Friday, February 20, 2009
Slow Week
Relatively slow week this week. On Tuesday I had a It's Only F'ing Tuesday (OFT) moment at around 11am. But who knows maybe next Tuesday I won't be working! They are waiting for the client and are having a meeting on Monday, which is stupid because I wouldn't know if I have to go to work on Tuesday until then. It also mean I cannot book my flight to HK to get my visa done.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The Ultimate Force
Growing up in Asia when I was young had allowed me to experience a lot of things. Living in a shoe box sized home, enjoy an efficient public transport system, and working bloody hard at school, just to name a few. One of the most memorable moments though has to be getting spanked by the feather duster. Anyone who grew up in Asia in the 80s and 90s had to have experienced this at some stage and I am totally convinced this item existed in every home and would have seen more flesh than dust. My question though is the feather duster the ultimate weapon or are there anything else (item or technique) more vicious and inflicts more pain and suffering? I have heard of the cane, ruler, getting things thrown at you, and chili in the eye... I must say chili is pretty bad... it sounds like something you would do in concentration camps... Thanks for the contributions so far and you will remain nameless...
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Brazil vs Italy - The Game
As I walked up the starts to the upper tier where we were sitting I thought to myself this game better be worth it! I managed to grab a hot dog and drink before going to the stands, I was so hungry, I think I downed that in less than a minute.
The game started just as we sat down and said hi to he rest of the group. There were still people streaming into the stadium (no doubt due to the delays) and with the seats barely warm Italy scored!!!!! The crowd went wild as I was reaching for my camera but the flag was up for offside. Apparently it was a beautiful volley but I just missed it but saw the ball fly into the net from the left side.
As the first half went on we could see Brazil slowly dominating the game. Even a lazy Ronaldiho with his wayward passes managed to outshine anyone in a blue shirt. Brazil managed to score twice in the first half and damn they were nice goals. A mixture of good team link ups and sublime individual skills and commitment allowed the Brazilians to go into the break 2-nil up. We thought the teams were going to do a mass substitution at half time as Cannavaro and Robinho exchanged shirts (with a half naked Cannavaro slowly strolling off the field... sorry ladies, when I realised and got my 200mm zoom lens out he was on the other side of the field).
A short break in between and Italy was first out onto the field with a couple of substitutions. Brazil came out after and to my surprise the original team came back out. The second half though was not as entertaining as Brazil seemed to be satisfied with the lead and Italy as they were in the first half, lacked imagination. They did find the net though with Luca Toni controlling the ball with his arm but he was unable to fool the ref or the crowd. Toni came close again later on but Julio César pulled off a point blank save to deny him. The game pretty much finished shortly after that with Robinho (who was absolutely outstanding) receiving the player of the match award.
In the end, the pain to get there was forgotten with the night's memory replaced by silky skills and champagne football.
The game started just as we sat down and said hi to he rest of the group. There were still people streaming into the stadium (no doubt due to the delays) and with the seats barely warm Italy scored!!!!! The crowd went wild as I was reaching for my camera but the flag was up for offside. Apparently it was a beautiful volley but I just missed it but saw the ball fly into the net from the left side.
As the first half went on we could see Brazil slowly dominating the game. Even a lazy Ronaldiho with his wayward passes managed to outshine anyone in a blue shirt. Brazil managed to score twice in the first half and damn they were nice goals. A mixture of good team link ups and sublime individual skills and commitment allowed the Brazilians to go into the break 2-nil up. We thought the teams were going to do a mass substitution at half time as Cannavaro and Robinho exchanged shirts (with a half naked Cannavaro slowly strolling off the field... sorry ladies, when I realised and got my 200mm zoom lens out he was on the other side of the field).
A short break in between and Italy was first out onto the field with a couple of substitutions. Brazil came out after and to my surprise the original team came back out. The second half though was not as entertaining as Brazil seemed to be satisfied with the lead and Italy as they were in the first half, lacked imagination. They did find the net though with Luca Toni controlling the ball with his arm but he was unable to fool the ref or the crowd. Toni came close again later on but Julio César pulled off a point blank save to deny him. The game pretty much finished shortly after that with Robinho (who was absolutely outstanding) receiving the player of the match award.
In the end, the pain to get there was forgotten with the night's memory replaced by silky skills and champagne football.
Brazil vs Italy - The Journey
I wanted to blog about the awesome football game I went to last night at the Emirates but I thought I should split it up into 2 parts. The reason is because I believe the journey there was just as eventful as the match itself.
I left work at approximately 5:40pm to meet up with some friends for dinner near the stadium at 6:15pm. Since the TFL website thinks the bus would take maximum 40 minutes from where I was I decided to take the tube which was suppose to get me there in around 20-30 minutes. All was well as I took the Northern line from Moorgate to change at Kings Cross but one stop before the change the driver announced that someone fell ill at Euston station and we would be stopping at the current station for a while. I waited patiently and not long after we started moving again. I looked at my watch and it was just before 6pm so I would still be able to arrive on time. Half way to Kings Cross the driver announced that due to an incident and overcrowding we were no longer stopping at Kings Cross and the next stop will be Euston. I thought excellent... that is exactly what I needed. When we got to Euston I walked across to the Victoria line to try to go back the other way. However, nothing was stopping at the next station and since I was going to be late I decided to go up to the street level first to give my friends a call to let them know.
After the call I attempted to go back down to the tube and by then the platform was packed and the tubes were still not moving. They then announced that Kings Cross is open again and I went on a tube to go 1 stop up so I could get on the tube going back the other way. All was fine and my tube was empty, what a clever idea I thought. When I got back to Kings Cross station the door opened and everyone got off. When I was heading for the other platform, they made an announcement to tell everyone to get out of the station because of an incident. OMFG, why didn't you tell me that before I got off the tube at the fricken station?!!?!!? I got up to the top and asked one of the staff how am I suppose to get to the Emirates? Her reply was you have to wait until the station reopens but she didn't know how long.
I then decided to walk to Euston station which is 10 minutes away on foot and take the Victoria line up to Finsbury Park and perhaps walk to the stadium from there. Luckily for me I managed to get on a tube straight away and FINALLY on my way to the game. I got off at Finsbury Park and thought about taking the tube back to Arsenal station but decided against it. I looked at my watch as I climbed the starts towards the Emirates and made it there at 7:30pm. Waited for the rest of the gang and walked through the gates just before kick off... What was suppose to be a 20 minutes journey took almost 2 hours... Longer than the game itself... @#$% London public transport system...
I left work at approximately 5:40pm to meet up with some friends for dinner near the stadium at 6:15pm. Since the TFL website thinks the bus would take maximum 40 minutes from where I was I decided to take the tube which was suppose to get me there in around 20-30 minutes. All was well as I took the Northern line from Moorgate to change at Kings Cross but one stop before the change the driver announced that someone fell ill at Euston station and we would be stopping at the current station for a while. I waited patiently and not long after we started moving again. I looked at my watch and it was just before 6pm so I would still be able to arrive on time. Half way to Kings Cross the driver announced that due to an incident and overcrowding we were no longer stopping at Kings Cross and the next stop will be Euston. I thought excellent... that is exactly what I needed. When we got to Euston I walked across to the Victoria line to try to go back the other way. However, nothing was stopping at the next station and since I was going to be late I decided to go up to the street level first to give my friends a call to let them know.
After the call I attempted to go back down to the tube and by then the platform was packed and the tubes were still not moving. They then announced that Kings Cross is open again and I went on a tube to go 1 stop up so I could get on the tube going back the other way. All was fine and my tube was empty, what a clever idea I thought. When I got back to Kings Cross station the door opened and everyone got off. When I was heading for the other platform, they made an announcement to tell everyone to get out of the station because of an incident. OMFG, why didn't you tell me that before I got off the tube at the fricken station?!!?!!? I got up to the top and asked one of the staff how am I suppose to get to the Emirates? Her reply was you have to wait until the station reopens but she didn't know how long.
I then decided to walk to Euston station which is 10 minutes away on foot and take the Victoria line up to Finsbury Park and perhaps walk to the stadium from there. Luckily for me I managed to get on a tube straight away and FINALLY on my way to the game. I got off at Finsbury Park and thought about taking the tube back to Arsenal station but decided against it. I looked at my watch as I climbed the starts towards the Emirates and made it there at 7:30pm. Waited for the rest of the gang and walked through the gates just before kick off... What was suppose to be a 20 minutes journey took almost 2 hours... Longer than the game itself... @#$% London public transport system...
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Snowed In
Heavy snow fall in London in the past 24 hours, which isn't too bad except for the crappy transport network and there are no buses and limited tube services today. Called in to say I was working from home but my manager insisted on me being on client site. What is he thinking? Luckily common sense kicked in and with little persuasion I decided not to go. Called up the PM and he said there is no urgent issue so that was that. First you want me to take leave from end of month and now you want me to fight heavy snow to get to work? What is the chances of that?
Monday, February 2, 2009
Still thinking but have to decide soon
Work wants me to get my visa early and now wants me to take leave of absence from end of Feb. This is unexpected because I have plans to do it in April. Now I have to work out what I need for my visa and whether I can do it earlier instead. If not then I'll have to bum around until April and then a further however long to get the visa back home. Very annoying indeed.
Disappointing
Will Federer ever get number 14 to equal Sampras? It's so frustrating to see him come so close but yet not close enough. Watching the speech now and he is pretty much heart broken... He has had so much support from the Australian crowd... just hope he can find that spark again and get the idea of him not being able to beat Nadal out of his head!
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