Hey Maria !!!

The ticket !!!

Indoor Stadium with the 4 giant screens, like what you will see in other professional WTA tournaments around the world

Maria Sharapova serves...

Anna Chakvetadze serves...

Anna on the left and Maria on the right

Maria does her characteristic victory wave to the crowd...enigmatic!

Prize Presentation @ the end with Ministers Vivian Balakrishnan n Teo Ser Luck...

Many thanks to my cousin who invited me to watch Maria Sharapove Live in Singapore on Dec 30. His church friend's dad happens to be the boss of Pastamania and I suspect the latter was one of the co-sponsors of this event. Hence, the free corporate tickets.

Much hype was played in the media and indeed it lived up to expectations. Everybody knows about Maria Sharapova...those who dun ought to face the firing squad! What about Maria's opponent, Anna Chakvetadze?

Anna Chakvetadze is another russian prodigy who came of age this year with her stunning performance in the US Open where she reached the semis and captured 4 singles titles. (The organizers should give out free tix to those who can pronounce Anna's sirname properly. It's Chad-ver-tads-cee...)

I was like 50m away from Maria! That's abt as close as I will ever get to her...haha...unless i strike it rich in future and pay her to play a match for me on my 60th birthday...Wait...she'll be 57 by then....and wrinkled... Now, that's not gg to be a pleasant sight with her in a mini-skirt and her 'breath-taking' grunts.

Maria was by all account, fantastic! So was Anna in the 2nd set. Anna was obliterated by Maria in the first set 6-0 in under 30min. 2nd set was more of a contest with Maria prevailing 7-6(12-10). I paid a grand total of $0!haha...not complaining here... With a crowd of 9300, I guess the event can be considered a success. When asked about Singapore's potential of holding a WTA (Women Tennis Association) tournament, Maria gave her endorsement! Wala...(mind you, Maria was paid USD1million to play in this exhibition match)

Doing some simple maths, the event was not profitable! 9300tix @ SGD80-SGD1800, the revenue will be ard SGD1.3-SGD1.5million. Maria's fees alone would have wiped that out. What abt Anna's fees? USD100k-USD200k? 1st class air tickets? Presidential accommodation @ Fullerton Hotel? Security and logistics?

Judging by what was observed last night, the Singapore crowd is very new to tennis and its court ethics. Flash photography and handphones going off in between points with the occasional baby wails. Let's not get me started on the linemen and ball people! They were untrained and clueless at times. It can be very annoying to the players and it reflects very badly on the organizers. This is one area that deserves more planning and improvement in future if a WTA is to be held in Singapore.

Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova, the glamor girl of tennis makes her maiden visit to Singapore. Gasp! She is so hot she will blaze the cruel Russian winter. okie...my attempt at poetry is horrible and distasteful at best. Standing at a striking height of 1.88m, she makes men in Singapore look like dwarfs...this cannot be more emphasized on me...haha

Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007)

Benazir Bhutto, two-time former Prime Minister of Pakistan, was assassinated during a political rally of the Pakistan Peoples Party in Liaquat National Bagh in Rawalpindi yesterday, 27 December 2007.

Ms Bhutto is my political idol. Her intellect, courage, dedication and unflinching push for democracy in Pakistan has earned my respect of the highest level. She was the first female leader of a Muslim nation in 1988 at a tender age of 35. She was a beacon of light for secular citizens in Pakistan who wanted a democratic society. She did not quiver despite threats from Islamic extremists and knew what she wanted to accomplish.

She once told reporters that she understood and recognized the very real possibilities of assassination but vowed not to bow to these threats and will continue to push forth reforms for Pakistan. "I am prepared to take the risk". "One should stand up for the principles you believe in and I believe in the principle of democracy..."

Also, despite the adversaries faced by her family ( Dad hanged in 1979, 2 of her brothers killed in mysterious circumstances ), she remained resolute to the end. She was determined to change the lives of her countrymen and put in place a stable political system in Pakistan. She put her country before herself and was prepared to die for the cause.

Died she did, but her legacy will live on. To commoners like us, we can drawn strength from her courage and her work. Bhutto may have died, but her death will encourage many more to continue her work. I sincerely salute this great leader of modern time.

Merry Christmas

~MERRY CHRISTMAS~

I am a Legend

If you are looking for a good movie to watch this Christmas, may I suggest you avoid I am Legend. The movie is a flop of epic proportion!

The start seems promising. As the story unfolds, it just implodes. A virus was discovered to cure cancer. Hooray...*heaves a sign of relief. However, the virus mutated, became airborne and infected everybody, causing them to turn into vampires or scary creatures of some sort, except, of course, the protagonist, Robert Neville (Will Smith), a scientist and his canine friend, Samantha. The vampires evolved, became smarter and tracked Neville down. He met fellow survivors after 3 years and sought to find a remedy for the virus....yardar yardar yardar

Flashbacks were badly littered to create more confusion. There were moments in the movie that made Days Of Our Life seemed like a thriller. The most exciting part of the movie is the credits, that is if you haven't already left the cinema.

Now, everything should have a redeeming factor, right? No! I am Legend is an exception. The only thing redeeming about this movie is it actually ends (albeit abruptly)!

No 88th Bday

ah ma and i @ jumbo restaurant in 2001 mother's day...

Dance Production 2006...don't ask me why i looked like a drag queen

mum n dad seeing us off ...to Vietnam...

all smiles for the red packets tt i m abt to 'savor'...

putting out the candles with ah ma looking on...

wishing for good results.....(but apparently to no avail)

Above: Some random pics and pics from my 23rd bday...

Today is what would have been my ah ma's 88th birthday. Sadly, she left us for a better place. That better place is a container commonly referred to as urn, she 'sits' beside my grandpa and 2 other ah mas. My grandpa was a very charming lad, with girls swooning over him. haha. (I haf 4 ah mas in all from both sides of the family)

Morbid and disrespectful jokes aside, she was a wonderful woman, of class, elegance, wisdom and strength. Shortly before her departure, she managed to prepare a bottle of brand's chicken essence for me during my examinations in May, despite her condition(with feeding tube and walking difficulties). I felt very bad coz I could not do more for her. She was my fav as was I to her.

I was like everything to her in her later years. She doted on me, sometimes spoiling me. Did i mention i resembled my grandpa alot (not the charming part though)? ha! I was unreasonable to her and had cold wars wif her whenever we quarreled but she was always the first to relent. Now that I m older and more mature, I cannot do more to repay her love and kindness.

I have since taken over her room and left the drudgery of sharing a room with my bro. However, i have kept her things exactly the way she had left them hoping against realism that she might come back one day. I am willing to trade everything I possess to see her even just briefly and tell her how much i missed her.

Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps

Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps...perhaps I am too bored. Ha! The song is groooovvvvy. Naughty and playful lyrics...Put on your dancing shoes and shake your booty now! Perhaps NOT?

For Myself

Recently, it has come to my realization that I don't trust people as much as I used to. There have been a few incidents which made me lose faith and trust in people. Without going into details, lets just leave it at some analogies.

There is this friend, A, who never fails to 'impress' me with his planning ethics. Whenever we say, do sports, it has to perpetually revolve around his schedule. There is hardly any compromise on his part. However, he has this remarkable way of manifesting his true agenda by convincing you that whatever plan he comes up with is to your benefit by omitting full details. I have since distant myself from that person because friends like him are not worth keeping since the friendship is based on benefits.

Even those closest to you can behave in ways that are disconcerting. The media has reported cases where families fell apart because of inheritance disputes. Greed can make people do things to their loved ones one can only see in reel life.

Haiz...living in the real world can be very daunting. Every man for himself. Survival of the fittest. So watch out and be very wary of the next person who suddenly becomes very nice to you. He/She may have a hidden agenda. You have been warned!

The Instructor

There is an unexplainable relation between driving instructors and screaming. The former seems to turn into a screaming machine when he's on the job.You seem to be a dormant carrier of the mad-dog or mad-cow disease because they contract the disease while sitting alongside you and suddenly recovers and become benevolent when you pay them the fees.

My driving instructors ( civilian and military ) are very similar in terms of their teaching styles and attitudes. Their temperaments are paper-thin and they possess Shaparova-loud screams. Nobody really mind Sharapova screaming, those who do, are just jealous of her success. Well, when those screams come from balding, road-mapped-face uncles who made lewd comments with their equally dubious peers, it can make the calmest of minds go berserk.

Sometimes, I feel like giving him a nose-job and rearrange his face so that at least when he screams, it will be muffled! (I was figuratively making a hypothetical who-would-i-do rhetoric.) Come on, it does not make sense to scream at a newbie at the helm of the vehicle especially when he has just made a mistake. You will just f-up his thoughts even more by hollering!

That being said, the insane barks will suddenly disappear, giving way to angelic politeness when he collects your fees. You will observe a glittering glow and heck, a halo actually forms above his head when he collects your fees with a gleeful smile. Disgusting! *sneers

It's a boy girl thing

It's a boygirl thing though seemingly an off-the-mill romantic-comedy, is still worth the bucks. Especially so if your companion is a romancer. Starring sweet schoolgirl-like Samaire Armstrong and pretty boy Kevin Zegers, both genders are served with an overdose of eye-candies.

Woody Deane ( Zegers ), a high-school jock, also a quarterback in the football team with forgettable academic results swapped body with goody two-toes Yale-aspiring Nell Bedworth ( Armstrong) after a strange visit to the museum. They learned about each other lives and hated the change at first.

After some struggle, they realized they liked each other but refused to admit it. Deane went for Nell's interview for a place at Yale while Nell played an important football match for Woody.

Now, it's no fun if everything is revealed here. The movie premieres next year in Singapore. Go catch it! Plot though predictable and clinche appeals to the young and young at heart who love to love and yearn to plunge into a fairy tale relationship with prince charming or princess pretty.

What Have I been doing?

For starters, studying is out of the window. Self-improvement is remotely possible if I even wanted to lie to myself. Being able to sleep early seems elusive given how badly tuned my body is to the late-nights.

Prison Break 3 is a midnight staple, with interjections of Hitman, Hostel and Good Luck Chuck. Boston Legal a decent PB3 substitute with its bawdy humor and witty exchanges. PB3's standard is descending with it's almost too predictable plot. Scoffield's back in prison, attempting to breakout again. Yardar yardar...

Hostel is plain sick and gory. Period. I suspect the producer and scriptwriter desperate ditch attempt at even a C flick is colossally terrible. It has to be one of the most perverse and disturbing movies I have ever watched.

Hitman is kinda tacky, but no less thrilling. 1 guy taking out the entire swap team seems like a fallacy. Besides that, plot is relatively good. Good Luck Chuck is a winner. Highly recommended! Beautiful cast!

R and R

My eyes hurt like (expletives) today! It's always my right eye. Whenever I wear contacts, it will get very irritated after a while. I have a friend who claims to have worn his contacts for 2 weeks without removing them. Unbelievable!

And my glasses broke into 2. Double whammy! Fortunately, my exams have ended. Went out to marche to dine, the whole time in pain!!! Throat is also acting up. Never felt so lousy all at once.

Things to do: play tennis, get a tan, buy winter clothings, read a novel, play more tennis, train for IPPT, watch some movies, watch Hero, Prison Break, Desperate Housewives, Tian Tang Niao.

Sammi 鄭秀文 - 終身美麗

One of my favorite songs when I was in college. Beautiful song sang by a beautiful lady. How befitting.