Underneath the Stars - Apple & Orange

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

冤冤相报何时了。。。

12:06 AM

Honestly, I didn't plan to write an entry today but the retirement of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave me the idea of blogging about one of my favourite players despite having class today and reaching home at 11-plus. Interestingly, I decided to visit one of my friend's blog before I start to blog. Why is it interestingly? Because of the plain fact that I haven't visited his blog for months. Anyway was looking through his blog when a few Chinese characters caught my attention.

The few Chinese characters were "怨恨三部曲之拾不回的贝壳". And it had a total of six chapters plus a foreword, making it a total of seven entries, entirely in Chinese. I smiled when I saw the title. Only a few would know why is it called "the seashell that can't be retrieved" and I was one of them. In fact, I was heavily involved with this seashell.

It all happened when we were Sec 3 (I think). My class was attending OBS (Outward Bound School) and we were supposed to canoe to a deserted island and stay there for a few hours or even overnight, which I can't remember. Anyway, Long-ge (author of the seven blog entries in Chinese) and I were partners in canoeing to the deserted island and when we settled down, we began walking down the beach. Long-ge found a seashell that he thought beautiful and when I saw he was holding something in his hands, I asked him what is it that he's holding. Long-ge passed to me the seashell he picked and being the mischievous me, I said, "Nice meh?" and threw the seashell into the sea. Long-ge shouted "Wei!" and went on to say that he wanted to take the seashell back home. I forgot what I answered him but it certainly can't be nice as I was fast gaining a reputation for being quick-tempered and having an evil tongue.

Fast forward 12 years later, the blog entries caught my attention and I started reading the entries. I started reading from chapter 1 to chapter 6, which is the final chapter. I was laughing when I read the story that he conjured. Once again, only a few of us know what he is talking about, especially stuff that others would find it out of the blue. The names of certain characters such as "the girl without a waist", "Auntie Goh", "Exorcist Boy", "Duck girl" etc would only be known by some as well as certain lines that the characters uttered are events that actually happened in real life such as Yogi's complaint about having to collect money during a chalet.

After reading the six chapters, I then proceed to read the foreword. It was short but it was heavy and dark in my opinion. I stopped smiling. After which I also saw the comments made by Edward, who was also mentioned in the story, to Long-ge saying that the story might actually anger some (think he was referring to me). Long-ge, in his own words, said "The story is not about me. It´s about a kind boy. The same goes for other characters also - it might be based on some ppl we know, but it's not about them". Is that really the case?

First of all, it's really a good read. Long-ge's grasp of the Chinese language has always been of the highest level and it was evident once again in the seven entries that he wrote. I'm actually kind of waiting in anticipation for the second part of this trilogy, tentatively titled as two boys and a lantern. In spite of the fact that it was a good read, I also felt that Long-ge, up till now, still feels a tinge of hatred for some who had done him wrong in a way or another. Long-ge, if you are trying to be like House, cynical with your blog entries as a form of "revenge", then I would say you are successful. In fact, I even feel obliged to apologise formally to you in my blog. Really sorry for throwing away your seashell 12 year ago. If I have a chance to go back in time, I would................ most probably do the same thing. =)

Jokes aside, my point being, it's good to bring out these good, old memories for a laugh among our buddies. It's perfectly alright as it really shows how innocent, naive, evil, arrogant some of us are during our younger days. But don't always keep it in your heart because if you let it live long enough in your heart (12 years already leh!), it will have a high chance it could become hatred. No matter how little that hatred might be or how insignificant that you think that hatred might be, it's still hatred. And it's detrimental to health.

Having said all that, please do work on your second part of the trilogy soon... =)

Afternote:

I really, really do not want to talk about football too often in this blog but I have to write this. I had originally decided to dedicate an entire post to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, a Man Utd legend, who announced his retirement from football today, until I stumbled upon Long-ge's blog entry. Nonetheless, Ole was a great servant to the club and is also considered a rarity in modern football era. Though not a star player, he still performs what he is required to do with great efficiency and dedication whenever called upon. I was really sad and disappointed with his retirement announcement, though it was inevitable. Thank you Ole for your services and this song will forever be remembered by Man Utd fans who had the honour to watch him pull on a Man Utd jersey...

You are my Solskjaer;
my only Solskjaer;
you make me happy when skies are gray.
You never will know;
how much I love you;
please don't take my Solskjaer away!

Chipmunk

Monday, August 27, 2007

Collection of thoughts...

11:19 PM

Wohoo!! I finally kept my promise to post at least once a week! It may be the start of something! Before I get carried away, let me get back to earth, for I know this might be just a once-in-a-blue-moon thing. This is titled "Collection of thoughts" because I don't really have something to write... Actually I do have something to write... But I really do not want it to become a blog about football (yes, it's not soccer... it's called football. Only the Americans call it soccer.)

Thought 1
Though I said I do not want this blog to talk all about football, my beloved Man Utd finally recorded their first win of the season! Seeing that they were "languishing" in 19th place before they won, I really can't fathom the idea of them not winning again, though I had the oh-shit feeling after 20 minutes of the game as Tottenham Hotspurs (their opponent) were clearly the better side. How ironic that Man Utd played so badly against Tottenham and yet, garnered more points than their previous 3 matches. Lady Luck really has a good sense of humour...

Thought 2

Heard this on the radio when I was driving back home...

If you keep saying you are busy, then you are never free;
If you keep saying you got no time, then you never will have the time;
If you keep saying wait till tomorrow, then your tomorrow will never come.

Really felt it was something meaningful... Especially the last line... keep using tomorrow as an excuse for my assignments recently... Sorry baby... I will pull my socks up!!! Starting from tomorrow that is..................................

Thought 3
One fine day, when I was walking to my office, I saw this stray dog walking past me and I thought to myself, "Wow... even a stray dog looks so cute." Oh god. I'm fast becoming a dog fanatic. I've even got this crazy idea that I told baby about that if I were to become a millionaire, I would definitely donate money to SPCA or even set up a fund myself to help those unfortunate dogs! Suddenly it struck my mind that dog is such a wonderful creature so then why is god spelled the opposite of dog? Unless......... Fullstop. Next.

Thought 4
PUB won the Stockholm Industry Water Award (water industry's equivalent of Nobel Prize) for its success in wringing maximum value from every drop of water. Remember when NEWater was first introduced? The common reaction among Singaporeans was "Huh? Can drink bang4 sai4 zui4 one meh?" Now this so-called bang4 sai4 zui4 has not only won an accolade for Singapore, the concept of recycling waste water to drinkable ultraclean water will also help other thirsty nations overcome their problem of shortage of water. Bang4 sai4 zui4 anyone? =)

Thought 5
Yesterday, I did one thing that I thought I could not. Let me just use a popular national song (to the tune of "Count on me Singapore").

"There was a time, when people said that Alvin Mok won't make it, but he did."

I actually completed the Army Half Marathon (AHM), which is 21km in total, and also in under 2 hrs and 40 mins. Ok ok. To some, or even many, that is chicken feet but considering that the number of times that I ran for the past 3 months was once and the longest distance that I managed to cover before the AHM was 8km, hey I think I did well. I'm glad I put myself to the test and I managed to endure the physical challenges that were evident during the run, though it came with a price. From waist-down, it was aching everywhere. And I had to walk with a slight limp this morning.

Sad to say, a 25-year old guy also managed to complete the AHM and he too had to pay a price, only that he paid a much higher price. He paid it with his life. And even earlier, a 19-year old young boy died in a triathlon. Why are all these young men dying?? I heard people saying that these guys didn't know when to stop. Perhaps they were at their limit but they still persevere, thinking that their young athletic body would still be able to take it. Is that the case? Nobody knows now and though it's definitely not their choice to die in such circumstances, I still feel it's not worth it. Damn bloody not worth it.

Yawnz. Shall stop here now. Stay tuned... =)

Chipmunk

Monday, August 20, 2007

Man, U Didn't Win Again!

11:15 PM

I'm back again (for a cameo appearance! hahaha.)! Three months is quite a long time and really, I must cultivate the habit of having at least a post per week. Haiz. My determination is really damn weak.

So what should I write after such a long absence? Hmm... talking about three months ago, Man Utd celebrated its 16th English title won after Man Utd won at Man City. Those were the times. Fast forward to three months later, Man Utd just lost to Man City and remained winless after three games into the new season. In fact, to make things worse, Man Utd has not won in their last seven competitive matches (counting in the community shield and FA Cup final plus the final two games of last season where they drew 0-0 against Chelsea and lost 1-0 against West Ham)!

I really hate to talk about soccer in the blog (even though I love the sport) since I'm having the blog with Baby but I really can't tahan le!! The first three matches saw Man Utd garnered a miserly two points, where in truth it should have been nine. With due respect to Reading, Portsmouth and Man City, they weren't exactly the top dogs in the league. Also, Man Utd had 22 and 16 goal attempts against Reading and Man City respectively, enough attempts to even win five matches in a row! So what's the problem?

The sale of Alan Smith to Newcastle, on hindsight, seems a bad decision. Selling Smith, together with Giuseppe Rossi, meant Man Utd had to start the campaign with Wayne Rooney as the only recognised and experienced striker, as the Carlos Tevez affair was still hanging in the air and Saha, who always seems to get injured whenever he pulls on a Man Utd jersey, and Solskjaer were out with injuries. Interestingly, Sir Alex Ferguson pointed out before that the key to the Treble success in 1999 was having four strikers (Yorke, Cole, Solskjaer and Sheringham) challenging for the position of the front two. I think he forgot to add the word "fit".

If selling Alan Smith wasn't bad enough, the decision not to buy a target man was worst. Don't get me wrong. Tevez is a world class player who can work magic on the field. But like Rooney, he must be given the space and freedom to work his magic and like Rooney, their magic works best when they play behind the front man and not as the front man. Rooney was not at his best against Reading and Tevez was slightly better against Portsmouth, and simply horrendous against Man City. The three matches had only highlight a stinging problem for Man Utd - they need a target man upfront, in order for Tevez / Rooney to showcase what are they made of. Now I miss a certain Ruud Van Nistelrooy.

Last and the most important factor, luck. If not, how do you explain Rooney's injury in the first game and Ronaldo's sending-off in the second game? If not, how do you explain 38 goal attempts in 2 matches and yet, Man Utd managed to grab only a point out of a possible six? If not, how do you explain that in the above-mentioned two games, the Man-of-the-Match awards went to Michael Duberry and Micah Richards, both defenders? The commentator for the Man Utd-Man City game pointed out that how ironic it can be when Man Utd bought in new players during off-season, people were wondering how Ferguson would accomodate Hargreaves, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Nani, Anderson, Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez in one team!

I hope by the time I post again, Man Utd would have gotten their first win of the season and start chasing the early leaders before it's too late. Haiz.

Chipmunk

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Have been gettin fed up more n more frequently at work

8:48 PM

Today is Saturday.. it's not my working sat.. but i went back to work...
End up... my bosses asked y i went back.. wat work do i ve to rush...Felt so pissed..
It's not as if they dunno how many events there are.. it's not as if i'm very free..
It's not the first time i ve done OT, y suddenly r u so concerned abt balanced life? *Pui*
If i dun finish whose responsibility is it? I'm not claiming money for the OT i have done.. it's not as if i m cheating on ur OT.. do u tink i ve nth better to do?
I could ve slept longer for one.. Y do i bother gettin up early on a SAT to go to work..
Felt so angry.. My efforts are not being appreciated.. tot to myself that i will never put in extra effort or time anymore..

BUT! after my anger has subsided, i was again wishing that time would not pass so fast so that i can do more work... yes. i noe i'm dumb haiz... someone help me...

lead me to tink of of sth which had happened quite awhile ago.. *didn't managed to blog the other time haha*
why would someone tink that by putting his msn nick as "3As!!" would scare me?
For god's sake, i'm not like you.. hoping others will do badly to form a safety net for u..
At that moment i was really displeased... irritated.. i guess.. no words tat can actually describe my feelings at that moment..

Also.. when ur seat is behind me and you have to pass by me to get to ur prj.. would it kill you to inform me that we have to hand in our prj to the class aunite? Thanks alot old fren..
Jus putting sth in the van or bringing sth back for us n we are in ur debt? yes i noe u dun ve to.. tat's y i didn't asked or expected u to.. but dun try to make us tink that he minds putting our books in his van when he's not the kind of calculative person like u r

And from an old acquaintance, i'm suddenly ur gd/close/old fren..whichever term u may chose to use.. reason? yup cos i ve gained some value.. there's sth tat you want from me.. i wonder wat..
Must everything you do be carefully tot out n considered? whether u would get some value out of it...or whether it would make ppl feel indebted to u so that u can make use of tat person in future..
It's a sad life when u ve to consider if u will be rewarded for every single thing you have done..

Again, i'm dumb. cos despite having said all these.. i still have a "soft spot" for u, willing to help u when u ask.. afterall... we Are old frens.. n there was once when u were a true fren...at least i tot so..

*to someone.. Dun u ever say tat i'm like her..cos i dun pretend to like someone tat i dun.. i treat her well cos of the past not cos i'm being hypocritical..

SnOoPy

It's been a long time...

12:01 AM

It has really been a long time since i last posted... not that i dunwan to post.. but rather..
lazy to do so... tired... no pc to use.. haha

there's so many things yes unhappy stuff (abt work wat else)to post abt haha but at the end of everyday kinda forget and dun feel so irritated wif the issue anymore...

Work is gettin... i dreaded going back after my exam leave...
Seems that I have been throwing temper after my leave... kinda feel bad though i was really angry....

Now even with the new ger i cant cope.. there's too many calls coming in.. n too many events i can't do any work cos of all those calls haiz so tiring... after each phone call i get so thirsty...
Again those ppl ask wat is the membership abt.. cant they read? there's a letter informin them of the ACT.. n how come there's still SO many ppl who dunno the ACT.. haiz.. not forgettin stupid callers...
we really need to push our name...

some of the stupid calls...

Caller: Can you remove my fax no from ur database?
Me: Sorry, we will need u to fax or email your request as we need black n white b4 we can update the DB
Caller: But last time i also called and asked the ger to remove she say ok but i still keep receiving faxes from u
Me: We need black n white b4 we can update our records so we need you to write in
DUH~~told u need u to write in still tell me last time u called n "the ger" say ok but u still receiving so WRITE in la..

Caller: *qns*
Me: if the amt is half a million n above, blah blah blah
Caller: oh billion ah
Me: no no million million, half a million
Caller: ok so if it's more than a billion den blah blah blah
Me: Million! half a million! five hundred thousand
Caller: oh ok hit tat amt la
Me: yes.. blah blah blah
Caller: ok loh so five thousand blah blah blah
Me *roll eyes violent*: five HUNDRED thousand not five thousand
Caller: oh ok

MY GOD! y these ppl can be so... i dun even noe wat word to use to describe.. can die from answerin these kind of calls.. half a million u tot it's half a billion i can understand but... haiz really puke blood man..

best part are those accountants... we sent invoice some mths back
den due to GST increase we had to readjust cos have not received payment by july so we sent a credit note n another invoice for 7% n they ask why they ve to pay amt (invoice @5% plus invoice @7%) haiz dun u noe wat is a credit note!!!

what kind of jobs should i look for?? hm...

Labels: tired..

SnOoPy