold again) insurance products. Now I most certainly know for sure this is not true, and even more so, I do not wish for the general public to understand annuities the wrong way. Knowing Singaporeans, the next thing you might see is a whole bunch of people buying annuities as an investment vehicle, not to protect themselves. So I wrote to the author of the article:

From: Acey Deucey
To: Author's name
Sent: 18 October 2005 09:55
Subject: Annuities

Hi "author's surname",

I am writing with regards to your article titled "Title of article" in today's edition (18th October 2005) of "Name of free tabloid".

I would like to point out an inaccuracy in the second paragraph where annuities are defined to be NOT insurance products. That is not true in general. Let me explain.

When we talk about life insurance, we normally refer to the endowment, whole-life and term assurances. These cover the contingency of death. And because annuities do not cover the contingency of death, it may be wrongly construed to not fall under the umbrella of insurance.

However, annuities DO fall under the category of life insurance. The contingency it covers is not death but longevity; It protects the policyholder from living longer than expected such that his/her savings runs out before death.

Indeed, the insurance element of the annuity product should be viewed as the (much) more important component than its investment counterpart. Purchasers of annuities buy them primarily to provide the assurance of a regular income from retirement till death (exception to this being the temporary annuity which is not popular, as your own research has shown as well), not to earn superior returns on their money. Of course, if superior returns earned on their premiums can increase the annuity payments, that would be most welcome. But this will be of secondary importance.

The focus of your article had been on the investment element of annuities. Annuities have a much larger role to play than just being an investment, especially so in this era of aging populations and the so-called "sandwich" generation.


Maybe because I am a 無名小卒. Maybe because the author did not have the time to research and understand the annuity product properly. But I got a reply that goes roughly like this (I have to paraphrase):

"It is disputable as to whether annuities can be defined as insurance products. The guidebook of "name of big bank" says it is such. Thus, we can debate on this for the entire day, depending on the viewpoint taken.

LIA will probably issue a statement on this with a different perspective. My half page article did not have the space to tackle all the possible perspectives."


And the president of LIA did write to them to correct their error. To my relief. This was published on Thursday under their letters/forum section. I will just paraphrase the most important sentence here:

"Annuities are MOST DEFINITELY insurance products."


Now this post is not to vent any anger (there isn't any) nor to soothe my ego (I very thick-skinned one). I just want readers to understand what annuities are and why all of you should eventually get them (Yes, I am also an advocate of annuities. And yeah, I know I advocate a lot of things :P). Lastly, read what everyone writes with a pinch of salt, including that from yours truly.

160 days to go.

The things I do

Drawing curves.And I've started studying for next April's actuarial paper. After I found out it is 40 chapters long.

161 days to go.

Before and after (and after after)

Before		After		After after (predicted)
----------------------------------------		--------------------------------------		-------------------------------------------
Sleep at 12, wake up at 7		Sleep at 2, wake up at 9		Sleep at 12, wake up at 7
Loosely Yes FM93.3		Staunchly UFM100.3		Loosely UFM100.3
Detests being alone		Detests loneliness		Forgets what both are
Sian of hollywood movies		Discovers foreign movies		Withdrawal effects (until I get SCV, that is)
Dial-up		Wireless broadband		Cannot tahan dial-up, switch to broadband
No blanket		Blanket (definitely required)		Back to no blanket
No handphone		Still no handphone		You guessed it, no handphone
Detests flying		Tolerable (it gets me home)		Detests flying
叉燒 or 燒肉		Discovers bacon		叉燒 or 燒肉 or bacon (but I haven't really seen bacon in Singapore before leh...)
Sleeps in living room (慧 sleeps in my room, not that I mind *Grin*)		Have my own room		Unknown
Does not blog nor read blogs		Blogs and reads blogs		Does not blog but reads blogs
----------------------------------------		--------------------------------------		-------------------------------------------

Akan Datang: My Green Bag

162 days to go.

"Salong" game

I was looking at 慧's old pictures yesterday, when she was still a little baby, and noticed some of her "salong" pics.

Yes, 慧 slept in a "salong" when she was little, for under a year. A mechanically automated one too! Without my niece, I would never have known how hi-tech some of these baby related stuff have become. The "salong" is just one such example. Compared with the "salong" of old, the material is now thinner and has holes on it, thereby allowing it to breathe (see pic below). And as I've mentioned, it rocks automatically. There is now an engine attached at the top that pulls and releases the "salong", giving the same comfortable up and down movement of old. My bro-in-law joked that he used to use his foot to rock the "salong" of a nephew when he was a boy. "Just look at what we have now."I have to say I am an advocate for the "salong", manual or automatic. I believe this is Asia's solution to cot death. The most dangerous period for a baby, with respect to cot death, is just after it has learnt to turn over. That's usually when it is about 2-3 months old, when they are strong enough to turn over, feel really elated about it for a while, but don't have the strength to turn back. And when their heads get tired, tragedy strikes... that's how cot death happens (in my opinion). Only difference between regular turning over and cot death is this turning over is done when the baby is asleep.

But with a "salong", cot death simply can't happen. For one, the material breathes. More importantly, the design of the "salong" makes it difficult for the baby to turn over. Although my niece managed it from time to time, it was only after she was much older and stronger.I used to watch my niece closely when she was 2-3 months old and lying on a bed. I would allow her to turn over but once she tired, she would struggle a little and I would have help her turn back. Then she'll take a break and start the turning over process again.Then I recall a silly game I used to play with 慧. We used to place her "salong" in the living room so that it was easy to check on her. 慧 had this habit of self-entertainment for about half an hour or so after waking up from her naps. You knew she was awake because the "salong" would be swaying side to side (we would switch the engine off once she's sound asleep) and her hands and legs were all over the place.And when I was free, I would sneak up next to her "salong" but remain out of her line of sight. She'd know someone is around and made little noises in response. I would then peek slowly over and into the "salong". Once she sees me, she'd let out squeals of laughter. I managed to capture one such magical moment with my sis's digital cam.
163 days to go.

Housemates nos. 17 and 18

Jim has finally found a couple to take the double room. It had been such a long search for tenants this time round that I've been alone in the apartment for almost a month now. By the time they move in this Friday, it would be exactly 4 weeks since my last housemate moved out. I have to admit that although it initially felt strange to be alone in the apartment, I got used to it very quickly. Indeed, I find myself enjoying this luxury after a while.

The new tenants are a couple from Hong Kong. They're here to study aviation (as in pilotage) and aviation management. I didn't even know my uni had such a course. :P

So they'll be my housemates nos. 16 and 17? No. To be real exact, they'll be nos. 17 and 18. Jim's wife's nephew had come down for a short visit during these four weeks and Jim had put him in the empty room.

I hope this couple from Hong Kong will be staying for a long time. Like I said, the chopping and changing of housemates can get a little tiring for me.

164 days to go.

Foreign movies

A close Malay friend, Z, was the one who got me started on foreign movies (read non-Hollywood movies). And that was way before I came over to Sydney. Sadly, foreign movies are kindda rare in Singapore, with basically only Cathay, via Orchard Cineleisure, screening some from time to time, and maybe the odd film festival here and there. Nonetheless, they were more than enough for a foreign movie novice like me. And they certainly felt like a breath of fresh air to me then, after living on Hollywood movies from the teens.

Somewhat surprisingly, Z was, and still is, very into Korean movies and to a certain extent, Korean drama serials. Especially those sappy ones. Surprising, on two counts. One, he is Malay (not a racist remark, but one might feel the average Chinese is more likely to be interested in Korean dramas and such than the average Malay). Two, he is a guy (I'm referring to the sappy part here).

Anyway, the only Hollywood movie of the past 5-6 years that has really grabbed my attention is Memento. It was also Z that I watched this movie with. He's kindda like my movie khaki. The rest of the Hollywood movies I've somehow ended up watching really fall by the wayside in terms of quality. Especially after I've been exposed to so many excellent foreign movies over here.

Yes, I've watched tonnes of foreign movies since coming over here. The main reason is SBS (Yes, I am mentioning it again. It is simply my favourite TV station here.) screens a foreign movie every day. Yes, one every day! So I get to pick and choose which I want to watch. On a regular week, I would watch at least three foreign movies. For about two months since I came back in late July, there had been that Ashes Cricket Series going on. It really disrupted my staple of foreign movies. Now, things are back to normal and the flow of foreign movies is back with a vengence.

I've watched foreign movies from many many countries. Starting with Asia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Afghanistan, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Iran and Russia. From Europe, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic, UK, Greece, Turkey and Sweden. From North America, Canada and Mexico. From South America, Brazil and Argentina. From Africa, Egypt. And of course, from Oceania, Australia and New Zealand. My personal favourites tend to come from Japan and France.

In addition to the wide variety, what I like about watching movies here is they are all uncensored. It certainly is less disruptive and adds to my viewing pleasure. I do admit to feeling mildly shocked by the violence and nudity during my first movies on Aussie TV. But after a while, one just gets used to it, understanding it as part of the story. During my holiday breaks back in Singapore, when I catch movies in local theatres, I actually get much more irritated now by our censors exercising their snipping rights. It really does feel like being treated as an immature child.

The five movies you see on my profile are my all-time favourites (thus far). Indeed, I am in the process of buying their DVDs. They are namely, 重慶深林, Memento, Les enfants du marais, 紅の豚 and Tmavomodrý svet. You can click through to find out more about these five films so I won't bother describing them here.

Other honourable mentions include À la folie... pas du tout, 밀애 (edit: added on 23rd October 2005), Brother, 等候董建华发落, ユリイカ, 風の谷のナウシカ, Himalaya - l'enfance d'un chef, 菊次郎の夏, Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (edit: added on 6th January 2006), 藍色的門, Nebeska udica, Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (edit: added on 29th December 2005), Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Nueve reinas, 千と千尋の神隠し, Pepamintokyandhi, Sur mes lèvres, 텔미썸딩, 天空の城ラピュタ, Un long dimanche de fiançailles, Le violon rouge and 我的父親母親 (edit: added on 8th February 2006). You will notice that many of the Miyazaki animations make my list. Yeah, the recent series being run on SBS is fast converting me into a Miyazaki fan. I suspect more of his work will find their way into my list as the current series continue (till the end of this month). You might also notice that I am a mini Audrey Tautou fan. Anyway, catch these movies if you can ever find them in Singapore (though I doubt it).

I suspect one of the few things I will miss about Australia when I go home for good will be its foreign movies TV channel. I suppose I can overcome that with the foreign movies channel on cable TV, assuming I still have time for my regular dose of movie watching.

Akan Datang: Before and after (and after after)

165 days to go.

Doing a "Buangkok"?

The recent big news in Sydney (besides sports lah... sports is ALWAYS big news in Australia) has been on the Cross City Tunnel. Initially, I was totally oblivious to these going-ons. But I keep hearing about it on the news on TV, if I do switch it on that is. And the headlines of the local papers simply yell it out to me whenever I walk past a newsagency. Eventually, curiosity got the better of me and I did a little reading up on it.

The tunnel was conceived to funnel away traffic from the city area which has been getting increasingly congested. Major construction began in January 2003, just a couple of months before I came over, and opened for use on 28th August 2005.

Right from the opening of the tunnel, there has been controversy and protests. Reason? The toll charges. To get through the 2.1km stretch, one has to pay at least AU$3.56 (depending on size of car and the tag/pass you hold). And that is one-way. So for someone who uses it to commute to work, it would be over AU$7. Daily. Expensive siah, even by Sydney standards! Small wonder that that the usage of the tunnel is much lower than forecasted, 21,000 vs 90,000 a day.

Instead of lowering the tolls to attract drivers to use it, they proceeded to close off lanes of the roads above ground. That really got the commuters incensed and protests intensified (That was when I started noticing this fiasco). And of course, the traffic conditions in the city worsened.

Now here comes the funny bit. The hands of the Road Transport Authority are tied on this issue because of the State (of NSW) government's contract with the Cross City Motorway (the consortium that is running the tunnel). Oh and incidentally, the Cross City Motorway holds the concession to run the tunnel for the next 30 years.

Finally, in the face of overwhelming pressure and protests, a concession was announced last Thursday (13th October). Most important part of it is the toll-free period of three weeks. Now it would be really interesting to see i) if everyone starts using the tunnel in these three weeks and ii) what happens after the three weeks are up. Also, given that the tunnel costs a hefty AU$680 million to construct, I openly wonder if the Aussies will do a "Buangkok".

166 days to go.

xu xu 好了沒有

慧慧 is almost fully toilet trained now. She already does not need diapers for her afternoon naps. And when she is awake, she will inform adults should she need to "xu xu" or even find her own way to the loo and does the deed herself (details censored).

There was once when my mum was in the kitchen and it has been pretty quiet in the living room for some time.

“慧慧！慧慧！你在哪裏？”

Not in the living room. Not in my room. Not in the master bedroom.

“慧慧！你在哪裏？”

My mum peeps into the master bedroom loo and finds my niece on the toilet seat (we've bought a smaller seat and it is placed there all the time, specially for her) looking up and grinning back at her.

“慧慧 xu xu！”

The final step now to getting her fully toilet trained is to get her to wake up in the middle of each night to "xu xu" so that eventually, she can do away with diapers at night completely. In fact, my mum has just recently taken it upon herself to achieve this goal.

For night and nap times, we have a portable potty, similar to the one you see below (but not as er... classy), on standby. My sis had bought it about a year ago to start off the toilet training process.So with this potty, my mum got started on the "mission". She has enjoyed moderate success thus far. After a while, she noted that when 慧 starts to fidget in her sleep, that's the signal to wake her up to "xu xu". I tell you, my mum is a superwoman; Fidget a little also can detect...

*Fidget fidget* My mum wakes up, checks the time and shakes my niece lightly.

“慧慧。。。慧慧。。。起來 xu xu 了。。。”

*More fidgetting*

“慧慧。。。快點起來 xu xu 。。。”

My niece wakes up very very reluctantly. My mum has to manhandle her to get her to stand up but she ends up leaning on my mum groggily, eyes still closed. In my mum's very own words (in hokkien),

"yee nen gaot gaot, ah mm see wa jio lat hor yee, yee ma la ei cia qi lai?!"

Translation in chinese: “她軟綿綿的，要是我借力給她，她哪兒站得起來？！”

After some difficulty, my mum finally manages to plop her on the portable potty (details censored again). I suppose my mum was also in a semi-state of consciousness for after what seemed like a long time, my mum did not recall hearing the er... giveaway "drip drip" sound, nor did my niece make any move to get up.

“慧慧。。。慧慧。。。xu xu 好了沒有？”

慧's head is already drooping and seems to have dozed off already. So my mum taps her cheek lightly and asks again,

“慧慧。。。xu xu 好了沒有？慧慧。。。”

“好了(an extra long and irritated "了")。。。！”

My mum pulls out the er... "container" to check, is "happy" with the "results" and puts 慧 back to bed (for the last time, details censored).

167 days to go.

Australia in the World Cup?

So, it will be Uruguay again in the World Cup qualifying playoffs for Australia. First leg away in Montevideo, Uruguay on the 12th November and the second leg at home in Sydney, Australia on the 16th November.

"Again" because this represents the same match-up as in 2001 when qualifying for the Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup Finals. Australia has only ever qualified for the World Cup once, way back in 1974 (still infinitely better than the big 0 of Singapore... *Sigh*). And over the years since then, they have gone through a whole series of heartbreaks due to these playoffs.

Australia belong to the qualifying group of Oceania. Because the group is quite small and relatively weak football-wise, they've always been awarded half a place in the World Cup by FIFA. That essentially means the winner of Oceania has to play with some other country from another qualifying group to qualify for the World Cup. And because Australia is head and shoulders above all other teams in Oceania (New Zealanders will disagree with me...), they basically get that half spot every campaign.

As mentioned, their opponent in 2001 was Uruguay. In that playoff for a spot in Korea/Japan 2002, Australia had narrowly beaten them 1-0 in Melbourne in the first leg. Hopes would have been very high for qualification after that victory. But they gana whacked 3-0 in the return leg in Montevideo to lose 3-1 on aggregate.

But perhaps the most heartbreaking of all the qualifying failures was the 1997 playoff for a place in France 1998. For that campaign, they had to play a team from the Asian group. Turned out to be Iran. They drew 1-1 in the first leg away in Iran. This was not a bad score for Australia to take home, given the "away" goals rule. In the second leg at home, they were leading 2-0 after 75 minutes. Surely qualification was in the bag, one would think. But no, they shot themselves in the legs, conceded TWICE in the last 15 minutes of play to draw 2-2. Iran thus qualified on the "away" goals rule. This sad tale keeps getting retold on TV here (on football shows), so much so that I can memorise the details liao. Oh, and of special interest to Man Utd fans, the goalkeeper in those two matches for Australia was a certain Mark Bosnich.

Going a further four years back, Australia had to play Argentina to qualify for USA 1994. Quite suay lor. We're talking about Argentina of 1993, runners-up in the previous edition, Italy 1990. Argentina, with Maradona still in the team (that was just before his drugs cases came out I believe, and he didn't play in the Finals itself), not to mention Batistuta. I don't think many people, except the Aussies I suppose, gave the Australian team any chance of qualifying. They didn't. But at least they made a fight of it. A 1-1 draw at home followed by a 1-0 loss away for an aggregate score of 2-1.

I actually feel that this campaign will represent Australia's best chance of qualifying thus far, though Uruguay is still a very tough team to beat.

For one, the Australian squad is more balanced now and not so skewed towards one or two individuals which they were so dependent on in the past. Notable names in the current squad include, at the goalkeeping position Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough) and Zeljko Kalac (AC Milan) as his deputy, defenders Craig Moore (Newcastle), Tony Popovic (Crystal Palace) and Kevin Muscat (now playing in the A-league but had formerly played for various English and Scottish clubs), midfielders Tim Cahill (Everton), Brett Emerton (Blackburn), Lucas Neill (Blackburn) and the recent discovery Marco Bresciano (Parma), and forwards, Mark Viduka (Middlesbrough), Harry Kewell (Liverpool) and John Aloisi (Alaves). Their defence, I suspect will be their main weakness but they do boast of a decent attack. Assuming no injury worries (e.g. Kewell seems to be always injured these days).

And I believe they have a trump card in Guus Hiddink. His taking over from Frank Farina as the national team coach was widely hailed across the nation as a master stroke. I won't exactly go to that extreme but I do feel the Dutch system of "total football" will suit the Australian physique.

The whole nation will be holding its collective breath until those two November dates come around. I thought briefly about getting tickets and watching it at the Telstra stadium but changed my mind. My work takes precedence, sadly, and more importantly, like how Dan puts it succinctly, we are not talking about the Chinese (in my case, Singaporean lah) national team here. :P

Nonetheless, I will still get to watch it "live" on TV here. I can imagine all the pubs and bars here will be packed to the seams here on the night of 16th November and celebrations will last the whole night should they qualify.

When will us Singaporeans get to feel such excitement? *Sigh*

Akan Datang: Foreign movies

168 days to go.

Uzbekistan and Bahrain III

Duh! 我的衰嘴！

169 days to go.

To delete or not to delete, that is the question

About a month into this blog, I started wondering about what to do with it when its eight months' life is up. And I'm still wondering.

Should I delete away the contents? Should I just un-publish them and store them somewhere for my own perusal later (for old times' sake)? Should I just let it be and, to use an old military term, let it "rot on the vine"?

Indeed, even the thought of continuing has flashed across my mind. Nonetheless, I'm still almost completely sure this blog will not have the life to carry on after the eight months are up. It'll probably die an even uglier death if I chose to continue. I foresee its life ebbing slowly away as I have to make greater and greater efforts in maintaining it. And after thinking about Cantona the other day, all the more the original decision seems correct. So...

Decision 1: this blog will still end in eight months' time. Once I get home that is.

Which brings me to my next decision. Lately, the possibility of having to (keywords) extend my stay here has arisen. Depending on perspective, it can be read as good or bad news. With respect to this blog, it means that its life will probably get to, or rather, HAVE to be extended a little. Sometimes, when I am over here, I feel I need my blog more than it needs me. So...

Decision 2: remaining lifetime of this blog will be extended if my stay here is *Big Sigh* lengthened.

So we come to the last question. What to do with the contents leh? *Shrug*

Decision 3: still pending...

Akan Datang: Australia in the World Cup?

170 days to go.

Uzbekistan and Bahrain II

An update on this absurd episode.

The Uzbeks' appeal against the replay decision had been turned down. So they've got to replay the entire playoffs from the beginning again. In fact, the first leg has just been completed over the weekend. Played on Uzbeks' home ground, it ended in a 1-1 draw.

This effectively hands Bahrain a slim advantage going into the second leg. For those not in the know, there is this rule about "away goals" that applies only in the event of the aggregate score over both legs ending in a draw. In such cases, goals scored away from home count double. So in this case, if Bahrain grinds out a 0-0 draw in the second leg, they will win the playoffs.

The second leg is this Wednesday, i.e. tomorrow. I'll really feel for the Uzbeks if they get knocked out in such a cruel manner.

171 days to go.

Dazed by Xbox

The previous weekend, Dan started talking about getting a Xbox console. Now, I am very suah ku one. I've heard of the term "Xbox" but didn't really know what it is. That is until Dan explained it to me. He seemed quite serious about the idea, though he added that he needed to discuss this with 老婆大人, Stef, first.

On Thursday, I bumped into Stef in school. Lo and behold, they've gotten themselves the Xbox!

"這麽快啊，Stef？"

"是呀！Dan說去Eastgardens看看。沒想到我們一走進店裏，他就不肯出來了呀！那麽就只好買下來了。"

"哈哈哈！這樣也可以啊！"

So I got invited to their place on Saturday for a little gaming. They had gotten themselves two games as part of the package with the Xbox console. One was a tennis game, and the other was a first person shooting game, Halo. The latter is apparently quite a popular game though I've never heard of it. I did say I very suah ku one. *Grin*

So Dan and I got started on Halo with him leading me around this cavernous military base killing aliens. After a while, it reminded me of the first-generation first-person perspective shooting PC game, Wolfenstein 3D, which was quite a blockbuster in the early 90s and set the precedence for the first-person perspective shooting genre. I had played Wolfenstein briefly then but my interest in it wasn't sustained.

I was to be reminded of why a short while into trying out Halo.

I started feeling giddy! I could feel my labyrinth juices swirling in all directions with all that turning around. I had to give up on Halo before my dinner gave up on me. Too bad for Dan.

Then we got started on the tennis game which was less exacting on my sense of balance. This game turned out to be rather fun, especially when we tried out playing doubles. Now we're thinking of investing in two more controllers so that four of us (including another friend from Shanghai) can all play at the same time in a doubles match against one another. That should be a riot!

172 days to go.

Eric the King

Eric Cantona in a Nike ad (forgot the year, but should be towards the end of the 90s). For the uninitiated, 1966 was THE year for most English football fans because they won their one and only World Cup then, on home soil. You might also recall the other Nike advertisement where he took part in some "underground" games with other famous football stars like Figo and Ronaldo.

At Old Trafford, Eric was called the king. Still is. Indeed, if you look carefully enough, you can still spot the odd Cantona flag or two being unfurled amongst the crowds during Man Utd's home matches. That he became such an icon to Man Utd fans in less than 5 seasons with the club (November 1992 to June 1997) makes it even more amazing. If you take into account the eight months' ban in the 1995, then he had actually played for Man Utd for a net total of maybe 4 seasons only. He has never played in a World Cup, only in some qualifiers, but even that did nothing to diminish his reputation and status in the game.

"When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown in to the sea." At a press conference called after his famous 功夫 kick on a Crystal Palace fan which resulted in an eight months ban from football. I suspect it is a thinly veiled dig at the press. *Grin*

I will not even attempt to go through his career moves and highlights here. They are well-documented elsewhere (see for example, here and here). However, I have to at least say he certainly was the catalyst that brought the league title back to Old Trafford after an intolerably long span of 26 years. Yes, it had been more than a quarter of a century since Man Utd last won the league before Eric the King came along and started the club on a decade of immense success.

Football fans, not just those of Man Utd (and Leeds), will remember him not just by those sterling statistics his football has left behind, but also by his personality. Pumped up chest, ramrod straight posture, upturned collar (which quite a number of other EPL players copied at a point in time, e.g. Dwight Yorke), hands on hips, and that smouldering glare through those thick set eyebrows. He exuded such confidence, even to the extent of arrogance, that it inspired his teammates to play above themselves as well as intimidated opposition players.

"My lawyer and the officials wanted me to speak. So I just said that. It was nothing, it did not mean anything. I could have said 'The curtains are pink but I love them'" An explanation given by the man himself on his sardines quote. I like this quote a lot. Especially the "pink" part. And the plot thickens here.

But what I admire most about him is he knew when to leave. At his peak. Eric retired from professional football when he was just 30. The average outfield player usually retire at around 35 and goalkeepers maybe 38. 27-31 is usually considered to be a footballer's best years.

Many a sportsman or artiste has persisted on their playing (or performing as the case may be) career till they are near the bottom of that slippery slope of decline. The aura is lost by then. Think Michael Jordan, for example.

It is never easy to leave behind something you love doing. Especially when you've become so proficient in it. But Cantona had the strength to i) say enough and retire from football and ii) to stay retired. (ii) is infinitely times more difficult. It is noteworthy that when he retired, he had not won everything there is in the game, especially the biggest prizes. For one, the holy grail of the European Champion's League had escaped his grasp. And he had tasted almost nil success on the international front. Yet, he made the decision and stuck to it. And because he stuck to it, fans will always remember him at his prime and ask the inevitable question of how things might have been, had he stayed a few more years.

For me, I don't question that decision. I just respect him for that.

"Leaving a club is like leaving a woman. When you have nothing left to say, you go." I'm sure some lady readers will be offended by this quote. But what the heck... just remember he said it, not me.

After his retirement from professional football, he moved on to an acting career and playing beach football (I tried before. Fwah... very very tiring to play on sand! Your hips feel like they are on fire after a while). Indeed, my favourite French movie, Les enfants du marais (The Children of the Marshland), has Eric as part of the cast. I loved the movie not just because of him. The movie was a charming one to begin with. But when Eric made his entrance, it was really the icing on the cake. His deadpanned expression for his part as a champion boxer really added to the movie's charisma. I'm getting the DVD for that movie soon as well!
"The Art of the Game" by Michael Browne (copyright). Look carefully at this fabulous oil painting by Michael Browne and you'll be able to spot Fergie (Sir Alex Ferguson), Becks, Butt and the Neville brothers, besides Eric the King in the middle of course. Not sure who is the fella at the top right though.

Roy Keane took over the captaincy of Man Utd after Eric Cantona retired. Whereas Eric inspired his teammates by his confidence and flair, Keano absolutely controlled the team by his growls and barks and his impossibly high workrate. I guess both methods work in their own way.

But there can only be one Cantona.

Akan Datang: To delete or not to delete, that is the question.

173 days to go.

Laputa, Howl's Moving Castle, Porco Rosso and more...

On the Wednesday just past, I got to catch Laputa (1986) on local free-to-air TV (station is SBS). And on the day before that, Tuesday, I managed to convince Dan to watch Howl's Moving Castle (2004) with me on the silver screen. And of course, as mentioned here and here, I caught Porco Rosso (1993) the previous Wednesday. Thus far, I find Porco to be the best of the lot. And Howl to be the "worst" of the lot. Actually, all three are great movies, hence the ""s for Howl. For me, the romance and ambience of Porco was the most mesmerising of the three. Indeed, I've already made up my mind to get the DVD for Porco.

Just when I'm getting really excited about all these Miyazaki goodies, I found out this:

Next Wednesday, 12th October, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds (1984).

19th October, Kiki's Delivery Service (1989).

And finally, on 26th October, Spirited Away (2001) which I've watched already, but I certainly do not mind catching it again.

All on SBS.

For once, I feel lucky to be in Australia. Just this one time.

174 days to go.

Scoring bad points

Background information:

My sister and brother-in-law brought my niece to a birthday party over the weekend. 慧 started eyeing some presents and asked the nearest adult,"可不可以開？" That adult (I am going to accuse him of being a lousy parent) said,"開 lor, 不要紧的！" And so, she did.

The parents of the birthday boy found out, wasn't offended but did inform my sister and bro-in-law. My sister and bro-in-law apologised profusely and then started explaining things to 慧 in a stern manner. But my sis took it further and continued nagging after reaching home later. 慧 must've been quite confused by the different things that different adults were telling her on this issue.

On Sunday night, when my niece was brought back to my place, she had refused to talk to my sister. My mum told me about this on Tuesday. Then these e-mails yesterday (my own comments in brackets):


From: Gu gu
To: Mee mee
Date: Thu 06/10/2005 12:08 PM
Subject: LS

Fwah... today markets (stock markets) everywhere LS. Jia lat.


From: Mee mee
To: Gu gu
Date: Thu 06/10/2005 12:29 PM
Subject: Half day

I am on half day leave in the afternoon. Going to ... (run some errands)

This 慧 hor... just because she is scolded by me, mum and auntie (our next door neighbour who also dotes on 慧) cos' she kinda naughty nowdays... she told mum that "mee mee 不 sayang 我, ma ma 也不 sayang 我. na na (she was taught to call our neighbour this) 不喜歡我." Mum asked her who sayang her, she said "pa pa sayang 我, gu gu sayang 我 and gong gong 也 sayang 我".

Sigh... she refused to call me when I visited her last night and she told me she doesn't like me. But I agreed with mum, someone just needs to discipline her and be the bad guy. How can we let her climb over our heads.

Conclusion: Seems like 慧 doesn't like all the women around her who nags at her.


From: Gu gu
To: Mee mee
Date: Thu 06/10/2005 12:36 PM
Subject: Short memory

Yeah, mum told me about the story on Tuesday. So funny! Ha ha ha... Strange thing is, when I am around (meaning in Singapore lah), I will also scold her from time to time if she is naughty.

So there is another conclusion. Children memory very short one, so fret not.

As long as you've told her why you're scolding her, that will be fine. It just so happens that most of the current scolding is done by the women. *Grin*


From: Mee mee
To: Gu gu
Date: Thu 06/10/2005 12:43 PM
Subject: Re: Short memory

Well, she remembered it for the whole week so I don't think her memory is that short.

For you, of course gu gu sayang her cos' you are not around to scold her and you score good points. :)

Sis


From: Gu gu
To: Mee mee
Date: Thu 06/10/2005 12:51 PM
Subject: Bad points

Don't worry, sis. Next year, when I go back (to Singapore) for good, I will start scoring and accumulating more bad points than you. *Grin*You would notice by now that my sis and I don't communicate by MSN. We both dislike it.

175 days to go.

Adjusting to Sydney time

I know this sounds silly, but sleep-wise, I haven't adjusted back to Sydney time yet. Yes, I know it is just two hours difference. Yes, I know I've been back for two and a half months. It just hasn't happened. *Shrug*

So I find myself waking up at 9-something here and going to bed at around 2 which reflects my usual sleeping hours in Singapore of 12 to 7-8a.m. Today, I had to wake up "early" to go to school. "Early" as in 7:45a.m. local time. Because Jim needs to carry out some minor renovations to the apartment which start at 8. In Singapore time, that's 5:45a.m. So I'm feeling quite head-heavy now.

When I met up with 苛 last weekend, I had mentioned this inertia of mine. She was laughing her head off after hearing about it.

Oh, by the way, the timings you see on this blog are all Singapore timings. Another of my numerous ways to staying connected with Singapore. *Grin*

On the final weekend of October, we will move into daylight savings. That means a three hours difference with Singapore time, instead of two. That will persist until the final weekend of March when it reverts back to two hours difference.

I'm starting to worry about daylight savings. I don't want to sleep at 3a.m. and wake up at 10 something.

176 days to go.

Lady of steel

I really have to hand it to 秋.

It has been over three months since Le Tissier's diagnosis and treatment. How 秋 copes with taking care of Le Tissier, her own job (she went back to work recently), her own family etc. is beyond me. We've been told that with each round of treatment, the side effects will get more and more severe. And indeed, it is so. His morale has really hit rock bottom. He is generally too fatigued to do anything. Not TV, not reading, not gaming and not much music. Worst still, it is hard for him to get sleep. Time must seem excruciatingly slow for him!

Recently, he has caught a cold and had a persistent fever. Now that is potentially tricky for it might prolong his treatment or even worse, cause infection since his defences are down. That he stays at a dengue hotspot did not help calm nerves. Somehow, 秋 managed to convince him (not an easy thing!) to go to the hospital to have everything checked out just to be sure. Thankfully, it is not dengue, just a normal cold. The main worry now is it will disturb his treatment schedule.

In the midst of all this, 秋 got hit by his flu bug too, pre-empted it by seeing a GP very early on, went back to work and tried to be around Le Tissier as much as possible during her free time. Round 5 of treatment is scheduled for next Friday. A couple of days before that, he will have a scan to observe the size of the tumour. All of us, especially him, are sweating over it. All of us know he is sweating over it in his mind. But none of us dares to even breathe a word about it in his presence.

I really really hate to say this. But hearing all this makes me feel better about my lonely battle to get back to Singapore in one piece.

177 days to go.

Jazz at Manly

On Sunday, a few friends and I went to Manly for the Manly International Jazz Festival. Manly is a little touristy town famous for its beach. We had to take a 35 minutes ferry ride from the CBD to reach there. Quite picturesque as we passed by the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and such. The organisers of the festival chose to set up five separate stages at different spots, allowing five bands to perform at the same time. I thought that was an excellent idea as it helped to spread out the huge crowds there and gave the audience a choice. We drifted around before settling down to listen to a performance by the Zenith New Orleans Jazz Band.

Now I admit to not being a Jazz fan, except for the odd Peanuts tune by Vince Guaraldi, but I still found the whole experience quite enjoyable. Mainly because of the audience participation. We would see people spontaneously get up and start dancing to the music. The old, the young, the very young. There was that couple in black (see pic below, guy with hat) who was really into it. And they were good dancers. Apparently, this is an annual event. Heh, like the kite festival, I didn't know about this until my final year in Sydney. Better late than never.

178 days to go.

It lasted 2 weeks

Actually, less than 2 weeks. It happened so soon (after a new sign was put up) this time that even I was taken by surprise. Again, the sign has been totally flattened (yellow arrow); the impact was so heavy that the "Keep Left" sign fell off (green arrow).It can only happen in Australia...

179 days to go.

Happy Birthday UFM100.3

Happy 4th Birthday, UFM100.3. 你是我在悉尼的精神糧食！沒有你的日子會很難過哦！

Just over 180 days to go.

I am rich

According to my niece, I am quite a rich guy. This happened just two days ago:

"Aeroplane! Aeroplane! Horrrr… horrrr… (with accompanying hand motions)" so exclaimed my excited niece after seeing a plane on TV.

"慧慧要坐aeroplane!" she continued.

"慧慧有沒有錢坐aeroplane?" enquired my mum.

"沒有..."

"慧慧沒有錢怎麽坐aeroplane leh?"

A short pause...

"Gu gu有錢! Gu gu有錢坐aeroplane!"

Actually, come to think of it, I AM rich. *Big Grin*

180 days to go.

Divergent

If you told me seven, eight years ago that in the distant future, I will get to play tourist with a gal I was quite smitten with then, I would have grabbed it with both hands and made various deductions about how things had turned out between her and me. Let's call the girl 苛. And seven, eight years later, i.e. now, after finding out how things had panned out, I would be laughing my head off.

As it turned out, she has gotten married and is staying with her in-laws (I never thought she could tolerate that, but she is). Her hubby is here on business and she came over for a short tour. We haven't met for years now and one of her first comments upon meeting up was how I (physically) never seem to change (Everyone says that, so much so I am sceptical about it now.). We met in town and ended up trapped in the crowds because the local AFL (one of a FEW types of football leagues here) team, the Sydney Swans, was holding some victory parade after winning the league. Tough luck. So we beat a hasty retreat and ended up taking a train north to Milson's Point. There, we spent the afternoon strolling around with a short detour into Luna Park.

We seemed to have chatted for a long time, but afterward, it felt like we've never spoken at all. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed her company. It's just that I am quite surprised I no longer feel any attraction for her whatsoever. Not even that mere physical attraction between a guy and gal. Ok, I know she is married. That's not my point. My point is we've taken such divergent paths in those spanning years that any lingering attraction I've felt for her has been so totally obliterated. It's a strange, and somewhat bittersweet, feeling to realise that.

What's more, her description of married life isn't something I'll look forward to if all married life was such. But of course, I am sure it isn't.

Oh, and by the way, Happy Children's Day, 慧.

181 days to go.