Backstabbing, LFC, Work and Shows

Super duper long post ahead... ...

Cup Final...

Went to catch RHB Singapore Cup Final with 3 ex-students last Sunday. Since one of them initiated it, much to my surprise, I decided to take on the offer and accompany them to their 1st (local) cup final.

First half was pretty frustrating. Bangkok Glass was obviously the more dominant side but they could not find their way past Geyland Utd. I was pretty unimpressed by the Thai side's no. 9 and found myself ranting at him as the half went on. Half time came and the score was 0-0. Second half was much better. Geylang stepped up a gear and threatened more on the counter attack. Alas, Bangkok Glass could've and should've taken the lead. However, you could tell luck was on the local team's side when they managed to score their goal, despite the inital shot hitting the post, then striking the cross bar and cleared off before the line, before the final follow up shot found the back of the net. The match had looked to be ending in stalemate so the capacity crowd of close to 6000 was estatic when the scoreline finally broke its duck.

There was drama late on though as the Thai side pushed on for the equaliser. They managed to earn themselves a penalty (which was awarded by the linesman instead of the referee) but Geylang's goalie, who ended up as Man of the Match, pumped it away.

Well, it had everything typical of a cup final. A closely-run 1st half, more open 2nd half, scrappy goal, red card, lots of yellow cards, controversy (cos referee initially waved play on before awarding the penalty) and a capacity crowd (they ended up opening the opposite end of the stadium cos fans were still coming in after the match had kicked off for ard 10 mins).

Although we wouldn't really mind the excitement of a penalty shootout, it was good in the sense that the match ended on time. Else, by the time everyone reached home it would've been ard 10.45, close to 11 le. One of the boys waited for his dad to pick him up at the stadium, another took train all the way back himself and the remaining one alighted with me at Aljunied, where I accompanied him at nearby bus stop in waiting for his dad to fetch him home. Thanks for the thought of asking me along! LOL.

Assignments...

After the previously hectic 1.5 wk with all the due dates and grp assignments, still left with 1 more. The other course mates already cleared liao le. Left us Chinese specialization de. Still gotta do one literature critique write up. No inspiration what to critique on. If write up on novels sure won't do as well as foreign classmates since their knowledge and foundation are much stronger - and lecturer is from China too. So its kinda 班门弄斧。Maybe writing on song lyrics, esp. those by 林夕 and 方文山 cos their lyrics more 'colourful', can 瞎掰 more. LOL.

Shows and Movies...

This is the time of the year where the blockbusters come out! 宫心计's (Beyond the Realm of Conscience) trailer looks cool. Although there are criticism saying its plot is similar to 大长今, but afterall, this drama, like the Korean one is based on historical records (although there's bound to be exaggeration/editing) - during the late Tang Dynasty. Already seen lots of episodes posted on Tudou liao but no time to watch yet. Should be the very 'pek-chek' kind of show where you can't wait to see how the vilians get their retribution. :P Waiting to see how 杨怡 performs in her role too. If she can make the most out of her role, she'll be in the reckoning for awards. As for 佘诗曼, just think her role is slightly normal, cos she has taken up such characters before.

2012 premiers this Thursday while there's the previously mentioned 花木兰. 风云2 will be out too - in Dec if not wrong, while there's also Astro Boy. Movie fanatics will be spoilt for choices. The former 2 will be of more interest to me, cos I don't follow 风云 and 雄霸 was an epic villian. After him, the bad guys don't seem as 'challenging' to me.

Astro Boy's 57 years old. Can you believe it? LOL. This japanese manga character was 'created' in 1952. Finally making his big splash in the big screen. The line which I remember most from the trailer is "I've got machine guns...in my butt?". Haha. Should be one for relaxing the mood after the tense storyline of 2012.

Backstabbing and Bickering...

If you think bad mouthing about someone behind his/her back is back stabbing, if you think landing someone into trouble by telling on him/her is back stabbing, you aint seen nothing yet. Wait till you step out of your circle into the big society.

There are times when you don't see eye to eye with another person but that does not mean you are right or he/she is wrong. Similarly someone may seem full of himself/herself but you can't rule out the fact that its an over ooze of confidence. Someone may sound crude, direct and strong in his/her words but that's not to say he/she is entirely mean. Someone may have told a lie or committed a mistake but that's not to say he/she is a liar or bad person, forever.

There's more than one side of things to everything. Well, almost. The next time you pass a judgment or remark, take a look from another perspective. Don't just look from the front. Give others a benefit of doubt. At the end of the day, if his/her actions or words are really defenseless, then at the very least, you gave that party a chance and show your magnanimous. And because you did not jump to conclusion or you let the matter off, conflicts and displeasure will be reduced.

It's not easy, of course, especially for young children. But you are all maturing and I believe you will learn as you grow.

31st Dec...

50 more days to this date. One reason why I'm looking forward to this year's bday is because ideally, I would have cleared off a couple of burden on the back of my mind - not a lot but at least that'll be sign of progress. As the last day of the year it's a time for reflection and anticipation as well. A chance to start afresh, kick things on and move on to a new surrounding in yr 2010.

Liverpool FC...

Every club has a blip once in a while. Sometime its last longer than others'. And because we are 1 huge club, people enlarge and exaggerate things. A change of manager is a big no-no. There was the summer clear out of academy staffs and a new man will mean more changes or him making do with not what he wants. Rafa signed a new contract too so any sacking will means massive pay off for his contract. Besides, we lost Alonso, lots of players to injuries and were unlucky at times. How else do you explain losing the lead to Lyon, twice, late on into the match? There aren't managers of enough calibre to succeed Benitez too. Only two I will take are Guus Hiddink and Jose Mourinho but I can't see us getting them, at least not at the moment.

The international break is upon us and that should allow us to recoup our injured/unfit players. December is always a very crucial period because of the number of games packed in the month so we could still turn things around. Certainly not the title, but if we can mount a strong challenge for Europa Cup (if we don't make it to CL latter stages), FA Cup and finish in top 4, then I'd be satisfied enough, after such a poor start to the season. Remember, Arsenal haven't won things for years too.

When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of the storm
Is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark
Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone

木兰情...

Oh, so the other song is the 插曲 whereas this one by Stefanie Sun is the 主题曲。The thing I like about both the songs and movie is it is depicting the human/feminine side of Mulan. She has been unfairly/overly doped as a filial heroine that people forgot her needs/wants and that extra pain she had to go through.

And the small coincidence I have is that, my last piece of work @ KHS was teaching resources and PowerPoint slides for last chapter of P4 Chinese syllabus on topic of 木兰从军。 ^_^