龙虎门

Just caught it at the cathay ... movie wasn't that bad as rated as 1 star by Lifestyle ... typical crappy storyline ... actually not much of a plot ... predictable from start till end ... main attraction will still be the fighting scenes and CGI

There are few main fighting scenes in the movie ... starting off with Nicolas Tse as 王小虎 taking on almost 20 to 30 men of the triad boss 罗坤 ... but in the end he is not the baddie at all ... so this 王小虎 basically one man show till his long lost brother ... Donnie Yen as 王小龙 came out and stopped him with ease who worked under that triad head because he saved him when he was young

Next worth mentioning scene will be at the japanese restaurant ( not really a restaurant ... most probably shot in the studio ) ... this time 王小龙 went to take back the so called dun noe wat badge from 王小虎 ... not much fight between these 2 though because another typical no-balls-loud-mouth baddie ( working under the triad boss ) added dun noe what ( maybe is 十香软筋散 ?? ) in 王小虎's drink ... so to protect his brother ... 王小龙 fends off another 2o to 30 men this round with ease as well ... this scene introduces Shawn Yu as 石黑龙 ... not really a good fighter though

The next scene will be at some baseball field ... where the real baddie 火云邪神 send his men to kill the triad boss ... "he has to die so that 王小龙 can go back to 龙虎门 eventually" ... 王小龙 was lured away by a woman which he saved her life when young but working under 火云邪神 ... but 王小龙 still managed to come in time to kill off the baddies and saved the triad boss's daugther ... but injured in the process ... "he has to get injured so that 火云邪神 will die die die die die die give him some antidote which will cure him and increase his 功力 as well"

Another scene will be when 火云邪神 went to 龙虎门 to look for whoever can be his opponent ... and somehow even one of the 龙虎门's creator 王伏虎 wasn't even 0.000001% 火云邪神的对手 ... quite obvious to show that 火云邪神 really really power ... and also die die die die die die injured 王小虎 and 石黑龙 ( forgot to mention 石黑龙 went under 龙虎门 also ) ... so the injured duo need to go to dun noe wat mountain to seek help from 奇侠 ... and how did 2 injured men get up to the mountain ?!?!?!?!??! Of course the triad boss's petite daughter drag them up the mountain on a cart ....

So finally ... with 奇侠 special imparted skills ... 王小虎 with something 独龙钻 and 石黑龙 with 金钟罩 went to kill 火云邪神 ... well this round ... got some fight ... but still Mr 火云邪神 still wins ... of course till 王小龙 came along ... now the 火云邪神 looks crappy ... and didn know 王小龙 knows 降龙十八掌 ... so he just overwhelm 火云邪神 ... died after falling thru floor after floor of concrete ground and with 王小龙 palming away ... wont die also quite difficult

Average show considering its fighting and CGI .... i give a 7/10

Rochor Tau Huay War

The Koh family 23 years tau huay business recently resulted in a spat which was publicised ... but i believe internally ... sour notes ... rivalry ... jealousy was already brewing over the years.

Money, root of all evil ? Company shares ? Profit ? Bonuses ? Favourtism ? Authority ? Elements for dispute in the family business ... especially in a successful one

The main cast :

Koon Meng - Elder Brother ( owner of Rochor Beancurd House at Geylang and Tanjong Katong )
William - Second Brother ( owner of the original Rochor Original Beancurd at Short Street )
David - Youngest Brother ( owner of Beancurd City at Short Street and Jalan Besar )

Since the publicity, Beancurd City is selling 12 to 14 barrels or whatever they are using to contain the tau huay from 2 to 3. Because Straits Time says his beancurd taste better ... hmmmmm ... power statement ... but i still like the original one ... is better

At night 10+ ... you still might have to wait for seats ... people are just strolling in ... not sure how long Beancurd City can last at short street ... Apparently, W owns the whole shophouse in short street ... so D rented that outlet for around $6k/mth

Apparently, D buay song W and think even more buay song with W's wife ... K are on good terms with both D and W ... And D has not spoken to W for years ... that is some "dislike" going on boi ... Anyway is okay ... if it do not become any "Kallang body parts" drama ... and people still get to eat the tau huay

Nacho Libre

A strange name for a movie ... watched the show last saturday night at The Cathay ... seats at The Cathay are comfortable ... but as usual the tidbits and snacks counters sell stuff at exorbitant prices and somehow I felt more expensive than other cinemas ... then long queues still formed at these counters ... bo bian ... if you gotta eat popcorn then you gotta buy popcorn ... or buy nachos to watch nacho libre

Jack Black is Ignacio but somehow his friends called him Nacho ... he is a cook in a mexican orphanage ... but gradually felt nothing in his life ... and has always like wrestling since he was young ... Lucha Libre is some kind of wrestling in mexican ... and a Luchador is a performer in Lucha Libre ... Thus the movie name Nacho Libre

Movie is something between a slapstick and a light hearted comedy ... several comical moments in the movies ... especially when he found his wrestling partner esqueletto ... a super thin guy .. who looks like he is from ethopia or somalia ... this combination is ultimate ... fat and thin ... they are earning good money though losing every match they play ... till finally Nacho got the chance to fight against champion ... forget his name ... some guy who is much bigger and muscler than him ... but Nacho will win lah ... won the match and money ...

De la Reguera who played the nun who came the orphanage is the pretty vase of the show ... Jack's love interest .. overall still watchable ... i give 6/10

Call Centre

I believe most people will have experience calling a call centre or helpdesk ... regardless you are calling for what purpose ....

waive off your annual credit card subscription
check why your maxonline or singnet is so slow
your mobile service provider on your phone bills
problems with any electrical appliances
could be some anti-suicide, anti-violence or depression hotline

the list goes on and on and on ... any service or product that you can think of might have people that you can talk to !! Be it just a number and only one phone that rings to a full set of technology fronting featured pack equipments with 10s of agents or 100s to 1000s of agents waiting to pick up your call !! Most important, I believe is ... will they be able to solve your problem ? how fast ? how soothing ? how delighting ?

I received this clip from a friend and find it quite funny ... quite a professional video to me though ... you gotta finsh the whole clip to get the whole flow right ... around 12 mins

http://www.callcentermovie.com/movie/movie2.html

USB thumb drive

Tired of your tiny normal looking USB thumb drive ?



How about getting a Teddy Bear USB thumb drive then ?

同恩 .... 一下下

一首动听的歌 ........
黄韵仁的曲 .. 小寒的词 .. 慢慢仔细看看听听吧



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我只想再哭一下下
把记忆彻底地分化
等哭完我就会回家
眼泪我会替自己擦

我只想再哭(默哀)一下下
假如你不反对的话
以后我不会再牵挂
可知我有多努力啊
只有这办法才不再想他

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Summerhouse Donuts

Went to this little donut shop located at Burlington Sq ... just a few tables inside and outside ... the shop was run by friend's friend's friend's friend's friend ... no lah ... just my friend's friend .. I like donuts ... they got around 13 donuts ... some popular ones are "dark chocolate holik" ... "cream cheese" ... "oreo" ... and "pork floss" variety ones

I had the "cream cheese" ... it was good ... softness was just nice ... and with the cream cheese stuffed inside ............. Gotta mention coffee was quite good

Friday@Balaclava

As usual ... packed on a friday night ... wonder if it is a regular fixture for people working around the area ... dropped by there before I "embark" on my task at a customer site ... Only 7 pm and we cant find a single table ... but it was expected

Was even worse when we return at around 8 pm ... but still managed to get some standing space ... ordered drink before the happy hour ends ... Good thing here is you can order gallons of drinks during happy hour and get them send over through out the night ...

People kept pouring in after 8 ... Time pass by fast ... by the time other friends came .... gotta go liao :(

Menotti .. The place that do not serve ice water

Went to Menotti for dinner with 2 friends last night, expected it to be much bigger and spacious ... turned out to be small and cramped ... and loud and noisy ... There are actually 2 entrances ... I believe the main one should be by the road facing north bridge ... you gotta walked past bakerzin first ... the other one is actually inside Espirit boutique within Raffles City

Settled for the set dinner in the end ... you can choose a appetizer, main course, desserts and kopi/teh ... I took the "spinach and crab" soup for appetizer ... you can choose caesar salad or beef carpaccio ( pieces of beef on a salad, suppose to be raw, not sure if this one is raw ) ... Had the sole fillet for the main course ... you can choose pasta or veal scaloppine also ... here comes the best part ... desserts ! Any pastry or 2 scoops of gelato ... hmmmmm ... the pastries looked awfully nice ... but ice cream still the best !

Spinach never taste so nice ( Except for Popeye ) ... of course this was soup based ... definitely other ingredients and the crab make it taste better ... the fillet was quite nice ... actually served on top of a chunk of mashed potato ... drenched with mash potato sauce all over it ...

The gelato was smooth ... like sherbet ... the rum n raisin is good ... the other flavour I had was some chocolate ... so so ... taste like rochere ... bill was around $35 per person ... not cheap ... will be more expensive if u go ala-carte ... Food wise .. I ll give a 7 .. Service mah 6 .. Value for money leh 6

Maybe they should start serving ice water ..........

SPH - Classified Car Show at Expo

Went to check out the Car Show around 4+ in the afternoon ... It was crowded but much much better than IT show, Comex and PC show ... Maybe cars are considered big items and crowd wise are more restricted ... but less people is good ... wanted to check out the interior for some hatchbacks ... esp Swift, Yaris and Jazz ...

The Evo9 stunt ride was on so we went to take a look first ... there was suppose to be a passenger riding with the stunt man ... not very much stunning to me though


Champions Motor was not at the show so the new Swift was not on display ... but second car dealers displayed some ... From a first look ... nothing much impressive on the interior ... except Yaris and Jazz are much more spacious ... and being tall ... Don't want to hit my head on the roof and need enough leg space ... The Mitsuibishi I-car was also there ... the below 1000 cc car with the engine at the back

More on display are second hand cars and accesories booth ... selling solar films ... body kits ... stuff that can boost ur car ... blah blah ... etc ... Other than the cars ... the centre of attraction is definitely on this car model who somehow mesmerized all the media cameraman and non-media cameraman to crowd around her and take shots ... and she likes it and started doing tonnes of poses ... anyway she was at the KIA booth ...



Forget to mention ... didn know the Kia Picanto side mirrors ... you have to manually adjust them !!!! Wah Kaw !

STOMP - Win a Opel Astra

My friend was one of the 5000 selected with a chance to win an Opel Astra .. cost around 66k outside .. -10k for COE .. still worth around 56k .. we can sell it off with a 6k discount ... thus still a handy 50k ... 25k each ! Well ... there is a disclaimer ... hahahaha ... he have to win the car !

We stood there for around 1.5 hours ... Joe Augustin hosted the show ... with his on-and-off "slam" humour ... some delay before the show really started ... maybe giving people more time to be there ... coz you have to be present to have a chance to win the car ...

SMU students started off with a samba masala ...
some sort of drumming segment ... then come the part people have been waiting for ... selecting the 10 contestants ... the selected contestant will win either a canon DC .. ipod nano .. xbox first ..

Selection of these people will interrupted by a singing segment by a young chap ... very young i must say ... 14 yr old belting out jazz tunes and with a new album out soon ... and also interviewing the "star" bloggers ... and also a cheerleading segment by NTU Spectrum ..


Finally .. the 10 contestants are up on stage ...
but the way they car is given away is abit sian ..
each contestant take turn to draw from a bowl where only one key can open up the car ... so meaning if the first contestant picked the "key" .. the 9 contestants just have to resign to their fate .. but somehow ... first 4 didn get the "key" ... now to the fifth contestant ... draw key ... stand in the middle ... let the cameraman take a good shot ... press the key button ... "beep" "beep" ... she picked the "key" ... the last 5 contestants ... can see the "sianness" on their face ... no chance even to draw the key .. hee

The Opel Astra and the new owner as below ............

Pirates of the Carribbean - 死人的宝箱

Caught Pirates 2 midnight show at PS yesterday ... the much awaited sequel to "The curse of the black pearl" ... Basically, the story continues from the first instalment ... with pieces linked together ... and a plot that strings the pieces together ...

Story starts when Lord Cutler captured William and Liz ... so called during their wedding ... on the count of setting Jack free ... but the capture was just a scheme to threathen William to get the "compass" from Jack in exchange for Jack's pardon of his crime ... which supposed can direct you to the si lang eh's chest ... with Liz in Jail ... William had no choice ...

Jack has his plan as well ... asking William to get the "key" from Davy Jones in exchange of the "compass" ... William obliged ... in the event found his father ... Bill serving under Davy ... I must say ... Davy's ka kia ... wah kaw ... They are damn damn gross ... whether is CGI or cosmetic make up ... Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee with a capital Y !!! The details of each ka kia features on their faces and bodies is quite thorough ... gives me the goosepimples ! Only Bill left with half a face ... and that sharkie ... rest are almost faceless

Some scenes in the movie are quite entertaining ... though maybe just to lengthen the movie ... there is a scene where Jack and his crew was captured by some tribe ... was suppose to roast Jack alive and eat him up ... Some comical moments in these scenes ... Another one is the wheel fight between Jack .. William and Norrington ( Commodore who got banished and landed up in some pirates island ) ... happened on the island where the si lang eh's chest was supposed to be ... They were trying to get the "key" from William to open up the si lang eh's chest ...

William wanted to stabbed the heart .. Jack wanted to keep it to bargain with
Davy .. Norrington wanted to keep it to reinstate himself with Lord Cutler ... The movie had to end abrutly ... with Pirates 3 shooting now and coming up next year ... and Pirates 4 so called in brain storming stage ...

With the heart in Cutler's hand ... Davy sweared to get the heart back ... William vowed to release his father from Davy ... Jack explicitly swallowed by the Kraken ( a gigantic tentacled beast summoned by Davy ) ... return of Captain Barbosa .. Chow Yun Fatt as Villian Captain Sao Feng in pirates 3 ...

We will see how Pirates 3 turns out ....

The Master in Dozing Off

Dozing off anywhere .. anytime .. during the smallest inactivity period ... but sometimes even during activity ... The power is quite amazing due to the collaboration of pure natural reaction of putting oneself to sleep under the most adverse conditions in spilt seconds .. Sometimes we wonder .. how can this be tiredness if it becomes a sight which is so regular .. Too many incidents evidently shown this unique X-Men power ... ( Maybe X-Men 4 ? )

Though medically ... there are sleeping disorder of a mild nature which might be the cause ...
Nacrolepsy is the excessive drowsiness during daytime and desire to sleep at inappropriate times ...

Lift Upgrading

Parents got a letter few months back on lift upgrading on our block, after living more than 15 years in the block, Suddenly "They" feel that "We" need a lift that stopped at every floor ? Most important, it is not free !!! I will not deny certain units may need that, but after 15 years ? or assuming new people moved in or the units just need that recently ...

In that letter, there is a statement, replacement of a ".... more efficient ..." lift, I kept thinking, so "they" meant they are going to give us a lift that will reached my floor 0.00005 seconds faster or ?

I think in the pipeline maybe :

• A female in the lift that presses the button for you
• TV mobile in the lift so that you will not miss the 5 seconds of amazing race when you alight from the bus or your car
• Air-conditioned the lift
• Gold-Plated lift buttons

Thinking you will be losing a few K soon doesnt feel good and the new lift might be even further away from your unit though on the same floor .... ( only console maybe that you can pay with your CPF money )

Gym

Went to gym after work ... Gym was new ... near my home ... so came home first before heading down ... really feels better after the work out ... trying to keep this routine constant ... sometimes too lazy to go :p

Took some pictures of the gym ... somehow the staff there say cannot bring hp into the gym ... the first time i brought and was smsing in between ... one guy walk over ... told me to do this in one corner ... then another time ... another guy came ... told me ... hp not allowed ! must keep in locker ! Wow ... Wat rationale ... nonetheless ... never listen to them ... just caution when i bring out the hp if neccesary ...

Ninja Cabbie

Heard the news on Ch 8 on the usual cab culture in Singapore ... When you need a cab !! most probably you wont get one !! Reports was saying 22,000 cabbie disappeared from the face of the earth some time before 5 pm so as to earn the extra $2 peak charges ... News shown a taxi stand at Wisma around 4:45 pm ... and when the magical time reaches ... they trickles in ... the reporter reports

And around 7+ pm ... another shot shows people waiting for cab around Raffles Place ... well ... no cab ! but 7+ pm is peak hour worrr ... but no ! Ninja waiting people to call cab ! so $4+$2+$2.50 ... you need to pay $8.50 even when the cab has not started moving ....

Reporter even went to interview some tourists ... family from Indonesia ... which they claim was waiting for cab for around 1 hour ...

Culture abit hard to change lah ................

World Cup 2006 Winner - Italy

It was a match without too many chances but plenty of incidents ... was watching the match at Chambers Stadium at Robertson Walk ... One of the place which delivers HDTV and it was projected on a screen ... You could really tell the difference between HDTV and normal TV ... It was a "sell-out" crowd though Monday being a working day ... People either took leave ... planned to go late to work ... go as usual but stoned throughout the day ... maybe take MC ... blah blah etc

First half started well ... with both teams not sitting back but trying to get a early goal ... Henry knocked into Cannavaro and was seeing "stars and birdies" going round his head ... early scare for France which was thinking whether he could continue or not ... duly after some treatment he was back ... Malouda burst into the Italian penalty box when a loose ball bounce into his path ... but only for Materazzi to bring him down ... A contentious decision for the referee but he pointed to the spot ... Slow motion replay shows Materazzi's leg might have as retracted at the last moment but Malouda still fell ...


Zizou stepped up ... Buffon's chance of breaking Zenga's record was on the line ... no chance for Buffon as he went the wrong way ... An audacious chip by Zidane saw his kick came bounce against the underside of the crossbar but the ball has crossed the line ... France had taken an early lead ...

Italy pressed on ... keeping posessions and wins a freekick on the right side ... where Thuram heads out for a corner where France cleared but Italy
retained possessions and wins another corner ... Pirlo outswings this one in ... and Materazzi jumps high and powered a header past Barthez ! Italy equalized ! Much to the delight of Lippi ... who knows how important this goal is !

The game is on ... and Italy had the much better passing flow and France had problem dealing with Italy's corners ... Materazzi came close few minutes later but was judged to have foul Vieira ... In another corner in the 36th min, Toni powered his header onto the crossbar and out for a goal kick ... much relieve to the French supporters in the stadium ... France just could not get their attacking pieces flowing together and with the Italian defence standing solid ... It was difficult ...

Second half .... sudden downpour ... not in Berlin but at Robertson Walk ... saw people outside in the open air running for shelters ... some managed to squeeze into areas where they still can watch the match ... Heng I was inside ... :)

France started very well with Henry, Malouda and Ribery all getting into good position on the flanks and byline ... but the last ball was bad ... Henry's pace and twisting and turning was keeeping Canavarro's gang at bay ... Italy just could not get hold of the game ... but in the 56th minute ... Vieira came off due to a hamstring and Alou Diarra came on for him ... Lippi made a double substitution so as to boost the midfield and get a much firmer hold on the game ... Rossi ( lucky lad who served a 4 match suspension and yet played in the final ) came on for Totti and Iaquinta on for Perotta ... Totti was a non-mention and it was as if Italy was playing with 10 men for most of the time ...

Henry forced a good save from Buffon ... Toni has a goal disallowed when he was judged to be offside ... Ribery had a glimpse of Buffon's goal but only to put his shot wide ... Pirlo's freekick was inches away from Barthez's right hand post ... As 90 mins approaching ... France kept piling on the pressure but to no avail as Italy looks dangerous when they roam forward too ... Lippi send on Del Piero for Camoranesi ... Final whistle is blown ... and the teams go into extra time

Extra time was marred by Zidane's moment of madness when he headbutted Materazzi on his chest towards the end of extra time ... The referee missed the incident but it was noted but the linesman ... the Italians was furious when it happened ... Buffon rushing out of his goal ... The referee had no choice but to shown Zizou the red card ... What a way to end your illustrious career ... he has been regarded as one of the greatest player of all time ... a player with immense ability on the ball ... and the positve impact he has on a game ... but sad to say ... it has to close on a sour note ...

The foul was not captured by Live cameras ... till we saw the replay we did not known what happened ... A must mention ... Buffon's marvellous one hand tip over on Zidane's header in the first half of extra time ... the only time the defence caught napping ... In the closing minutes ... with Trezeguet and Wiltord on ... France pressed on ... but the Italians stood still

Records do not favoured Italy on penalties ... who would want to forget Roberto Baggio's miss which allowed Brazil to win in USA in '94 ... This final's shootout was not about the goalkeepers as all the players took their penalties very well except Trezeguet whom shot came against the underside of the crossbar but was on the line ...

Pirlo, Materazzi, Rossi and Del Piero scored ... Wiltord, Abidal, Sagnol scored ...

Is up to Grosso to score Italy's fifth ... and the penalty kick sent the whole stadium ( both Berlin and Chambers ) into rapture ... Italy's 4th truimph in World Cup history ... Another 4 years wait for South Africa 2010

World Cup 2006 Final

Italy will definitely want to forget the Euro 2000 Final where they lead 1-0 but only for Wiltord to score an last minute equalizer and to add to the woes ... Trezeguet score the winner in extra time ... Both Managers will have almost a full line up to choose from ... Only Nesta is still out with injury

The Italians who are on form now and unbeaten in the last 25 matches will want to keep that record going ... Buffon can beat Zenga's record of the longest time of not conceding a goal if France did not score against him for the first 63rd min ... but this record is insignificant if Italy do not lift the trophy at the end ...

Cannavaro's company has been real tight at the back and with Pirlo shining the central midfield ... Pulling the strings and supplying great passes to the attack ... It will be a magnificent match on paper ... Zizou will have to be at his best and of course Henry with his pacy and silky runs will definitely cause trouble for the Italian's defence ...

We awaits a pulsating match and a deserved winner at the end .....

Study Desk

Finally got rid of my study desk which i felt was an eye sore ... bulky ... ugly ... and at the same time did abit of clear up ... throw away some unwanted stuff ...

Went to IKEA in the morning to get the smaller storage thingie which i found on their website ... somehow I quite like IKEA's stuff though generally people says their stuff ... quality wise not there ... well ... just a $45 thingie ... doesnt matter ... also got some hangers, box container and stationary holders



Took a while for my bro and me to fix up the storage thingie ... the 4 boxes are plastic pieces which you gotta fold up and it hold up by itself ... and there are 4 pieces of board that made up of the structure of the storage ... each board is just pieces of pine put together and covered up with plastic ... the instructions provided was quite crappy i must say ... somehow one piece of board was slightly shorter than the other 2 ... and therefore must be use as the top of the storage thingie ... but it did not state !!! after fixing up ... hmmmm ... the middle layer was short ... my bro thinks that the middle board should be use as the top board ... we re-fix it ... well ... looks like the case ...
now the board pieced together more nicely ...

After Germany vs Portugal

Germany won the game with 2 fabulous strike from Schweinsteiger ... though with Jansen, Novotny, Huth starting in defence ... Portugal with much possession did not really trouble Kahn ...

First half started well with some end to end stuff ... while Ronaldo, Simao, Deco and Pauletta trying to string some good move to break the German defence ... Klose, Podolski and Schneider doing same at the other end ... but both were very much ineffective ... did not have the final edge ... Pauletta has the best chance in the first half ... when he was put through by Simao ... but his shot was good enough to beat Kahn ... Kehl then try to chip Ricardo but his jump was enough to tip the effort over the bar ...

Second half was just a Schweinsteiger show as he cuts in from the left twice and unleashed 2 unstoppable shots ... and a free kick by him as well in between allows Petit to put into his own net ... With Portugal trying to chase the game ... Ronaldo diving here and there to get freekicks and penalty ... Portugal did not get anywhere ... except for a Deco shot which Kahn did very well to palm away ...

Portugal did score a late goal ... when Figo who plays his last match ... came on ... and sends a inch perfect cross for Gomes to head in ... The match might have been more even if he has started ...

Nonetheless ... Germany claimed the bronze

Cabbie 的外遇 ?

Caught a cab home tonight ... called a cab at bugis junction taxi stand ... as usual is almost like mission impossible 4 to get a cab during the "twilight zone" hours ...

Was a merc cab ... we got in ... the cab driver was quite eager to share with us his prior passenger experience with us ... was an DRUNK ndonesia gal according to him ... then i reply him abit early to get high ... and kept telling us she wanted him to kiss her !!!!

if you think this was shocking ... how about this ? she apparently took off her bra and show him her bosom .... hahahaha ... getting abit hard to believe ... cabbie even say she has nice nipples ... hahahahahaa .... can tell from his speech ... he is turned on by her action !!!!

Well ... just a short story to share .... :)

Germany vs Portugal

Germany has only won once in their last 9 extra time outings ... beating mexico in the process ... Meetings between Germany and Portugal even out but Germany has not beaten Portugal in competitive matches since 1985 ...

Ballack, Lahm, Mertesacker, Friedrich and Borowski are out with injury ... Klose is doubtful with a hip injury ... who definitely wants to participate to ensure his golden shoe by scoring more goals ... Kahn should start the game too ... with Huth and Jansen in defence

Portugal should have a full selection ahead except Miguel is out with injury ... Ferreira should starts ... Ronaldo, Figo and Deco will be key if Portugal wants to win ....

Podolski who won the Gillette Young Player of the tournament will want to add to his 3 goal tally ... and a much better performance

Ronaldo who lost out to him on the award will have hone his twinkle toes against the German defence

We awaits the showdown .....

After Portugal vs France

France continue their good run against the Portugal team who have not beat them in competiitive matches ... No surprises in both of the team's line up ... Portugal have not score in their last 2 matches faces Germany in the third place play-off coming Sunday morning ...

First Half ... Malouda has a chance to shoot at goal only after 38 seconds ... but he can only shoot wide ... this is one of the few chances France has in the match ... Portugal looked the better side but chances created is not really clear-cut ... Deco tested Barthez from the edge of the penalty box which he palmed away the shot ... Maniche, Figo and Ronaldo has shooting chances but fail to test Barthez


Turning point came when Carvalho left a trailing leg in the penalty when he fell ... and Henry tripped over it and fell ... Penalty !!! Zidane took a few steps and sent the firm right foot shot into the far right corner ... Ricardo who saves 3 English penalty guessed right but could not stop the shot ...

Gallas and Thuram did well in central defence to deny Portugal any real chances

Second half started with Portugal looking for the equalizer ... but it is Henry that has the real first glimpse at goal ... he cuts in from the left and shoot ... Ricardo managed to smother the shot out for a corner ...

Portugal best chance came when Ronaldo's free kick was somehow ... actually was not sure what Barthez was trying to do ... but it fell to Figo ... who could only head over the bar ... Portugal piled on the pressure but the French defence stood still till the final whistle ...

Italy vs France coming Monday Morning, a repeat of Euro 2000 final ... Finger crossed on the result to change this round !

After Germany vs Italy

Was watching the game with some friends at CV ... Feels good when Italy scores in the dying minutes of extra time !!!!! Cheers and Shouting broke out .....

Italy extends their unbeaten run against Germany in World Cup Competition ... and reaches the final in another 12 year cycle ... 1970 1982 1994 2006

Sebastian Kehl came in for suspended Fring ... Borowski was preferred for Schweinsteiger on the right ... First half was an even affair ... with Italy having the better possession and passing flow ... First chance of the game fell to Perrotta when he was put through by Totti ... poor first touch allows Lehmann to smother the ball ...

A Camaneresi miss pass in midfield led to a German break which allows Schneider to fire over the bar when he was put through on the right side of the penalty box by Klose ...

Germany claims for a penalty when Pirlo was judged to have raise his elbow to stop a ball nodded over by Ballack ... Ballack did not impose himself in the game ... happy to pass the ball to the side most times ...

Second half was a much tighter affair ... where players starts to get tired ... can be seen from tired legs ... can losing possession ... stray passes ... Best chance fell to Podolski when he was put through on the left by Schneider ... a great save by Buffon denied him ...

Ballack's free kick was well wide just outside the penalty box ...

Gilardino was brought on to replace Toni ... Odonkor and Schweinsteiger came on for Borowski and Schneider ... Neuville on for Klose ...

Italy started well in extra time ... with Gilardino hitting the post when he dribbles past Ballack with ease but only to have a mishit shot ... Zambrotta skim the cross bar with his shot at the edge of the penalty box ...

Iaquinta/Del Piero came on for Camoranesi/Perotta
both sides press for the winner ... but to no avail ...
Del Piero fails to convert a chance when he was in the penalty box back facing Lehmann ...

119 minute ... Pirlo shot was palmed away for a corner ... which Italy has 12 corners in the game ... 8 of them went straight to Lehmann .... But this one counts ! The corner fell to Pirlo outside the penalty box when threads a great pass to Grosso who curls the ball precisely into Lehmann's left hand post ...

A minute later ... in a breakaway ... Gilardino's sqaure pass to Del Piero sets him away with an one-on-one with Lehmann which he curls it away to Lehmann's right ...

Italy awaits France or Portugal in the final showdown ....

SAMe

I have a good friend called SAMe ... let me re-iterate ... he is a really genuine nice guy ... nobody is as real as him ... very very interesting friend ... he is into Christianity now ... almost ... happy for him

• his MRT route will pass by "Geylang MRT" ...
• he waits till the last second and visit lecturers to hand in assignments ..
• he plays "Guide War" game ...
• he kills "town councils" in Diablo 2 Act 3 ...
• he buys medicine from "Gardenia" ...
• he dozes off any second of inactivity ...
• he lends money to complete stranger ... See picture
• he pressed the door bell after you have opened the door ...
• his dozing off is unsurpassable in the whole universe ...
• he will borrow a torch light from KBOX, cineleisure 7th flr and bring all the way down to the traffic light junction for 2 gals whom are searching for something in the bush in the dark ...
• he wakes up 30 mins before trip to pack
• he reminds us to bring neccesary stuff and he yet forgot
• he almost put all his CPF money in some investment product ... all that agent's fault ! bastard ! bitch ! whoever ! but then ... listen but also analyze !
• he misses bus stop by 2/3 stops, then alight, cross over and take bus, then misses bus stop again
• he has 2 diablo2 original set with 2 CD keys ... so he can enchant his char with top enchantress and BO his char with some char and then enchant the some other char with the BO then with his char enchant the some char and then BO the enchant char with the same char ... and then baal runsssssssssssssssssssss ... cow runsssssssssssssssssss ... then dies

Stories to be continued ..............

Germany vs Italy

A clash of the titan semi-final ... Let's hope for a few things first ...

no players get sent off ?
no penalties shoot out ?
free flow play ?
a non-senile ref ?
great goals ?

Italy beat Germany 4-1 in a friendly in March ... a surprise results considered Italy's form at that time ... the Italians has not been beaten in the last 23 matches and definitely hope it can continue for the next 2 games ( if it goest to the final )

Materrazzi is back and should partner Cannarvaro in central defence ... Camoranesi should be fit to operate on the right ride ... the rest should be the same ... or Lippi may opt for a 3 prong attack with totti sitting behind Toni and Gilardino ... but unlikely


Only absence in the German side will be Fring ... who will serve a 2 match suspension after the FIFA disciplinary committee found him guilty of throwing a punch at Julio Cruz in a after match melee ... Borowski should replace him in central midfield

The 2 teams met 5 times in the World Cup ... Germany has not been victorious in any of the meetings ... Let's hope this statistic prevails ... Heeee

Cab Fare rockets up !!!!!! Service ????

After 12 years, cabbie big brother decided to increase the fare, the so called lowest fare among developed countries ...

July 12th
Starting - $2.40 ( was $2.50 )
<> 10 km - 10 cents/175 m ( was 200 m )
Peak hour - Addn $2 ( was $1 )
Peak Period starting from 7 am ( was 7:30 am )

Merc cab flag down up 20 cts ...

Will service wise go up ? Nah ... service bad people also take ... service good people also take ... why good service ?

Try calling the hotline during busy hours ...
if you can get to their IVR, you can buy 4d/TOTO
So even you can get to their IVR, either they disconnect you after telling you their whole call centre is busy or they put you on hold till your current call bill can foot the cab bill !!!

Who cares about your service during normal hours ? Is during times when we really need a cab ... then it shows what kind of quality does your service provides !!!

Let me tell one of my funny cab story ... I was at a customer site in Jurong IBP ... called a cab during evening time ... i choose one of my previous designated "Where am I ?" locations, so it does not allow me to speak to an agent or choose my destination ... but nonetheless I got a cab number ..

I was around 10 mins late to get down ... when I got in the cab ...

Cabbie say "Am i going to Jurong ?"
Me "No ... going to Tampines"
Cabbie say "Aiya ... but I am going to Jurong ... change shift"
Me "Ermmm ... then why u take this call then ?"
Cabbie say "Try my luck lor ... Soly Soly"
Me *Speechless*
Cabbie "I pay you lah ... I pay you lah" ( First time in the history of modern transportation, I get paid by calling a cab )
Cabbie "Soly ar ... Soly " think he took out a $5 note ... wanted to pass to me

I just left the cab ... In what logical mind, did he think his call will be in the west area ? and enough time for him to get to his change shift location ?!?!??!?!

Anyway, I met real nice cabbie too

Prison Break

Didnt know that breaking out of a prison can be shot into a drama series ... A friend recommended this and say I would definitely love this ... well ... a so-so storyline but an intriguing plot i must say

Summary
Michael Scofield, the main character in the show, attempts to get his brother, Lincoln Burrows out of prison before this death row execution by electrocution. Burrows was sentenced to death for murdering the brother of the Vice President of United States.

With the map of Fox River prision tattooed on his body, his intelligence and a detailed plan ... Michael begins his mission to get his brother out ... of course by getting himself into the prison first !

Story does not revolves around breaking out of the prisons ... There is a main plot where a consipiracy is cooking up in the air ... the VP, her brother's death, Burrows's Father, "The Company" ... So came Veronica Donovan, Burrows's high school sweetheart was out there fighting her way amist the consipiracy and trying to get Burrows out the legal way ...

In addition, other prisoners gets aware of the breakout throughout 1st season ... so stories about these individuals starts to mix with the plot ...
People ... gets injured, dies, comes back to life, disappears, re-appears, falls in love. betrayed, determine ....

Gotta mention Prison Doctor Sarah Tancredi, the governer's daugther, Scofield's love interest in the show ...

Season 2 premieres Aug 21st ....

关于你的歌

继痴心绝对 。。李圣杰的全新专辑 。。。主打歌是很想说 。。。是他自己写的曲跟词 。。歌词写的也是他的爱情故事

关于你的歌 。。轻快的副歌
眼底星空 。。"痴心绝对" 式的情歌
最近 。。非常朗朗上口的一首歌

重来 。。曲式动人 。。呼吁大家，要珍惜身边的亲友，不要错过可以向他们表达关怀的机会。如果人生可以重来，我也想回到在火车上的那刻，不会再错过认识那名女生的机会

我个人较喜欢眼底星空，最近 。。。

After Brazil vs France

The french midfield was in almost total command ... with Zidane still "the man" ... his technical abilities ... control of the ball ... passing ... game play was almost impeccable ...


Fatnaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Juninho, Adriano, Robinho could not break down the french defence ... Zidane's free kick gifted Henry's 36th goal for France ...

Basically, Brazil was outplayed by France ... with Vintage Zidane putting up a real display

After England vs Portugal

Was watching the game at a pool place ... projecting the game on a screen ... our table was just in front of the screen ...

Sigh ... England, one of the most supported nation in the World Cup, due to the popularity of the EPL is out finally ... though in an expected manner since it went down to penalties ...

First half was an even affair ... Figo and Ronaldo are very much subdued .. with England having a slight edge

Second half was marred by Rooney's foul on Carvalho, a straight red according to the Argentinian referee ... Rooney told Sven after the match he did stamp on the player's groin area
and a push on Ronaldo didn help at all ....

England playing with 10 men for the next 60 mins ... the back 4 was absorbing the Portugese attack very well ... with Crouch replacing Cole ... Lennon was on and shows again trickery and pace on the right ... created some good chances ... with no one to finish them off

Carragher was brought on in the last few minutes of the extra time ... as I believe he is one of the "penalties" takers ...

Luck is not on England's side during penalties shootout ... The "missers" Waddle, Southgate, Ince, Batty, Beckham, Lampard, Gerrard, Carragher ...

Just to mention ... England did beat Spain in Euro 96 on penalties with Shearer, Platt, Pearce and Gasoigne netting

And also ... Hargreaves was the Man of the match

After Italy vs Ukraine

Was around 1:50 am after Germs won the shootout ... went for food but couldnt see a cab ... get a cab ... call a cab ... to get outta of Robertson Walk ... so have to settle for the stalls along M Sultan ...

Wanted to get home to "show hand" on the italy match !! but then ... 4.5 mil singaporeans ... 1.5 mil above 20 yrs of age ... assuming 50% are out ... so we have 750,000 people out ... assuming some went home early ... have car ... still not going home ... we have still say 20% of 750,000 ... 150,000 out there calling for a cab !!!!!!

Gave up ... found a place Vino Vino ... sofa seats ... one big screen ... Free coffee after 2 am ...

I must say ... the free coffee ... quite decent ...

And now i know why the chicken wings was recommended ... 3 wings and 3 drumlets at $8.50 ... good deal worr ... for Vino Vino of course :)

Sofa was too comfortable ... doze people off ... I managed to stay awake ... Italians has the better of the first half ... with zambrotta scoring a great goal ... nice touch from totti setting him up in space to run at ukraine defenders before unleashing a shot thru the defender's legs

Rest of the first half was a non-event as ukraine try to get a foothold on the game ...

Ukrainians pour forward in the second half to grab an equalizer ... some magnificent saves from Buffon deny them a goal ... Italians consolidate and totti curl a delicious ball towards toni for him to head in his first world cup goal ...

Just 1 min later ... toni tapped in zambrotta great play on the left ... beating 2 defenders before laying off to toni ...

Toni ( in the picture ) obviously delighted after scoring twice during the match ....

Rest of the game was just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle !

After Germany vs Argentina ....

Could not find seats for the match around 1 hour+ earlier ... Somehow all places around M Sultan and Robertson Walk are already packed with people ...

Chambers gotta a private event going on ...

But managed to find this place ... called something "beach club" ... no beachie feelings or ambience though ... THE BEST THING IS THEY SELL ICE WATER IN YELLOWISH COLOR AT $33 AND LABELLED IT AS "TIGER BEER" .... hmmmm

The match kicked off .... and ... boring ... boring ... boring ... boring ... Argentina didn have a single shot on goal in the first half ... Did i mention they trounce serbia 6-0 ?

Germans .... did no better ... 2 shots on goal

Second half .... the team who dun have a shot on goal earlier scores ! Towering header by Ayala from a corner ... the game picked up abit with German chasing for an equalizer ... but on the whole ... it was a dull affair ... dead balls wasnt make full use of ... no final punch during attacks for both teams ...

Crespo and Riquelme was taken off ... Sorry if i didn mention the star playmaker ... coz he was just there to make up the first 11

Odonkor was on to make some silky runs on the right ... but to no avail really ... 10.9 seconds for 100m ... hmmmm ... okie lah ... first to reach byline ... if he still has the ball ?!?!?!

Pressure without quality on the Argentina goal mouth ... till a ballack cross on the left ... was flick on by Borowski ... deft one i must say .... was headed past branco by ... who else ...

After the equalizer .... both teams tried crappily to score the winner ... not sure wat sure argentina thinking ... why didn they push all out for a winner ?

*yawn* Extra time ...

Set for penalties !!!! No need to say further ... Germans won ...