I have a confession to make.
You know what you here from the sports anchormen, newscasters, pundits et all, " for those that slept after half time...."
Yup, I was one of those......Oh, why did I sleep after halftime? (Note: If you know nothing about football, skip reading)
Yesterday (25th May 2005), the most incredible thing happened in football sports. Liverpool, in a Champion's League Final (which is the premier competiton for Europe), up against 7 times Champions A.C. Milan from Italy, went 3-0 down in first half. Myself, being a loyal (will discuss this part later) Liverpool supporter, was devastated. This was made much worse considering the following factors:
1) Team selection - Rafael Benitez (Liverpool Manager) chose to pick Harry Kewell, once Australian wunderkid left winger/striker, to be one of the starting eleven despite him having played less than a couple of games before this. He eventually got injured (again) and had to go off after 20+ minutes.
2) Team selection - Djimi Traore was also selected for 1st eleven at leftback. While he has been playing regularly, it's probably his first, super important match and this guy has a tendency to overexpose his position and leave it unattended. Kudos for John Arne Riise for keeping the left side defendable.
3) The first goal by Milan was scored within the 1st minute!!
4) The other goals were scored when Djimi Traore was happily attacking in the opponent's half, leaving the defence to cope in 3 on 3 situations.
5) And, worse of them all, I applied Leave just to watch the match!!!
So you could understand me for giving up and going to bed at half time, right? I mean, an already distraught me couldn't take watching those 3 goals shown over and over again as the commentators review the 1st half that flew by. Surely I shouldn't torture myself with another horrific performance by Liverpool in the 2nd half and watch them ship in another 3 goals, no? You see my point, yes? (please say yes....please.....)
The truth is, I guess, I wasn't very loyal after all. I couldn't bear to see them lose. I didn't stick by them through thick and thin. And as I slumber, Liverpool staged the most exciting comeback by scoring 3 goals in 6 minutes, and then holding on for another 60 minutes before winning the match on penalties. All this happened while I was asleep. Steven Gerrard scored a superb header for the 1st goal, followed by a fluke 20 metre strike by Vladimer Smicer which Dida (Milan's goalkeeper) could have palm away and finally, Gerrard was brought down in the penalty area and gave Liverpool a penalty and chance to equalise. Xabi Alonso stepped up, and while his initial kick was stopped by Dida, his follow through crashed to the roof of the net and all the world wondered, "Could Liverpool pull it off?"
And I lay asleep. Liverpool scored 3 goals and I was sound asleep. They won the penalties and I was sound asleep. They lifted the cup, in front of 80 thousand spectators (of which, over 40 thousand were fans) and I was........asleep. I gave up while the world watched. I did, however, manage to secure the news by 8.00am when I saw an SMS from a friend to tell me we won. I also made sure I caught the repeat, just to see the goals, the penalty saves and, the celebration afterward (how else could I manage to write so much here?).
I have to say, I am still pleased we won. Even if we can't defend it next year (This whole thing about only up to top 4 in each country may compete each year, irregardless of who the champion is, is ridiculous). We did what Arsenal, Chelsea and another 17 other premiership teams couldn't do for 20 years. (Eat that Everton. See how you survive Champion's League next season). We won this cup 5 times, when Manchester United could only do it twice in 50 years. Maybe in the future, Chelsea or even Arsenal can win it, but 5 times???(insert Booker T taunt here).
I need to stop giving up so easily......
Friday, May 27, 2005
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
And they all went to Tioman......
That was my company's yearly trip destination. Happened last weekend. I didn't go for several reasons;
1) Decision to go happened during my 'low' period when I was expecting to return to now current role. So the low morale me chose to be anti-social and miss the trip.
2) I had a concert at DPP (Dewan Philharmonik Petronas) on Sunday, which I paid as part of my membership package of 7 concerts for about RM 300.00. While I didn't go, (somebody beat me!), it was an excuse....
3) I wanted to watch Judgement Day( PPV event for WWE Wrestling) on Monday morning. Going to Tioman basically meant no PPV for me.
4) I had no one to go for.......Basically (this is a section that deserves a full post, but later), every trip I go to I had someone to go for....It's kind-off the poor 'boy' in me...whatever.....
Since then, I have heard some stories on the going-ons for the trip. Mostly the stories of people loosing themselves after many a mug of beer, i.e. dancing erotically, cursing, dirty jokes and comments, etc. One of them involves a young manager helping out a drunk Canadian tourist female, who according to several sources went to the beach dancing in nude, with a bottle in her, between her, you know where.......
No I don't miss not being there when it happened, though it would have been quite an eye-opener (I haven't been to tiger shows, mind you...). Remember, this was not a professional, rather some random student tourist... Nor do I miss the trip and the company, considering I am somewhat still sore with my company...However, the fact that I missed my first annual trip on my third year was somewhat dissapointing. Not to mention the opportunity to visit Tioman and snorkel. At least I would have had the chance to say, "Yeah, I've done that!".
But I have time in my hands. Or I think.....(If I die by a freak accident in 48 hours, you'd know I brought it to myself).
I do believe that trips like these should include people that you could share precious and memorable moments with, not just any Tom, Dick, or Sally......Though not necessary it must be a loved one, it should be someone that experiences things relatively the same as you, and have interests the same as you do. Otherwise the trip will be about who's enjoying and who's giving in.
Oh well. Must not skip my next (and last) concert next month, or I shall (shoot myself).
1) Decision to go happened during my 'low' period when I was expecting to return to now current role. So the low morale me chose to be anti-social and miss the trip.
2) I had a concert at DPP (Dewan Philharmonik Petronas) on Sunday, which I paid as part of my membership package of 7 concerts for about RM 300.00. While I didn't go, (somebody beat me!), it was an excuse....
3) I wanted to watch Judgement Day( PPV event for WWE Wrestling) on Monday morning. Going to Tioman basically meant no PPV for me.
4) I had no one to go for.......Basically (this is a section that deserves a full post, but later), every trip I go to I had someone to go for....It's kind-off the poor 'boy' in me...whatever.....
Since then, I have heard some stories on the going-ons for the trip. Mostly the stories of people loosing themselves after many a mug of beer, i.e. dancing erotically, cursing, dirty jokes and comments, etc. One of them involves a young manager helping out a drunk Canadian tourist female, who according to several sources went to the beach dancing in nude, with a bottle in her, between her, you know where.......
No I don't miss not being there when it happened, though it would have been quite an eye-opener (I haven't been to tiger shows, mind you...). Remember, this was not a professional, rather some random student tourist... Nor do I miss the trip and the company, considering I am somewhat still sore with my company...However, the fact that I missed my first annual trip on my third year was somewhat dissapointing. Not to mention the opportunity to visit Tioman and snorkel. At least I would have had the chance to say, "Yeah, I've done that!".
But I have time in my hands. Or I think.....(If I die by a freak accident in 48 hours, you'd know I brought it to myself).
I do believe that trips like these should include people that you could share precious and memorable moments with, not just any Tom, Dick, or Sally......Though not necessary it must be a loved one, it should be someone that experiences things relatively the same as you, and have interests the same as you do. Otherwise the trip will be about who's enjoying and who's giving in.
Oh well. Must not skip my next (and last) concert next month, or I shall (shoot myself).
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
What a surprise!!
Last night something nearly random and impossible happened to me. I got an sms that at first, I discounted as a mis-sent, and later found out was an attempt to 'strike conversation' with me. Not to mention I just finished watching Monday Night Raw (yes, yesterday was Tuesday, I get to see it delayed) and realised I'm way past my bedtime. Bedtime now is, 11pm, later than that I won't get my 8 hours of sleep and my performance will suffer later that work day. Though, I have slept for 11 hours and still suffer in performance next working day.....Still, who wouldn't want more sleep?
Oh, back to the sms. I replied nonchalantly being the clueless person that I am. After discovering the true purpose of the sms, I own up to my lack of 'flirting' qualities. I was also trying to sleep, so keeping the sms up wasn't a good idea. Of course, being the person who has had no luck with the ladies (personal or otherwise), having a random thing like this sure excites the heart. Harmless, but the heart sure likes these kind of, feedback? (Couldn't find a better word). So I haven't really gotten over that, even now.
It got me thinking, why do I have such horrible ability to hold proper conversations with the fairer sex. I am, after all above average intelligence. There are many smarter males around me, but the smarter you are, the less likely the ladies would like you, or so I hear. Something to do with your conversations being too intelligent. Maybe my above average intelligence assessment is underestimated? Let's not go on an ego trip. Already riding on last night's!
Oh, reality check, nothing happened last night. I wasn't up for it, remember....nor did I know how. Hopeless. So why the issue with proper conversations? Or, to a more male female interaction, the ability to flirt? I use to have no problems talking to girls, or anyone for that matter during my childhood( :P). Then I went to an all-boys school in my teens, and I became more and more reclusive. I'd still have 'girl' thoughts, but as my school offers no such company, I think I basically lost touch. Then during my Form 6 years, having female classmates were possible again.
And in no time I was in love. Or so I thought. Looking at it now, the sudden exposure to girls after a long, long hiatus can drive a boy's hormones wild. Unfortunately, my, ahem, non-existent people skills, specifically with females, meant that all I could do were wrong things in my pursuit of the fairer sex. Real wrong. I overuse eye contact. I can't talk normal when they are around. About this girl that I was interested (in the 1 & 1/2 years in Form 6, I had 3 targets....bad bad boy), she had many admirers. I knew most of them, and their intentions. Yet not only did I not know how to exploit the information that I have, I let them win????Yeah, that's what I did.
And so I began my 'Self Destruct' process. A process I activate everytime I begin to feel for another person, and then due to some setback, I began to do everything that I could to forget them. And most of the things I did were extremely mean, to an unsuspecting female. Like complete ignorance, helping out with others on her relationship rumours, etc....See the total lack of maturity in this aspect?
Wait, I am to talk about my lack of flirting skills, not my past non-existent relationships. Ok, ok. Years go by and after many 'Self Destruct' activations, it's no surprise I no longer can hint interest with any female. Hell, I can't even read proper signs. Like when to step up or bolt. Or when they're in the mood (Forget about getting heavy, ok. I'm talking base zero here). Even girls that I find attractive, I completely ignore them (well, I try....But those damn hormones don't help!) as I doubt I'd be able to do anything...(yes yes, no confidence here....so huat??)
Also, I kind of believe in what I say, or what they say, in this 'flirting' process...So to do this flirt thingy just for the joy of it just doesn't feel right. Not to say that I don't do it at all, sometimes when my guard is missing I pull of a great escape or two, but other than that, I can only envy those who have it easy on the ladies.
I have my fair share of male friends who can pick up any girl they want. Well, at least that's how they boast it. They've got some examples, but it wouldn't be nice to say they're lying. Let them have their ego trip, I say, even if I won't get mine. They do, however, have the ability to sense interest, and also have the courage to 'hit' on a girl. Me, I can only think of the consequence of my actions, especially what may have felt right (My heart's a lousy judge) almost always turn completely wrong!
Sigh. Well, I guess I know why I'm poor in flirting. My lack of effort to improve it basically means no sig-other for me. You reap what you sow, no?
Oh, back to the sms. I replied nonchalantly being the clueless person that I am. After discovering the true purpose of the sms, I own up to my lack of 'flirting' qualities. I was also trying to sleep, so keeping the sms up wasn't a good idea. Of course, being the person who has had no luck with the ladies (personal or otherwise), having a random thing like this sure excites the heart. Harmless, but the heart sure likes these kind of, feedback? (Couldn't find a better word). So I haven't really gotten over that, even now.
It got me thinking, why do I have such horrible ability to hold proper conversations with the fairer sex. I am, after all above average intelligence. There are many smarter males around me, but the smarter you are, the less likely the ladies would like you, or so I hear. Something to do with your conversations being too intelligent. Maybe my above average intelligence assessment is underestimated? Let's not go on an ego trip. Already riding on last night's!
Oh, reality check, nothing happened last night. I wasn't up for it, remember....nor did I know how. Hopeless. So why the issue with proper conversations? Or, to a more male female interaction, the ability to flirt? I use to have no problems talking to girls, or anyone for that matter during my childhood( :P). Then I went to an all-boys school in my teens, and I became more and more reclusive. I'd still have 'girl' thoughts, but as my school offers no such company, I think I basically lost touch. Then during my Form 6 years, having female classmates were possible again.
And in no time I was in love. Or so I thought. Looking at it now, the sudden exposure to girls after a long, long hiatus can drive a boy's hormones wild. Unfortunately, my, ahem, non-existent people skills, specifically with females, meant that all I could do were wrong things in my pursuit of the fairer sex. Real wrong. I overuse eye contact. I can't talk normal when they are around. About this girl that I was interested (in the 1 & 1/2 years in Form 6, I had 3 targets....bad bad boy), she had many admirers. I knew most of them, and their intentions. Yet not only did I not know how to exploit the information that I have, I let them win????Yeah, that's what I did.
And so I began my 'Self Destruct' process. A process I activate everytime I begin to feel for another person, and then due to some setback, I began to do everything that I could to forget them. And most of the things I did were extremely mean, to an unsuspecting female. Like complete ignorance, helping out with others on her relationship rumours, etc....See the total lack of maturity in this aspect?
Wait, I am to talk about my lack of flirting skills, not my past non-existent relationships. Ok, ok. Years go by and after many 'Self Destruct' activations, it's no surprise I no longer can hint interest with any female. Hell, I can't even read proper signs. Like when to step up or bolt. Or when they're in the mood (Forget about getting heavy, ok. I'm talking base zero here). Even girls that I find attractive, I completely ignore them (well, I try....But those damn hormones don't help!) as I doubt I'd be able to do anything...(yes yes, no confidence here....so huat??)
Also, I kind of believe in what I say, or what they say, in this 'flirting' process...So to do this flirt thingy just for the joy of it just doesn't feel right. Not to say that I don't do it at all, sometimes when my guard is missing I pull of a great escape or two, but other than that, I can only envy those who have it easy on the ladies.
I have my fair share of male friends who can pick up any girl they want. Well, at least that's how they boast it. They've got some examples, but it wouldn't be nice to say they're lying. Let them have their ego trip, I say, even if I won't get mine. They do, however, have the ability to sense interest, and also have the courage to 'hit' on a girl. Me, I can only think of the consequence of my actions, especially what may have felt right (My heart's a lousy judge) almost always turn completely wrong!
Sigh. Well, I guess I know why I'm poor in flirting. My lack of effort to improve it basically means no sig-other for me. You reap what you sow, no?
Thursday, May 12, 2005
What do you write...
when you can't think of anything to write about??
I used to think blogging was an opportunity to write a 'public' diary. However, since then, the 'public' information became more and more 'private; information which I am becoming more reluctant to share.
I am, after all, a very secretive person. Granted, everyone has their share of secrets, and I for one, isn't in a position to own secrets that have overwhelming consequences once public (other than to myself), I do hold much of what I know to myself for several reasons:
1) I hate being wrong. Even if others don't know it. To know I played a part in giving incorrect information (without intent) and that someone using that same information with a potential to 'blow in their face' is painful. Don't know why.
2) I fear to be understood. It's like a book. Once someone has read you, you are open. They can choose any page in your book and know what you'll do. Or what you'll do next. That, scares the hell out of me. Not to mean that I don't want my (future) Sig-Other to not know me, but until then, I'll keep me to myself. Thank You.
So 2 reasons that compel me to be silent (but violent). Yet, every now and then I break my own rules and spills out more than I should, resulting in me feeling bad about myself for a while. And it can be a long while.
Enough talk about me. (Wait a minute, it's meant to talk about me). Lets find something to write about.....later.
I used to think blogging was an opportunity to write a 'public' diary. However, since then, the 'public' information became more and more 'private; information which I am becoming more reluctant to share.
I am, after all, a very secretive person. Granted, everyone has their share of secrets, and I for one, isn't in a position to own secrets that have overwhelming consequences once public (other than to myself), I do hold much of what I know to myself for several reasons:
1) I hate being wrong. Even if others don't know it. To know I played a part in giving incorrect information (without intent) and that someone using that same information with a potential to 'blow in their face' is painful. Don't know why.
2) I fear to be understood. It's like a book. Once someone has read you, you are open. They can choose any page in your book and know what you'll do. Or what you'll do next. That, scares the hell out of me. Not to mean that I don't want my (future) Sig-Other to not know me, but until then, I'll keep me to myself. Thank You.
So 2 reasons that compel me to be silent (but violent). Yet, every now and then I break my own rules and spills out more than I should, resulting in me feeling bad about myself for a while. And it can be a long while.
Enough talk about me. (Wait a minute, it's meant to talk about me). Lets find something to write about.....later.
Friday, May 06, 2005
And they all talked about Liverpool
Been lazy lately, with not much drive to strive.
Read a few guys blog and for those who were Liverpool fans, one theme popped up:
The fact that Liverpool is in Champion's League Final, against AC Milan.
A quick one on the above. Me Liverpool fan too. Not too diehard, but enough to always back Liverpool even when the odds are strongly against them. FYI, for those who don't know, Liverpool is a football club in UK. Currently not the best in terms of the Premier League, however over the years their history is amazing. Recent times Liverpool haven't been Champion material, but this CL final gives the team an opportunity to return to previous glory days.
I saw that match, I saw the (boring) 0-0 1st leg too. Oh, as a Liverpool fan I shouldn't say that it was boring (it was a good result to bring back to Anfield), however looking from a neutral, any game that ends 0-0 tend to bore. Tactics prevailed over technique.
And it was similar in the return leg. Other than the fortunate goal early in the game, the teams stuck to their tactics like before and the game ended 0-1. It wasn't pretty, but in the end the results matter most.
I have to admit, while for a neutral, it wasn't very exciting, being a fan it was very stressful. Knowing that a single goal by Chelsea (did I not mention this was their opponent?) will take them through instead of my team, I was anxious throughout the game. Worried sick at times. But I kept watching. And they won.
And that's all that matters.......
Read a few guys blog and for those who were Liverpool fans, one theme popped up:
The fact that Liverpool is in Champion's League Final, against AC Milan.
A quick one on the above. Me Liverpool fan too. Not too diehard, but enough to always back Liverpool even when the odds are strongly against them. FYI, for those who don't know, Liverpool is a football club in UK. Currently not the best in terms of the Premier League, however over the years their history is amazing. Recent times Liverpool haven't been Champion material, but this CL final gives the team an opportunity to return to previous glory days.
I saw that match, I saw the (boring) 0-0 1st leg too. Oh, as a Liverpool fan I shouldn't say that it was boring (it was a good result to bring back to Anfield), however looking from a neutral, any game that ends 0-0 tend to bore. Tactics prevailed over technique.
And it was similar in the return leg. Other than the fortunate goal early in the game, the teams stuck to their tactics like before and the game ended 0-1. It wasn't pretty, but in the end the results matter most.
I have to admit, while for a neutral, it wasn't very exciting, being a fan it was very stressful. Knowing that a single goal by Chelsea (did I not mention this was their opponent?) will take them through instead of my team, I was anxious throughout the game. Worried sick at times. But I kept watching. And they won.
And that's all that matters.......
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Get out of Jail!!!
Card. That's what today is for me. The past month has been depressing as a whole, due to my knowlegde of what's to happen to my job scope. As I have posted before, I am returning to my previous role as an Administrator (or Secretary, for those who are wondering) from my current role as Team Leader. And today is my last day.
So why get out of jail? Hmmm. Lots of reasons. I no longer have to lead a team. That said, I no longer have to worry over my teammembers not doing their work, slacking, taking shortcuts, etc. I don't have to worry about their welfare, their stress levels, their happiness at work......All I have to worry is making sure my Boss get's what she wants when she wants it (no unethical thoughts, please..)
Oops (Out of Pattern Spend). I let out the cat. Let's talk about my job. Yes, I am known as the Department Administrator for about 80 employees. However, I report to one person, that's my Boss, who also happens to be the Director. And yes, it's a she. And yes, I agree what they say about female bosses. Oh, as I was saying, while I seem to serve 80 odd blokes, my major concern is the requirements of my Director. Again, this is business only (see why I don't like talking about this?) As long as the task given out by her is completed, I am free to do as I will (within certain constraints, of course).
Not that being a Team Leader meant I would have another boss. Nope. Same boss, more problems. The difference, is of course; Power & Money ( I could add the ability to serve others, but I'm no politician, so I'll lie). So I don't really have much to complain, do I?
But complain I do. You see, being male restricts my ability to multitask. And this role requires alot of multitasking. Not to mention, I have poor attention span. Sometimes constantly reminded items pass me by until its too late. In other words, I suck at my job. So how did this hopeless (me) get hired?
This is some fun to tell. I've told this before, but let's do this here as well. For your reading pleasure. You see, before this I worked night shift in the same department as a rep. My performance was above par, but not thoroughly outstanding. When the position became available, I was somewhat tired of my current job. There were certain changes happening, and I wasn't too keen on them. Besides, this is a day job. Weekends off. (not too mention, not bad in pay). And the role of 'Department Administrator' made it possible for a guy to go for the post. Oh, fyi, until I applied, everyone, and anyone, who even considered for this position, was female. (I see an opening for guy degrading comment!). So I posted. My competitors, all colleagues in the same department, were of course females with a certain skill lacking. Not without, but lacking (and this skill has nothing with me being male, dammit!)
I had the advantage of being more fluent in English. Like this. They, however, were, as I mentioned, lacking. ( I also believe that my boss probably was happy to be able to boast to have a male assistant, as every other person in similar roles were females, but that's another story). Not to mentioned I played all my cards right through 2 interviews with 4 women! I must admit though, I wasn't even convinced I should get the job......
That was 18 months ago. Now I'm going to be back at that role, and have to work with the person who replaces me. I just hope I can remain objective and not give them a hard time.
I need a new job....Anyone know of anything out there for me????
So why get out of jail? Hmmm. Lots of reasons. I no longer have to lead a team. That said, I no longer have to worry over my teammembers not doing their work, slacking, taking shortcuts, etc. I don't have to worry about their welfare, their stress levels, their happiness at work......All I have to worry is making sure my Boss get's what she wants when she wants it (no unethical thoughts, please..)
Oops (Out of Pattern Spend). I let out the cat. Let's talk about my job. Yes, I am known as the Department Administrator for about 80 employees. However, I report to one person, that's my Boss, who also happens to be the Director. And yes, it's a she. And yes, I agree what they say about female bosses. Oh, as I was saying, while I seem to serve 80 odd blokes, my major concern is the requirements of my Director. Again, this is business only (see why I don't like talking about this?) As long as the task given out by her is completed, I am free to do as I will (within certain constraints, of course).
Not that being a Team Leader meant I would have another boss. Nope. Same boss, more problems. The difference, is of course; Power & Money ( I could add the ability to serve others, but I'm no politician, so I'll lie). So I don't really have much to complain, do I?
But complain I do. You see, being male restricts my ability to multitask. And this role requires alot of multitasking. Not to mention, I have poor attention span. Sometimes constantly reminded items pass me by until its too late. In other words, I suck at my job. So how did this hopeless (me) get hired?
This is some fun to tell. I've told this before, but let's do this here as well. For your reading pleasure. You see, before this I worked night shift in the same department as a rep. My performance was above par, but not thoroughly outstanding. When the position became available, I was somewhat tired of my current job. There were certain changes happening, and I wasn't too keen on them. Besides, this is a day job. Weekends off. (not too mention, not bad in pay). And the role of 'Department Administrator' made it possible for a guy to go for the post. Oh, fyi, until I applied, everyone, and anyone, who even considered for this position, was female. (I see an opening for guy degrading comment!). So I posted. My competitors, all colleagues in the same department, were of course females with a certain skill lacking. Not without, but lacking (and this skill has nothing with me being male, dammit!)
I had the advantage of being more fluent in English. Like this. They, however, were, as I mentioned, lacking. ( I also believe that my boss probably was happy to be able to boast to have a male assistant, as every other person in similar roles were females, but that's another story). Not to mentioned I played all my cards right through 2 interviews with 4 women! I must admit though, I wasn't even convinced I should get the job......
That was 18 months ago. Now I'm going to be back at that role, and have to work with the person who replaces me. I just hope I can remain objective and not give them a hard time.
I need a new job....Anyone know of anything out there for me????
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Back on Borrowed Time
To some extent, that is. Doing this during working hours looks like borrowed time to me.
A little update over the last post:
1) I showed I knew Edge and Christian very well, and that I was.....That......Damn.....Good (yet another Wrestling related comment). However, UnderTaker answered GOLDBerg's Who's Next extremely well and Took Care of Business. Whooped me and took the Intercontinetal Belt.
2) I haven't had a single game of chess since my last post.....Boo Hoo. Isn't there anyone willing to spar with me???
Yesterday the official announcement of my impending return to my previous role came out. The permanent replacement's name was also announce. During that time (in the 'manager's' meeting), despite me already knowing this fact, my mood sunk yet again and I could hardly function properly. Safe to say I didn't exist in the office for a couple of hours despite physically there. I was just not in the mood to work. More reference to borrowed time??
Today there was a Cultural Day of sorts in my department and I had colleagues appearing in standard malay, chinese or indian costumes. Best, ofcourse were the non-indians willingness to put on a Saree. While some may say my office does not have beautiful women, I would say it is a welcomed change, at least once in a while.
Despite my attempts to not do much for the next couple of weeks, I couldn't stop myself from overtaking my colleague's camera and started acting like pro (when I'm not). Come to think of it, I think I was somewhat rude with the way I shove him off His camera and took over. Ouch. Me bad, very bad. That aside, we had the a pot luck thingy and there was so much food that I don't even need to buy dinner (the event happened late lunch). There's still alot of food left.
Back to taking photographs, I have a thing for angled shots and candid pictures. I like taking pictures when people least expect them (not too the extent that it becomes voyuer) and take them at embarassing moments. There was once a colleague fell asleep in the office (please don't think we have nothing to do at work, we do. Really) and I borrowed (again??) a phone camera and recorded a scene of him sleeping!
Other than the photographing sessions, loads of food, today has been quite a waste of time. I hardly have any mood to do anything (my boss finds out, I'm dead). Can't wait to go to Wolf's Gameshop tonight and play some wrestling. Glad I got some extra foils from Herman (a Singaporean who drops by the Shop once a month to sell Raw Deal Foils) that allows me a lot more options in deckbuilding (like I don't already have enough). Took me 3 hours last night just to rearrange my foils.
It's now 7.45pm. 2 plus hours to go. Can't wait.
A little update over the last post:
1) I showed I knew Edge and Christian very well, and that I was.....That......Damn.....Good (yet another Wrestling related comment). However, UnderTaker answered GOLDBerg's Who's Next extremely well and Took Care of Business. Whooped me and took the Intercontinetal Belt.
2) I haven't had a single game of chess since my last post.....Boo Hoo. Isn't there anyone willing to spar with me???
Yesterday the official announcement of my impending return to my previous role came out. The permanent replacement's name was also announce. During that time (in the 'manager's' meeting), despite me already knowing this fact, my mood sunk yet again and I could hardly function properly. Safe to say I didn't exist in the office for a couple of hours despite physically there. I was just not in the mood to work. More reference to borrowed time??
Today there was a Cultural Day of sorts in my department and I had colleagues appearing in standard malay, chinese or indian costumes. Best, ofcourse were the non-indians willingness to put on a Saree. While some may say my office does not have beautiful women, I would say it is a welcomed change, at least once in a while.
Despite my attempts to not do much for the next couple of weeks, I couldn't stop myself from overtaking my colleague's camera and started acting like pro (when I'm not). Come to think of it, I think I was somewhat rude with the way I shove him off His camera and took over. Ouch. Me bad, very bad. That aside, we had the a pot luck thingy and there was so much food that I don't even need to buy dinner (the event happened late lunch). There's still alot of food left.
Back to taking photographs, I have a thing for angled shots and candid pictures. I like taking pictures when people least expect them (not too the extent that it becomes voyuer) and take them at embarassing moments. There was once a colleague fell asleep in the office (please don't think we have nothing to do at work, we do. Really) and I borrowed (again??) a phone camera and recorded a scene of him sleeping!
Other than the photographing sessions, loads of food, today has been quite a waste of time. I hardly have any mood to do anything (my boss finds out, I'm dead). Can't wait to go to Wolf's Gameshop tonight and play some wrestling. Glad I got some extra foils from Herman (a Singaporean who drops by the Shop once a month to sell Raw Deal Foils) that allows me a lot more options in deckbuilding (like I don't already have enough). Took me 3 hours last night just to rearrange my foils.
It's now 7.45pm. 2 plus hours to go. Can't wait.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Happier Times
I admit. For the first time I am writing this from home. So much for using company time for personal endeavours.
Few things have urged me to write these down before my failing memory looses the thoughts,
1) I have been listening to this 'schoolboy' song recently and it brought back memories of how I destroyed the lyrics. I will write the lyrics below and you decide how sick I was. Urm, I did this at twelve.
Song - Parody of Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa (oops. It's in Bahasa Malaysia, so if you don't know BM, you're unlikely to understand what I've done).
Jangan guna Bahasa Kebangsaan kita
Gunakan kata kasar sahaja
Bahasalah memusnahkan kita semua
Yakinlah Bahasa sakit jiwa
Marilah mari rakyat semua
Buktikan taat setia
pada kata kasar sahja
Tak maju bangsa
Tak maju negara
Bahasa sudah gila
Bahasa sakit Jiwa!!
2) After like, 4 years, I finally found someone (you know who you are) to play a game of chess with me. This guy was somewhat confident of his 'chess' skills that he responded to my offer to play "Only if you don't mind losing"....He he. Unfortunately for him, due to lack of sparring partners, I had no avenue to show that I am somewhat competent in Chess, or similar board games. You see, my youth was spent on character creation (RPG characters; AD&D, GURPs, RuneQuest, Middle Earth, Chill, StreetFighter, Ars Magicka, Vampire the Masquerade, Robotech, Star Trek and a host of other RPgs too) without the RPG sessions (no pals of similar wavelength, unfortunately), playing basketball at school (which I suck at) or, playing 'chess' like games. While I'm not good enough to represent my school, I can play well. Most people who knew me then say that my lack of concentration is my downfall. To cut the story short, he underestimated my playing level and was rather easily checkmated. Then another guy took me on and lost 2 games in a row. And finally, with a vengence, the first guy took me on again...............and lost. All 4 games I played black. I wonder if I still know how to play white. Not too much to worry though, I don't think they do either...(inner chuckle). Though I hope I didn't beat them too badly, because then no one would want to play with me again (and another many years of no chess to play)...
3) I have just cracked my head for 4 hours figuring out what to pack for my 2 PPV matches; GOLDBerg VS Undertaker; and Two Man Power Trip VS Edge & Christian. While the earlier sees me defending the Raw Intercontinental Belt, the latter has me as the Number 1 contender for their Raw Tag Team Belt. The stress was further compounded by me forgetting to bring home my Hardcore Molly deck, which held key cards for both my decks (For those in the know, i.e. Volley This!). Thus I am forced to build decks with the possibility of not being able to access certain cards, and much more difficult is the fact that both decks are RAW and share certain Premium cards (like all my GRAs!). Headache!!!!!
4) (will I have 7 points to write.....Hmmm????)
No!. And I'm tired. Will signoff here. Pray I Take Care of Undertaker Business and show how I know Edge & Christian.
(neck hurts!)
Few things have urged me to write these down before my failing memory looses the thoughts,
1) I have been listening to this 'schoolboy' song recently and it brought back memories of how I destroyed the lyrics. I will write the lyrics below and you decide how sick I was. Urm, I did this at twelve.
Song - Parody of Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa (oops. It's in Bahasa Malaysia, so if you don't know BM, you're unlikely to understand what I've done).
Jangan guna Bahasa Kebangsaan kita
Gunakan kata kasar sahaja
Bahasalah memusnahkan kita semua
Yakinlah Bahasa sakit jiwa
Marilah mari rakyat semua
Buktikan taat setia
pada kata kasar sahja
Tak maju bangsa
Tak maju negara
Bahasa sudah gila
Bahasa sakit Jiwa!!
2) After like, 4 years, I finally found someone (you know who you are) to play a game of chess with me. This guy was somewhat confident of his 'chess' skills that he responded to my offer to play "Only if you don't mind losing"....He he. Unfortunately for him, due to lack of sparring partners, I had no avenue to show that I am somewhat competent in Chess, or similar board games. You see, my youth was spent on character creation (RPG characters; AD&D, GURPs, RuneQuest, Middle Earth, Chill, StreetFighter, Ars Magicka, Vampire the Masquerade, Robotech, Star Trek and a host of other RPgs too) without the RPG sessions (no pals of similar wavelength, unfortunately), playing basketball at school (which I suck at) or, playing 'chess' like games. While I'm not good enough to represent my school, I can play well. Most people who knew me then say that my lack of concentration is my downfall. To cut the story short, he underestimated my playing level and was rather easily checkmated. Then another guy took me on and lost 2 games in a row. And finally, with a vengence, the first guy took me on again...............and lost. All 4 games I played black. I wonder if I still know how to play white. Not too much to worry though, I don't think they do either...(inner chuckle). Though I hope I didn't beat them too badly, because then no one would want to play with me again (and another many years of no chess to play)...
3) I have just cracked my head for 4 hours figuring out what to pack for my 2 PPV matches; GOLDBerg VS Undertaker; and Two Man Power Trip VS Edge & Christian. While the earlier sees me defending the Raw Intercontinental Belt, the latter has me as the Number 1 contender for their Raw Tag Team Belt. The stress was further compounded by me forgetting to bring home my Hardcore Molly deck, which held key cards for both my decks (For those in the know, i.e. Volley This!). Thus I am forced to build decks with the possibility of not being able to access certain cards, and much more difficult is the fact that both decks are RAW and share certain Premium cards (like all my GRAs!). Headache!!!!!
4) (will I have 7 points to write.....Hmmm????)
No!. And I'm tired. Will signoff here. Pray I Take Care of Undertaker Business and show how I know Edge & Christian.
(neck hurts!)
Monday, April 11, 2005
DDDDDDD Pressed
Ran my first CCG tournament yesterday. Not with Magic the Gathering, but Raw Deal (if you've been reading this, it should be obvious). Surprised to get 14 players when I thought getting 12 was impossible. Guess the prizes were good attraction. Oh, and getting 14 players were a problem as the tournament support was only good for 12. Had an opportunity to fix it, but couldn't. Tough luck.
I actually completed the tournament early (like by 6pm) for a 5 round tornament that cuts to top four. Guess 30 minute rounds are significantly faster than 50 minute rounds (what, you can calculate anymore meh? It's obvious, right?) In general, it was quite good a tourney.
However, I failed on 2 counts:
1) I failed to deliver as promised to provide everyone with a That's Balance promo card. It was meant that everyone joining the tournament would get one but the kit/support catered only for 12. So much for trying to push for more attendance. Damn.
2) I failed to rule properly when required. Made an ass of myself when I helped a Rock player by ruling against his opponent, resulting the match to draw. Later, when the opponent (who played the Phenom, an Undertaker remake (Which I hate! I don't know why)) recalled the ruling to other players, my mistake blew up on my face. Ouch! Better buck up to avoid further embaressment. If only Raw Deal had comprehensive rules like MTG. Or is it because I didn't read up enough? Must improve. Must.
Oh, it didn't help how I was reminded of my mistakes. it felt like I was an amateur. There was this group of players ranting away their dissatisfaction after the tournament was over (they were the winner and finalist, who unfortunately were the victims of the 14 player attendance (that I couldn't fix)) and how I failed to act in good faith over certain the prize support. They were also unhappy over certain decisions made about the next tournament I plan to organise. All I could do was sit and listen. Luckily they got tired and we all went for dinner! (he he, food is always good misdirection).
But just a couple of hours ago I saw a post on a forum referencing to the tournament (by the winner) and again the failures were highlighted. I felt crucified. Staked. Couple that with the shit I am getting in the Office (which, ahem isn't entirely not my fault), I took 4 hours and hit back. Now I need to prepare for the worst. Defy!!!!!
So here I am again, depressed and confused to why I constantly put myself in this position. Let's review:
1) I like to organise tournaments. I enjoy most when everyone get to have loads of fun while I sit back and watch. I do this at video arcades too, which explains why I could spend hours there without spending a sigle cent. Now there's PC games, so I don't need to do that anymore.
2) I hated the fact that dem damn Singaporeans (Malaysians, if you forward this Blog to Singaporeans, I'll Suicide Head Butt you!!!) had access to so many Raw Deal cards, a majority of them promos, while us Malaysians watched in awe. (Also should comment that I didn't like them having a better collection than I did, but that's another story). So running tournaments was a way for me to help fix this.
3) I can't take stress. I have taken stress test before and failed miserably. Wait a minute, this isn't a valid point? There's more stress running tournaments than playing them!
4) I hope to make a living from this. Then I can screw work and run tournaments full time. Yippee!! (erm. Excuse me? Raw Deal don't give you money for the work. Eventually I'm suppose to get the promos, but that's only if I survive this for more than 3 months. Oh, no money. Remember that. I need to pay for the support, remember (hint, USD 25 for the TKits?))
5) I like to be the centre of attention. Everyone needs to listen to me when I announce rounds, make rulings, bla bla bla..Yeah, That's right. I am the King of the World!! (I didn't just write that, did I? Stupid JellyKoh). What King of the world? This isn't Magic, where they have Judge levels to show my ability to make rulings. And my blunder was low. Real low. (Where's that rat hole?)
6) I get to be part of the shop. Well, for like 5 hours, anyway...Hmmm.. I smell a need to fit in....(Must defy, must defy). (What part of the shop am I apart of? Stop hallucinating, ok?)
7) I must be bored silly. hmmm....Best possible reason of the 7.
Discounting the non reasons, I guess I now know why I am doing it. How long can I do it, I don't know. If players continue to be ungrateful (luckily 'they' aren't, yet), I may just throw down the towel.
Life sucks..........And life goes on.......................................................................................................................
I actually completed the tournament early (like by 6pm) for a 5 round tornament that cuts to top four. Guess 30 minute rounds are significantly faster than 50 minute rounds (what, you can calculate anymore meh? It's obvious, right?) In general, it was quite good a tourney.
However, I failed on 2 counts:
1) I failed to deliver as promised to provide everyone with a That's Balance promo card. It was meant that everyone joining the tournament would get one but the kit/support catered only for 12. So much for trying to push for more attendance. Damn.
2) I failed to rule properly when required. Made an ass of myself when I helped a Rock player by ruling against his opponent, resulting the match to draw. Later, when the opponent (who played the Phenom, an Undertaker remake (Which I hate! I don't know why)) recalled the ruling to other players, my mistake blew up on my face. Ouch! Better buck up to avoid further embaressment. If only Raw Deal had comprehensive rules like MTG. Or is it because I didn't read up enough? Must improve. Must.
Oh, it didn't help how I was reminded of my mistakes. it felt like I was an amateur. There was this group of players ranting away their dissatisfaction after the tournament was over (they were the winner and finalist, who unfortunately were the victims of the 14 player attendance (that I couldn't fix)) and how I failed to act in good faith over certain the prize support. They were also unhappy over certain decisions made about the next tournament I plan to organise. All I could do was sit and listen. Luckily they got tired and we all went for dinner! (he he, food is always good misdirection).
But just a couple of hours ago I saw a post on a forum referencing to the tournament (by the winner) and again the failures were highlighted. I felt crucified. Staked. Couple that with the shit I am getting in the Office (which, ahem isn't entirely not my fault), I took 4 hours and hit back. Now I need to prepare for the worst. Defy!!!!!
So here I am again, depressed and confused to why I constantly put myself in this position. Let's review:
1) I like to organise tournaments. I enjoy most when everyone get to have loads of fun while I sit back and watch. I do this at video arcades too, which explains why I could spend hours there without spending a sigle cent. Now there's PC games, so I don't need to do that anymore.
2) I hated the fact that dem damn Singaporeans (Malaysians, if you forward this Blog to Singaporeans, I'll Suicide Head Butt you!!!) had access to so many Raw Deal cards, a majority of them promos, while us Malaysians watched in awe. (Also should comment that I didn't like them having a better collection than I did, but that's another story). So running tournaments was a way for me to help fix this.
3) I can't take stress. I have taken stress test before and failed miserably. Wait a minute, this isn't a valid point? There's more stress running tournaments than playing them!
4) I hope to make a living from this. Then I can screw work and run tournaments full time. Yippee!! (erm. Excuse me? Raw Deal don't give you money for the work. Eventually I'm suppose to get the promos, but that's only if I survive this for more than 3 months. Oh, no money. Remember that. I need to pay for the support, remember (hint, USD 25 for the TKits?))
5) I like to be the centre of attention. Everyone needs to listen to me when I announce rounds, make rulings, bla bla bla..Yeah, That's right. I am the King of the World!! (I didn't just write that, did I? Stupid JellyKoh). What King of the world? This isn't Magic, where they have Judge levels to show my ability to make rulings. And my blunder was low. Real low. (Where's that rat hole?)
6) I get to be part of the shop. Well, for like 5 hours, anyway...Hmmm.. I smell a need to fit in....(Must defy, must defy). (What part of the shop am I apart of? Stop hallucinating, ok?)
7) I must be bored silly. hmmm....Best possible reason of the 7.
Discounting the non reasons, I guess I now know why I am doing it. How long can I do it, I don't know. If players continue to be ungrateful (luckily 'they' aren't, yet), I may just throw down the towel.
Life sucks..........And life goes on.......................................................................................................................
Friday, April 08, 2005
What happened after WrestleMania XXI
It was a good show. Fine entertainment for 4 hours. Granted some of the matches were a bore, i.e. Cena VS JBL, Big Show and some Sumo wrestler, etc... But the matches between Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels, 6 Man Money in the Bag Ladder Match and, ofcourse, HHH and the current World Heavyweight Title Champ, BATISTA were great matches. That was a superb show from the start (ring entrances) 'till finish (Batista Bomb on HHH). I have to admit, I was routing for Batista all the time.
You see, fyi to those who aren't into Wrestling, Batista (new upstart wrestler) was HHH (veteran wrestler) understudy in a team known as Evolution, of which 1 member has already left (Randy Orton, also young upstart wrestler). During the buildup to WrestleMania XXI, Batista challenged HHH for the World Heavyweight Title (If you don't know, sports in rings love heavyweight stuff, so lightweight stuff just don't bring on the power) @ WrestleMania XXI. While the challenge was Paid (signed-off), Laid (on contract) & Made (Fixed Venue & Date), it was still a number of weeks before the final confrontation. So wrestling enthusiast had the opportunity to see how Batista condition himself for the match (no, not by showing his gym routines, but his in-ring speeches and other matches) and also see how HHH was reeling off the prospect of being beaten (RAW) by BATISTA.
And BATISTA won. And kept the title the next day as well (Oh, title matches ususally have a rematch clause and it is usually used the next day). But enough talk about WrestleMania XXI. Let's talk about the other things that happened.
One of my long time fueds is my GOLDBerg (talking about the Raw Deal Wrestling game here) and Andy's (another RAW DEAL player) Jellykoh (Actually known as Chris Jericho, but I have given him the nickname out of sheer disgust). There has been many encounters between us, and most often our meetings have been dissapointing for me. However, while he beats me regularly in tournaments, JellyKoh hasn't really won any tournaments, unlike GOLDBerg. So, after weeks of trash talking and dissing, it was decided we would go one on one to settle this fued (Yeah right...We were just looking for another excuse to fight!). (WARNING!!! Significant references to RAW DEAL game up ahead.)
Our duels with each other is of such multitude that we are constantly looking to outwit each other during prematch. My latest counter for Hell in a Cell Match was Vince McMahon, GRA. However, in the last tournament he outwitted me with Will You Please Shut Up, causing me to start with a hand of 2 cards (sue to GGGGOOOOLLLLDDDD.......Berg). My inability to recover my hand resulted in GOLDBerg hit with Victory Roll without any fortitude.
That was to change. While I knew I had to counter Hell in a Cell Match (HiaCM), I also know that starting with 2 cards is not gonna cut it for me. So I went for a different angle and chose to go with 2 belts, drop a WrestleMania (during WrestleMania!!) and outlast his prematches so that my Vince GRA can come in and blank HiaCM instead of Indian Strap Match (FYI, he would play Indian Strap Match first, bait out my Vince GRA and then drop Summer Slam and HiaCM later to avoid the blanking effect). All went as plan and I dropped:
Little Rock, Arkansas (yes, I went Volley),
no fued.. Backstage Politics
no stip Indian Strap Match
Managed by Steph none
World HeavyWeight Title Belt Will You Please Shut Up
I've Had More Championships than You've had Women Not Today CupCake
At this point, I was completely destroyed in terms of Prematch as I no longer have slots to play when he blanked I've Had More Championships than You've had Women. His last prematch was I Don't Care About Heat.
However, I got to start with 8 cards in hand and by playing volley (which is so good agianst heat decks), GOLDBerg Cold-Cocked JellyKoh!!!! (FYI, Cold-Cocked is a Raw Deal card, not some term used to describe victory).
Then I proceeded to play in a triple threat match as Brock Lesnar against John Cena and Eugene. Both of them seemed to have comboed against my deck with HiaCM and Cena's Yo! Kill the Beat!. Since then, I decided Lesnar would be a spectator rather than a wrestler for that match and allowned Eugene to pin Cena. (Cena, you lying SOB, you deserve losing to a retard!!!!)
Away from Raw Deal references, the gang also brought along PS2 and we had several games of soccer. Since I didn't know how to play, I was trashed....But it was fun.
Then I realised I have been awake for more than 36 hours, so decided to leave an made a move to be in the best place when you're tired. Bed. My own Bed.
Enough about that Monday.......May I find more things to write sooner.......
You see, fyi to those who aren't into Wrestling, Batista (new upstart wrestler) was HHH (veteran wrestler) understudy in a team known as Evolution, of which 1 member has already left (Randy Orton, also young upstart wrestler). During the buildup to WrestleMania XXI, Batista challenged HHH for the World Heavyweight Title (If you don't know, sports in rings love heavyweight stuff, so lightweight stuff just don't bring on the power) @ WrestleMania XXI. While the challenge was Paid (signed-off), Laid (on contract) & Made (Fixed Venue & Date), it was still a number of weeks before the final confrontation. So wrestling enthusiast had the opportunity to see how Batista condition himself for the match (no, not by showing his gym routines, but his in-ring speeches and other matches) and also see how HHH was reeling off the prospect of being beaten (RAW) by BATISTA.
And BATISTA won. And kept the title the next day as well (Oh, title matches ususally have a rematch clause and it is usually used the next day). But enough talk about WrestleMania XXI. Let's talk about the other things that happened.
One of my long time fueds is my GOLDBerg (talking about the Raw Deal Wrestling game here) and Andy's (another RAW DEAL player) Jellykoh (Actually known as Chris Jericho, but I have given him the nickname out of sheer disgust). There has been many encounters between us, and most often our meetings have been dissapointing for me. However, while he beats me regularly in tournaments, JellyKoh hasn't really won any tournaments, unlike GOLDBerg. So, after weeks of trash talking and dissing, it was decided we would go one on one to settle this fued (Yeah right...We were just looking for another excuse to fight!). (WARNING!!! Significant references to RAW DEAL game up ahead.)
Our duels with each other is of such multitude that we are constantly looking to outwit each other during prematch. My latest counter for Hell in a Cell Match was Vince McMahon, GRA. However, in the last tournament he outwitted me with Will You Please Shut Up, causing me to start with a hand of 2 cards (sue to GGGGOOOOLLLLDDDD.......Berg). My inability to recover my hand resulted in GOLDBerg hit with Victory Roll without any fortitude.
That was to change. While I knew I had to counter Hell in a Cell Match (HiaCM), I also know that starting with 2 cards is not gonna cut it for me. So I went for a different angle and chose to go with 2 belts, drop a WrestleMania (during WrestleMania!!) and outlast his prematches so that my Vince GRA can come in and blank HiaCM instead of Indian Strap Match (FYI, he would play Indian Strap Match first, bait out my Vince GRA and then drop Summer Slam and HiaCM later to avoid the blanking effect). All went as plan and I dropped:
Little Rock, Arkansas (yes, I went Volley),
no fued.. Backstage Politics
no stip Indian Strap Match
Managed by Steph none
World HeavyWeight Title Belt Will You Please Shut Up
I've Had More Championships than You've had Women Not Today CupCake
At this point, I was completely destroyed in terms of Prematch as I no longer have slots to play when he blanked I've Had More Championships than You've had Women. His last prematch was I Don't Care About Heat.
However, I got to start with 8 cards in hand and by playing volley (which is so good agianst heat decks), GOLDBerg Cold-Cocked JellyKoh!!!! (FYI, Cold-Cocked is a Raw Deal card, not some term used to describe victory).
Then I proceeded to play in a triple threat match as Brock Lesnar against John Cena and Eugene. Both of them seemed to have comboed against my deck with HiaCM and Cena's Yo! Kill the Beat!. Since then, I decided Lesnar would be a spectator rather than a wrestler for that match and allowned Eugene to pin Cena. (Cena, you lying SOB, you deserve losing to a retard!!!!)
Away from Raw Deal references, the gang also brought along PS2 and we had several games of soccer. Since I didn't know how to play, I was trashed....But it was fun.
Then I realised I have been awake for more than 36 hours, so decided to leave an made a move to be in the best place when you're tired. Bed. My own Bed.
Enough about that Monday.......May I find more things to write sooner.......
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Time passing by
Lately I haven't been motivated....Other than playing Raw Deal, ofcourse. The reason is simply that I am loosing my current resonsibilities soon yet still I have to perform my daily functions. No Motivation at all. Zilch.
Been trying to think of what to post here, even thought about debating why women love money more than men......Then decided i don't want to put my head up for the Guillotine. Maybe next time, when I am in better mood and have more time to think about the topic, I would.
Coming Monday I will be watching WrestleMania XXI at another Raw Deal players house (that Fiezan, for those who know). It's the first time I am watching this kind of live Wrestling. To think that 24 months ago, I would criticised the WWE shows for being fake/made up. Now, the main attraction is the Made -Up parts, the soap-opera styled stories, the fueds, the 'Backstage Politics'........Sure, the wrestling can be entertaining sometimes, especially if you see them really wrestling their hearts out and no fake flops, expressions and what nots. However, most of the time the wrestling is as fake as the actions around it. Which is why the 'off' Ring events are more entertaining than the 'on' Ring ones. You know its fake. Like Movies. Good fake.
In the ring, you expect real fighting. Real Pain. Real Moves. Then you see a chop in the chest and the whole crowd goes "woooo", and you see the receipient shrieking in pain......Yeah right...
Not forgetting to mention are some Fueds back for my Raw Deal pals and I. Me, I have 2 match-ups for 2 different Superstars (Apologies, this portion may not mean much to non- Raw Deal players). All this will happen while we watch WrestleMania XXI. Will write more about it after Monday morning....If I can remember the events.
As mentioned in the post earlier, I have been having poor memory these days. Coupled with lack of motivation to excel, life has been," Wake Up.........Have lunch.......Have dinner.....Sleep" and most of the other events that happen during the day, fade away. Hopefully this will not last too long. Need to get over it...Need to....Really....(Talking to myself here)
Going on without topic.....Must stop or dangerous information may get posted without knowledge....now...
Been trying to think of what to post here, even thought about debating why women love money more than men......Then decided i don't want to put my head up for the Guillotine. Maybe next time, when I am in better mood and have more time to think about the topic, I would.
Coming Monday I will be watching WrestleMania XXI at another Raw Deal players house (that Fiezan, for those who know). It's the first time I am watching this kind of live Wrestling. To think that 24 months ago, I would criticised the WWE shows for being fake/made up. Now, the main attraction is the Made -Up parts, the soap-opera styled stories, the fueds, the 'Backstage Politics'........Sure, the wrestling can be entertaining sometimes, especially if you see them really wrestling their hearts out and no fake flops, expressions and what nots. However, most of the time the wrestling is as fake as the actions around it. Which is why the 'off' Ring events are more entertaining than the 'on' Ring ones. You know its fake. Like Movies. Good fake.
In the ring, you expect real fighting. Real Pain. Real Moves. Then you see a chop in the chest and the whole crowd goes "woooo", and you see the receipient shrieking in pain......Yeah right...
Not forgetting to mention are some Fueds back for my Raw Deal pals and I. Me, I have 2 match-ups for 2 different Superstars (Apologies, this portion may not mean much to non- Raw Deal players). All this will happen while we watch WrestleMania XXI. Will write more about it after Monday morning....If I can remember the events.
As mentioned in the post earlier, I have been having poor memory these days. Coupled with lack of motivation to excel, life has been," Wake Up.........Have lunch.......Have dinner.....Sleep" and most of the other events that happen during the day, fade away. Hopefully this will not last too long. Need to get over it...Need to....Really....(Talking to myself here)
Going on without topic.....Must stop or dangerous information may get posted without knowledge....now...
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
The Last Hoorah
It was 1.00pm (13th March 2005) @ Wolf's Game Shop when I decided to not go for a Classical Concert (which I paid in advance) to go for a Raw Deal Tournament. ( I was also expecting to go to dinner with some ex-colleagues, but that's another story). It was to be my last Tourney at the shop, the last pre-Armageddon tourney and also one final hurrah for GOLDBerg since Jericho/Chyna is working.
NOT!!!!! For some reason, Andy decided to 'surprise' everyone by 'not' working and 'playing'. Thank god his love affair with a middle aged man was stronger than his preference for the most populous country. (that's China ler).
To cut to the chase, there were 11 players. From memory, there was GOLDBerg, Jericho, Dudley Boyz, Los Guereros, Undertaker, FBI, Deadman Inc, RVD, Dude Love, Rey Mysterio and B!+$# (Babe) of the Year (you will see why the dissent soon). As Armageddon wasn't legal, the opportunity for mutiple ME's in a tournament wasn't possible (The current thought that Shelton Benjamin is the next best thing offers multiple MEs possible). So let's talk about the matches
Round 1
B!+$# of the Year. B!+$#.B!+$#.B!+$#.B!+$#. F^@k!#& B!+$#.
(let's just say GOLDBerg had a bad hair day. Even when bald......) 0-1 (pin loss)
Round 2
oops. I can't believe it. I can't remember anything else about this tornament. All I could remember is loosing to Babe of the Year, then doing a comeback and beating Undertaker for the finals. Wha' the F???
In any case, this is a failed post, but will go up anyway.
Sorry about the memory loss.
Now, what was i doin?
NOT!!!!! For some reason, Andy decided to 'surprise' everyone by 'not' working and 'playing'. Thank god his love affair with a middle aged man was stronger than his preference for the most populous country. (that's China ler).
To cut to the chase, there were 11 players. From memory, there was GOLDBerg, Jericho, Dudley Boyz, Los Guereros, Undertaker, FBI, Deadman Inc, RVD, Dude Love, Rey Mysterio and B!+$# (Babe) of the Year (you will see why the dissent soon). As Armageddon wasn't legal, the opportunity for mutiple ME's in a tournament wasn't possible (The current thought that Shelton Benjamin is the next best thing offers multiple MEs possible). So let's talk about the matches
Round 1
B!+$# of the Year. B!+$#.B!+$#.B!+$#.B!+$#. F^@k!#& B!+$#.
(let's just say GOLDBerg had a bad hair day. Even when bald......) 0-1 (pin loss)
Round 2
oops. I can't believe it. I can't remember anything else about this tornament. All I could remember is loosing to Babe of the Year, then doing a comeback and beating Undertaker for the finals. Wha' the F???
In any case, this is a failed post, but will go up anyway.
Sorry about the memory loss.
Now, what was i doin?
Friday, March 18, 2005
Singapore Raw Deal Qualifier - Epilogue
And so the odyssey to Singapore came to an end. We basically sped off to the MRT, caught the next available bus to Customs, went straight through it (with Ahmad deciding against small talking with Customs Officer only to be 'bag searched' by the Malaysian customs instead) and caught the same bus to the bus station in Johor. At least I think it was Johor. It's not like I've really set foot there, you see.
Once at the station, we got lucky with a bus leaving in 15 minutes or so (Malaysian time....you know, late by 30 mins)... I stayed, I think with Azmin and Dawn on the bus, while Ahmad, Shaz and Andy went scouring for food as everyone was hungry. I wasn't hungry, as i had...(talk about that later) but I chose to ask them to get me McD's as well... Ans a bottle of mineral water....Man, was I thirsty or what (I didn't share the water, fyi..)
Once everyone was onboard, the bus went a'rollin' and we happy munchin' McD's. Sorry, Wolf's Game Shop Owners, we do love McD!! While the bus switched off most the lights there were six sleep deprived but hyper active failed to make it to top 16 amatuer wrestlers happily relating their experience to each other not bothering the fact that it was night and other passengers were trying to sleep! Yeah, we were mean.....really mean...So...There's 2 things yoo can do....(Wrestlers, complete the sentence yourself).
On the bus, as mentioned we took turns relating our experience. All of us remember Ahmad's "Multi!" screams, his threat to his last opponent (he personally repeated this like, 5 times! (5 times! 5 times! 5 times! 5 times!) ), Azmin's 1st opponent, Andy's victory rolls, Shaz....was pretty quiet (didn't hear him shouting "it's all about nipples!"), Dawn's lack of opportunity to exploit her feminity, and Ben's 6-1 result that didn't make top 16! After the Bus stopped for a break, we returned to the bus and finally decided to retire (I mean sleep). Oh, Azmin made a new friend/foe. His 1st opponent sms him the result and wanted to sell Paid Laid and Made to us at !!!!!30 sing!!!! We of course said no.........
Lastly, we arrived in KL about ( i don't really remember the time) 5am? Everyone but me got off at Bukit Jalil and I walked home......from the exit at Desa Petaling.....The last thing I remember about the trip? Sleeping at my own bed at home. There's just no place like it.
So, in summary, here's some things you ought to know about this trip:
1) No one smoked in my room in Singapore (Azmin couldn't find a big enough closet to smoke in, poor boy)
2) I completed my Burger King Quest. I had Burger King for supper as I packed a Whopper on the last day and had it at about 6/7 pm. While some people would say that's dinner, others know it as supper too. So that's quest completed to me. 5 of 5. And there's 2 things you can do.......
3) Ahmad took loads of pictures. If you haven't seen them, it's because he's got 'evil' intentions (ala VooDoo). In other words, where are the photos, Ahmad?
4) I am so happy no one did better than me in the tournament (sorry, self inflation in progress). Despite them beating me to the pulp during playtest, I benefitted most from it. I knew all their moves, and the counters. Frankly speaking, I was very confident (and extremely stressed) as I know there was only one reason why I would lose, my own mistake. And yes, it was my own mistake at round 6 that lost me top 16. Overall, I'm better than you! (self inflation reaching dangerous limits. Activate deflation measures asap before overload occurs and ego boost become setups! (What??))
5) You do not need Sing 200.00 for a weekend there, and 5 burger King meals isn't shopping. Not even 30 Sing worth of packs is. Now, what do I do with my foreign currency?????
6) Dawn is extremely sporting. Being a new wrestler (like 1 week before tourney?) she playe all 7 rounds despite....not so positive results against....minors. If it was I, me and my pride would have gotten the better of me. Never give up!
7) Shaz, who borrowed my toothless aggression, seemed to have taken it to seriously. It was truly rare to see Shaz somewhat serious, (and toothless) as nipples and what not wasn't shouted across the venue. Either that or his impending knot tieing got the better of him...We missed you....NOT!
8) Andy's decision to be Jelly Koh over Chyna was....unfortunate. She would have been a threat has she had played. And there was no Chyna player. IMHO.
9) Brian and Wolf See FFK!!!!! Those....um..sorry, they probably had good reason not to turn up, but mayhaps your missing auras and support lost us top 16? (excuses)
10) To top it off, never, ever, ever never, ever, ever, never ever ever talk about the water issue, or other issues unresolved between Malaysia and Singapore, if you are Malaysian in Singapore especially in public. You need to have a death wish to do that. (or I just hate singaporeans).
Whatever. Hope you had a good read. Next up, what happened on the last Pre Armageddon Tourney in Wolf's Game Shop. Retold from GOLDBerg's eyes!
Once at the station, we got lucky with a bus leaving in 15 minutes or so (Malaysian time....you know, late by 30 mins)... I stayed, I think with Azmin and Dawn on the bus, while Ahmad, Shaz and Andy went scouring for food as everyone was hungry. I wasn't hungry, as i had...(talk about that later) but I chose to ask them to get me McD's as well... Ans a bottle of mineral water....Man, was I thirsty or what (I didn't share the water, fyi..)
Once everyone was onboard, the bus went a'rollin' and we happy munchin' McD's. Sorry, Wolf's Game Shop Owners, we do love McD!! While the bus switched off most the lights there were six sleep deprived but hyper active failed to make it to top 16 amatuer wrestlers happily relating their experience to each other not bothering the fact that it was night and other passengers were trying to sleep! Yeah, we were mean.....really mean...So...There's 2 things yoo can do....(Wrestlers, complete the sentence yourself).
On the bus, as mentioned we took turns relating our experience. All of us remember Ahmad's "Multi!" screams, his threat to his last opponent (he personally repeated this like, 5 times! (5 times! 5 times! 5 times! 5 times!) ), Azmin's 1st opponent, Andy's victory rolls, Shaz....was pretty quiet (didn't hear him shouting "it's all about nipples!"), Dawn's lack of opportunity to exploit her feminity, and Ben's 6-1 result that didn't make top 16! After the Bus stopped for a break, we returned to the bus and finally decided to retire (I mean sleep). Oh, Azmin made a new friend/foe. His 1st opponent sms him the result and wanted to sell Paid Laid and Made to us at !!!!!30 sing!!!! We of course said no.........
Lastly, we arrived in KL about ( i don't really remember the time) 5am? Everyone but me got off at Bukit Jalil and I walked home......from the exit at Desa Petaling.....The last thing I remember about the trip? Sleeping at my own bed at home. There's just no place like it.
So, in summary, here's some things you ought to know about this trip:
1) No one smoked in my room in Singapore (Azmin couldn't find a big enough closet to smoke in, poor boy)
2) I completed my Burger King Quest. I had Burger King for supper as I packed a Whopper on the last day and had it at about 6/7 pm. While some people would say that's dinner, others know it as supper too. So that's quest completed to me. 5 of 5. And there's 2 things you can do.......
3) Ahmad took loads of pictures. If you haven't seen them, it's because he's got 'evil' intentions (ala VooDoo). In other words, where are the photos, Ahmad?
4) I am so happy no one did better than me in the tournament (sorry, self inflation in progress). Despite them beating me to the pulp during playtest, I benefitted most from it. I knew all their moves, and the counters. Frankly speaking, I was very confident (and extremely stressed) as I know there was only one reason why I would lose, my own mistake. And yes, it was my own mistake at round 6 that lost me top 16. Overall, I'm better than you! (self inflation reaching dangerous limits. Activate deflation measures asap before overload occurs and ego boost become setups! (What??))
5) You do not need Sing 200.00 for a weekend there, and 5 burger King meals isn't shopping. Not even 30 Sing worth of packs is. Now, what do I do with my foreign currency?????
6) Dawn is extremely sporting. Being a new wrestler (like 1 week before tourney?) she playe all 7 rounds despite....not so positive results against....minors. If it was I, me and my pride would have gotten the better of me. Never give up!
7) Shaz, who borrowed my toothless aggression, seemed to have taken it to seriously. It was truly rare to see Shaz somewhat serious, (and toothless) as nipples and what not wasn't shouted across the venue. Either that or his impending knot tieing got the better of him...We missed you....NOT!
8) Andy's decision to be Jelly Koh over Chyna was....unfortunate. She would have been a threat has she had played. And there was no Chyna player. IMHO.
9) Brian and Wolf See FFK!!!!! Those....um..sorry, they probably had good reason not to turn up, but mayhaps your missing auras and support lost us top 16? (excuses)
10) To top it off, never, ever, ever never, ever, ever, never ever ever talk about the water issue, or other issues unresolved between Malaysia and Singapore, if you are Malaysian in Singapore especially in public. You need to have a death wish to do that. (or I just hate singaporeans).
Whatever. Hope you had a good read. Next up, what happened on the last Pre Armageddon Tourney in Wolf's Game Shop. Retold from GOLDBerg's eyes!
Sorry, no epilogue yet...
Glad someone's been feeling good about themselves....and others.
Just had a 1 to 1 session with my boss. Not something unexpected, but still utterly deppressing. I didn't make the cut and will be back to 8.30-5.30, Mon - Fri work soon. Hey, that doesn't sound as bad!
Unfortunately it does. Well, at least as long as i have some sense of pride. You see, for those of you unaware, I change job responsibilities recently. On a temp basis with opportunity to make it permanent. Failure to make it so is a clear indication of my, well insufficient ability/talent. And I failed (p.s. if anyone from my office reads this, they would be truly suprised as it isn't even official yet). Not that I can blame my boss, i haven't been delivering. Nor was I helped to deliver. I guess I wasn't in the masterplan. THey have identified someone internally to take the job permanently. Good luck to you, whoever (I know who) you are....
While I would say I could have done better, I didn't. Possibly because I didn't really wanted too. Or I did, but couldn't. Whatever....Who gives a F@&!. Oops. (that's out of pattern spend, fyi). Really wanted to dsay the following few lines to my boss, but obviously didn't have the balls:
The Board is Set,
The Pieces Moving,
I've no Regrets,
I'll keep on Going,
The Walls are Thin,
As This Bubble Expand,
The Pressure Within,
Will Burst in the End.
Sorry if I plagiarised, but this has complete reference to my office and myself. FYI, if you understand this and it's context, I'm a dead man. he he.
Still in the office, using office time to update this. Been very sarcastic and snappy all day, as a result of....Wonder when I'll snap out of this. Hopefully tomorrow's Futsal tourney would get me to forget today's sorrow.....NOT! Will be tackling all the way though! Eat this ,you mother F!&*#&!!!!
Yes, I am chemically imbalanced in my brain. And that's how it's gonna be for awhile. Those who wrestle with me, beware....Be very aware.....
Signing of before I fail to censor my own Blog. I've written too much anyway....sob....
Just had a 1 to 1 session with my boss. Not something unexpected, but still utterly deppressing. I didn't make the cut and will be back to 8.30-5.30, Mon - Fri work soon. Hey, that doesn't sound as bad!
Unfortunately it does. Well, at least as long as i have some sense of pride. You see, for those of you unaware, I change job responsibilities recently. On a temp basis with opportunity to make it permanent. Failure to make it so is a clear indication of my, well insufficient ability/talent. And I failed (p.s. if anyone from my office reads this, they would be truly suprised as it isn't even official yet). Not that I can blame my boss, i haven't been delivering. Nor was I helped to deliver. I guess I wasn't in the masterplan. THey have identified someone internally to take the job permanently. Good luck to you, whoever (I know who) you are....
While I would say I could have done better, I didn't. Possibly because I didn't really wanted too. Or I did, but couldn't. Whatever....Who gives a F@&!. Oops. (that's out of pattern spend, fyi). Really wanted to dsay the following few lines to my boss, but obviously didn't have the balls:
The Board is Set,
The Pieces Moving,
I've no Regrets,
I'll keep on Going,
The Walls are Thin,
As This Bubble Expand,
The Pressure Within,
Will Burst in the End.
Sorry if I plagiarised, but this has complete reference to my office and myself. FYI, if you understand this and it's context, I'm a dead man. he he.
Still in the office, using office time to update this. Been very sarcastic and snappy all day, as a result of....Wonder when I'll snap out of this. Hopefully tomorrow's Futsal tourney would get me to forget today's sorrow.....NOT! Will be tackling all the way though! Eat this ,you mother F!&*#&!!!!
Yes, I am chemically imbalanced in my brain. And that's how it's gonna be for awhile. Those who wrestle with me, beware....Be very aware.....
Signing of before I fail to censor my own Blog. I've written too much anyway....sob....
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Singapore Raw Deal Qualifier - Finale?
Last I checked the entourage of KL Wrestlers have reached the:
Venue: Suntec Convention Centre, level 3
Felt good that we have made it this far, and on time. (certain individuals tend to affect this negatively). Hung around and found a lot more people than, well, even the organisers expected. While everyone was thinking of getting some food, I was busy looking for people to trade/sell cards with. My 'then' perception was, "with the collection of cards that I have, surely there will be many who would drool over it and want them." Man, was I wrong.
Fued: Prematch Scouting
Began scouting around to see if I could find out what I would be up against. Expecting tons of Evolution(still the deck I was supposed to play) but saw a bunch of Armageddon Wrestlers instead. Worried sick about what cards were leagal as Singapore already have their shipment of Armageddon (Wolf, if you see this, why, Wolf, why?)
Stipulation: Banned Cards
Got so worried that I went up to the TO (tournament Organiser) and asked for clarification. This is the asnwer (in my own words) :" All cards with Armageddon expansion number is not legal. Everything else, Bring it on!"
Managed by Francis 'Wolf' See
Wolf did excellently to set us up in Singapore and showing the way. However, he (and his brother, Brian) chose to FFK (Fong Fei Kei, or Fly Aeroplane) and we were without their much needed 'management' and support throughout the tourney. We did ok, IMHO, but still wanted to rub it in on Wolf and Brian (read this!)
Prematch Event: My Sacrifice
Found a Singaporean with near limitless supply of promos. Got 3 That's Balanced, 1 Tornado Takedown of Doom, 3 GRA (completing my set of 7, YEAH!) and a host of other stuff. Sad point was the lost of Chyna Interferes and Brother's 'Till the End, as well as Sing$ 30. All in all, I think it was worth it.
Prematch Event: My Answer to F*@&^@ing Hell in a Cell
Up 'till now I was still thinking of GOldBerg, but it's problems with Hell in a Cell Match just stresses me out. However, one of the GRAs that I just bought, Vince McMahon, solves that problem! As a Prematch event, I could blank any stipulation in play! My prayers were answered. My worries, gone! GGGGOOOOLLLLDDDDBerg! was at the back of my head. Everyone with me would be able to tell how I pestered them this question: "do you think it's too late to change to GoldBerg?" They were all answering yes, but I think it's only because they had some much fun trashing GoldBerg, they preferred me to play that. Little did they know, I was going to play GoldBerg anyway. Onwards I went to rewrite my decklist, and fix my Backlash.
Prematch Event: Everyone Had Breakfast But Me!/Ahmad the Celebrity
For some unknown reason, I could remember everyone going to catch a snack except me. Ahamd don't count as he was getting a different kind of feed. He was getting FANS!! Once we settled the registration and stuff, Ahmad turned on his Celebrity Switch and, boy, he was famous. bordering on Infamous! And he didn't turn it off until the whole Swiss Rounds were over!
OK, sorry to bring alittle RAW DEAL to this entry. I just had to. WARNING!!!!!! "The following entries borders on GOLDBERG Flaunting.......If you have an issue with Successful Bald Men, please ignore this section"
I will now move on to storytelling all 7 of my matches, and the events in between.
Round 1
Evoulution. I mean, c'mon. I was suppose to play with you, not against you. Evolution started of without a venue, whcih I promptly said, "We only play in OSAKA!, Japan." Evo then played Bitter Rivals, which I thought he would round up with It's all About the Game. But he didn't play Hell in a Cell, which I found quite puzzling. The lack of a manager further convince me he wasn't going to blow our backlash. And he....didn't. All that I could remember is him taking out my Road to victory and his suprise to see It's Showtime that I played. After that, it was GoldBerg all the way with evolution having no fortitude at all. Little did I know, this was the same deck that won the tournament (but different palyer). 1-0 pin
*****FYI, the venue was so packed (did I mention turn out was 109 palyers with a venue fit for, like 64?) I played round 1 on the floor. So did Dawn and Ahmad. Dawn was so disgusted she brought up some, ahem,sexist comment, which, unfortunately wasn't to her favour. Oh, and Ahmad beat Crippler. Way to go!*****
Round2
Stephanie McMahon had Bacstage Signature but didn't reveal it because she felt like using Edge. So the higher the SuperStar Value (SSV) the better. I got lucky to overturn a Let's Wrestle Already on the second Run the Gauntlet, so I only overturn a few cards. I also GGGGOOOLLLDDD....Berg her First Family of Wrestling to avoid my It's Showtime from being plucked away. This was another uneventful match as it was GoldBerg all the way, with my opponent never changing enforcer as he necer got a chance to play any high risk manuevers. Oh, and local spectators were impressed with the win. Yippee! 2-0 pin
***** Dawn grumbles again about palying on the floor. Can't remember much of everyone's results, but at this point we were all quite ok. Adrian Teh (Guest TO?) announced that Round 3 would begin after lunch, not knowing that this was Round 3...Wonder if anyone else noticed?******
Round3
Was Mystery Wrestler. Tested with this deck quite regularly when Ahmad was using it, and as expected he All About the Game me. Knowing this, I played both Duchess of Queensbury Rules and Manage by Stephanie McMahon. He played Pay per view event as Stipulation, I believe to save him from pins. He was quite unfortunate to not have any Lariat Takedowns to begin with, and I just Jachammered & Speared him to kingdom come. No Backlash, no Backlash! by the time It's Over, I had higher fortitude (he had none) so his pay per view was blanked by Steph. Comfortable pin 3-0.
******Time for lunch (I think). We hurried to the Food level (directed by Adrian Teh) and then Ahmad, the auto pilot chose to navigate for us. We were at this roundabout that leads to many exits and even more food outlets, and with Burger King @ 9 o'clock, Ahmad decided to ask all of us to turn right saying that it's closer. I mean, granted we haven't really decided what to eat, but who can resist Burger King? So we ended up going 3/4 of the roundabout before arriving at the Burger King exit. After an insanely long wait to takeaway BK (no thanks to our hindsight of not noticing that our cashier was, urm, retired...), 4 of 5 Quest completed! Returning to the venue, Ahmad continued his Fan Club building while the the rest, lingered around. They were also selling booster packs of old at $2.50 each which prompted, even the poorer of the entourage to spend!*******
Round 4
FBI was next. Oh, to refresh your memory, I lost all my playtest matches against FBI. The difference this time, was again My Answer! Vince McMahon GRA has an ACE that allows me to completely reverse any multi manuever. Isn't he made for GoldBerg? It was actually quite a tough match, and because I couldn't hold my opponent to no fortitude, his Headstongs were online and I was running through my deck fast enough to find a counter. Eventually I ran out of reversal and took the chance to count out instead of pin. count 4-0
****** Tried to convince my opponent that a pin would be better for his tiebreakers. He agreed, and we reported the results as such. Damn those eavesdroppers who reported this to the TO. WHo said ex-Judge can be bad, huh? I know all the bad moves!*****
Round 5
Was with A very snobbish Kane. He played control and started with Bitter Rivals (again, possible AATG) and proceeded to HiaC me. I countered with DoQR even though I had Vince GRA. Then he proceeded to play Vince GRA before me! He even made a point to show his friends that this is how you do it. Even when I activated GgggoooollllddddBerg, he played Judo Takedown! I thought this must be my unlucky round. Fortunately for me, Kane sucked (though he did make top 16, boo hoo) and could draw enough firepower before I pounded him and It's Over. Not so cocky anymore, Kane?
Round6
Babe of the Year bluffed me by playing Raw Roulette as Stip and placed Skirt VS Skirt Match. Thinking that she would be playing a lot of actions, and not heat (no HiaC), I played Rules Are Meant to be Broken instead of something useful. Due to this hindsight, Things got rather crappy. I also got Undermined (the Competition) and ny the time her Headstrongs were online, I could only sit and wait. Unfortunately for both of us, time was running out and neither one of us could win. We spent a good 5 minutes trying to pyscho the other to concede, but in the end it was a double count out. boo Hoo. 5-1
******* By now, everyone was just enjoying the game knowing that top 16 wasn't possible (even for me). I had another GoldBerg above me with 6-0 record. Poor me. Little did I know there were other good GoldBergs. IF only he won.*******
Round 7
Victoria. Lucky for me, I was playing GOldBerg and not Evo. The last time I played Evo against her, 4 men enjoyed her so much they couldn't decide who to pin her (and got pinned instead!). GoldBerg on the other hand, sruvived a Get a Look at these (discard Widows Peak for 20 overturn) with yet another Let's Wrestle Already. Victoria was surviving with 1 card in arsenal with quality reversals in hand and in arsenal, unfortunately those reversals can't handle.....Atomic Lariat! pin 6-1
******** Tourney is now over. No one made top 16. Everyone got a belt/GRA and one ultra rare foil. We were happy, but tired. And we needed to rush home as poor Ahmad and Andy is working the next morning! (Azmin don't count 'cos Sleepy Jedi can make student assume the class happened)
Got to rush home now. Will finish off proper with the Epilogue.
Apologies for unincluded details! It was all intentional! (and also due to poor memory!)
Venue: Suntec Convention Centre, level 3
Felt good that we have made it this far, and on time. (certain individuals tend to affect this negatively). Hung around and found a lot more people than, well, even the organisers expected. While everyone was thinking of getting some food, I was busy looking for people to trade/sell cards with. My 'then' perception was, "with the collection of cards that I have, surely there will be many who would drool over it and want them." Man, was I wrong.
Fued: Prematch Scouting
Began scouting around to see if I could find out what I would be up against. Expecting tons of Evolution(still the deck I was supposed to play) but saw a bunch of Armageddon Wrestlers instead. Worried sick about what cards were leagal as Singapore already have their shipment of Armageddon (Wolf, if you see this, why, Wolf, why?)
Stipulation: Banned Cards
Got so worried that I went up to the TO (tournament Organiser) and asked for clarification. This is the asnwer (in my own words) :" All cards with Armageddon expansion number is not legal. Everything else, Bring it on!"
Managed by Francis 'Wolf' See
Wolf did excellently to set us up in Singapore and showing the way. However, he (and his brother, Brian) chose to FFK (Fong Fei Kei, or Fly Aeroplane) and we were without their much needed 'management' and support throughout the tourney. We did ok, IMHO, but still wanted to rub it in on Wolf and Brian (read this!)
Prematch Event: My Sacrifice
Found a Singaporean with near limitless supply of promos. Got 3 That's Balanced, 1 Tornado Takedown of Doom, 3 GRA (completing my set of 7, YEAH!) and a host of other stuff. Sad point was the lost of Chyna Interferes and Brother's 'Till the End, as well as Sing$ 30. All in all, I think it was worth it.
Prematch Event: My Answer to F*@&^@ing Hell in a Cell
Up 'till now I was still thinking of GOldBerg, but it's problems with Hell in a Cell Match just stresses me out. However, one of the GRAs that I just bought, Vince McMahon, solves that problem! As a Prematch event, I could blank any stipulation in play! My prayers were answered. My worries, gone! GGGGOOOOLLLLDDDDBerg! was at the back of my head. Everyone with me would be able to tell how I pestered them this question: "do you think it's too late to change to GoldBerg?" They were all answering yes, but I think it's only because they had some much fun trashing GoldBerg, they preferred me to play that. Little did they know, I was going to play GoldBerg anyway. Onwards I went to rewrite my decklist, and fix my Backlash.
Prematch Event: Everyone Had Breakfast But Me!/Ahmad the Celebrity
For some unknown reason, I could remember everyone going to catch a snack except me. Ahamd don't count as he was getting a different kind of feed. He was getting FANS!! Once we settled the registration and stuff, Ahmad turned on his Celebrity Switch and, boy, he was famous. bordering on Infamous! And he didn't turn it off until the whole Swiss Rounds were over!
OK, sorry to bring alittle RAW DEAL to this entry. I just had to. WARNING!!!!!! "The following entries borders on GOLDBERG Flaunting.......If you have an issue with Successful Bald Men, please ignore this section"
I will now move on to storytelling all 7 of my matches, and the events in between.
Round 1
Evoulution. I mean, c'mon. I was suppose to play with you, not against you. Evolution started of without a venue, whcih I promptly said, "We only play in OSAKA!, Japan." Evo then played Bitter Rivals, which I thought he would round up with It's all About the Game. But he didn't play Hell in a Cell, which I found quite puzzling. The lack of a manager further convince me he wasn't going to blow our backlash. And he....didn't. All that I could remember is him taking out my Road to victory and his suprise to see It's Showtime that I played. After that, it was GoldBerg all the way with evolution having no fortitude at all. Little did I know, this was the same deck that won the tournament (but different palyer). 1-0 pin
*****FYI, the venue was so packed (did I mention turn out was 109 palyers with a venue fit for, like 64?) I played round 1 on the floor. So did Dawn and Ahmad. Dawn was so disgusted she brought up some, ahem,sexist comment, which, unfortunately wasn't to her favour. Oh, and Ahmad beat Crippler. Way to go!*****
Round2
Stephanie McMahon had Bacstage Signature but didn't reveal it because she felt like using Edge. So the higher the SuperStar Value (SSV) the better. I got lucky to overturn a Let's Wrestle Already on the second Run the Gauntlet, so I only overturn a few cards. I also GGGGOOOLLLDDD....Berg her First Family of Wrestling to avoid my It's Showtime from being plucked away. This was another uneventful match as it was GoldBerg all the way, with my opponent never changing enforcer as he necer got a chance to play any high risk manuevers. Oh, and local spectators were impressed with the win. Yippee! 2-0 pin
***** Dawn grumbles again about palying on the floor. Can't remember much of everyone's results, but at this point we were all quite ok. Adrian Teh (Guest TO?) announced that Round 3 would begin after lunch, not knowing that this was Round 3...Wonder if anyone else noticed?******
Round3
Was Mystery Wrestler. Tested with this deck quite regularly when Ahmad was using it, and as expected he All About the Game me. Knowing this, I played both Duchess of Queensbury Rules and Manage by Stephanie McMahon. He played Pay per view event as Stipulation, I believe to save him from pins. He was quite unfortunate to not have any Lariat Takedowns to begin with, and I just Jachammered & Speared him to kingdom come. No Backlash, no Backlash! by the time It's Over, I had higher fortitude (he had none) so his pay per view was blanked by Steph. Comfortable pin 3-0.
******Time for lunch (I think). We hurried to the Food level (directed by Adrian Teh) and then Ahmad, the auto pilot chose to navigate for us. We were at this roundabout that leads to many exits and even more food outlets, and with Burger King @ 9 o'clock, Ahmad decided to ask all of us to turn right saying that it's closer. I mean, granted we haven't really decided what to eat, but who can resist Burger King? So we ended up going 3/4 of the roundabout before arriving at the Burger King exit. After an insanely long wait to takeaway BK (no thanks to our hindsight of not noticing that our cashier was, urm, retired...), 4 of 5 Quest completed! Returning to the venue, Ahmad continued his Fan Club building while the the rest, lingered around. They were also selling booster packs of old at $2.50 each which prompted, even the poorer of the entourage to spend!*******
Round 4
FBI was next. Oh, to refresh your memory, I lost all my playtest matches against FBI. The difference this time, was again My Answer! Vince McMahon GRA has an ACE that allows me to completely reverse any multi manuever. Isn't he made for GoldBerg? It was actually quite a tough match, and because I couldn't hold my opponent to no fortitude, his Headstongs were online and I was running through my deck fast enough to find a counter. Eventually I ran out of reversal and took the chance to count out instead of pin. count 4-0
****** Tried to convince my opponent that a pin would be better for his tiebreakers. He agreed, and we reported the results as such. Damn those eavesdroppers who reported this to the TO. WHo said ex-Judge can be bad, huh? I know all the bad moves!*****
Round 5
Was with A very snobbish Kane. He played control and started with Bitter Rivals (again, possible AATG) and proceeded to HiaC me. I countered with DoQR even though I had Vince GRA. Then he proceeded to play Vince GRA before me! He even made a point to show his friends that this is how you do it. Even when I activated GgggoooollllddddBerg, he played Judo Takedown! I thought this must be my unlucky round. Fortunately for me, Kane sucked (though he did make top 16, boo hoo) and could draw enough firepower before I pounded him and It's Over. Not so cocky anymore, Kane?
Round6
Babe of the Year bluffed me by playing Raw Roulette as Stip and placed Skirt VS Skirt Match. Thinking that she would be playing a lot of actions, and not heat (no HiaC), I played Rules Are Meant to be Broken instead of something useful. Due to this hindsight, Things got rather crappy. I also got Undermined (the Competition) and ny the time her Headstrongs were online, I could only sit and wait. Unfortunately for both of us, time was running out and neither one of us could win. We spent a good 5 minutes trying to pyscho the other to concede, but in the end it was a double count out. boo Hoo. 5-1
******* By now, everyone was just enjoying the game knowing that top 16 wasn't possible (even for me). I had another GoldBerg above me with 6-0 record. Poor me. Little did I know there were other good GoldBergs. IF only he won.*******
Round 7
Victoria. Lucky for me, I was playing GOldBerg and not Evo. The last time I played Evo against her, 4 men enjoyed her so much they couldn't decide who to pin her (and got pinned instead!). GoldBerg on the other hand, sruvived a Get a Look at these (discard Widows Peak for 20 overturn) with yet another Let's Wrestle Already. Victoria was surviving with 1 card in arsenal with quality reversals in hand and in arsenal, unfortunately those reversals can't handle.....Atomic Lariat! pin 6-1
******** Tourney is now over. No one made top 16. Everyone got a belt/GRA and one ultra rare foil. We were happy, but tired. And we needed to rush home as poor Ahmad and Andy is working the next morning! (Azmin don't count 'cos Sleepy Jedi can make student assume the class happened)
Got to rush home now. Will finish off proper with the Epilogue.
Apologies for unincluded details! It was all intentional! (and also due to poor memory!)
Friday, March 04, 2005
Singapore Raw Deal Qualifier - Part 2
Smoke covers the Arena.....Pyrotechnics burst all over the ring. GoldBerg, GRA (Guest Ring Announcer) introduces the incoming tag team. "Entering first into the ring, weighing.....Not disclosable......The Very Naughty Girl....Perhaps She Needs a Spanking.....Azmin 'Babe of the Year' M. Khalid (a.k.a Closet Smoker). With her..or..him.. weighing at...also undisclosable...The One Who's Got It, Will Flaunt It, but can't find the proper crowd to do so, Dawn 'Lita' of War..ahem..RAW! What an interesting Tag Team this is, Babe of the Year and Lita. Facing them, weighing somewhere from 70kg to 90kg, the Man all about nipples, the Toothless Aggression, Shaz..'the Crippler'..li! And finally, the Main Event, the Showstopper,..erm. Sorry, wrong intro. Let's do this again. And finally, the Undisputed............musical chair champion , the Sanctimonious Son of a B!+C#, Andy 'JellyKoh' Putra! The entourage is finally complete!"
A thousand apologies. Continuing from Part 1, the rest of the team arrived at the Hotel. Andy, Shaz, Dawn and Azmin arrived close to 4pm. Azmin came to the room while the rest went to room 5-0-6(did I get this right? No matter. You'll see why). FYI, we were at room 6-0-2. Azmin immediately took over as FBI's (oh, did I mention that's what Ahmad's been playing, while I was GoldBerg?) sparring partner and they playtested while I watch Indy Jones. After several games, we got tired and chose to call the rest to go out for dinner. As I didn't know how to make room to room calls (and got away pretending I don't ask directions, he he!), Azmin called reception and found out how to do just that. So what does Azmin do next? He proceeded to call room 5-0-6. "Hello, may I speak to Andy please?.....Oh, sorry." Azmin then calls 5-0-4. "Hello, may I speak to Andy please?.....Oh, sorry." You see, Azmin seemed to have forgotten the room the others were in. So he decided to call every room on level 5 (p.s. Hotel had 6 floors only) only to discover....they're not there! As Azmin has a reputation of, well, absentmindedness, he was second guessing himself if the room number is correct. Me and Ahmad just watched (and laughed within). Eventually we found out the guys changed rooms to 2-0-6. So any amount of attempts by Azmin to call them would have been futile (unless he called every room in the Hotel, which he would have..)
Fast forward to us finally meeting up in the other room (from now on referred to as "Fog Bank". "Fog Bank" is a Magic: the Gathering Creature that has it's own story, but later..) Had several more playtest games, of which one of them was between Jericho and GoldBerg. A short sypnosis of what the match was like. Jericho beaten to a pulp, but spared from pin. Jericho being it's usual insolent self, recovers and pins GoldBerg with Victory Roll..That's the musical chair Champ for you. Finally hunger got to the better of us, the guys (Dawn has a hot date with a friend from Singapore, so left the guys to fend for themselves) made a move to hunt for food. So guess what was for dinner?
BURGER KING!!!!!!! Located just opposite our Hotel (a bit out of the way), Burger King was dinner (2 of 5 Quest completed). There was a scratch and win contest, in which everytime you buy a set meal, you get a chance to win a car! Of course, for us, we got 4 small fries and a Whopper (of which Ahmad happily kept for a rainy day). I shall fail to mention what happened to the Mountain of Man..Fries resulted from 4 additional free small fries. Go figure.
We were stuffed. Literally. Considering that everyone went for the bigger sized burgers (and yes, they aren't pathetically sized like Malaysian BK), let's say everyone probably added 4kgs +/-. The guys decided to chill and jalan-jalan (walk around) to help digestion.( I don't care what research says, it does help, ok!) We waltzed over to Suntec Convention centre and Ahmad decided to fulfil his Father's request.....(Sorry Ahmad, didn't mean to mention it but it wouldn't be complete) safe to say everyone did a little sightseeing, found the venue (again) and some did some shopping. Once we covered Suntec, the guys wanted to chill further and I decided to head back. (What happened while they chilled will have to be added by Azmin, Ahmad, Shaz or Andy. Frankly speaking, doubt it was eventful..he he).
Reached the Hotel without the slightest care on my own. Set myself up real nice, low lights and TV with live Football and I got a call. Dawn was back from her 'hot ' date didn't have keys to the 'Fog Bank'. After letting Dawn in, for some unknown reason I fell asleep only to be awaken by a bunch of loudmouth men trash talking. They thought they didn't wake me, and proceeded to return to their 'Fog Bank' to (I thought was playtest) hang out. So I decided I required further playtesting and forced myself to wake up on go to the 'Fog Bank'. I guess what, like Azmin aptly put it in his Top Ten list for Singapore, man was I dissappointed. Here is a group of Malaysians, who chose to travel 6 hours to Singapore to pit against the best wrestlers in (South East) Asia, decided playtesting comes second to Freddy VS Jason!!!! Wha' the F!?? The rest, as they say, was history. After some playtesting, everyone's fitness began to fail and you could hear snorring. Ahmad, Azmin and I went back to the room (them first, me later) and while watching football, we started to write our decklist. At this point, and also for the fact that GoldBerg has been trashed badly during playtest, I popped the question to Ahmad & Azmin? "You think I should play Evolution instead?"..Bottomline is, I wrote my decklist for EVOLUTION (bye bye GoldBerg.......not yet).
Had supper with Azmin later. Unfortunately BK is closed (it was about 12am) so failed to complete quest. Oops, forgot to mention, on the way back to Hotel from lunch, bought BK as takeaway. So 3 of 5 Quest completed!! Missing Lunch and Supper! Back to Singapore, @ 12am. They actually had a row of restaurants/pubs/stalls open so food was readily available. I had Wan Tan mee while Azmin had snacks from 7-11. Spoke at great Lengths...............about football and wrestling. Returned to bed about 1am. FYI, Azmin set alarm at 6.00am, Ahmad at 6.30am and me 7.00am. We woke up at 7.30am.....Long live Snooze!! It took another 1 hour+ to freshen up and pack, and then we had to wait for 'Fog Bank' to check out as well. All in all, what was planned as "let's do breakfast tomorrow morning" became "let's get to the venue before we miss registration!". We were late. Really. Well, at least by my standards (as an ex-T.O., I hate being late for an event. hate it). So there we were, 6 persons lugging around city streets of Singapore with our luggage bags looking like refugees...Me all set to set the world alight with EVOLUTION!!.......(I know, let's not kill the suspense, ok..)
And we are there, at Suntec Convention centre, Level 3. ................................................................................................................................................to be continued.......
****Editors note - FYI, there will be the last part followed by an epilogue. Be patient and you will enjoy the concluding episode...I think. Also, apologies for the spelling errors and poor grammar of the previous post. Not to mention the length of the post. All feedback welcomed. Travelling party welcomed to rectify discrepencies. Regards..GoldBerg, Guest Ring Announcer*****
A thousand apologies. Continuing from Part 1, the rest of the team arrived at the Hotel. Andy, Shaz, Dawn and Azmin arrived close to 4pm. Azmin came to the room while the rest went to room 5-0-6(did I get this right? No matter. You'll see why). FYI, we were at room 6-0-2. Azmin immediately took over as FBI's (oh, did I mention that's what Ahmad's been playing, while I was GoldBerg?) sparring partner and they playtested while I watch Indy Jones. After several games, we got tired and chose to call the rest to go out for dinner. As I didn't know how to make room to room calls (and got away pretending I don't ask directions, he he!), Azmin called reception and found out how to do just that. So what does Azmin do next? He proceeded to call room 5-0-6. "Hello, may I speak to Andy please?.....Oh, sorry." Azmin then calls 5-0-4. "Hello, may I speak to Andy please?.....Oh, sorry." You see, Azmin seemed to have forgotten the room the others were in. So he decided to call every room on level 5 (p.s. Hotel had 6 floors only) only to discover....they're not there! As Azmin has a reputation of, well, absentmindedness, he was second guessing himself if the room number is correct. Me and Ahmad just watched (and laughed within). Eventually we found out the guys changed rooms to 2-0-6. So any amount of attempts by Azmin to call them would have been futile (unless he called every room in the Hotel, which he would have..)
Fast forward to us finally meeting up in the other room (from now on referred to as "Fog Bank". "Fog Bank" is a Magic: the Gathering Creature that has it's own story, but later..) Had several more playtest games, of which one of them was between Jericho and GoldBerg. A short sypnosis of what the match was like. Jericho beaten to a pulp, but spared from pin. Jericho being it's usual insolent self, recovers and pins GoldBerg with Victory Roll..That's the musical chair Champ for you. Finally hunger got to the better of us, the guys (Dawn has a hot date with a friend from Singapore, so left the guys to fend for themselves) made a move to hunt for food. So guess what was for dinner?
BURGER KING!!!!!!! Located just opposite our Hotel (a bit out of the way), Burger King was dinner (2 of 5 Quest completed). There was a scratch and win contest, in which everytime you buy a set meal, you get a chance to win a car! Of course, for us, we got 4 small fries and a Whopper (of which Ahmad happily kept for a rainy day). I shall fail to mention what happened to the Mountain of Man..Fries resulted from 4 additional free small fries. Go figure.
We were stuffed. Literally. Considering that everyone went for the bigger sized burgers (and yes, they aren't pathetically sized like Malaysian BK), let's say everyone probably added 4kgs +/-. The guys decided to chill and jalan-jalan (walk around) to help digestion.( I don't care what research says, it does help, ok!) We waltzed over to Suntec Convention centre and Ahmad decided to fulfil his Father's request.....(Sorry Ahmad, didn't mean to mention it but it wouldn't be complete) safe to say everyone did a little sightseeing, found the venue (again) and some did some shopping. Once we covered Suntec, the guys wanted to chill further and I decided to head back. (What happened while they chilled will have to be added by Azmin, Ahmad, Shaz or Andy. Frankly speaking, doubt it was eventful..he he).
Reached the Hotel without the slightest care on my own. Set myself up real nice, low lights and TV with live Football and I got a call. Dawn was back from her 'hot ' date didn't have keys to the 'Fog Bank'. After letting Dawn in, for some unknown reason I fell asleep only to be awaken by a bunch of loudmouth men trash talking. They thought they didn't wake me, and proceeded to return to their 'Fog Bank' to (I thought was playtest) hang out. So I decided I required further playtesting and forced myself to wake up on go to the 'Fog Bank'. I guess what, like Azmin aptly put it in his Top Ten list for Singapore, man was I dissappointed. Here is a group of Malaysians, who chose to travel 6 hours to Singapore to pit against the best wrestlers in (South East) Asia, decided playtesting comes second to Freddy VS Jason!!!! Wha' the F!?? The rest, as they say, was history. After some playtesting, everyone's fitness began to fail and you could hear snorring. Ahmad, Azmin and I went back to the room (them first, me later) and while watching football, we started to write our decklist. At this point, and also for the fact that GoldBerg has been trashed badly during playtest, I popped the question to Ahmad & Azmin? "You think I should play Evolution instead?"..Bottomline is, I wrote my decklist for EVOLUTION (bye bye GoldBerg.......not yet).
Had supper with Azmin later. Unfortunately BK is closed (it was about 12am) so failed to complete quest. Oops, forgot to mention, on the way back to Hotel from lunch, bought BK as takeaway. So 3 of 5 Quest completed!! Missing Lunch and Supper! Back to Singapore, @ 12am. They actually had a row of restaurants/pubs/stalls open so food was readily available. I had Wan Tan mee while Azmin had snacks from 7-11. Spoke at great Lengths...............about football and wrestling. Returned to bed about 1am. FYI, Azmin set alarm at 6.00am, Ahmad at 6.30am and me 7.00am. We woke up at 7.30am.....Long live Snooze!! It took another 1 hour+ to freshen up and pack, and then we had to wait for 'Fog Bank' to check out as well. All in all, what was planned as "let's do breakfast tomorrow morning" became "let's get to the venue before we miss registration!". We were late. Really. Well, at least by my standards (as an ex-T.O., I hate being late for an event. hate it). So there we were, 6 persons lugging around city streets of Singapore with our luggage bags looking like refugees...Me all set to set the world alight with EVOLUTION!!.......(I know, let's not kill the suspense, ok..)
And we are there, at Suntec Convention centre, Level 3. ................................................................................................................................................to be continued.......
****Editors note - FYI, there will be the last part followed by an epilogue. Be patient and you will enjoy the concluding episode...I think. Also, apologies for the spelling errors and poor grammar of the previous post. Not to mention the length of the post. All feedback welcomed. Travelling party welcomed to rectify discrepencies. Regards..GoldBerg, Guest Ring Announcer*****
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Singapore Raw Deal Qualifier - Part 1
Hmmm.....Where did I stopped?
Oh, we're in Singapore. Lack of sleep resulted in me trying very hard to stay awake and reach the Hotel. Ahmad fared much better since he slept. For some reason I manage to convince Ahmad I don't asked directions, so he did all the asking (oops! Ahmad is not gonna like this, he he!) Found out where to take the bus and what number to get to Woodlands MRT. Realised we didn't have coins, so Ahmad went ahead and bought a local paper. When we later took a (long) peek into it, wow, didn't know Singaporeans liked EPL that much! more than 1/3 of the paper was on EPL related stories!
Got on the Bus. Got off the Bus. proceeded to MRT before seeing Burger King next to it. Voila! Burger King Breakfast fulfilled! Once I finished my BK Breakfast (Ahmad not a breakfast person, so thanks for the company) we went on to the MRT. Almost wasn't sure which stop was it that we needed to go to. Remember Wolf giving us directions to the Hotel? He said, "you need to go to City Hall, and get of at Bugis station". Guess what, Bugis and City hall were 2 different stations! Decisions, decisions. Ahmad remembered it was to cost $2.80 and we bought tickets to Bugis station and it was $2.80. So we were convinced we were on the right track. (actually, if City Hall cost $2.80 as well, we would have been fooled.) Got on the train and for some unknown reason (other than 2 sleep deprived men trying to look MACHO) we chose not to sit throughout the journey. Those who did take the MRT from Woodlands to Bugis will vouch that unless you REALLY have someone to impress, sit. Oh, we saw this guy we stood in the middle of the train without holding on to anything. I can it "at peace with the train". You would probably call it, "Show Off!". Oh, and Ahmad had the audicity to ask me, in a packed MRT, " What happened to the water issue?". I was dumbfounded (and speechless as I didn't want to get whacked!)
45 minutes later (and very much exhausted), we got off City Hall and changed trains to Bugis station. Once there, it look rather familiar (the station), as the last time I judge Magic here (3 years ago), I took the MRT there. Didn't know which exit, so we went eeni meeni mini moe and took the "right" exit. We were both lost and tired. Ahmad, more attuned to his feminine side, asked for more directions. The final direction was at the Chicken Rice Shop (just next to the Hotel) and we were so happy to locate it! I was also so tired, I was willing to pay for day use before our official check in!
At the reception, we heard probably the best news so far. The hotelier said that they are ok if we checked in now! We were there, like 10am! And Wolf said," Don't check in before 2pm". There are good Singaporeans after all. Checked in, "checked" in and Check in! (Room, Bathroom, bed). Was suppose to wake up at 1.00pm for lunch and more playtesting.
Guess what? It's closer to 2pm than 1pm. Still didn't want to wake up. Ahmad got a call from the other entourage and found out they are having lunch and won't arrive till, possibly 3pm+. So what do we do? Go out and have lunch, of course. Oh, don't try asking me what's for lunch. Luckily for Ahmad, we (check)ed (this) out Suntec Convention centre and found the Food Court. Guess Burger King Lunch will be tomorrow, then. Nothing noteworthy at the foodcourt, other than an extremely efficient drink cashier who's perfect to show how efficiency lacks service. Trust me, she was really fast! Walked around the complex, found out where we will wrestle the next day, and back to the Hotel we went. Took out the decks and playtested for awhile. Had TV on, and it was Indy and Temple of Doom up. Got somewhat distracted, but wasn't too distracted until we heard a knock on our room door. Who was it?????
Part 2 up next...
Oh, we're in Singapore. Lack of sleep resulted in me trying very hard to stay awake and reach the Hotel. Ahmad fared much better since he slept. For some reason I manage to convince Ahmad I don't asked directions, so he did all the asking (oops! Ahmad is not gonna like this, he he!) Found out where to take the bus and what number to get to Woodlands MRT. Realised we didn't have coins, so Ahmad went ahead and bought a local paper. When we later took a (long) peek into it, wow, didn't know Singaporeans liked EPL that much! more than 1/3 of the paper was on EPL related stories!
Got on the Bus. Got off the Bus. proceeded to MRT before seeing Burger King next to it. Voila! Burger King Breakfast fulfilled! Once I finished my BK Breakfast (Ahmad not a breakfast person, so thanks for the company) we went on to the MRT. Almost wasn't sure which stop was it that we needed to go to. Remember Wolf giving us directions to the Hotel? He said, "you need to go to City Hall, and get of at Bugis station". Guess what, Bugis and City hall were 2 different stations! Decisions, decisions. Ahmad remembered it was to cost $2.80 and we bought tickets to Bugis station and it was $2.80. So we were convinced we were on the right track. (actually, if City Hall cost $2.80 as well, we would have been fooled.) Got on the train and for some unknown reason (other than 2 sleep deprived men trying to look MACHO) we chose not to sit throughout the journey. Those who did take the MRT from Woodlands to Bugis will vouch that unless you REALLY have someone to impress, sit. Oh, we saw this guy we stood in the middle of the train without holding on to anything. I can it "at peace with the train". You would probably call it, "Show Off!". Oh, and Ahmad had the audicity to ask me, in a packed MRT, " What happened to the water issue?". I was dumbfounded (and speechless as I didn't want to get whacked!)
45 minutes later (and very much exhausted), we got off City Hall and changed trains to Bugis station. Once there, it look rather familiar (the station), as the last time I judge Magic here (3 years ago), I took the MRT there. Didn't know which exit, so we went eeni meeni mini moe and took the "right" exit. We were both lost and tired. Ahmad, more attuned to his feminine side, asked for more directions. The final direction was at the Chicken Rice Shop (just next to the Hotel) and we were so happy to locate it! I was also so tired, I was willing to pay for day use before our official check in!
At the reception, we heard probably the best news so far. The hotelier said that they are ok if we checked in now! We were there, like 10am! And Wolf said," Don't check in before 2pm". There are good Singaporeans after all. Checked in, "checked" in and Check in! (Room, Bathroom, bed). Was suppose to wake up at 1.00pm for lunch and more playtesting.
Guess what? It's closer to 2pm than 1pm. Still didn't want to wake up. Ahmad got a call from the other entourage and found out they are having lunch and won't arrive till, possibly 3pm+. So what do we do? Go out and have lunch, of course. Oh, don't try asking me what's for lunch. Luckily for Ahmad, we (check)ed (this) out Suntec Convention centre and found the Food Court. Guess Burger King Lunch will be tomorrow, then. Nothing noteworthy at the foodcourt, other than an extremely efficient drink cashier who's perfect to show how efficiency lacks service. Trust me, she was really fast! Walked around the complex, found out where we will wrestle the next day, and back to the Hotel we went. Took out the decks and playtested for awhile. Had TV on, and it was Indy and Temple of Doom up. Got somewhat distracted, but wasn't too distracted until we heard a knock on our room door. Who was it?????
Part 2 up next...
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Singapore Raw Deal Qualifier - Prologue
Last Friday I could hardly work. Starting at 11am, with the intention to make it for the 10.30pm Train down to Singapore, i could only think of several things:
1) GoldBerg or Evolution?
2) Did I bring all the important stuff, like passport, toiletries, spare underwear (no, I didn't really think about this one, but thought it should be fun to add in)?
3) Change RM with $Sing
4) GoldBerg or Evolution?
5) Burger King.....yum
A chat with Azmin, Ahmad and Dawn resulted in me announcing my intention to have Burger King for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper & Takeaway.....(you'll find out later if I succeeded). Spoke to my colleague so that I could leave an hour early by skipping lunch. We agreed it was ok, but something came up and I ended up leaving office quarter past 8pm.
Was getting desperate to get to the shop, so that I could meet up with Ahmad (my bunk mate on the train) and Wolf (for directions to Hotel in Singapore & Suntec Convention Centre). Contemplated to take the cab only to have to wait another 5 minutes and when I saw a bus passing by, took the bus instead.
Reached the shop (That's Wolf's Game Shop, where all the 'Wrestler's congregate in AmCorp Mall, PJ) quarter to 9 and was glad to see ewveryone there. Initial entourage was 10 persons, then it dwindled to 8 (eventually it went to 6, but that's another story). Wolf (who owns the shop and a regular tripper to Singapore) had a tough time trying to get us to confirm how many rooms we need. I have always insisted that I share the room with minimal people, and as Ahmad shares the same 'hate' for 'FOG', sharing the room with him was the 'perfect' plan. Then there were the rest, Andy, Shaz, Brian, Dawn (all 'foggers') and Azmin (the 'closet fogger'. Haha, gotcha!) Initial plans had more people, and required more rooms but with only 7 (Wolf to join us Saturday night), 2 rooms was the end result. Mr. Closet Fogger had to share the room with us non-smokers!
The rest then decided to share a room to optimise financials. Off we go to the train station as it was getting closer to 10.30pm. Oh, forgot to mention, upto now, no one has any Sing $$! We crossed our fingers hoping that the FE-Office is still open by the time we reached there.
Oh, btw, during the chat earlier it has been established that Sing$$ 100 should suffice for the 48 hour trip. However, due to my, erm, Burger King cringes, I got Sing$$ 200 instead...Yes, I need that much of Burger King!
We reached there with ample time and got our Sing$$ too! Then we hopped (figuratively) into the train and I found my bunker only 6 feet long! Man, did I have trouble sleeping that night. Had one game in bed (Wrestling game, mind you) and decided to chill to the restaurant hoping that they would have proper tables and chairs, which they did. Played another like, 5 games before calling it the day. (fyi, GoldBerg no good against FBI...really no good). Returned to the bunkers and tried to sleep. Was extremely restless and couldn't pass out. Then the train decided have a faulty caboost and stay put at Gemas for 90 mins! I took the opportunity to change my GoldBerg to be more aggresive (3 Blindside Slam!) and the nproceeded to try to go to sllep after the train began moving again.
Fast forward to 7.00am. Woke Ahmad up and proceeded to the restaurant again for more playtest. Found out that we will be arriving in Singapore late (no thanks to the 90 min delay) and reached Woodlands only at 8.45am. We proceeded to the Customs and......for the love of God....Ahmad small-talking with the Immigration Officer! When it was my turn, I thought must be some 'chun' chic at the counter......Let Ahmad tell all of you who he warmed up to....he he.
And that was it! We were officially in Singapore!
Part -1 up next!
1) GoldBerg or Evolution?
2) Did I bring all the important stuff, like passport, toiletries, spare underwear (no, I didn't really think about this one, but thought it should be fun to add in)?
3) Change RM with $Sing
4) GoldBerg or Evolution?
5) Burger King.....yum
A chat with Azmin, Ahmad and Dawn resulted in me announcing my intention to have Burger King for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper & Takeaway.....(you'll find out later if I succeeded). Spoke to my colleague so that I could leave an hour early by skipping lunch. We agreed it was ok, but something came up and I ended up leaving office quarter past 8pm.
Was getting desperate to get to the shop, so that I could meet up with Ahmad (my bunk mate on the train) and Wolf (for directions to Hotel in Singapore & Suntec Convention Centre). Contemplated to take the cab only to have to wait another 5 minutes and when I saw a bus passing by, took the bus instead.
Reached the shop (That's Wolf's Game Shop, where all the 'Wrestler's congregate in AmCorp Mall, PJ) quarter to 9 and was glad to see ewveryone there. Initial entourage was 10 persons, then it dwindled to 8 (eventually it went to 6, but that's another story). Wolf (who owns the shop and a regular tripper to Singapore) had a tough time trying to get us to confirm how many rooms we need. I have always insisted that I share the room with minimal people, and as Ahmad shares the same 'hate' for 'FOG', sharing the room with him was the 'perfect' plan. Then there were the rest, Andy, Shaz, Brian, Dawn (all 'foggers') and Azmin (the 'closet fogger'. Haha, gotcha!) Initial plans had more people, and required more rooms but with only 7 (Wolf to join us Saturday night), 2 rooms was the end result. Mr. Closet Fogger had to share the room with us non-smokers!
The rest then decided to share a room to optimise financials. Off we go to the train station as it was getting closer to 10.30pm. Oh, forgot to mention, upto now, no one has any Sing $$! We crossed our fingers hoping that the FE-Office is still open by the time we reached there.
Oh, btw, during the chat earlier it has been established that Sing$$ 100 should suffice for the 48 hour trip. However, due to my, erm, Burger King cringes, I got Sing$$ 200 instead...Yes, I need that much of Burger King!
We reached there with ample time and got our Sing$$ too! Then we hopped (figuratively) into the train and I found my bunker only 6 feet long! Man, did I have trouble sleeping that night. Had one game in bed (Wrestling game, mind you) and decided to chill to the restaurant hoping that they would have proper tables and chairs, which they did. Played another like, 5 games before calling it the day. (fyi, GoldBerg no good against FBI...really no good). Returned to the bunkers and tried to sleep. Was extremely restless and couldn't pass out. Then the train decided have a faulty caboost and stay put at Gemas for 90 mins! I took the opportunity to change my GoldBerg to be more aggresive (3 Blindside Slam!) and the nproceeded to try to go to sllep after the train began moving again.
Fast forward to 7.00am. Woke Ahmad up and proceeded to the restaurant again for more playtest. Found out that we will be arriving in Singapore late (no thanks to the 90 min delay) and reached Woodlands only at 8.45am. We proceeded to the Customs and......for the love of God....Ahmad small-talking with the Immigration Officer! When it was my turn, I thought must be some 'chun' chic at the counter......Let Ahmad tell all of you who he warmed up to....he he.
And that was it! We were officially in Singapore!
Part -1 up next!
Monday, February 21, 2005
Was so long ago.....
I am sooo sleeepy.....And there is still over an hour's worth of work to do...
Haven't written for a while. Was supposed to write something about the Wrestling Tourney 2 sundays ago, but got soo trashed I didn't want to write about it....embarressed, you see....I mean, played 2 kids and lost to both of them. Kids as in less than 13 years old. I'm 2X that age for *@^$(@ sake!!!
There goes BoD. Went heel and am now playing GoldBerg. Know I have no chance of winning against a proper Crippler deck, but at least against others, as long as I don't screw up, I stand a good chance of success.
Bought tickets to Singapore yesterday. Will be travelling overnight via train with Ahmad. Wanted to tell him why I didn't actually want to go with the rest of the guys via bus, but there were just too many of the other travellers around....you know, no disrespect, but what I was about to say is down right bad!
So what is the reason then? Hopefully will remember to tell Ahmad when we travel to Singapore. By the way, that's like 96 hours from now. I hope the "everyone" get's a belt is true. Granted, I already have most of the belts, but who would mind to have more? It also recovers the cost (to some extent) of the trip.
Thinking about the trip, can't wait to go Burger King Breakfast, Burger King Lunch, Burger King Dinner, Burger King Supper, Burger King Takeaway......Yum.
I need to sleep. Still an hour to go.....damn....
Haven't written for a while. Was supposed to write something about the Wrestling Tourney 2 sundays ago, but got soo trashed I didn't want to write about it....embarressed, you see....I mean, played 2 kids and lost to both of them. Kids as in less than 13 years old. I'm 2X that age for *@^$(@ sake!!!
There goes BoD. Went heel and am now playing GoldBerg. Know I have no chance of winning against a proper Crippler deck, but at least against others, as long as I don't screw up, I stand a good chance of success.
Bought tickets to Singapore yesterday. Will be travelling overnight via train with Ahmad. Wanted to tell him why I didn't actually want to go with the rest of the guys via bus, but there were just too many of the other travellers around....you know, no disrespect, but what I was about to say is down right bad!
So what is the reason then? Hopefully will remember to tell Ahmad when we travel to Singapore. By the way, that's like 96 hours from now. I hope the "everyone" get's a belt is true. Granted, I already have most of the belts, but who would mind to have more? It also recovers the cost (to some extent) of the trip.
Thinking about the trip, can't wait to go Burger King Breakfast, Burger King Lunch, Burger King Dinner, Burger King Supper, Burger King Takeaway......Yum.
I need to sleep. Still an hour to go.....damn....
Sunday, February 13, 2005
I'm back!
2 nights consecutive working can be real boring. Especially when all I can think off is what to play for the Raw Deal Wrestling tournament in Singapore end of month. I'm inclined to go Brother's of Destruction, but worry there may be just too much hate against the deck. All in all, it's quite a solid deck.
Some much for breaking my Liverpool watching jinx. Didn't watch it today and they lost 2-0 to some mediocre team. Sheeh. I have a feeling the team isn't all too 'together' at this point. The spanish revolution has brought too many spaniards with only 1 real star....And he's injured. Morientes, well he hasn't shined much so far. I believe it's time for Gerard to go. As a player, he deserves a better team, and sad to say, Liverpool just ain't it. Besides, money from his sale would be good for Rafa to buy more spaniards....What, he thinks this is La Liga? Still, reliance on Gerard to do all tyhe work just doesn't cut it. With him gone, someone will stand up and be counted (hopefully more than 1) or Liverpool will have to sit back mid table for a couple of seasons to regroup.
Back to working night shift. Conditions worsened tonight due to unexpected events leading to insufficient personnel. That's as much I can say here in case someone from my office reads this and blow me out of the water. Later today I will be at a mini Tourney and try out my BoD deck. Hopefully will get valuable competetive experience and not meet silly decks made for fun. Besides, for the first time the tourney will allow all cards to be played, so things should be quite interesting. Oh, reminder to self, pack anti Evolution card. Pack anti Evolution card..........
Enough for today....will post later tonight....X fingers that I win..he he
Some much for breaking my Liverpool watching jinx. Didn't watch it today and they lost 2-0 to some mediocre team. Sheeh. I have a feeling the team isn't all too 'together' at this point. The spanish revolution has brought too many spaniards with only 1 real star....And he's injured. Morientes, well he hasn't shined much so far. I believe it's time for Gerard to go. As a player, he deserves a better team, and sad to say, Liverpool just ain't it. Besides, money from his sale would be good for Rafa to buy more spaniards....What, he thinks this is La Liga? Still, reliance on Gerard to do all tyhe work just doesn't cut it. With him gone, someone will stand up and be counted (hopefully more than 1) or Liverpool will have to sit back mid table for a couple of seasons to regroup.
Back to working night shift. Conditions worsened tonight due to unexpected events leading to insufficient personnel. That's as much I can say here in case someone from my office reads this and blow me out of the water. Later today I will be at a mini Tourney and try out my BoD deck. Hopefully will get valuable competetive experience and not meet silly decks made for fun. Besides, for the first time the tourney will allow all cards to be played, so things should be quite interesting. Oh, reminder to self, pack anti Evolution card. Pack anti Evolution card..........
Enough for today....will post later tonight....X fingers that I win..he he
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