22 May, 2007 - Monday
My Tennis Hero - Federer Express!
On 21 May, 2007, Roger Federer beat his all-time rival Rafeal Nadal on clay for the 1st time, ending his own run of 4 tournaments without a title and ending Nadal 81 consecutive winning streak on clay.

So, how successful is Roger Federer?
What makes him such a favourite tennis players of all time?

You bet there is no one answer, it's just a combination of a lot factors plus the "X" factor he possessed, of course!
To prove just how popular he is...
After his 1st victory on clay against clay court king, Nadal, I found observed the following on his website, www.rogerfederer.com, that currently has an amazing 116,598 members from all over the world.
- Immediately about 30 minutes after his victory - close to 100 comments/congratulatory notes (about 4 pages) were posted, from all over the world.
- At about 11pm the following day - 794 comments/congratulatory notes were posted, about 40 pages and by 11.45pm - it reached 827 comments, a good 42 pages... and still counting!
Mine, of course, can be found on Page 3 (http://www.rogerfederer.com/en/rogers/news/newsdetail.cfm?uNC=43614913&uPage=3&uNewsID=556), hopefully I am not the only one from Singapore.
Every minute, someone from somewhere in this world is reading and sending him a note...he is loved and supported by millions in this world. Fans feel his pain and share his happiness...what an accomplishment. To me, he is a very different CHAMPION of all time!

I believe most his fans will be thrilled and jump with joy to see him clinch the French Open title one day. With that, he will also be a real COMPLETE player, at least in my lifetime! That will be THE DAY! Will it be in 2007? I am hoping...and he will really make my day if that happen!

12 May, 2007 - Saturday

Another surprisingly hectic yet relaxing weekend!
Went for my regular Sat morning 9.30am Spinning (RPM) class and my 8th PT session with Tommy (without much improvement!), after which I had to rush to Brunswick to finally check out one of the Aikido Dojos along Sydney Road. It's not far but... the traffic was amazing, I didn't make it to see the training but did meet Simon Sensei and the small group of students. They seems nice, especially the sensei. The funny part is...the general "atmosphere" and the feeling is so different, there is really no 'life' in the dojo as it is inside the building and thus lighting wasn't that fantastic. Got to know from sensei that they don't so slamp! Begin to question myself whether I really like Aikido or was I motivated by all the slamps and most importantly the people in Zhen Qi Shu? Guess, all these are contributing factors for me to stay for the past 2+ years. I need to at least give it a try and start training again, in a totally different environment, with a totally different group of people. Bad timing, it's gonna be really COLD this time of the year, and honestly, I hate training in that kind of temperature! No perspiration, no slamp, and I can just imagine how cold and numb my legs will, but I NEED to start somewhere, as I do not wish to forget all the techniques... June will be the time.

Some shopping at High Point Homemaker center before I rushed back getting ready for my 1st Mahjong session in Melbourne!
Funny, in Singapore, I struggled to make time for mahjong, definitely not on a weekend when I will be so tight up with activities like Aikido or jogging! Sigh, but here... I am actually trying to fill those time! Not sure if I should feel happy or sad that I actually have more time to relax.
In chinesewe term this "jian"!

1st Mahjong session in my apartment with Boon Whatt's family and Yonghao, and thanks to BW, it was literally Yonghao's first mahjong experience. We did well, had fun just feeling the tiles and hearing the sound. In the end, I was one against the rest. Most importantly, we all enjoyed and had our very 1st mahjong in Melbourne. A good start?

Ironies in Life - Part II

Guess it's about time I continue my blog...
Things have been crazy, with lots of backlogs I need to clear since I returned from Singapore. Disappointed that I wasn't able to constantly update my blog.
Back to my earlier discussion topics:-
1) Freedom vs Control - What do we really want? The freedom of staying alone or the warm of having someone watching over us. Well, not "control" literally, but rather not having that much of freedom when staying with family. Believe some have the best of both, but for me, I can't ... currently I have ALL the freedom I want, BUT would be nice to have the best of both world.

2) Space vs Warmth - It is the same logic as above. Space comes with a price in my case. The price being away from family and friends.

3) Big car vs Small car - Interesting. One would associate this with status or ego, but that is not what I wanted to share... this has to do with the company car I will be getting. Originally wanted a mid sized car just because of my built and the comfort I am in one. Also in consideration of the car park space in my apartment. After having the privilege of test driving the various cars (Rental): Yaris; Impreza; Camry; and Aurion (really cool - 6 cyclinder with twin exhaust), and polishing my parking skill, I realised I am feeling safer in a bigger sized car! Just because of the stability... and of course the POWER when accelerating. Just recently assigned a Toyota Yaris and guess what, the car was so 'shaky' and 'light' that I had to have it changed the next day! Am I spoilt? Guess so.. but may not be a bad thing in view of the relatively big 4 litres car I will be getting. Kinda funny cause I was pretty convinced initially that big cars are really not for me!

4) Experience vs Income - Well, the $$ from an overseas assignment is really not fantastic and for the opportunity cost, it sometimes makes you wonder if it is worth it. Guess so... cause I believe I can't buy experience, and you can't really quantify it... So...as long as it's not overwhelming, I believe I'll go for experience for now and learn to manage my spending a little. May not be a bad thing after all.

In life, we have to make certain decisions and sacrifices, persevere and hope for the best.

7 May, 2007 (Monday) - 19 degree

The many Ironies in Life
Freedom vs Control
Space vs Warmth
Big car vs Small car
Experience vs Income
... Can we have them all?

These are what strike me while driving to work this morning, on a fine Autumn morning... more later.

Monday 30 Apr, 2007
Nightmare

Just had to share this horrendous flight experience.
Returned flight from Sin to Perth on SQ 215 departing Sin at 1850. As usual, I left with a heavy heart, it’s tough after having a week of fun catching with friends and family, doing things/activities I used to do, leading a FULL life I used to lead, and etc… As much as I like my new home in Melbourne, the feeling is different. Nothing can replace my love for my home in Singapore, the same “old” feeling! Not quite settled in Melb as yet, still having problem stocking and locating the necessity, just not as convenient even though the apartment is “bigger” and more comfortable…
Anyway, back to my flight incident…
Was rushing as usual, arrived at the airport 55 minutes before scheduled departure, managed to have Avis collect the rental car (SGG 7254) from the Departure Hall instead of the usual Arrival Hall. That did save my life, cause I was already 5 min passed the check-in closure time. My damn luggage weighs 32.5kg, just barely made the 32kg limit. Took the opportunity to replicate my mails at the lounge and had to rush to my gate, and settled in my seat where the nightmare began (1st time since my years of travelling).

The flight was full of Aussies, nothing wrong with that… but finally experienced some real “nasty” Australian behaviour, worst than those I previously encountered during the Aussie Open. Just to list a few (not in order of occurrence, some are recurring throughout the flight…)
- Idiot in front of me (big size obviously) keep moving and shaking. (The seat is obviously too small for his butt) Had problem concentrating on the movie I was watching!
- The guy (Aussie as well) behind me… keep pulling my seat’s back rest and talking to the guy besides me! Glad I wasn’t trying to sleep… and trust me it wasn’t pleasant when u have a guy moving above you and making fun.
- Then I met this drunken bustard, who tried to be funny. Having his arm over my shoulder, sticking his bloody face close to mine, striking some idiotic conversation, and worst, requesting a photo together! The finale, during landing, he said loudly: “Would you marry me?” I tell you, I was pissed, embarrassed and obviously scared, cause I wasn’t sure what they would do to me…after alighting!
- These Aussies were talking and standing around when the captain requested all to be seated, and stopped all services due to some turbulence. Don’t they understand simple English? Worst, all the “F” words were flying around like no tomorrow!
I learnt very quickly they were all from an Oil Rig, heading home for a 3-weeks break. The kind of deal where they stay 3-weeks on rig and stay home for 3 weeks. . Sigh, which explained the behaviors of some of them, something like released from prison and deprived! Well, just to summarize the ordeal I have to go through on this flight, it was really a nightmare, should have just taken the Red-Eye flight, and I swear that that incident was a wake up call for myself of the kind of people I can encounter while on my job…I shivered at the thought.

The consolation was, I managed to watch “Music & Lyrics”… a movie that I always wanted to watch. I enjoyed the songs sang in the movie. Guess, that made it up. What a night!