LION ROAR!

Last night is one of the nights I will not forget for my rest of my life. Yes. I was at the National Stadium last night.

I’m sure almost the whole nation knew that Singapore Football Team is having a match against our neighbours, Malaysia. It’s the semi-finals of the ASEAN Cup. A few days ago, when I knew the first leg match at Malaysia was a draw, I knew Singapore stands a chance. The second leg would be here, our own home ground. I’m sure the Singapore National Team would like to have the home ground advantage. Hence, I asked my father to buy the tickets. He was fast enough to get 4 tickets for my family at the grandstand. I was looking forward to watch the game live.

I didn’t have the chance to watch Singapore plays in a competitive match before. The last time was a friendly match, my beloved Liverpool Team flew to Singapore playing against my nation, Singapore. So, I wanted to experience how a LIVE competitive match feels like in the National Stadium. Sadly, it’s going to be demolished soon. I have to make a last trip down. From the news, I heard the tickets were selling fast and I expected a huge crowd coming down to Kallang. I was feeling excited..

Reached the stadium at 7. I could say, the stadium was beginning to get filled up. It’s drizzling and the seats were slightly damp. Luckily, my mother was smart enough to have some plastic bags for us to sit on. We managed to get a good seat in the grandstand. Exactly the middle of the field.

 The stadium is filling up.

Just when I settled down, the Singapore team came coming in, doing their warm-ups.

After much waiting, the match was about to begin. The national anthem for each country was being played. It’s kind of sad that I heard some booings when the Malaysian anthem was playing. Can’t help it though.

The match began. The atmosphere was magnificent. I could feel that the stadium was about to burst anytime. Cheers, clappings, shoutings, booings were just some things you heard over there. I was enjoying my football and at the same time, looking at the fans around me. Some of the fans were so funny. I was laughing at some of their actions and phrases throughout the game.

One of the cheers they shouted, “butok” which I think a malay vugluarity to the malaysia team. Somehow, I enjoyed it and it’s worth a laugh. An uncle near me was like shouting onto the pitch, telling the players where to run, how to pass and ya, behaving like a coach. He’s hilarious though. At the same time, the Kallang Roar was around. Going rounds and rounds. I just felt glad that I’m in the roar!

Malaysia had the first goal. Damn it! The malaysia player had some space outside the penalty area and the fans over my side was shouting “CLOSE HIM DOWN!” but ya, he managed to get a shot. Lionel Lewis, our goalkeeper, struggled to hold on to the ball and it crossed over the line. 1-0 to Malaysia.

The morale was affected. Still, we didn’t give up! We carried on cheering and shouting, and I was praying hard for the equaliser. I didn’t want to go home with nothing. Fortunately, our voices were not wasted. In the 74th minute, Riduan equalised for us! Kallang stadium exploded!! Oh yes! I was jumping around with my hands in the air, shouting GOAL on top of my voice. 

“OLE, OLE, OLE..” was being cheered among the fans and the 55,000 crowd needed this. Oh my, I just can’t explain that feeling, just totally ”shiok!” It’s like one big family! The whole nation was jumping in joy! 1-1.

The last 15 minutes was heart-breaking stuff. Singapore pressed on, and on several occasions almost scored. Singapore fans were just jumping up and down everytime we had a chance. One of funny phrases a fan shouted “Come on Singapore! Faster score one and then I can go home sleep arh!!” Typical Singaporean accent? I agree, but I was smiling upon hearing that.

The game went into extra-time. Not a single fan left. The atmosphere was intense and I could understand how painful it would be if Singapore had lost this game. There were tired legs out there and the most crucial moment was.. PRECIOUS! Our defender had a long shot from 30m out, it was heading towards the top corner of the net until, the goalkeeper made a great save. The stadium almost exploded the second time. I had my hands on my head as usual.

It was penalty shootout. I was talking to an uncle beside me and he told me that he don’t like penalty shootouts. I told him, it’s not good for the heart. He gave me a smile. The kicks started. Every single goal Singapore scored on the spot, Kallang Roars! However, whenever a Malayia player steps up, “BOOOOOOOOOO!!” That’s normal. Pressure is really high. Sun Jiayi, our fifth player to take the kick, almost missed his kick. His kick was luckily into the net through a deflection of the goalkeeper.

Here comes the moment! Malaysia have to score in order to be in. Pressure level is just .. HUGE! BOOs came around and for the last kick.. There were trembles..You could feel the vibration. I’m sure the player who was kicking it, could feel it. He shot to the right, Lionel Lewis saved it! WE WON! YEAH!

Kallang stadium erupted!! Jumping and celebrating in joy! I was one of them shouting! Goodness.. What a match to be in..

The players celebrating at their bench.

 It’s just unbelievable. Although the standard of football is lower than the EPL etc, I enjoyed it as much as I watch my beloved Liverpool. Awesome match!

We took some photos at the end of the match.

It’s something you can’t forget easily and I’m sure I will remember this..at least for my rest of my life.

Let me leave you some memories of the National Stadium before it’s demolished.

After much shouting and cheering, I was left with no voice but a smile on my face. 

Cheers.

Projects, Here I Come!

Projects is the hot topic for this coming weeks, and it seems like everyday is a project day. Be it doing the report alone at home or even meeting up for presentation etc. I’m beginning to get used to it. My main aim is to complete every project fast so that I can concentrate on my other areas as soon as possible.

Let me see how many projects i’ve left..

1. Research Project (Done)

2. Macroeconomics (Almost Done)

3. Marketing (Halfway Through)

4. Oral Communications Presentation.

5. Frontpage Project

Oh yes. I realised it’s almost half done for everything. Just need to stick it in and give in my whole for the rest of the projects. Jiayou!

Yesterday, after NYP Open House duty, I went to Queensway Shopping Centre with my mother and auntie. Went shopping and bought my beloved Liverpool Jersey. Finally! I’ve waited for this long to have one. I know it’s somehow late, but it’s better late than never. Thanks Auntie Cindy, she bought it for me!

I was smiling when I took these photos, also to see a Liverpool jersey hanging on my cupboard. This is also another Liverpool shirt I bought the other day. (As well upload it.)

Thanks for everything.

Cheers.

It’s Not Easy As It Seems..

I had a hot bath today and I’m drinking a cup of warm water. I didn’t know how to start today’s entry. Just totally didn’t know how to move my fingers in typing the words. Still, I managed to type a paragraph.

 Today was NYP’s Open House, and some of us are chosen for duty. I was no exception. It was crowded, packed. I managed to guide some schools around. It’s not easy to guide such students because they came in big groups and not every single student listens to you. As I was bringing the students around, some of them were simply carrying the “bo chap” attitude, while some, they did listen and really paid attention. You just can’t expect everyone to listen to you? Nevertheless, I’ve done my best and after 2 hours, I was off duty.

Have been watching movies recently. Watched ‘Blood Diamond” the other day, and watched “Kungfu Mahjong 3″ today. All these movies are not that bad, gives me a time off my timetable, and spent that 2 hours in the cinema, laughing out loud and enjoying the storyline at the same time. I do love watching movies, of course, when you have the money. Still, I do choose the shows which I would like to watch. Horror and ghost movies are definitely not my type. I will sleep in such movies. Comedy, detective etc movies are more appealing to me.

 Everyday is as packed as the burger I always eat at Macdonalds. Yes yes, everyone is busy. Chinese New Year is coming and I don’t have the time to shop. My mother and friends are asking me when I’m going out to buy my stuff. I was unable to reply but just to stall for time. Projects = Time. Datelines are getting nearer. There are still several projects to go. It’s going to be a hard time, real hard.

Exams timetable is out. Just added an entry on my “Worry List”. Studies is the most important of everything, yet I’ve to admit, I’m not spending much time on it. 24 hours are not enough. “That’s just an excuse, Louis.” That’s what I always tell myself. My father was nagging at me this morning. As usual, I kept quiet, but deep inside, I was really upset. Angry at the fact that I’m not working hard on it, not on my father’s nagging. Probably he’s right. It’s all about your mentality and attitude. I think I have not tuned my mind into the right frequency at this very moment, sad to say.

Human relationships are just so complicating. Be it a boy-girl, a friend, classmate, colleague, whoever it is, relationship, It’s all not simple and so problematic at times. It’s hard to satisfy everyone, and working with one another tends to have conflicts and barriers surfacing. I’m sure everyone faces such problems everyday. Some trouble-makers will just create some trouble for you, disagreements over work, power struggle etc. It gets really frustrating and you just don’t feel good when such things occuring to you. I faced that and I hate that. It’s simply not easy to please everyone out there and expect everyone to heed your theories. Relationships is something which I’m trying hard to comprehend and understand. I guess it will take some time and learn from past experiences.

Somehow or rather, I miss playing soccer. I didn’t have been touching the ball for quite some time. I used to touch it every single day. Still could remember those days in primary school, during recess, we all would race down to the netball court and play soccer, using tennis balls. We even competed with several classes and somehow created a league format. These were just sweet memories when I was abit younger. I also miss playing soccer back at ADSS with Maoists. Those days when we celebrated scoring goals while the whole school cheered for us. Somehow, I know, all these stuff has become history. Just thinking back on how happy I was playing on the field. Unfortuantely, at this very moment, I can’t feel the same way which I felt few years back.

As I’ve mentioned before, these coming months are going to be simply packed and stressful. Am I able to take it? I’m unsure. I’ll just have to take one thing at a time, isn’t it ?

cheers.

A Win Which Sparks Off My Week..

For those who don’t understand my title for today, it’s just a simple phrase. ‘My beloved Liverpool has beaten Chelsea in the league on saturday.’ The victory was just so sweet and I’m sure every Liverpool fan will be smiling for the week, at least for few days. I’m no exception, I admit, my mood is good ever since the win and I hope it carries on.

 The week has been full of work, projects and meet ups. As usual, body and mind just can’t stop working until last night, when I can sleep like a log, without worrying what time to wake up the next day. Fully slept well and it’s been sometime since I’ve slept so soundly. Body has not been exercising for quite some time, muscles are not stretched and it’s really feeling lazy. Really need to take up some time to work out. At least, sweat it out under the sun.

 Went back to Adss, trained my secondary 3 cadets first class drills. It’s not very simple as these drills are advanced and I needed more time to teach them properly. They took a while to warm up and after much scolding, they woke up and did pretty well. It just feels good going back, seeing my cadets. And, watching them grow, promoting from secondary 1 all the way to secondary 4 just puts a smile on my face. “I will be busy, however, I will always try my best to make my way back to see you guys.”

 My father was talking to me about the topics he discussed with his friends during one of his meet-ups. One of the topics the guys mentioned was studies of their respective children. To be frank, I hate to hear this. I thought these topics would be mentioned only during mothers and aunties’ talk, but yes, men’s talk as well. My father is someone who has high expectations on his children. Being his son, I’m of course very aware of that. Unfortunately, somehow all these years, I’ve not been performing well enough and this has led to much disappointment in him and myself.

Everytime, i take back any results slip, be it a test paper, or exam paper, the first person I though about is my father. I just don’t know why, it’s just naturally appear on my mind. It’s been like that since young. Deep down, I know what’s expected of me from him and I would be seeing a day when I can tell my father. “Pa, I’ve done well.”

 It’s a new week ahead. Have a smooth week guys! Work hard!

cheers.

Well Done, Singapore Football Team..

The Singapore national football team has qualified for the semi-finals of the ASEAN which is formerly known as Tiger Cup. They managed to hold on to a 2-2 draw with Indonesia, which also meant that Indonesia is being knocked out. I could say that Singapore has improved tremendously during the recent years and they are playing better football now. Results are the evidence. For this match, Singapore just needed a draw to qualify, and they did it. WELL DONE SINGAPORE! I’m looking forward for your game against Malaysia.

Was in school today early in the morning. Have to redo a project. We did wrongly and the teacher was really kind enough to give us two more days and we were determined to finish it within a day. Met at 9 with Jayjee and Qiaoling. We started and we didn’t turn back till lunch time. It was tiring, but still, all 3 of us were determined to get the project done well. We manged to complete it in 4 hours. We completed in 4 hours. That’s totally awesome. Could really see the final report and had the best feeling and satisfaction. All thanks to my great members! Jayjee and Qiaoling! GOOD JOB!

 As I’ve mentioned before, these 2 months will be busy and packed for me. In March, I will have my wisdom tooth surgery. I’m really wondering how does it feel to have your wisdom tooth removed ? I heard that your face will be swollen for weeks. Nevertheless, I will face it when it comes.

A huge ulcer has been at the back of my throat for some time and it’s been really irritating for these days. Of course, it’s painful. It just sometimes affects my appetite for food at times as even swallowing my own saliva causes some discomfort. Still, I didn’t care much and ate my normal stuff everyday. There’s a Chinese saying ”Use poison cure poison. I guess I’m using that method though i know it’s not going to work. I did drink some salt water and my throat felt better though the salty water turns me off. Just drinks as much water and prays hard that the huge “cave” in my throat will be gone in no time.

I’m yawning and there’s school tomorrow. It’s time to log off.

cheers.

It’s Just Matter of Choices..

Woke up early this morning to prepare myself for the day. It’s a long day, as usual, it’s Tuesday. What else can you expect?

Arranged my room neatly, written the important dates into my notepad, checking on my expenses so far. These are just some things I did within one hour or so. The sun is bright today but within the clouds, I could see darkness. Does it mean it’s raining again? Or this is a signal of telling me what’s going to happen to me today? I hope not.

In our daily lives,  we have to make choices everyday. Whether to eat Japanese food or to eat Western food? Whether to skip class or not? Sometimes, we make choices for ourselves, own pleasure, but at other times, it’s because of your surroundings, your family and peers. I thought back, what about myself? Do I make choices due to friends or my own sake? I admit, many times, choices are made based on my feelings and thinking. I don’t care much the ones around me. Is that good? Or I should consider my surroundings factors before i make any choices? I don’t know. Readers, I’m sure you have advices and opinions on this. Let me know.

I had some wierd dreams recently. Yes, dreams are always strange, different from the reality world. But, these few nights, dreams have been wierd and I’m slightly disturbed by it. You could feel that the body is not fully rested when you just keep on dreaming and dreaming. I would rather have dreamless sleep which I love the most. Are dreams related to our real life? I guess so. Somehow or rather, these wierd dreams are linked to my reality life. Probably, I think too much before I sleep.

I’m still waiting for the day..

cheers.

Totally Thrashed..

I just finished watching a soccer match. Singapore Vs Laos. An Asean Cup Group stage game. Guess what’s the score? 11-0! What a score! Double digits in a soccer match is rare. Still, it’s a great match for Singapore and I’m proud of them. Sometimes, when I watch Singapore plays, I wish I am able to represent Singapore in the field. Nevertheless, it’s just a dream which I think it’s almost impossible to fufill.

 These few days were packed like sandwiches. Dateslines and meetings are so near to each other. To be honest, it’s pushing me to my brim. It seems like there are so many things for me to do. Am i poor in time management? Or I just don’t know what on earth I’m doing? Projects? I’m glad that I’ve completed one, with credit to my members, qiaoling and jayjee. There are 3 more to go. A lot of time, energy and determination for all these projects to be done. 

Tests? I had accounting test. Yes, I made a mess out of it. I did study and practice for the test. But, unfortunately, things didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to be. I was utterly disappointed with myself. There are tests coming up and examinations are just next month. It’s going to be hard, real hard.

I’m praying hard for everything, keeping my fingers crossed.

 Had a nice dinner with family back at home, my mother was the chef today. Didn’t have home-cooked food for sometime, and I’m glad that I had a filling dinner. Nowadays, I would prefer to stay at home which is best thing you can do. The world outside is so complicated that sometimes, I just couldn’t catch a thing. Now I realised the importance and comfy of home.

Will I be the Laos Team who conceeded 11 goals? Or will I be Singapore Soccer National team which has just won 11-0 at the National Stadium? I would prefer the latter, definitely.

cheers. 

Packed & Tight Schedule..

It’s been a busy and packed week for me. Projects and tests are driving me crazy. There are so many deadlines to be met. Mind is bursting..

 Busy = Tired = Sleep = No Blog = Stagnant. Chain effects? It explains it all. 

Currently, I have 2 blogs. My personal blog and my football blog. This football blog has became my priority blog. I’ll normally blog about football first before I blog over here. Sometimes, by the time I’ve blogged for my football blog, I’m too tired to blog for personal blog, this also explains the reason of no new entries. Still, I would try my best to blog for both and bloggers out there should know, blogging is tough.

 Personally, when I blog, I would normally think hard of what to type and let the words flow naturally. There will be times when you will just have a mental block. Totally unable to type the words. It’s frustrating, I understand. I’m minful of my sentence structure in my blogs and I spend much time on editing my entry. All these needs energy, thinking, and interest. It’s not so easy as it seems. Still, everyday, if I have the time, i would go to other blogs and learn some of the good structure and sentences of how people writes. It pleases me when I can see improvement in my entries and I’m eager to keep improving on it. 

The rain seems to be coming back again and it’ve been raining for the past 2 days? RAIN. There are some advantages and of course, disadvantages as well. 

 Advantages:

-Cool weather. (That’s what I can think of.)

Disadvantages:

-The “troublesome” of taking an umbrella. Imagine you are wearing so nicely with an umbrella in your hand? Doesn’t seems right.

-Floods. Shoes, slippers and jeans are getting wet.

-Late for school, work. Cool weather = Nice to sleep, hence, chances of overslept is high.

-Due to rain, Mother told me that it’s difficult to get clothes dry, hence, no clothes to wear.

-The fear of getting wet when travelling.

-Does rain breed mosquitoes? I’m not really sure, if yes, I guess I might lose more blood?

In conclusion, INCONVENIENCE. The best situation would be the weather remains cool while the droplets get lesser. Isn’t it the best?

 The next 2 months would be tough. Full of work and tasks to be completed. All I can say is to “Jiayou!”

cheers. 

Fierce Competition..

Tuesday is always the day all of us dread because of the fact that it’s a long day with lessons starting from 2pm stretching to 10pm. Yes, it’s indeed tiring. Nevertheless, I’m gotten use to it and in order to do well, you can’t possibly give up on just because of a day of long hours.

 Recieved my Internet web-based results, and once I saw it, I just turned over the paper. Though I’ve expected it, I was kind of disappointed as at least, i wanted a pass. Yes, i failed marginally, just a few more marks. My teacher was encouraging and told me to press on. To be honest, that phrase helped me a little. I tried to put my results at the back of my head and moved on with the lessons.

 Went for statistics lecture. I was really eager to listen and wanted to make sure I’m able to absorb as much as I could. Unfortunately, I didn’t able to accomplish what i aimed to do. The lecturer was as poor as ever. Lecture was noisy and it’s evening. The weather was cool after the rain, and I was not able to concentrate on the lecture, let alone absorb. “Please Sleep” seeps into my mind many times. I was disappointed with the lecturer who’s also “fortunately” my tutor. She’s soft and was not able to capture the student’s attention. End up, i left the lecture hall during the break. Really pointless to stay on. I would rather self learn and learn from my classmates later on.

 During the lecture, I was looking around the hall and a thought came to my mind. These people in the hall are the ones who’s going to compete with me in future. Jobs, Salaries, Employment etc. Some of them may become my bosses and these are the people who are going to have a share of your rice bowl as well. To be honest, I was scared by that thought. Competition is everywhere and it’s getting fiercer and tougher every now and then. Singapore is a society whereby you are not good enough, you will be kicked out. That’s nothing much we can do.

 I still could remember, last term, my classmate Cindy went to ask a fellow mate from another class about the topics tested in a test. She asked politely and the answer she got back totally turns me off. He replied: ” If i tell you, then you will score higher than me arh?” Oh yes, that’s the answer i heard coming out from his mouth. I was shocked. Totally stunned by the fact people nowadays are still so selfish and just don’t understand the word “sharing”. I was wondering, has competition turn people like us into selfish people who don’t even want to help others? I’m truly disappointed by the answer and the fact that I’ve heard such remarks often.

 Does this represents that people are more mindful of their own benefits than to help and share with others? I just don’t understand. I always believe that, being successful alone is not good enough, a selfish thinking. The fact of being successful with successful people around you, isn’t it better? Helping others to improve is a sign of sharing and I truly appreciate people around me, helping me whenever i need them. After much thinking, i  can imagine the society outside will be like, let alone just a polytechnic.

Nevertheless, despite all these selfish competition, I still believe that there are still people around us who are willing to share their success and knowledge to the people around them. I would never hesitate to do that.

 As each day passes, the thoughts of tests and projects just added to the work load of my mind. Still, I’m more than determined to get these done and do it well. I read this phrase somewhere and it does tinkers my mind.

‘Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.’  ~Sun-tzu

cheers.  

Unwell Today..

The day was early for me today. Woke up the earliest in the family and woke up the whole family. Sister has to go to school, Mother’s sick and Father has to send both me and Sister to school. As promised, i ate breakfast and wanted to have a good start for the day. Went off in my father’s car and upon reaching school, i was feeling a slight pain in my stomach.

 I endured and hope that the pain would be gone in no time. Managed to hang on when I reached the tutorial room. Unfortunately, the pain got worse and the next moment i knew, i was speeding towards the toilet.

Once i reached the toilet, #@!*%$*!%#* !! My legs were weak, and at that time, i knew i was not feeling well. Was feeling giddy and i thought i would be able to get over it after some time. Again, i was wrong. Upon walking out of the toilet, my vision was slightly blur. i was walking towards the class tutorial when there’s a sudden feel of vomiting. I wanted to rush back to the toilet! Unluckily, i was not able to hold on and vomitted on the floor. ”Yucks! Disgusting!” I think so too.

At that point, I guess i scared some people along the way. But, at that very moment, I was more concerned of myself than anything. Paced back to the toilet and could see my pale face. Goodness! Pale face really scared me off. Can’t believe it was me when i looked into the mirror. Xiaoen and Connie was wondering why i took a long time and came out to find me. Fortunately, when they saw me, I was feeling much better.

 It was a bad experience for me. I hate the feeling of being sick, and for this case, even vomitted in the school. Nevertheless, i do not know the cause of what happened. Probably because of Mother who also has the same symptons. There’s goes my breakfast for the day. My stomach was not cooperating with me throughout the day, but i was feeling really much better later in the day. That really relieved me.

I can’t afford to fall ill at this crucial time. I don’t have much time left, falling ill is not an option for me. That’s why it’s really important to take care of ourselves. It’s our own responsibilty to take care of oneself.

 The rest of the day went well, did some research after lessons with qiaoling, and went home for a nap. Was really exhausted for the day. Body is getting used to work and brain is beginning to function well. That’s a good start. I would really want to move on well from here, to be ready for the battle ahead.

cheers.