Salary Man

Got my pay... and my bonus... not much lah but I am still thankful for what God has given me. Its so easy to gripe about the lack of increment but when you put things into perspective, there's really so much to thank God for...

If I compare with the people who earns more than me, of course I will not be satisfied... but to think that majority of the people out there in this world barely makes enough to eke out a meal everyday, I am thankful for what I have.

I've often pondered if it is appropriate for me to ask for a raise as a Christian... it may be a no-brainer for a non-Christian to ask this question but as a Christian, it is my God that is the One supplying all of my needs, therefore it is natural as a Christian that we should ask Him for the raise instead from our boss right? So, part of me struggles to understand and accept this fact. I do not know if this struggle is normal but it is real.

The only way I am coping with this struggle is to submit to God, remembering His promise that He will supply all my needs, according to His riches and glory, and also to be thankful always for His daily provisions... :)

GOAL!!!

I just realised that football is one of the only sport where you, as a spectator, would sit quietly for long moments staring at the match and suddenly, out of nowhere, you let out a roar... "GOAL!!!" and the floodgates of emotion is released! I doubt there's any sport out there that can build up tension as well as football. :)

Family matters

An update on my baby nephew, Isaac... Yesterday he was 5 months old... this is how he looks like now... Sooo cute! Kawaii!!!

I'm so... sleepy

I'm so sleepy x 10

Oh well... :(

Another one for daydreaming?

Sweetheart, this is for you...

I want my house to be like this...

This house has everything I want... next to the river, shady trees all around, a pergola, nice lawn, a shed to keep my row boats and last but not least, a barge house! :)

Win by all means?

There is only one word that would describe Didier Drogba: C.H.E.A.T.

Why? He did the same thing he did in Fulham... except this time, the officials did not punish him for it...

Does it matter so much that you have to win at ANY cost??? How can you feel satisfied when you know that you did not achieve your goal with your own ability?

God using anything or anyone...

God had used animals and children to remind us of Him... so today he used someone of another faith to remind me that He is still in control.

As you know from my last post, I was feeling rather miserable because of my student's poor results but then one of my students, who was quite happy with her results, reminded me not to despair, that her former housemate, a Christian, would read the Bible whenever she is stressed out. Wow... to hear that from one from another faith... I have again underestimated God...

Thank you Lord... for your timely reminder... I will lean on You. Amen.

Miserable

I am feeling rather miserable right now... got my student's results liao... not that great... almost all were marked down. Sighs...

I need a pick me up right now...

The going gets tough...

Its getting very tough lately... we've never been away from each other for so long before... and its affecting us. What are we to do???

A few more weeks Lord, please help us through the next few weeks...

Strawberry Trifle! :)

I was talking to one of my students on MSN just now about desserts... and I just realised which dessert I like the most... its not cheesecake nor tiramisu... it has to be trifle, and strawberry trifle to be exact...

What is a trifle? Well, trifle is an English dessert dish made from a mixture of thick custard, fruit, sponge cake, jelly/jello and whipped cream. Most trifles contain a small amount of alcohol (port, sweet sherry or madeira) - non-alcoholic versions use fruit juice instead, as the liquid is necessary to moisten the cake. Wah... so nice...

Wow... what a gem...

I've just found a gem of player in FM2006. He is young and massively talented... good stats. No, I am not talking about Rooney or Messi but Tomas Sivok, a defensive midfielder. Just the thing for my Man Utd... maybe Sir Alex should check him out??? :) Looks like I don't have to rely on Javier Mascherano anymore :)

Edit: I've just realised how slow I have been in unearthing this gem... apparently his name has been thrown around the FM forums for quite awhile now... :(

Falling...

The bigger they are, the harder they fall... :) I am sure alot of people out there are sleeping more soundly with the realisation that no one is perfect and the seemingly unbeatable giants are also humans after all...

Fulham 1 Chelsea 0.

Too quiet?

Something is brewing in Man Utd. While every other top-tier Premiership club has been linked with some player... nothing seems to be happening in Man Utd. Well, not really... there's this talk about Van Niistelrooy. but that's about someone leaving... not someone coming... hrm... I really wonder who will be THE midfielder... I have a feeling its someone big, and not necessarily old too.

Plenty of names had been mention before the January deadline... Vogel, Zokora, Diarra, Gravesen... but lately, its been really quiet.

Hrmm...

Should I or should I not? That is the question...

My baby mentioned to me that she wanted this and I'm thinking of getting it for her... what do you think?

Ice ice baby?

Why is there a trend in canned drinks where the manufacturers add something to make it feel icy? Take Nescafe Ice for example. Its like adding mint into the drinks without the minty flavour. It just tastes weird. Don't you think?

Warp speed, Scotty...

The following was my comment (albeit an updated and amended version) on Viewtru's posting on our ever diminishing fuel...

--------------------------------------------------------------

Maybe the future of the nuclear-fueled car is not so far away...

You know something? cars that run on alternative fuel has always been around, gas, hydrogen fuel cell, bio-diesel, solar, hybrid... its all there... just more tweaking and we are off to mass production. They may not have to power for us to rev it loud and burn rubber down the street but it is more than sufficient to take us from point A to point B.

The problem is, alot is at stake here, no one is interested in putting lots of money in making such cars cos there are alot of selfish people out there who are eager to hold-on to, and make even more, petro-dollars. Oil companies, auto-manufacturers, oil-producing countries... imagine, most middle-eastern countries will be as poor as a beggar if not for fuel... they have plenty of nothing else, except... well... sand.

Countries were even willing to wage war over this "black-gold". You think Iraq was really a war on terror? Think again, its a war for gold... black gold. If the country does not have oil, do you think the US government would be willing to send their soldiers there to die for nothing? I think not...

So you see... we may want public transport, alternative fuel cars and a better environment but will we get it? Not likely anytime soon... :(

International Women's Day for all women?

Read about this from Viewtru's blog (one of those blogs that I read regularly). It was about Lucia's post on Marina Mahathir's article for the Star on International Women's Day that was rejected because it was dealing with some very sensitive matters... i.e. the rights of, or rather lack of, Muslim women in Malaysia.

Sighs... Wawasan 2020? Towards a mature, thinking, caring and sensitive society? I think we still have a long way to go huh?

Edit: I was told that Marina's article was published in today's edition of Star... but in a truncated form... sheesh... its like cutting your speech while you are speaking... how rude!

Everybody hates Chelsea

I wonder why someone would support Chelsea nowadays... there is an increasing number of sport news articles mentioning how even the hard-core Chelsea fans are disgruntled with their team... Their main gripe: the atmosphere is one of the worse in the Premiership... and they were also bemoaning the fact that currently they are playing very, very boring and negative football, that although they did not win much in the past, they played very attractive and attacking football then. Well, not anymore... thank you, Jose "Moan"rinho. Thanks for making Chelsea the most boring and hated them in the Premiership.

Now they are out of the Champions League... good riddance, I'd say. Its seems that this view is not only shared by me, but by a lot of football pundits too. Not only that, some are saying that Chelsea are the architects of their own downfall... that their riches and resources are the reason why their form are so very poor... cos there is not enough of a challenge for them to keep them at tip-top form.

Not only that, many are also saying that Chelsea will never be as popular as Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal because of the lack of history in, and passion for, the beautiful game... even clubs like Newcastle and Totenham Hotspurs play with more passion and flair than Chelsea.

Btw, if you have not realised by now that I really, really, really dislike Chelsea, you must be from another Universe...

Drama Queen

I read, on the Star newspaper today, this article about a guy who sued the paper and the writer of the an article that allegedly called him a "drama-queen lecturer", saying that it was damaging his reputation and causing him psychological damage...

Pfffttt... this guy just proved the point of the writer, didn't he? Sighs... :P

Sportsmanship

Barcelona's head coach Frank Rijkaard is calling for the team and the fans to act in a sportmans-like manner. This is in response to the actions of some Barcelona fans who spitted and hackled at the opposing team yesterday and this call has seemed to caught on, with lots of Barcelona newspapers and radio stations echoing Rjikaard's call.

Hrmm... This is definitely one attribute that is clearly lacking at a certain blue-clad South London football club. :)

Wind

Wow, I noticed that I've been blogging a lot more consistently recently. :) A second wind maybe?

Well, at least its not the OTHER kind of wind that I can generate! :)

Mellowing?

Do you think Sir Alex Ferguson is mellowing with his age? This was his comments after Man Utd's match with Wigan last night:

"They didn't deserve to lose - it was so unlucky for Pascal Chimbonda, he couldn't do much about it in the end. I don't think we've had a harder away game all season - Wigan were brilliant, absolutely terrific. We were poor in the first half but we improved and then gambled. I'd have settled for 1-1 as they were so good."

What do you think? So nice to see that he is more generous in his comments about other teams, with the exception of Arsenal, but that could all be just mind-games. :)

Even though football is a very competitive sport, I think there should some decency and gentlemanliness among managers when handling other teams AFTER the match.

I don't think Jose "Moan"rinho would ever say something like that huh?

Just wondering...

Edit: This is a rather idiotic post... bear with me ok? Its just me, doing some daydreaming and you, realising how empty my brain is...

Hrmm... if I was given a Euro Millions lottery ticket and I won the top prize, I'd be RM169 million richer right? Then am I supposed to give 10% of my earnings to tithes?

On the same trail...

Edit: this post was inspired by the recent posting about the Kiso Valley, Central Honshu, on the Star newspaper.

Continuing from my previous train of thoughts about me having alot of money...

I'd want to use some of that money to:

1. learn Japanese together with Su Yin,
2. travel the width and length of Japan, and
3. make a travelogue about my trip. :)

Oklah, time to go back to earth again... :(

Cars and trucks and things that go

The recent increase in oil prices have been one of the most talked about issues in and around our country. I understand that the oil prices had to be increased and we have no control of that but there are so many things that we can do to overcome this problem.

When will anyone learn that the only way this country can survive the oil crisis is to move people onto public transport? Sighs...

There are so many countries with so many examples of successful public transport systems that are supervised by a unified transport board. Singapore, London, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Japan... Why can't we learn from them?

Here we have to cope with poorly maintained vehicles, unqualified drivers, unadhered-to schedules and badly managed systems. I am sure alot of people would be willing to hop onto public transport if it is safe, clean and on-schedule. Come on PM, make this your priority!

Bringing up children

I realise over the weekend that if we bring up children with the following principles, they'd be set for life:

1. Love God and obey Him.
2. Work hard.
3. Be thrifty.
4. Do not be afraid to fail.

I never said it was going to be easy instilling these principles into them, did I?

Must haves

Things that I must have in my kitchen:

1. Tomatoes
2. Carrots
3. Mince meat (chicken, pork or beef)
4. Sausages/frankfurters
5. Choi Sum
6. Margarine
7. Peas
8. Cheese
9. Chicken bone (for stock)
10. Potatoes
11. Cabbage
12. Coriander
13. Mushrooms
14. Eggs

If I have this around my kitchen, I can basically cook almost anything... :)

Hrmm...

I was watching Key Largo and To Have and Have Not recently, both by Humphrey Bogart, and I noticed that the fishing boat in Key Largo called Santana looks alot like the fishing boat Queen Conch in To Have and Have Not...

I know it sounds really meaningless but its just my observation, that's all...

Mind is blank

I wanted to blog something or other but now as I sit in front of my comp, I'm at a lost at what to write. Nothing... zip...

Sighs... oh well...

What can I say... impressive!

I just had a read of Soccernet.com's article on the coming Football World Cup's finalist countries and it was interesting to observe that Man Utd has the most number of players in the "Players to Watch" list for the coming World Cup... and they are:

1. Wayne Rooney (England),
2. Christiano Ronaldo (Portugal), and
   
3. Park Ji Sung (South Korea).

All of them are tipped to light up the World Cup with their performances for their individual countries. Personally, I'd like to see another player who's in the list, Rafael van der Vaart (Holland), join this illustrious trio next season at Man Utd.

Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Juventus and Arsenal each can only boast of having 1 member of their team in this list. Not even a peep from Liverpool or Real Madrid here.

Even though, Man Utd's financial power maybe waning, it seems to me that their star-pulling power is still undoubtedly strong... Now, if only Rafael and that silly John Obi Mikel are tempted to join them next season...

Sleepy

Oh, woe is me...
Starting my day sleepy...

Ho-hum, fiddle my thumbs... back to work.

Looking into the future...

This picture was taken off one of the websites I visited during my lunch break... sums up our current conditions aptly huh? Looks like we'd have alot more people joining him at the kaki lima if the trend continues...