it's a long post

its been a long while since i last post... nothing comes more important than food ever since i gain financial independence. pictures tell a thousand words... shall cut the entry short..

after umpteen times of discussion to have 拉面小笼包 buffet at Holland V, ATC 09 team finally got to enjoy the free flow of 小笼包s. happy birthday to Junhua and Chongmeng!

its been a long while since the 12th main comm came together to have dinner! had a sumptous meal at sushi tei! yea! next year its wei ling's turn to treat all of us once she gets her first pay!

next up, 'silly-lia's wedding! haha, more like a gathering for folks of AJ ODAC! first among all of us to get that ring on the finger, blissful marriage k!

in support of the fund raising campaign for eugene's overseas CIP programme, ATC 09 team had a charity dinner at Dempsy! my first time ever to dine at such attas place... wootz..

had my EFI license renewed, though i don't really think that i will continue my outdoor life. attended the refresher more for the sake of meeting old mates, than for the certification. can't even be bothered to hear whats the new outdoor practises and protocols, i rather take photos!

in the company of Please Stay Alive, we had many many many rounds of annual dinner in hope to keep us alive... fuck man, its really not fun to get drown in alcohol like every other day...

my mentors, yu mei and yihan!

the new operation executives.. sadly, as the blog was post. when fiona drop me the sms, '... u serve to motivate us...', my mind went blank. i don't know what more i can do, other to stand and look (only) strong.

attended chin peng's wedding. wah, the food damn nice! shall have my wedding dinner there too! i want to have 80 tables of guest! from NY OAC, AJ ODAC, NDU 23rd batch, NTU ODAC, CampHA and Please Stay Alive, think i can make that number! but i got no wife! roar!

i'm on leave! i'm on leave! berkelah waterfalls!

ATC 11 & 4th Adsports Comm!

haha, well its my 8th time, think so, had lost count, that i had went up the rocky terrain of the waterfall trek off malaysia, kuantan. nothing new with the place, but always with new companions and probably with perspectives of things.

finally, after so many years, i had taken a step back, really on a holiday trip, and less interested in seeing how the new leaders run the show, and new seniors playing the mentor role.

the new seniors of the Club that i'm so proud of.



the ATC 11 team. welcome to the family - Dong Sua Sa!

i love treating them to good food! just look at their happy faces, got me real high too!

closure of my 6 days break, was a dinner with colleagues. haha, ranting, cursing, swearing does helps in relieving the stress at work.

second north-easties supper at Chomp Chomp, organised by junzhong! hehez, i love to do nothing but eat!

ah gong showing off his PhotoFind game on iphone 4, featuring bikini babes!

haha, random bah kut teh dinner with my favorite secretary cum treasurer at eunos! sadly that $8 bowl of bah kut is really NOT nice! my colleague commented that you are pretty after flipping through my facebook pictures k! think its my camera good ba! mi love :)

ok... that's a real long post... shag... 2 hours of non-stop typing and adding of photos... ok, off for run liao! standard chart, here i come!

fighting!

yep yep, tommorow night is ODAC's AGM again, where the new leaders of the Club will be born, and honoured to lead the Club to the next level in its 15th year. was spending the late night, doing some handy-craft gift for the 2 brothers, who succeeded the SPO for ATC 2010.

being someone who is highly task-oriented, many times, i often fall back into the trap, to only look at results, guilty of forgeting to appreciate all the good efforts behind each less successful attempts. yep, tommorow evening, is not just a night to congratulate the candidates, but also a night where we thank the many brave souls who had put in their time and effort for the past one or many years.

for those who had done well, yep, be proud of yourselve, you know it. for those who deem that they had under-achieved, yep, sadly, we all only had a year, or at most two in the Club, we miss the chance to do better here, we can always try again in other phases of our lives. 14th year, is yet another good year, and the best had yet to come.

firelight at ubin with the oldies! haha! BBQ!

met up with jas, jem & issey in sch for lunch! i so wanna bitch about that **** again!

met up with some other old mates too, congratulations to cecilia, first of all my AJ ODAC friends to send me the red envelope! hope to see more of the old mates at her wedding! ya, sadly, weddings seems to be replacing random gatherings..

sweddish meatballs with guangrong at ikea after a hard day of work!

the day that we all wore the same shirt... black polo (giodano) = new bird... it was really coincidental...

talking about efforts and attempts, yep, opportunity was given at work, its up to me now to put in all the efforts with every attempt to prove my worth. i'm not be the best, but my pride tells me, '我不能输'.

lost in control

convocated. somehow, the cemonial day plays no significance to me. nonetheless, still glad that i'll be done and away from books, at least for a while. sadly, emotionally, i'm still not capable of letting go, thoughts of the succesion and the next batch of leadership in the 15th management committee still lingers in my mind, even while i'm at work. to a certain extend, its affecting my performance. nah, i shall get back in pace and not letting emotions getting over me, shall not lose my sharpness in the early stage of battle. no matter how hard i try, this time, i can't make a difference no more.

fortunately, for the past few years of my teenage life, i had been blessed to be always in control, doing things i want, in my own comfort, be it in studies, odac or work. however at my first career, supoosedly my role is to be in control, well sitted a room called 'control centre', but yet i'm not feeling it as i should be.

i don't like such feeling. though i know its just a passing phase, that every newbie has to go through, and it will not last for more than 3 months. but i'm still pissed by my own incapability to contribute at work. others may say that the work requires much more knowledge that can't be accquired over a few weeks, that my job is now to learn, but hot-blooded me its getting impatient. probably, i'm just not quick enough in getting the stuff into my brains.

haiz... i no longer can help with the Club, yet i can't be much of help at work too. shall get back on my feet right now. ROAR myself x 3!

rainy days

atc-ed-ed and above

well, its the time of the year, yet again. there are those who are determined and certain of their direction and goal, while some got stranded within the dark clouds overhead. some are questioning their own capabilities, while others are putting judgements on other parties. some will only join when their friends come along onboard, while some awaits to be asked to come join. some are happy as they see their effort over the past year being well appreciated, while some face disappointment when they are not selected.

for those who drop by my blog, old man phua has got something to say, to remind everyone, the true purpose of the transition, before everyone dwells into all the 'who say what' & 'what he did'.

firstly, lets all be glad that, today, the Club has a vast of capable youngsters, interested to lead the Club to greater height. but sadly, there's only so many positions for leaders. its too difficult to judge who is better, who did more, who is more suitable. let's not dwell in the past, but the future, yep, how much more can he or she, and even yourselve, can contribute more.

secondly, its a dark period, as somehow everyone seems to be judged. its a happy thing to know that you are being chosen, preferred and looked up upon, but there are those who got burned when they realise that they are seen less as compared to their peers. do be reminded, the Club can never be at this state, without everyone's effort, be it big or small. for the chosen ones, be glad, that you can contribute as a leader, steering the Club's direction, but for the rest, you all are NOT lousy, and are just as important. the general can't fight a war, without his captains leading the army.

thirdly, the rainy days is just a passing phase, don't let emotions overcome your true self. everyone gets affected as we all feel for the Club, the different committees, and most of all, our friends. be confident of yourselve and your judgement. be open and don't hesitate to interact with others. there will be a lot of hearsays, face-off, confrontation, disappointments, bitching, backstabbing and broken relationships. often, we got lost and burned in all these negativities, just remember, stay true to yourselves, think positive and look forward, the rain will come to an end in no time.

lastly, start thinking of the future! prepare yourselves for the year ahead. what you want to achieve, what you want to amend, where shall the Club heads upon, how we can do things better. yes! start finding the out-going leaders to get them to share their experience. interact with people to know your own strengths and weaknesses. plan the work year for your team, share it with others to make it better.

remember:

1. knowledge is power
   
2. we grow through interactions
   
3. you fail to plan, you plan to fail

do your whatever it takes that you don't regret. best wishes.

atc-ed



graduate-ed

i love meeting old mates for meals! finally gotten my shift schedule, shall plan to meet up with more friends!

ending with a new beginning

upon graduation, marks the full retirement of the old dino phua from NTU ODAC, a place that he will always be proud of, where his good 4 years of memories are. emotions tend to flood in during such periods, where we start to part from school life, spliting paths with old mates.

sadly, due to commitment of my first full-time career, i can't attend FOOT (freshmen orientation overseas trip) but only the overseas and local seniors camp. old dino me has long lost his scorching breathes of fire, nothing much left that i can contribute, but just to sit aside to watch the youngsters grow through their projects.

eyes got a little teary, on the very night that kimjoo uploaded the ODAC video for year 2008/2009. though we had all watched it for umpteenth times, but all the fond memories that it brought along, got the cold blooded me emotional again. it may sound stupid, but i'm really envious of those laojiaos who can get to attend FOOT 2010 before the start of their career. its not about reliving the moment, i never believe in that, but just another occasion that we can once again, put in our heart, soul, sweat and blood, to do whatever we can for the Club.



with good blessing, hope the next batch , and many batches down the years, will once again be lead with good leadership, bringing the Club to greater heights. all the best for the 15th management committee. i may have left, but may my never-dying spirit fight on.

moving on with life, world cup 2010 marks the beginning of my working adult world. yep, working at PSA, one of the best container terminal in the world, an industry that the nation was so proud of, and kuku me, is gonna handle like 5 of its berth out of the existing 73. sounds exciting? yep, i hope it is. everyone claims that its a tough job, placed in a tough environment, and we gotta work through tough time when the economy had just went through a major recession. through hearsay, bosses are crazily demanding, setting expectations way mountain high, grinding subordinates with abusive and insulting languages. sounds like me hor? still in the midst of training phase, can't comment how bad it can be, but till date, i'm still confident of myself, to be able to cope.

new operations executives, july 2010 batch. they claim that half will be gone by the end of the year.

had a nice get to know session with my colleagues from pasir panjang terminal at The King Louis (vivo city level 3). we have a nice mixture of characters, i'm well enjoying the companionship at work, and hope the synergy will last us well at work.




heacy meat looks nice right? trust me, the food SUCKS, dun ever dine there, you have been warned. above are my 2 new friends who shared the Knights Meat Waigon with me!

somehow i'm missing my dearest secretary at work, shall put up a nice picture of her. sianz... no more pretty assistant by my side, nobody for me to boss around with, help buy tea, send sms & emails, talk stupid rubbish & highly animated jokes, and etc (thanks jas, you had been such a nice friend!)... roar... need to get use to being a ka kia!

5 cents worth of thoughts

for the good old kukubird friend of mine, hope that you are not that kuku that you don't even know i'm writing about you, but just wanna share this line that i yet to say that night.

its ok to have some scars in our lives, as they not only remind us about our failures, but more importantly, it marks our growth as we climb back from the fall.

to be frank, you are one of the smartest that i had known & you always know what you want, so you don't need advises, but if you need ears, at least i've got 2.

world cup 2010 - round of 16

sadly, some prediction of mine didn't come true for the group stages. especially so for the african teams like cameroon & ivory coast. nonetheless, as usual, i'll start betting right after the group stages, and here it goes:

Uruguay vs South Korea - Uruguay wins, i still deeeply believes in forlan. ($100)

United States vs Ghana - United States wins, i like donovan's performance. ($50)

Netherlands vs Slovakia - i'll buy -1.5 for Netherlands, robben is my favorite winger for the world cup. ($50)

Brazil vs Chile - i'll never bet on Brazil's game.

Germany vs England - Draw, England wins at ET/penalty shoot out. ($100)

Argentina vs Mexico - i bought Argentina to win the cup, how can i anticipate that they will be out so fast, but the odds are way to low for placing of bets.

Paraguay vs Japan - Japan, for asia's pride, honda literally got the best engine, but i wun bet this game, guess that it will be a draw game at full-time.

Spain vs Portugal - i'll take Portugal, still waiting for the odds to be out.

so exciting!

world cup 2010 - group stage

started writing this post before the 1st match kicked off, but could only finish it now... anw, here's my take to who's gonna go through the group stage.

just some rules that i based my predictions on:

1. countries with players well playing in european leagues will have a greater chance of holding the gold plated cup.
2. at least 2 african team will get through the group stage due to climate advantage.
3. a team with good finisher will be my choice compared to a generally strong team. this is world cup, not a league, the winning team will at most play only 7 games.
   

Group A

Uruguay - sadly for South Africa who play host for the world cup, i dun really think the host will get through even with home ground advantage. south africa shall concentrate to play good host instead of football in a week to come. uruguay, striking from diego forlan seems like a better take, probably bringing his team to the next stage with just 1 win and 2 draws.

France - without zidane or henry, if nothing really goes wrong, France should be able to go through the stage if complaceny doesn't comes to play. with strong and experienced backliners, evra, gallas and rodriguez, pushing the midfield with ribery and marquez, striking with govou, anelka and on-formed malouda, how could france miss its seat in the later stage?

Group B
South Korea - personal bias of south korea over nigeria, who strikes with martins and old time kanu, but i prefer to watch the world cup with the koreans airing the stadium with their chants, 'dae han min go! （大韩民国）'. its really nice to watch how the asian boy of manchester, park ji-sung give his all to his nation, despite the nuclear threats coming from the north, and not forgeting the last-last world cup hero, ahn jung-hwan!

Argentina - yep, rubbish manager you will say, maradona for such a world class squad, spoiling the good soup with long expired pepper. with strong line-ups from heinze, samuel, burdisso, veron, rodriguez, masherano, milto, tevez and messi, doubt anyone will question them in qualifying for the next stage. in fact, this is my pick for the winner of this world cup. seasoned defenders, all-rounded midfields, strong striking ability, with capable finishers. betted $50 on them for 1:6.5 at pools.

Group C
England - probably the most watched team in the world cup, where every player's ability is known through the many seasons of EPL that we had watched. somehow, they always seems strong, but never capable of holding the cup. to me, they are a confirm seater in the top 8, but never gonna make it to the next round. many placed their faith in rooney, but i never see him as a top class finisher, would prefer to have darren bent instead, but sadly, his not in the squad list.

USA - i'll definitely prefer the old squad led by pele than the current manager, bradley, but somehow the americans seems to play better football since beckham joined their league. with donovan and dempsey, with howard between the post, they should be able to get through.

Group D
Germany - without the old names like kahn and ballack, i'm still confident on the germans making their way to the top 8, just like england. holding the box with friedrich and lahm (my fav. pick in FM), schweinsteiger who winged through manchester united in champions league, and klose bringing goals from headers, group stages should be a ease.

Group E
Netherlands - somehow, i have a hunch for this team to land a place in the semi-finals. led by bert van marwijk, who just led feyenoord to win the dutch cup in 2007-2008, he got a strong line-up in his disposal. big names like bronckhorst, van bommel, van der vaart, sneijder, de jong to hold the midfield line, but what awaits us is with the strong forwards like kuyt, robin van persie and robben. a definite hot pick for this world cup.

Cameroon - the african team that i'll place my faith on. biased as eto'o is one of my favourite finisher, someone who scores just as long he gets a good pass. with bassong and m'bia taking the midfield, getting a few nice passes to eto'o should not be much of a problem. probably with the climate, they should be able to edge out japan and denmark in the group stages.

Group F
Italy - the old man team others may say, but seasoned i'll say. experienced in playing football at world class level, with most players played world cup once, having good understanding the skills and tempo of every other teams, such knowledge will are key advantages for such a seasoned team. big players like buffon, cannavaro, zambrotta, pepe, de rossi, gattuso, pirlo, gilardino and laquinta will be capable to bring the squad to breeze pass the group stage.

Slovakia - my pick instead of paraguay, with both strikers valdez and barrios from dortmund, and back up of santa cruz (only 4 goals for the whole season at man. city), i don't think they will deliver much goals to the back of the net. slovakia in the other hand seems to have more to offer with a young squad. father-and son tag-team for vladimir weiss, where father manage the squad, and son leading on the pitch, probably some sparks could come out from this young team.

Group G
Brazil - the king of football, think there's nothing much need to be said about the classic champions of football. doing it in salsa style that we had all seen through nike commercial advertisements, doubt they fail to impress the crowds this time round. many questioned dunga's management ability, but have we ever see the brazilians win the games with any known tactics? old time partnership of lucio and juan in the box, silva and kaka running into opponent's box, top class finishing from fabiano and robinho who each claimed 21 and 16 league goals, who gives a damn that names such as roberto carlos, ronaldo, ronaldino and adriano are no longer part of the squad.

Ivory Coast - i will much prefer to put the stake on another african team other than the well-liked portugal. with home ground advantage and strong physique, i believe toure, kalou and the man-of-steel drogba will lead the team to the next stage even they had landed in a bad draw to begin with. portugal seems strong with carvalho, ferreira, deco, mendes and ronaldo, but they just don't seems to have a winning factor.

Group H
Switzerland - not only for the well favorite spain, switzerland too is gonna have an easy time through the group stages, where chile and hondurus seems too weak to have any form of threat in offense. with barnetta sitting right in the middle of the pitch playmaking the game, and inler getting the possesions through infamous hard tackling, the only problem left will be getting the old forwards, aged well above 30, like frei and yakin to bring the goals.

Spain - hot favorite for the world cup. yep, combining the top clubs in the europe football scene, where star players of world class teams of barcelona, real madrid and valencia are put together to form the dream squad, and not to forget, the star striker, torres, from liverpool. somehow, favorites always seems to be cursed in world cup, like france in 2006 and italy in 2002, to never to perform well. despite the strong team with casillas, pique, puyol, ramos, xavi, alonso, iniesta, fabregas, top-scoring of spain, villa, and highly profiled torres, top 4, maybe, but not the champion for me.

just my 5 cents worth of thought. let's see how accurate i am!