to me, the draw is like a lost.
Leading 4-2 in the 89min, we should have just shut the door, pass the ball around and wait for the final whistle. Instead, we conspired to lose 2 goals in 2 mins.
All night long, Almunia has been letting all the 30-40 yards shot go pass him. He is really not a WORLD Class keeper if he does not for many games. Steady but unspectacular. sigh.........
Is it his fault? or is it our aging centerhalfs ? or is it a lack of a 'Flamini'?
I say all three. We need reinforcements. Quality ones!
What a lousy start to the day.....
I hope the players know how many gunner fans they make sad and sick today.....
Mood: Extremely Disappointed...
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Memoirs on a MRT.....
It never occurred to me that some rides in the MRT can be so interesting……
For the past few months during my commute to work on the MRT, I have met beautiful babes, smelly uncles, dirty workers, talkative aunties, rowdy school children and even goose-bum-me lovers....... Every one of them has a story. Funny, horrible, cute, beautiful and gross ones varied….
One particular incident was quite heartbreaking. One Malay girl was telling her friend on the train on how her boyfriend broke up with her after she caught him with anther girl. She cried and sobbed her story out on the train, oblivious to the crowd that was listening to her as she poured her soul out to her friend. Well, its probably hurts her heart so much that she did not bother to keep it down and bottled in her heart.
Another time, I was stuck near to the door; my face nearly plastered to the window pane due to the incredible peak hour crowd. As the train door open from the other side, I feel myself pressed even closer to the glass. Sticky arms and feet, bag packs and even breasts were pushing and squeezing every ounce of me against the door. I wondered momentarily whether I should shout ‘Molest!!!”……. Horrible experience that made me realize that sometimes, it may help if you have a big bag pack or smell like shit to warn off these crazy pushers.
This morning, I had a bag pack ready and my hands glued tight to the side of my body; ready to defend my circle of space……. Well, sometimes, the attack comes from the air. There was this I-don’t-smell-so-good guy who came in and stood right in front of my nostrils. Needless to say, he had a good circumference of space given to him out of respect for his all powerful odor!
After some time, I develop a new interest for my MRT rides. Come rain or shine, squeeze or space, smell or fresh…. Every new ride promise another adventure if you open your mind and endure the ‘torture’… Trust me….. it may be worth your while to try a ride
For the past few months during my commute to work on the MRT, I have met beautiful babes, smelly uncles, dirty workers, talkative aunties, rowdy school children and even goose-bum-me lovers....... Every one of them has a story. Funny, horrible, cute, beautiful and gross ones varied….
One particular incident was quite heartbreaking. One Malay girl was telling her friend on the train on how her boyfriend broke up with her after she caught him with anther girl. She cried and sobbed her story out on the train, oblivious to the crowd that was listening to her as she poured her soul out to her friend. Well, its probably hurts her heart so much that she did not bother to keep it down and bottled in her heart.
Another time, I was stuck near to the door; my face nearly plastered to the window pane due to the incredible peak hour crowd. As the train door open from the other side, I feel myself pressed even closer to the glass. Sticky arms and feet, bag packs and even breasts were pushing and squeezing every ounce of me against the door. I wondered momentarily whether I should shout ‘Molest!!!”……. Horrible experience that made me realize that sometimes, it may help if you have a big bag pack or smell like shit to warn off these crazy pushers.
This morning, I had a bag pack ready and my hands glued tight to the side of my body; ready to defend my circle of space……. Well, sometimes, the attack comes from the air. There was this I-don’t-smell-so-good guy who came in and stood right in front of my nostrils. Needless to say, he had a good circumference of space given to him out of respect for his all powerful odor!
After some time, I develop a new interest for my MRT rides. Come rain or shine, squeeze or space, smell or fresh…. Every new ride promise another adventure if you open your mind and endure the ‘torture’… Trust me….. it may be worth your while to try a ride
Monday, October 20, 2008
Bank vs Bank
I visited 2 banks on a particular day to help my friend re-activate her account in case it is suspended due to in-activity after 6 months. The experience was totally difference.
The first (blue colour)bank I visited had just renovated and a pleasant service staff welcomed me in and directed me to the 2nd floor for a deposit service. I was happy with the new environment and service although i was irritated by the steps to reach the 2nd floor. I need not wait long although there were about 10 people in the queue. The counter staff was helpful and had initiative. She swiftly bank in the deposit I brought for my friend and gave me forms to direct my friend for a monthly statement to be sent to her Malaysia address. At the same time, I was correctly informed that no suspension would be carried out even if there is no transaction done as long as sufficient funds are kept in the account. The pleasant staff had the confident to seek my feedback and I pressed " Extremely satisfied' on the computer screen. I left the blue local bank a happy and satisfied customer.
The second (red colour) bank was quite a disaster in contrast. It was also recently renovated. I was lost as I stepped in. As I stood there wondering what to do for a good minute or so, no staff bothered to help me. I happened to catch one of the exec there as he breezed pass me. I asked politely where to do a deposit and all I got in return was a hand action pointing to the staircase for the 2nd story. ( for heaven's sake, God gave you a voice to talk)
As I climbed grudingly to the 2nd floor, my sense of irritation grew as I had to hurried up because two men were waiting to come down in the same narrow hallway. Although there was only 5 people in the queue, I had to wait slightly longer than the blue bank's queue. When it was finally my turn, I get a weird look when I said I was depositing money into my friend's account. In addition, the old bank book (from a previous bank this bank bought over) seemed to be a relic to the counter staff. He said I must change the book. For heaven's sake, just changed it then.
After a few mins of struggling and WRONGLY informing me that accounts will be suspended if there is in-activity, he called his manager Daisy over. ( I was thinking maybe I will get better service BUT BOY was i WRONG!!!!!) Well, Miss Daisy walked over and Mr Counter staff proceeded to complain about me bringing friend's bank book, dont have friend's name or ic or address, want to deposit using old book IN FRONT of me...... HELLO! where is your EQ? or IQ?
Miss Daisy started to address me in a condescending tone and starting speaking to me in Chinese like I know nuts about the banking industry. I replied in a calm but threatening tone in English. She insisted that by no means must I get to know 'her client's" bank account number and insisted that she called "her client" directly. After a few phone calls, she finally got hold of my friend and deposited my $50 into her account.
As I asked for the receipt of my $50, she said it is not possible to give and its a matter of security etc etc.... I told her to "please photocopy without account number then" and also told her," Please update your staff over there when is no suspension of account instead of just updating my friend". Totally unpleasant experience.....
I am just happy I have not a single cent in red bank because with this type of customer service in this financial crisis, I see no future for them.......
The first (blue colour)bank I visited had just renovated and a pleasant service staff welcomed me in and directed me to the 2nd floor for a deposit service. I was happy with the new environment and service although i was irritated by the steps to reach the 2nd floor. I need not wait long although there were about 10 people in the queue. The counter staff was helpful and had initiative. She swiftly bank in the deposit I brought for my friend and gave me forms to direct my friend for a monthly statement to be sent to her Malaysia address. At the same time, I was correctly informed that no suspension would be carried out even if there is no transaction done as long as sufficient funds are kept in the account. The pleasant staff had the confident to seek my feedback and I pressed " Extremely satisfied' on the computer screen. I left the blue local bank a happy and satisfied customer.
The second (red colour) bank was quite a disaster in contrast. It was also recently renovated. I was lost as I stepped in. As I stood there wondering what to do for a good minute or so, no staff bothered to help me. I happened to catch one of the exec there as he breezed pass me. I asked politely where to do a deposit and all I got in return was a hand action pointing to the staircase for the 2nd story. ( for heaven's sake, God gave you a voice to talk)
As I climbed grudingly to the 2nd floor, my sense of irritation grew as I had to hurried up because two men were waiting to come down in the same narrow hallway. Although there was only 5 people in the queue, I had to wait slightly longer than the blue bank's queue. When it was finally my turn, I get a weird look when I said I was depositing money into my friend's account. In addition, the old bank book (from a previous bank this bank bought over) seemed to be a relic to the counter staff. He said I must change the book. For heaven's sake, just changed it then.
After a few mins of struggling and WRONGLY informing me that accounts will be suspended if there is in-activity, he called his manager Daisy over. ( I was thinking maybe I will get better service BUT BOY was i WRONG!!!!!) Well, Miss Daisy walked over and Mr Counter staff proceeded to complain about me bringing friend's bank book, dont have friend's name or ic or address, want to deposit using old book IN FRONT of me...... HELLO! where is your EQ? or IQ?
Miss Daisy started to address me in a condescending tone and starting speaking to me in Chinese like I know nuts about the banking industry. I replied in a calm but threatening tone in English. She insisted that by no means must I get to know 'her client's" bank account number and insisted that she called "her client" directly. After a few phone calls, she finally got hold of my friend and deposited my $50 into her account.
As I asked for the receipt of my $50, she said it is not possible to give and its a matter of security etc etc.... I told her to "please photocopy without account number then" and also told her," Please update your staff over there when is no suspension of account instead of just updating my friend". Totally unpleasant experience.....
I am just happy I have not a single cent in red bank because with this type of customer service in this financial crisis, I see no future for them.......
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
What is the world of Football coming to?
What were the last 10 Record Breaking moves in the Barclay’s Premier League (formerly known as the English Premier League)?
The last 10 record breaking moves in the BPL are as follows:
June 1992 – Paul Gascoigne moved from Tottenham to Lazio for £5.5 mil
Jan 1995 – Andy Cole moved from Newcastle to Manchester United for £7 mil
June 1995 – Dennis Bergkamp from Inter Milan to Arsenal for £7.5 mil
June 1995 – Stan Collymore from Notts Forest to Liverpool for £8.5 mil
July 1996 – Alan Shearer from Blackburn Rovers to Newcastle for £15 mil
Aug 1999 – Nicolas Anelka from Arsenal to Real Mardrid for £22.5 mil
July 2001 – Juan Veron from Lazio to Manchester United for £28.1 mil
July 2002 – Rio Ferdinand from Leeds to Manchester United for £29.1 mil
July 2006 – Andriy Shevchenko from AC Milan to Chelsea for £30.8 mil
Sept 2008 – Robinho from Real Madrid to Manchester City for £32.5 mil
If you take a close look at the spender, you can see that Manchester United broke the record 3 times. In fact, they nearly broke it again with an around £30 mil transfer for Berbetov in September 2008 only for Robinho’s stunning transfer topping their bid. What do the last 10 changes tell us?
The face of soccer is changing as the increase in transfer records grew exponentially. Within a period of 15 years, the record has risen around 6 times. At this rate of growth, a player will cost £180 mil in another 15 years time. What kind of crazy club will pay that atrocious sum of money for one single player? If this superstar player gets injured in an International game, will his country pay the club for his injury? Or worse still, God forbid, some ‘wise’ club manager decides to invest in a £10,000 player and the mission is for this guy to take out the superstar by hook or by crook. What will happen to soccer in general?
Scanning through the list, one can also see that only a few of them justified their price tags. In my humble opinion, the best from the lot would be the brilliant capture of the non-flying Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp by Arsenal. At least Bruce Rioch did something right before leaving Arsenal! For only £7.5 mil, we had a great bargain as Bergkamp finished his career with Arsenal, appearing 315 times, scoring 87 times and providing numerous assists in his 11 years here. The worst? It would be a tough call between Stan Collymore, Juan Veron and Andriy Shevchenko. Well, at least Stan the Man did score a few stunning goals (barely a few). So I am going to give my condemning vote to Shevchenko. At his price, I think one can buy a few John Carew or Zaki and they probably score 3 times more goals than him.
What does all this tell us? Money can’t buy you the best soccer players and money is getting smaller in value by the day. In this time and age of global financial crisis, it is about time that someone stepped in to regulate soccer players’ wages and the clubs’ finances.
The last 10 record breaking moves in the BPL are as follows:
June 1992 – Paul Gascoigne moved from Tottenham to Lazio for £5.5 mil
Jan 1995 – Andy Cole moved from Newcastle to Manchester United for £7 mil
June 1995 – Dennis Bergkamp from Inter Milan to Arsenal for £7.5 mil
June 1995 – Stan Collymore from Notts Forest to Liverpool for £8.5 mil
July 1996 – Alan Shearer from Blackburn Rovers to Newcastle for £15 mil
Aug 1999 – Nicolas Anelka from Arsenal to Real Mardrid for £22.5 mil
July 2001 – Juan Veron from Lazio to Manchester United for £28.1 mil
July 2002 – Rio Ferdinand from Leeds to Manchester United for £29.1 mil
July 2006 – Andriy Shevchenko from AC Milan to Chelsea for £30.8 mil
Sept 2008 – Robinho from Real Madrid to Manchester City for £32.5 mil
If you take a close look at the spender, you can see that Manchester United broke the record 3 times. In fact, they nearly broke it again with an around £30 mil transfer for Berbetov in September 2008 only for Robinho’s stunning transfer topping their bid. What do the last 10 changes tell us?
The face of soccer is changing as the increase in transfer records grew exponentially. Within a period of 15 years, the record has risen around 6 times. At this rate of growth, a player will cost £180 mil in another 15 years time. What kind of crazy club will pay that atrocious sum of money for one single player? If this superstar player gets injured in an International game, will his country pay the club for his injury? Or worse still, God forbid, some ‘wise’ club manager decides to invest in a £10,000 player and the mission is for this guy to take out the superstar by hook or by crook. What will happen to soccer in general?
Scanning through the list, one can also see that only a few of them justified their price tags. In my humble opinion, the best from the lot would be the brilliant capture of the non-flying Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp by Arsenal. At least Bruce Rioch did something right before leaving Arsenal! For only £7.5 mil, we had a great bargain as Bergkamp finished his career with Arsenal, appearing 315 times, scoring 87 times and providing numerous assists in his 11 years here. The worst? It would be a tough call between Stan Collymore, Juan Veron and Andriy Shevchenko. Well, at least Stan the Man did score a few stunning goals (barely a few). So I am going to give my condemning vote to Shevchenko. At his price, I think one can buy a few John Carew or Zaki and they probably score 3 times more goals than him.
What does all this tell us? Money can’t buy you the best soccer players and money is getting smaller in value by the day. In this time and age of global financial crisis, it is about time that someone stepped in to regulate soccer players’ wages and the clubs’ finances.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Quote of the Week
I am not henpecked. I just respect my wife a bit more.
From a not so strong friend....
From a not so strong friend....
another week flies by....
Another week flies by.... fast and furious....
I did 3 focus groups this week in my job and it has been a whirlwhile ride....
Had a great time meeting up with my ex-colleagues from Maersk at Roy's kid one month party.
Welcome to the world, Reyes and good job Roy! :)
Going to K again today. With my horrible voice, I would still be fighting for the mike to torture my friends. hahahaa.... Looking forward to a wonderful time later...
Soccer note: International weekends are boring. Praying hard that none of the Arsenal players come back injured.
I did 3 focus groups this week in my job and it has been a whirlwhile ride....
Had a great time meeting up with my ex-colleagues from Maersk at Roy's kid one month party.
Welcome to the world, Reyes and good job Roy! :)
Going to K again today. With my horrible voice, I would still be fighting for the mike to torture my friends. hahahaa.... Looking forward to a wonderful time later...
Soccer note: International weekends are boring. Praying hard that none of the Arsenal players come back injured.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Been a busy Sept...
whoa... sept is over in a flash... as the Mrs and I complete our 3 weddings and a baby shower....
been brother and sisters in the weddings + an emcee gig was really energy sapping for the past month....
well, the emcee gig was our first and we had a great blast learning about it and actually finally doing it. :)
Onwards to October....
2008 is really flying past fast...
been brother and sisters in the weddings + an emcee gig was really energy sapping for the past month....
well, the emcee gig was our first and we had a great blast learning about it and actually finally doing it. :)
Onwards to October....
2008 is really flying past fast...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
