冰与火的交汇

7月6日-7日见证了一场冰与火的交汇。有人说是有史以来温网最经典的赛事。4个小时35分的赛程里有2度因雨暂停，峰回路转，坚持不放弃，在最恶劣的光线里比赛，两位风格绝然不同的巨星展现了网球最完美的一面。

也有很多人说这是一个时代的交替。无论费帅多么的不想放弃，最终也只有接受事实。属于纳达尔的年代即将开始。

一场只有胜负没有失败的比赛。运动比赛有时候就是那么残忍。

Staying up.

The local time now is 2.38am. The reason I still staying up is to watch a tennis match. The clash between a prince and a beast. I thought I would have been witness the fall of great prince on grass at the end of 3rd set. Fortunately or unfortunately a rain disturb the game and now we are still at the beginning of set 5.

Look like it will take at least another 30 mins to find out the winner. But the fact remain, Radal is getting better on grass and he will be the great contender to challenge Federer along with some Serbian.

As for Federer, no matter what is the outcome of this match, he will be remember as one if not the greatest player of all time.

Singapore trip.

Managed to take a short break to Singapore on 27-29th June. Left Catriona with nanny and enjoy some 'free time'.

Find out some facts regarding Singaporean.

1) The public transport system is awfully good.

2) The people there is not as 'good' as it has been published. Few are willing to give way and seat to elderly.

3) And yes, there are still rubbish found in the lift. You might argue that it is a Malaysian who staying in Singapore..... well...............

4) The food there is fresh, doesn't mean it is tastier. The cooking skill play an important role.

Some beach in Sentosa Island.

The hanging bridge to the Southest Point of Asia continent, Sentosa Island.

Found some pieces of art after walking for nearly an hour under the hot sun.

All because of missing this short-cut.

David in the National History Museum of Singapore.

Some art from ordinary artist.

The Singapore Fly.

Done some walking in the city, to MRT station.

失去

有些东西失去了， 不能挽回。

生命，时间，机会，说出口的话。。。。。。。

有些东西失去了，可以再从来。

可是所要付出的努力和失去的机会价值有时却无法估计。。。。

有些东西失去了，反而值得高兴。

想要失去的偏又还在，想挽留的却不见了。。。。。

What can I say?

Well, as we all knew German and Michael Ballack fail to win the European Championship this morning. And yes, the unlucky 13 has yet again miss out the biggest prize of European football, after miss out 3 trophies this season with Chelsea.

What can I say? The quest of runner up is complete. Personally it will be very disappointing for him for sure, though he can still produce something in Chelsea next season but for international football this might be the end. Two years is a long way to go for athelete. Are we going to see him next world cup? Only time will tell....

The Germans have a little Lahm .....

.... and his heart is as big as they come !

The Germans are coming ! The Germans are coming ! And they've arrived in the Final of Euro 2008 with the winning goal against Turkey from the best right-footed left back in the world.

Take a bow, herr Philip Lahm.

You could make a case that he's the best left back in the world, period. Or the best right back in the world too, for that matter. But we won't get into that. He's definitely one of the most effective attacking full backs in the world. And he can defend well too, unlike a certain Mr. Roberto Carlos.

And finally the Turks are out. After multiple late goals and accompanying fight backs, this was one mountain too high for them. You know, with all their late rallys, Turkey were actually beginning to resemble Germany. And the Turks did manage one late equalising goal in the 86th minute. But the Germans also managed a late goal via Lahm in the 90th minute. I guess you could say that the Germans out-Germanned the Turks !

And check out the stats : Turkey had 22 shots to 9 for Germany. The Turks were actually the more dominating team. Which leaves us with that famous statement from the esteemable Gary Lineker :

Football is a simple game : 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win.

As for me, I'm having fun watching Germany progress. They don't have the best players when compared to some other teams but they do have a focus and mentality which enables them to progress far in tournaments. This is the case again in Euro 2008 where their center backs are a far cry from the likes of Beckenbauer and Jurgen Kohler of teams past.

I can only think of two other teams who are comparable tournament teams : Italy and Argentina. Brazil doesn't qualify because, really, they depend more on the sheer abundance of talent dribbling around on their streets.

On a side note, there are 2 million German citizens who have Turkish roots, so they were going to celebrate either way. This would include Mehmet Scholl, a former stalwart of the German national team who has a Turkish father. Turkey also fielded 2 German-born players in the Euro 2008 semifinals against Germany.

On another note, the Germans also approached Owen Hargreaves to play for them as he qualified under residency rules (Hargreaves had joined Bayern Munich at the age of 16). He chose England instead. He really could have chosen better.

Big Girl Already ....

My little girl turned 2 yesterday and yes, she's now aware of birthdays. I don't know whether it's from watching other children have birthday celebrations or TV or whatnot, but she does seem aware that birthdays are fun.

We had a little celebration for a little girl and she got to eat her favourite food .... mushrooms !

And we had to fit it in at the end of a day where I won a SonyEricsson W350 in a lucky draw, and spent a few K on a new Myvi. So I guess you could say that I had a few events in my day.

She got to blow her first candles with a lot of help from her Mama and you've got to admit that she does look pretty good in that dress !

如果

最近常在想，

如果当初选的不是那个科系，

如果当初选的不是那份工作，

如果当初。。。。。

一切都会不同吧！

会更好吗？

会不一样吗？

可惜没有人知道未来，

没有人可以从新来过。

上帝是公平的，也是残忍的。

一切都只有一次的机会，没有预演。

即使我站着不动，地球也会转动。

多无奈的事实。

如果。。。。。

Germany vs Turkey

That's the 1st semifinal of Euro 2008 confirmed. I guess most people would say that this semifinal pairing is unexpected given that the vanquished, Portugal and Croatia were the favourites against these two teams.

So was Germany winning unexpected ? Well, yes and no. Yes because Portugal have been playing well and Germany have not been impressive. And no because..... it's the Germans. What did you expect ?

Yet again the Germans came through in a big game and this was one where they looked rather comfortable compared to some of their famous fight-till-you-drop, last minute heroics, gut-it-out games. It helped that the Portugese had weaknesses in their defence. I mean, come on.............. two goals from free kicks in exactly the same manner ?

But I think what really swung this game was the tactics. The Germans switched to a five man midfield and this really helped them in two ways :

1. It got Mario Gomez off the field. He hasn't started the tournament well.
2. Portugal couldn't control the game in midfield the way the Croatians did against the Germans. At least the Germans had enough bodies to compete in midfield.

The German defence still doesn't look convincing but with Turkey in the semifinals, I'm betting that they'll do enough to make the final.

4:01

When it comes to the emotional attachments that sports clubs generate in fans, invariably there are images that come to mind. Most people call them Memories.

When I think of Manchester United I get :

* Eric Cantona with an upturned collar. There's a reason why my daughter's name is Catriona.

* Ryan Giggs slaloming through 5 Arsenal players to score the decisive goal in the epic FA Cup semifinal replay in the 98/99 season

* Steve Bruce's 2 late, late goals against Sheffield Wednesday which helped United to their first Premier League title. And Brian Kidd jumping wildly on the pitch at the final whistle of same game.

* Solskjaer's toe poke goal to win the Champions League final in 98/99

* The Busby Babes and the Munich air crash. And how the club recovered from the ashes of this tragedy.

So as I was watching the Boston Celtics go about winning their first NBA title after 21 years, 4:01 is the number that comes to mind. That's how much time was left in the game when Doc Rivers substituted all 3 of his big stars in the title clinching game against the LA Lakers. The game was well in hand by then and the celebrations had long begun. And now when I think of Banner 17, 4:01 is the number that comes to mind.

In fact, Manchester United and the Boston Celtics are pretty similiar in many ways. Both are clubs with a rich and trophied history and both had suffered through tragedies which set the club back years : United through the Munich air crash and the Celtics through the deaths of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis. And I started supporting them when both clubs were going through a lean spell - a very long lean spell.

That's what makes their victories all the sweeter.

BOSTON CELTICS 2008 NBA CHAMPIONS. How sweet it is !

They Got It Done !

Celtics On The Way To A Banner

The Celtics are up 79-48 in Game 6 ! Looks like No. 17 is on the way.