Weekend Dugong

U know time really flies when Christmas is just around the corner and you remember vividly that during the last Christmas, you weren't a daddy yet. You only have time in the week to ponder about such things when you're sitting in a coffee house on a Sunday afternoon, with a sleeping baby by your side, sipping a nice cup of hot latte and waiting for your wife to meet you after her tuition assignment. Yupz, life doesn’t get any better than this. I'm serious, this is a definite good way to unwind after a hectic work week.

Right now, i'm so looking forward to the Subaru challenge. I'm starting to really think I'm going to win it this year. Just please, please let me put my hand on the car this time round. Winning a car for a Christmas present would be really nice, but that is one present I won’t be putting under my Christmas tree. I really should be putting up my Halloween decorations tonight. These are the ones we bought during our 6 month stint in US. I wish we had more of a holiday spirit here. We were reminiscing the other day over dinner about how much fun we had then. We really miss the place, and I would certainly not hesitate if given the chance to go back there for 3-4 years. I know little Terelle would definitely like to grow up there; there's just so much to do there vs here where we all throng the malls over weekends. What else is there to do here? I wish I can dress Terelle up as a little pumpkin and watch her skip off with her other little friends to go trick-or-treating during Halloween. Thanksgiving is round the corner as well. I feel every family should celebrate 'Thanksgiving', though not for the same reasons the Americans do, but just to sit around, have dinner together, and be thankful for all the little blessings that have come our way this year. Yes, I am planning a Thanksgiving dinner soon; I have lots to be thankful for, in addition to my cup of latte, my sleeping baby and my weekend-still-have-to-slog 100% dedicated wife.

Baby Dugong :)

Here's looking at you world...Have a smashing week ahead! Remember, looking at the world through a baby's eyes : with wide-eyed innocence :)

Vvvvvrrrooooommmm Dugong!

Well waht-do-u-know, I'm officially in the "Subaru game" again this year, all thanks to my wonderful wife. First she suggested to me one of her ex-students as a partner for the contest, and then she successfully got me registered as the 10th caller yesterday on GOLD90.5. Isn't that head-banging awesome or what?? It's fate, i tell u....maybe i'm suppose to win the cars this year. Well anyhow, I just wanna have a feel of how it is to compete, to stand in the hot scorching sun and bone-chilling rain for 3+ days. That has gotta resemble reservist field training, at least there aren't mozzies around. Even if I don't win it this year, it'll prepare me for next year, and the next, and the next and the next.....:)

Taking a step back from the euphoria, I'm not really there yet since we still have to pick the color ball on the 5th November to qualify, but at least I'm a step closer again. Maybe i'll let my partner pick the ball this year. You know, the funny thing is, just a couple of days back, I was racking my brains to find a partner. Now that I've gotten one and have registered successfully, the names of possible partners keep popping up in my head. For starters, I'm sure my brother-in-law Terrence would make an awesome partner...he's the bang-head-on-wall-won't-give-up kind...now why didn't I think of him earlier? Oh well, I'm sure my current partner will do just as well....more about him later :) Brother Axl, you're a day too late man....if I don't win this year, we'll do it together next year!!

A Dugong Prayer

As I flip through the papers this morning, I can't help but feel like the luckiest person in the world. I've kinda lost count of the number of natural disasters the world has endured this year. One after the other, even before we have fully recovered from the shock of the previous one. I don't know about you, but I think by far the worst "natural" disaster we've ever gotten was the mini-tremors we felt from our neighbouring country, Indonesia.

So how lucky are we? Anyone ever took time off to sit and ponder on the "How Lucky Am I" scale? I turn the page to the "Home" section and I see articles of Singaporeans rushing down to car-showrooms over the weekend to take advantage of the drop in COE prices. We are indeed very lucky....and as I've always believed, the word is "sheltered". You can see it as a good thing, but I guess, there's always the other side of the coin. Sometimes I wonder if we as Singaporeans will survive a natural calamity of this magnitude.

Imagine this :

1) No cars because all the roads are damaged.

2) No water to wash your now-useless cars.

3) We now have to wait for food-drops from planes...Imagine the kiasu-ism in full flight

4) After you get your food-drops, you complain about bad service cause it wasn't dropped at your doorstep.

5) There will be many wakes to attend, more opportunities to spot 4D numbers. But then, SPools will not be open. Have to keep the numbers for later use.

6) Natural Calamity - so no one's fault, so no one's being sued in court, so no court-cases to attend. Damn....kaypoh uncle and aunties have nothing to do but wait for food-drops.

The list goes on...but this is exactly how I feel right now when I think about the huge divide in "luckiness" between us and the various countries affected this year by the "disasters".

My prayers go out to all the families who have lost their loved-ones and children in the latest earthquake. I pray for God's protection and comfort to be upon each and every one of them. And for goodness sake, if you're reading this you morons-aka-rebels and militants, stop adding to the body-count. Please stop the fighting. Enough people have died already. If you must kill, go kill yourself.

Desperate Dugong!

I need a partner for this year's SUBARU CHALLENGE on the 4th November. Yes, to all who know me, this is my 3rd year trying to get selected for this competition. The first year I wasn't successful in calling in, the second year I actually got past that stage, made it to the draw at Civic Plaza but didn't manage to draw the number ball to qualify as a contestant. Somehow, I've got a good feeling I'll make it alittle further this year. Maybe not win the car yet, but at least get to compete. But as fate decrees, I have a new obstacle in my way this year...I now need a partner. Although there's 2 cars up for grabs this year, but seriously, it really just increases the complexity of this whole thing. Why oh why did they do this to me?

I did a thought analysis yesterday; 2 things came to mind, actually 1 was a revelation.(1) I have been out asking some of my good buddies if they wanted to be my partner on this quest, no luck so far....the reason being no one wants to let me down.....I wasn't at all aware that so many of my buddies think I'm an extremist. I mean, do you really think i'll last the whole 3 days?? :) (2) I sat down to reassess my options, I'm looking for someone whom I'm close enuff to and confident in his ability to brave the winds and fire with me, yet won't cause me to weaken in my resolve and give up when I see him grovel and convulse on the ground, while foaming at the mouth. :) So, any takers for this role? A special shout-out to my good buddy TZ - Thanks for considering! HAHAHA!

BLUE BLUE DUGONG

Monday, a bane to many, a joy for none, maybe some, a few. It's a BLUE BLUE morning, as far as I can remember, I seriously cannot remember a blu-er morning than this one. Thrashed 1-4 at home to Chelsea, in my opinion, is total humiliation. How Liverpool managed to achieve that last night, I'm not sure but it sure drove a HUGE dagger deep into my heart, plus a vicious twist at the end.

Earlier in the evening, I was standing outside the ladies washroom at Centerpoint when a nice old gentleman tried to strike up a conversation with me. Apparently, he saw the Liverpool jersey I was wearing and he commented "So, do you think they will win tonight?" With the most fakely-realistic and optimistic voice I could find, I said "Sure, I mean, Chelsea's gotta lose soon and Liverpool's playing a style of football which Chelsea does not seem to be able to counter" Gosh, on hindsight, who am I trying to kid. Anyway, that nice gentleman turned out to be an insurance agent looking for an opportunity to give me his namecard. He's been a Liverpool fan since 1970, and I thought my "since-1987" was old. But gosh, how he must have endured all the heartaches our team has subjected us to since the mid-90s....bless his heart, I mean he must have leaped for joy and hit the roof like I did early this year when Liverpool hoisted the Champions League Trophy, but boy, how we'd love to see our team trade that for more overall consistency in the League. No point in winning a trophy and then being labelled as one-offs. The worst part, and I'm sure all the other Man Utd and Arsenal and XXX club fans out there will agree, is to witness another Chelsea victory. Its excruciating, totally gut-wrenching but I guess theres really nothing we can, or our teams can do about it. RUN RUN RUN AWAY WITH THE TITLE, YOU BLUE FACED BABOONS, while the rest of us sit around and weep......